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Shifting to the Divine Standpoint To Overcome the Impulses of the External Nature · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The practitioner of the Integral Yoga has set before himself the
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  change of what we consider to be basic human nature, the
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  established workings and principles of action of the
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  body, the life force and the mind.
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  These elements have developed over countless millennia as part
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  of the evolutionary process of nature.
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  Many of them have been considered foundational
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  principles of the physical body and the life energy.
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  Effectuating any change, therefore, requires a process
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  and a force that goes beyond our mental will.
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  In his book The Mother, Srioro Bindo details this process and
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  identifies this force. Quote.
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  There are two powers that alone can affect in their conjunction
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  the great and difficult thing which is the aim of our
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  endeavour, a fixed and unfailing aspiration that calls from below
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  and a supreme grace from above that answers.
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  End Quote, He continues. Quote.
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  In yoga also it is the Divine who is the Sadak and the Sadhna.
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  It is His Shakti with her light, power, knowledge, consciousness,
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  Ananda, acting upon the Adhar and when it is open to her,
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  pouring into it with these divine forces that makes the
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  sadhna possible. End Quote.
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  Whether we are looking at the complex of elements that go into
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  the sex impulse, or the greed for food, or the rising of
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  anger, or any other aspect of the being that needs to change,
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  the basic process is the same. The seeker can most effectively
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  bring about change by first not accepting the movement as
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  something that is an essential part of himself, then opening
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  himself to the higher force and letting it work in him to change
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  the direction and flow of the energy, and finally by rejecting
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  the contrary actions when they try to reassert themselves.
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  Much of this starts from the basic standpoint.
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  Most people start out with the idea that we are human beings
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  who are born and grow and develop our physical, vital and
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  mental skills to function in the external world.
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  In other words, we are bodies who at some point may begin a
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  search for a meaning in life beyond the external
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  satisfactions, needs, and pleasures, and who may then
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  search for the soul or some other aspect that transcends the
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  external life. Few are those who recognize that
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  we are not a body with a soul, but a soul with a body.
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  If we shift the standpoint to the central focus of the soul,
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  its innate connection to the divine and its deeper
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  understanding of its meaning and purpose in life, and that the
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  soul takes on a particular body, life and mind complex to advance
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  its purpose, the idea of gaining mastery over this external being
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  is much easier to accept and realize.
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  Trio Robindo writes quote. The trouble of the sex impulse
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  is bound to dwindle away if you are in earnest about getting rid
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  of it. The difficulty is that part of
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  your nature, especially the lower vital and the subconscient
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  which is active in sleep, keeps the memory and attachment to
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  these movements, and you do not open these parts and make them
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  accept the mother's light and force to purify them.
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  If you did that in and instead of lamenting and getting
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  troubled and clinging to the idea that you cannot get rid of
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  these things, insisted quietly, with a calm faith and patient
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  resolution on their disappearance, separating
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  yourself from them, refusing to accept them or at all regard
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  them as part of yourself, they would after a time lose their
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  force and dwindle. End Quote.
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  Reference Sri Aurobindo, Bases of yoga, Chapter 4.
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  Desire Food Sex page 78.