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Preparation and Training Needed to Consciously Draw on the Universal Vital Force · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  We recognize that there are ocean currents which circulate
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  ocean water worldwide and regulate the climate.
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  We also recognize that there are air currents which we can
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  partially observe through the soaring of birds who let the air
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  currents carry them along and experience directly.
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  If we are participating in the sport of Hang Gliding or
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  operating an air balloon or small airplane, meteorologists
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  refer to the jet stream, and the movement of air in consistent
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  patterns is a well known and accepted phenomenon on which we
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  rely and which we utilize constantly.
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  There are also currents internal to the Earth with the flow of
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  molten magma, which over time can change the speed of the spin
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  of the world in space and shift the magnetic orientation of the
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  planet as well. We recognize the movement of
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  streams of energy from the sun and other sources of radiation
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  in the universe. A similar process of the
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  movement of currents occurs at the vital and the mental levels
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  of energy. We marvel at the synchronized
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  flight of birds or swimming of schools of fish.
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  In these cases, it is a vital force that connects all of them,
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  and they respond instantaneously together to create the mass
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  movement patterns about which we marvel when we observe them.
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  When we stop to reflect, we can observe the symbiotic vital
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  existence between plants and trees and animals and humans.
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  We breathe regularly, and as we do so, we are taking in the
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  elements of the air excreted by the plant Kingdom, and in turn
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  they take in the elements excreted by us.
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  We are thus all part of one large, vital existence.
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  Sometimes when we enter an old growth forest, we can feel a
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  change in the energetic nature of the life that surrounds us,
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  and we may experience a feeling of awe or consecration or deep
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  peace that comes over us. There are also vital energies
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  that circulate among human beings which can create various
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  emotional or vital states such as devotion, love, fear, hatred,
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  consecration, et cetera on the mental plane.
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  Similarly, there are patterns of thought that move as waves or
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  currents, and which thereby tend to influence and develop in the
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  individuals who come in contact with them.
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  We can experience this sometimes in a highly concentrated mental
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  atmosphere, such as in a library or research laboratory.
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  Once we recognize these patterns, we can systematically
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  work to open ourselves to those we seek to bring into our lives.
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  Certain practitioners of yoga, for instance, practice various
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  forms of breath control called pranayam, whereby they focus
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  their state of awareness on the movement of the vital energies
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  that they bring in and circulate within themselves, and thereby
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  can create and influence the thoughts, emotions, feelings and
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  physical status. Special practices of this sort
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  are not, however, absolutely necessary to draw upon the vital
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  force. Rather, a sense of openness and
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  receptivity can provide the opportunity needed for these
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  forces to act within one consciously.
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  While it must be recognized that they are active all the time, at
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  some level, whether we are consciously aware of it or not,
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  a disciple asks sweet mother, How can one draw on the
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  universal vital force? The mother responds, One can do
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  it in many ways. First of all, you must know that
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  it exists and that one can enter into contact with it.
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  Secondly, you must try to make this contact, to feel it
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  circulating everywhere, through everything, in all persons and
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  all circumstances. To have this experience, for
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  example, when you are in the countryside among trees, to see
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  it circulating in the whole of nature, in trees and things, and
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  then commune with it, feel yourself close to it, and each
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  time you want to deal with it, recall that impression you had
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  and try to enter into contact. End Quote Reference Shrioro,
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  Bindu and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Chapter 4.
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  Cosmic and Universal Forces, page 90.