The Difference Between Suppression and Self-Control of the Forces of Vital Desire

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When it comes to the question of
control, rejection, and mastery

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over the vital nature and its
desires, there is considerable

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confusion.
For the most part, this

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confusion is caused by a lack of
clear definition between the

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different modes of observation,
response and action that the

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seeker can adopt.
In relation to this concern,

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Fioro Bindo has provided us a
clear distinction between what

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we call suppression, which
leaves the issue unresolved and

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liable to reappear time and
again until worked out

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completely, and what we call
self-control, which is a first

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step towards complete mastery
and the elimination of the

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response to the object of desire
as it presents itself to the

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individual awareness.
For example, one has a craving

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for a certain food, 1 struggles
with the craving to avoid

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fulfilling it, one succeeds in
overcoming it, but the

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underlying cause of the craving
has not been resolved, that is

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suppression.
In another instance, 1 is

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offered a particular food and
simply has no desire for it as

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it does not touch the being.
One simply says no and that's

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it.
That is an example of

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self-control and rejection of
the desire for people who've

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become vegetarian or vegan from
non vegetarian background, this

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dynamic is quite easy to
identify.

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Giving up the non vegetarian
food may begin as something of a

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struggle if there was any
attachment to it during the

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transition.
Cravings may arise at a certain

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point or if one is born into a
vegetarian family.

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Eating non vegetarian food is
simply not an option, not a

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desire, not a craving, not
something that is felt as any

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kind of sacrifice.
It is simply not seen as food.

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Similarly, one may meet friends
at a restaurant or other

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location that sells alcoholic
drinks.

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The friends may indulge in the
alcohol, but someone who does

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not have any connection to the
alcohol or who has given up

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alcohol and overcome any issue
of craving will simply say no

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thank you and leave it at that.
These reactions are

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self-control.
For someone who has an addiction

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or serious issue with the use of
alcohol, there is likely at

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least initially, an element of
suppression needed, particularly

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to clear the chemical response
and withdrawal symptoms out of

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the system.
The indulgence is avoided while

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the individual works to solve
the underlying issue to reach a

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stage of total non attachment,
essentially an absence of

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connection between the object of
desire and the vital nature of

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the individual.
However that comes about and

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however long it takes, by taking
the poise of the witness of the

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nature and recognizing that all
these impulses of desire

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actually come from outside and
can either be admitted or denied

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admittance.
The distinction between

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suppression, when something is
already inside and self-control

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where it is simply denied
entrance is more easily

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recognized, Sriorabindo
observes.

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Quote not necessarily
suppression if the refusal of

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food to a desire is accompanied
by detachment in the major part

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of the being.
The difference between

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suppression nigraha and
self-control samyama is that one

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says I cannot help desiring but
I will not satisfy my desire,

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while the other says I refuse
the desire as well as the

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satisfaction of the desire.
Nigraha means holding down the

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movement, but a movement merely
held down is only suspended.

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It is better to reject and
dismiss detaching yourself from

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it.
End Quote.

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Reference Sri Aurobindo and the
Mother, Looking from Within,

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Chapter 5, Attitudes on the
Path, pages 154 to 155.