The Question of Possession by Vital Entities

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The question of possession by
vital beings has been

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sensationalized to such an
extent in modern society, with

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an entire genre of motion
pictures depicting such things

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in an extreme way, that it is
difficult to have a serious

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discussion and review of
whatever reality underlies these

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sensational tales.
It is also true that in some

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cases, people were accused of
being possessed not because of

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actual possession, but due to
desire, greed, fear, or other

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motives of individuals in a
position to press the claim.

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The Salem Witch Trials in Salem,
MA represent such a misguided

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approach to the subject.
The Holy Inquisition conducted

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by the Catholic Church also
distorted the question of

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possession based on motives of
power, greed, and control.

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These things tend to undermine
the credibility of reports of

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true possession as we confuse
the misguided and sensational

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reports and events with actual
underlying reality that can be

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seen or documented.
In this light, the Mother

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details experiences she had in
relation to cases of possession.

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It should be noted that not
everyone who acts in an

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unpredictable or even seemingly
irrational way can be described

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as possessed.
There are numerous potential

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causes of extreme unorthodox
behavior that cannot be chalked

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up to this cause in modern
society.

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We have to add the widespread
use of psychotropic drugs as

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another potential cause of
uncontrolled behavioral

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manifestations.
The underlying causes and the

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question of possible possession
are not always mutually

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exclusive.
Drugs, neurochemical imbalances,

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physical injury, or trauma of
various sorts, including

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psychological trauma, may
evidence similar behaviors as

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possession, but this does not
exclude the possibility of their

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masking a case of possession or
opening the door to it.

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Careful study and review must be
undertaken to do an accurate

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differential diagnosis with
potentially multiple layers of

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involvement to bring about the
manifested behavior suspected of

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being cases of possession.
The disciple asks, Are mentally

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deranged people possessed?
The mother answers Yes, unless

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there is a physical lesion, a
defect in the formation or an

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accident, a congestion, in all
other cases it is always a

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possession.
The proof of it is that if a

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person is brought to you who is
altogether mentally deranged, if

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he has a lesion he cannot be
cured, while if there is no

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physical lesion, if it is a
possession, then one can cure

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him.
Unfortunately, these things

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happen only to people who like
them.

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There must be in the being much
ambition, vanity, combined with

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much stupidity and a terrible
pride.

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It is on such things that those
beings play.

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I have known cases like that of
persons who were partially

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possessed, and I succeeded in
freeing them from the beings who

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possessed them.
Naturally they felt some relief,

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a kind of ease, for a time, but
it did not last long.

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Almost immediately it wore off,
and they thought, Now I have

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become quite an ordinary
creature, whereas before I was

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an exceptional being.
They used to feel within them an

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exceptional power, even if it
was a power to do evil, and they

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were satisfied with it.
So what did they do?

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They called back with all their
force the power they had lost.

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Of course, the being that had
been destroyed could not come

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back, but as these beings exist
in thousands, it was replaced by

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another.
I've seen this happen three

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times consecutively in a case.
So much so that in the end I had

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to tell the person I am tired,
get rid of it yourself, I am no

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longer interested.
End Quote Reference Sri

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Aurobindo and the Mother, The
Hidden Forces of Life, Chapter

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5, Occult Forces, pages 116 to
117.