The Power of Suggestion Working Through Personal Connections

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There is a serious rationale
behind the many spiritual paths

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that counsel the true seeker to
abandon his family, his friends,

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his social life, and live
secluded in a cave in the

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forest, in the desert to
practice his spiritual

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discipline.
All of these connections and

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social interactions bring with
them vibrational patterns that

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express the forces of thought,
the forces of emotions, the

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forces of desires, the forces of
physical and vital demand that

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automatically enter into one and
raise those similar vibrations

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within oneself.
They are not only the unspoken

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assumptions that are part of the
cultural background, but very

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concrete expectations that arise
from one's family, friends, Co

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workers, and associates, even
from strangers with whom we have

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just a passing interaction.
Even a cursory observation can

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lead one to understand that many
of the impulses that arise

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within each individual are the
result of these interactions.

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We may enter a place that is
filled with desire for certain

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foods and suddenly we have a
craving.

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Or we may enter a place where
people are expressing their

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sexual desires and suddenly we
too may feel that impulse.

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Someone may be angry and we
engage with our own angry

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response, where someone may be
deep in a state of depression

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and we feel drained and tired
after an interaction with that

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individual.
People who imbibe recreational

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drugs frequently talk about
something they call a contact

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high, where an individual not
partaking of the drug

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nevertheless gets a glimpse of
the experience just from being

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in the environs of those who are
under that influence.

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Sometimes an individual
experiences a sudden fear and it

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takes hold of other individuals
nearby.

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People visit churches, temples,
ashrams, and experience there a

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deep sense of peace or
contentment, or a blissful

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feeling out of a similar
influence from individuals who

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are experiencing that state.
In that environment it is of

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course not possible nor
necessary for everyone seeking

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spiritual realization to try to
isolate himself from others, nor

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join in ashram.
And it must be noted that such

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isolation is in many cases
counterproductive or even a

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failure over the long term.
What is required is an awareness

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of this influence, and thus an
increasing consciousness of the

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play of forces of the
vibrational patterns that are

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provoked and the need to
exercise a review and some

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amount of self-control over
them, with a recognition that

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they are coming to one from
outside and are not inherently

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one's own feeling, sensation,
impulse, desire or thought.

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For the most part, the
vibrations that arise from one's

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associations in the world are
relatively weak, as most people

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do not concentrate the force of
these vibrations consciously or

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intensely.
There is also a mixing influence

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as various impulses may cross
one another, partially cancel

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each other out, or dilute
themselves.

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Thus it is like a low grade
vibrational state that is

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constantly operative but which
can be viewed and managed with

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conscious awareness.
In rare instances, there is

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someone who is consciously
trying to extend a control or an

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influence, and these individuals
can have a greater impact, which

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leads to things we can observe
in the world, such as the

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development of a cult of
personality where the followers

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come under the direct influence
and control of a specific

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individual, who then becomes a
leader.

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Whether religious, spiritual,
political or some form of

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charismatic individual in any
field, the mother notes quote,

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you live surrounded by people.
These people themselves have

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desires, stray wishes, impulses
which are expressed through

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them, and have all kinds of
causes but take in their

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consciousness and individual
form.

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For example, to put it in very
practical terms, you have a

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father, a mother, brothers,
sisters, friends, comrades.

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Each one has his own way of
feeling willing, and all those

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with whom you are in relation
expect something from you, even

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as you expect something from
them.

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That's something they do not
always express to you, but it is

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more or less conscious in their
being, and it makes formations.

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These formations, according to
each one's capacity of thought

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and the strength of his
vitality, are more or less

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powerful, but they have their
own little strength, which is

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usually much the same as yours.
And So what those around you

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want, desire, hope, or expect
from you, enters in this way in

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the form of suggestions, very
rarely expressed, but which you

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absorb without resistance, and
which suddenly awaken within you

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a similar desire, a similar
will, a similar impulse.

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This happens from morning to
night and again from night to

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morning, For these things don't
stop while you are sleeping, but

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On the contrary, are very often
intensified because your

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consciousness is no longer
awake, watching and protecting

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you to some extent.
And this is quite common.

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So common that it is quite
natural, and so natural that you

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need special circumstances and
most unusual occasions to become

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aware of it naturally.
It goes without saying that your

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own responses, your own
impulses, your own wishes have a

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similar influence on others, and
that all this becomes a

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marvelous mixture in which might
is always right.

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End Quote Reference Sri
Aurobindo and the Mother, The

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Hidden Forces of Life, Chapter
3, Hidden Forces around pages 59

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to 60.