The Vital Embodies Power of Realisation

A life focused solely on meditation, inner development, growth of knowledge, or on prayer and devotion, tends to avoid the implications of the ongoing evolution of consciousness and the need for transformation and positive change to create the circumstances for that evolution of consciousness to occur and thrive. It may have been helpful, even necessary, for some exclusive concentration on the path of knowledge, or the path of love and devotion, in order to develop, refine and empower those aspects of the being. At the same time, it is useful, even necessary, to recognise that the vital power brings with it the eventual success of the spiritual growth and the transformation process envisioned by the evolution of consciousness as the central theme of the divine manifestation within which we live, and grow and develop.

The issue then shifts from one of avoidance or abandonment of the power of the vital, to one of learning how to have the different elements not only coexist, but actively support and encourage one another. The vital becomes a partner in the process and gains its fulfillment in coordination with the fulfillment of the other aspects of the being.

When we look at the action of the vital in its general current status, we see that many inaccurate movements, many wrong habits have been embedded. It is the process of understanding and untangling the pure power of action and realisation from all of the perversions, misappropriations and false directions that dominate the vital today, that needs urgently to occur.

“Will, Power, Force are the native substance of the Life-Energy, and herein lies the justification for the refusal of Life to acknowledge the supremacy of Knowledge and Love alone, — for its push towards the satisfaction of something far more unreflecting, headstrong and dangerous that can yet venture too in its own bold and ardent way towards the Divine and Absolute. Love and Wisdom are not the only aspects of the Divine, there is also its aspect of Power.” [Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of Yoga]

The Mother expands on this: “…Sri Aurobindo says that the vital part, the vital being is the greatest obstacle because it is unregenerate, and that there would be a possibility of transforming it if it surrendered entirely to Love and Knowledge; but as its predominant quality is force, energy, power, it does not like to submit to other parts of the being, and this justifies its refusal to submit itself, for those virtues in their essence are as high as the others. That is why it has neither the same power nor the same capacities, for it is not developed, it has not surrendered, and this is what causes the dilemma: it does not submit because it has this power, and this power cannot be utilised because it is not surrendered. So, how to get out of that? The vital, if it were surrendered, would be a very powerful help, extremely useful, it would make the whole process go much more rapidly. But because it feels its own power, it refuses to submit to the others; and because it does not submit, its power cannot be utilised. So, what is to be done? Sri Aurobindo states the problem — he is going to solve it afterwards; if we continue reading, after a while he will tell us how to solve this problem — but he states it first so that we may fully understand the situation.”

“If the vital were a mediocre being without definite qualities, there would be no difficulty in its surrendering, but it would be altogether useless. But, on the contrary, the vital is a sort of stronghold of energy and power — of all powers. Yet generally this power is diverted; it is no longer at the service of the Divine, it is at the service of the vital itself for its own satisfaction. So, as long as it is like that, it cannot be used.”

“It should come to understand that this energy and power which it feels within itself cannot become useful unless it enters into perfect harmony with the divine plan of realisation on earth. If it understands that, it becomes quiet and allows itself to be enlisted, so to say, in the totality of the being, and then it takes on its full strength and full importance. But otherwise, it cannot be used. And usually, all its activities are activities which always complicate things and take away their simplicity, their purity, often their beauty, and their effectiveness, for its action is blind, ignorant and very egoistic.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Our Many Selves: Practical Yogic Psychology, Chapter 2, Planes and Parts of the Being, pp. 35-36