Mastery Beyond Asceticism and Indulgence

0:00 Human beings have a tendency to move from one extreme to the other, like a pendulum swing. When we are faced with a particular concern we want to resolve, we apply this tendency. When it comes, therefore, to the force of desire and the attraction of material objects, we either become attached to them and try to grab and hold on to them the materialist approach, or else we try to remove their influence from our lives and thereby deny our relation to these objects. The ascetic approach in The Life Divine Shrioro Bindo provides a comprehensive overview of each of these extremes in the chapters on the materialist denial and the refusal of the Ascetic. His solution lies in the perception of unity as outlined in the chapter Reality Omnipresent. A true solution to our relationship with material things and the desire to possess them is not in simply abandoning them, nor is it in losing oneself in the attempt to satisfy the desire for possession that we have. When we come into relation with these material objects, we find in nature a widespread, seemingly wild dispersal of seeds in order to ensure the survival of the various species. As the mental power develops, we

1:32 find a much more targeted action that does not require this type of apparently wasteful action. As the consciousness develops, there can come a point where action is directed, controlled, and poised for achieving the intended purpose without falling either to the side of ascetic denial of the force of the material creation or to the side of nature's untrammeled dispersion. For the spiritual secret too, there comes a point where indulgence and desire or an attachment to the objects of the senses needs to be curtailed so that the focus and energy can be directed toward the spiritual pursuits. Ideally this can be done through non attachment without going to the extreme of the ascetic refusal. In early stages it may be necessary for the secret to cut himself off from the process until he is able to maintain his central focus and not be distracted. At that point he may take up interfacing with material objects and activities if he is called upon to carry out his yogic development in the world.

2:50 Sri Aurobindo notes quote Asceticism for its own sake is not the ideal of this yoga, but self-control in the vital and right order in the material are a very important part of it, and even an ascetic discipline is better for our purpose than a loose absence of true control. Mastery of the material does not mean having plenty and profusely throwing it out or spoiling it as fast as it comes or faster. Mastery implies in it the right and careful utilization of things and also a self-control in their use. End Quote Reference Srioro Bindo Bases of Yoga Chapter 4. Desire, food, sex, age 65.