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The Occult Action and Power of Vital Beings and Forces in Human Activities and Institutions · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  For the most part, people live on the surface of their being
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  and do not see into the occult or hidden beings and forces that
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  exist and act upon them unseen, invisible, and essentially
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  unregarded. Many things that occur in the
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  world are hard to explain without an understanding of the
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  occult forces at work. Western medicine made a great
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  progress when it finally opened up to the action of invisible
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  entities and forces that are causative factors in disease.
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  Consider that the widespread and deadly disease we call malaria
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  was originally thought to be caused by the bad air in certain
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  locales, hence the name malaria or bad air.
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  In fact, Western medicine was able to identify that malaria is
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  actually caused by a single cell parasite called Plasmodium,
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  which is transmitted through the bite of certain mosquitoes.
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  Once the vector and the cause were understood, invisible to
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  the normal surface vision, steps could be taken to mitigate the
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  spread of the disease through vector control, et cetera.
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  As long as the cause of malaria was unknown, it was subject to
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  the development of superstition based on unwarranted assumptions
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  based on what we take for knowledge when we are limited to
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  the surface view of things. This is not an isolated example,
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  but an indicator of how things occur in all areas of our lives,
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  including in our religious institutions and practices.
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  We do not see the forces and beings that actually either
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  erect or at least take advantage of the institutions within which
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  we bring and express our fears, regrets, desires, and
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  impulsions. These vital beings are also very
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  conscious about where and how they can best feed off of human
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  emotions and energetic expression, and thus they tend
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  to congregate and in some cases even actively manage what takes
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  place in these places of worship.
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  This is not restricted to any specific religion, but is more
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  generally operative, just as sincere consecration and
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  devotion is not limited to anyone religion.
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  The depth of the individual sincerity is a measure of both
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  the type of protection the individual has when entering
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  into such a vitally charged environment and the amount and
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  type of progress in his spiritual seeking that he can
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  obtain even when he undertakes his practices in what might be
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  seen as a compromised environment, the mother
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  observes. Quote.
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  I am sorry, but that's how it is.
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  I tell you. I have deliberately tried this
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  experiment a little everywhere. Maybe I found some very tiny
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  places, like a tiny village church at times, where there was
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  a very quiet little spot for meditation.
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  Very still, very silent where there was some aspiration, but
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  this was so rare. I have seen the beautiful
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  churches of Italy, magnificent places They were full of these
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  vital beings and full of terror. I remember painting in a
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  basilica of Venice and while I was working in the confessional,
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  a priest was hearing the confession of a poor woman.
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  Well, it was truly a frightful sight.
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  I don't know what the priest was like, what his character was.
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  He could not be seen. You know, don't you, that they
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  are not seen. They are shut up in a box and
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  received the confession through a grill.
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  There was such a dark and sucking power over him, and that
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  poor woman was in such a state of fearful terror that it was
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  truly painful to see it. And all these people believe
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  this is something holy. But it is a web of the hostile
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  vital forces which use all this to feed upon.
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  Besides, in the invisible world hardly any beings love to be
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  worshipped except those of the vital.
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  These, as I said, are quite pleased by it, and then it gives
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  them importance. They are puffed up with pride
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  and feel very happy, and when they can get a herd of people to
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  worship them, they are quite satisfied.
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  End Quote Reference Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The
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  Hidden Forces of Life, Chapter 5, Occult Forces, pages 118 to
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  119.