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Understanding the Stage of Striving and the Role of Instincts in Response to External Events · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  Beyond the stage of flight or fight, we see in panic and the
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  eventual recoil into inertia where we see the initial
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  reactions of instinct at play. The stage of striving begins to
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  harness energy of response by the vital being, albeit still
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  very much under the influence and control of the power of
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  instinctive behaviour. Striving, however, implies
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  marshaling of the vital forces to try to address and overcome
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  the perceived threat or obstacle in the way of the being's desire
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  and thus goes beyond pure instinct to a type of vital
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  focus or attention characterized by the guna of rajas.
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  Dr. Dalal writes quote in this stage striving.
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  An individual still living primarily in the vital
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  consciousness struggles against difficulties with the reactions
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  of the vital consciousness, namely instincts and impulses.
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  But instinctive reactions which serve the animal marvelously
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  well in its struggle for existence are inadequate guides
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  for a human being, because in the 1st place, instincts in man
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  are far inferior to those in the animal.
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  And secondly, because the problems which a human being has
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  to tackle are far more complex than those faced by an animal
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  calling for an intelligence which can see beyond a limited
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  sphere where instincts are proverbially regarded as blind.
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  Moreover, instincts in themselves pose a problem to the
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  human being because of the perpetual conflict between one
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  instinct and another, and between instinct and reason.
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  Thus, besides being inadequate for helping man and mastering
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  the problems of life, instincts create an additional problem for
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  the human being. The problem of self mastery,
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  feelings and emotions which, like instincts also pertain to
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  the vital consciousness, are indeed much more highly
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  developed in the human being than even in the highest species
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  of animal, but they have the same essential drawbacks as
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  instincts. They operate within too narrow a
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  sphere, primarily that of interpersonal relations, and
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  like instincts they are fraught with conflict in the stage of
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  striving during which human beings try to come to grips with
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  the problems of life mastery and self mastery while still living
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  predominantly in the vital consciousness.
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  Life is more or less a blind struggle, a groping towards I'll
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  perceived and ever eluding goals.
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  The course of life is determined mostly by forces other than
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  one's conscious choices and deliberate decisions.
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  Therefore, 1's internal state is characterized by feelings of
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  uncertainty, insecurity, conflict, anxiety and tension.
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  End Quote reference Srioro Vindo and the Mother looking from
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  Within Introduction by Doctor Dalal Pages Roman 10 to Roman
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  11.