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The Attraction of the Spiritual Life to Beings of the Vital World · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  Beings of the vital world in many cases interact with and act
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  upon the material world in which we live and act as embodied
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  beings. What is the attraction?
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  Vital beings generally crave energy, excitement, novelty, the
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  food of their existence. If they are seeking to harvest
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  such energy from human beings, they look for individuals who
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  can provide them sustenance with less cost and risk, as do
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  predatory species we see in the world.
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  Spiritual seekers tend to have more openness generally and less
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  resistance to non material forces and thus can become
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  easier prey for the vital beings to feast upon.
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  Add to this various types of confusion and basic ignorance
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  about the functioning of these non material forces and beings
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  and we have a recipe for spiritual aspirants to be turned
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  into prey. In some cases, there may be
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  beings in the vital world who become dissatisfied with the
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  limitations of their lives and who want to participate in the
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  evolution. While this may be more rare
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  given the nature of these beings, it can occur.
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  In some cases the vital beings use a spiritual cloak to attract
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  individuals, and this then is simply an act of pure deception.
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  Thus we may find that some beings take on the shape or form
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  of a religious leader or even an angelic being of some sort in
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  order to capture the gullible and get them to do what they are
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  bidding to be done. They take on a dynamic,
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  charismatic form, pretend to be great masters, and then either
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  entertain themselves or treat their followers as food.
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  They have no sincerity, no respect for those they capture,
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  and no interest in actual spiritual progress.
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  In such cases, the Mother describes various circumstances
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  in response to his disciples question, A disciple inquires,
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  You have said that these beings of the vital world are attracted
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  by the spiritual life. Why?
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  The Mother responds, quote, They are attracted, but this does not
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  mean that they have decided sincerely to follow the
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  spiritual life. The chief characteristic of
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  these beings is falsehood. Their nature is made of deceit.
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  They have a power for illusion. They can take the appearance of
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  divine beings or higher beings. They can appear in a dazzling
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  light. But truly sincere people are not
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  deceived. They immediately feel something
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  that warns them. But if one likes the marvelous,
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  the unexpected, if one loves fantastic things, if one likes
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  to live a romance, one is likely to be easily deceived.
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  Not long ago there was a historical instance, that of
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  Hitler, who was in contact with the being whom he considered to
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  be the Supreme. This being came and gave him
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  advice, told him all that he had to do.
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  Hitler used to retire into solitude and remained there as
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  long as it was necessary to come into contact with his guide and
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  receive from him inspirations which he carried out later very
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  faithfully. This being which Hitler took for
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  the Supreme was quite plainly an Asura, one who is called the
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  Lord of falsehood in occultism, but who proclaimed himself the
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  Lord of the nations. He had a shining appearance.
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  He could mislead anybody except one who really had occult
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  knowledge and could see what was there behind the appearance.
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  Generally he used to appear to Hitler wearing a silver kuras
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  and helmet. A kind of flame came out of his
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  head and there was an atmosphere of dazzling light around him, so
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  dazzling that Hitler could hardly look at him.
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  He used to tell Hitler everything that had to be done.
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  He played with him as with a monkey or a mouse.
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  He had decided clearly to make Hitler commit all possible
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  extravagances till the day he would break his neck, which did
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  happen. But cases like this are
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  frequent, though on a smaller scale.
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  Of course Hitler was a very good medium.
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  He had great mediumistic capacities, but he lacked
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  intelligence and discrimination. This being could tell him
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  anything whatever, and he swallowed it all.
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  It was he who pushed Hitler little by little, and he was
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  doing this as a distraction. He did not take life seriously
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  for these beings. Men are very tiny things with
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  whom they play as a cat plays with a mouse, till finally they
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  eat them up. End Quote Reference Sri
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  Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Chapter
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  5, Occult Forces, pages 1:15 to 1:16.