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Perspective of Time and Stages in the Process of Transformation of Human Life · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  When we consider the objective of the transformation of human
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  nature, we begin to understand that it is not a simple or quick
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  process. We carry within us the physical,
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  vital and mental habits of life on earth, including instincts,
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  set modes of action and response, and the result of the
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  training and socialization we have received in the current
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  lifetime, which represents the combined force of the past
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  development of human society acting in the present.
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  We can appreciate that the solidity of matter adapts more
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  slowly than vital energy or mental energy.
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  This sets up the process of the transformation, starting with
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  adjustments to the mental substance, moving subsequently
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  to changing aspects of the vital nature, and only afterwards
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  tackling the physical body along the way.
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  The physical body provides the foundation for the work on the
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  more malleable elements of the being.
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  If the physical body deteriorates or is weakened, it
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  reduces the amount of the divine force that can be effectively
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  held and utilized. Thus, a dual process needs to be
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  adopted. On the one side, the secret
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  tunes the focus through aspiration and widens the
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  receptivity for the descent of the higher force.
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  On the other side, the foundation of the physical,
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  vital and mental nature has to be strengthened to hold this
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  increase of force, while also widened to be able to
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  accommodate the needed changes. As the process proceeds, the
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  force can eventually begin to effectuate changes in the
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  physical material substance of the body itself, infusing the
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  very cells with the higher energy.
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  In the meantime, the body must be properly maintained and
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  sustenance provided to ensure it is a fit vessel for the energies
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  it is receiving, Sriorbindo notes quote.
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  The transformation to which we aspire is too vast and complex
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  to come at one stroke. It must be allowed to come by
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  stages. The physical change is the last
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  of these stages and is itself a progressive process.
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  The inner transformation cannot be brought about by physical
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  means, either of a positive or a negative nature.
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  On the contrary, the physical change itself can only be
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  brought about by a descent of the greater super mental
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  consciousness into the cells of the body.
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  Till then at least, the body and its supporting energies have to
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  be maintained in part by the ordinary means, food, sleep, et
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  cetera. Food has to be taken in the
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  right spirit, with the right consciousness.
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  Sleep has to be gradually transformed into the yogic
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  repose. A premature and excessive
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  physical austerity to Pasia may endanger the process of the
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  Sadhna by establishing a disturbance and abnormality of
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  the forces in the different parts of the system.
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  A great energy may pour into the mental and vital parts, but the
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  nerves and the body may be overstrained and lose the
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  strength to support the play of these higher energies.
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  This is the reason why an extreme physical austerity is
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  not included here as a substantive part of the sadhna.
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  There is no harm in fasting from time to time for a day or two,
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  or in reducing the food taken to a small but sufficient modicum,
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  but entire abstinence for a long period is not advisable.
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  End Quote reference. Shvuro Bindo, Bases of Yoga,
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  Chapter 4 Desire Food Sex, pages 68 to 69.