The vital has to be completely tamed and transmuted by the psychic being

The part of me that needs to argue, to prosyletize, and so forth, the part of me that reacts to any movement that appears contrary, is precisely the part of me that must be annulled into the Supreme. So when I react or disagree, I think rather than trying to find fault with the other, I should look at myself and see why I’m reacting in the first place. Most of the time when I do this, I find another attachment that has to be surrendered. Reacting, arguing and prosyletizing — this is all the dividing ego-mind and the vital getting stirred up.

I think all of this can be summarized by saying that I have an undisciplined vital. In Sri Aurobindo’s psychology, the vital being is the seat of desire and the will to power. The vital has to be completely tamed and transmuted by the psychic being, which is the personal evolving soul, the innermost being that is watching the lower nature with a calm, amused detachment. The psychic prepares all the lower nature for the ascent and expansion of consciousness toward the Infinite. So far, all I can claim is that I have caught glimpses of this inner being (and that too, not directly but probably through various inner hypostases, referring here to the philosophy of emanationism), but I have never been able to sustain that awareness for too long.

The vital is the hardest aspect to tame, because one really has to learn how to accept everything unconditionally as it is. Because of my ego-fantasies and my undisciplined vital, I always slip back into unconsciousness, and I suppose this will keep happening for a while until all the outer conditioning wears off and the psychic being comes forth from behind the veil at last to lead all the lower nature. ~ by ned on March 7, 2007