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The Unconverted Vital Nature Must Not Be Permitted to Divert the Psychic and Spiritual Force to Its Own Limited Satisfactions · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  There is a substantial and well known danger of the vital nature
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  taking advantage of the force that comes down through the
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  psychic aspiration and using it to advance objectives of the
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  vital rather than those that carry out the intended purpose
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  of the divine power. There is a well known
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  connection, for instance, between the opening of the heart
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  center and its emotions and the activation of the sexual impulse
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  when the being has not been sufficiently prepared and
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  purified in its ability to receive and hold the higher
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  force as it descends. In Western psychology, a similar
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  phenomenon is known as transference.
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  When a patient transfers his or her affections to the therapist,
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  there are strict rules governing this type of relationship, as
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  the patient is in a vulnerable position and the doctor or
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  counselor has a power and authority that, if misused, can
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  lead to tragic results. Similarly, the relationship
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  between doctors and patients, teachers and students, and
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  employers and employees have shown that this type of
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  imbalanced power dynamic combined with authority or
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  respect or even outright affection can create serious
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  difficulties. Steps have been taken to try to
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  govern the misuse of this power dynamic for the spiritual
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  practitioner, particularly for someone who holds a position of
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  authority or is able to project a strong spiritual energy, there
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  are similar dangers but fewer actual societal controls
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  available. Thus, we see a number of
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  examples of this type of misuse of the power by the vital nature
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  to enjoy sexual relations or other types of vital
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  satisfactions in modern day society.
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  This issue is being taken up and through the use of lawsuits,
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  criminal proceedings and simple exposure, some major systemic
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  and group cases have been addressed.
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  The problems, however, are not limited to large organizations
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  and groups, but can break out even in a one-on-one
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  relationship, particularly if the perpetrator has a strong
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  spiritual energy as well as a strong but as yet untransformed
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  vital nature. The vital power is dramatically
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  enhanced by certain yogic practices, and thus the risk of
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  misuse is enormously accentuated.
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  For this reason, the sadak is counselled to not try to focus
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  on pulling down the energy, but to first prepare the being, the
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  body, the nervous system, the vital power, the emotions and
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  the mind to hold the descent of the force without spilling it
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  and to keep the aspiration pure and focused to ensure that no
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  part of the being can divert or in any way redirect the force to
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  vital satisfaction. Trioropindo notes Quote When the
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  psychic puts its influence on the vital, the first thing you
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  must be careful to avoid is any least mixture of a wrong vital
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  movement with the psychic movement.
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  Lust is the perversion or degradation which prevents love
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  from establishing its reign. So when there is the movement of
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  psychic love in the heart, lust or vital desire is the one thing
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  that must not be allowed to come in.
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  Just as when strength comes down from above, personal ambition
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  and pride have to be kept far away from it, for any mixture of
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  the perversion will corrupt the psychic or spiritual action and
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  prevent a true fulfillment. End Quote.
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  Reference Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 4.
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  Desire Food Sex page 79.