The Sex Impulse, the Subconscient and the Spiritual Practice

0:00 The waking consciousness takes notice of only a very small fraction of all the impressions that reach the senses, not all impressions or direct sense impressions, as some impinge directly on the aura or on the mental substance without involving the five external senses. Of those directly noted, only a small percentage are actually accepted consciously and acted upon, while we do not generally take cognizance of them. These impressions are captured and held in the subconscient being when the waking consciousness withdraws and along with it the active mental control that it exerts. The unnoticed and undigested impressions have the ability to rise and take the form of dreams in many cases, as well as a general restlessness during sleep. When we live an isolated life away from modern media and the energetic force of modern society. We obviously do not capture as many of these impressions directly as we do if we are actively involved in the external life of the world, for example, as the world has become hypersexualized in its imagery and energy. Even those who are focused on other things or who actively reject sexual energies from their being are exposed to the impressions that get embedded in

1:34 the subconcient layers of the being. They are to arise when the control is absent or when somehow triggered by some past experience, event, or formation. The spiritual seeker may avoid sexual expression or focus and yet have an experience in dream. This can be seen as a highly positive fact as it implies that the sexual tendency has been mostly reduced or eliminated from the act of consciousness. The risk, and therefore the area for required vigilance, is that when the sexual dream arises, the seeker will accept it or even allow it to gain a foothold in the waking consciousness through action or through imagination or visualization.

2:26 The sexual impulse, as it is so deeply bound to the physical and vital nature, will always attempt to re establish itself through environmental pressure, through the rising of sexual impulses in the subconscious, and from there an attempt to obtain the acquiescence and active support of the waking consciousness. At a certain point in the sadhna it is possible for the seeker to become conscious even in sleep, to maintain his dedicated aspiration and thereby to reject the pressure if it tries to arise in dreams. Note that becoming conscious in sleep does not mean fighting to stay awake, but rather to infuse the aspiration so completely into the consciousness that it permeates even the subconscious realm of the being. Sri Orobindo observes quote.

3:27 This kind of sexual attack through sleep does not depend very much on food or anything else that is outward. It is a mechanical habit in the subcontinent when the sexual impulse is rejected or barred out in the waking thoughts and feelings. It comes in this form in sleep, for then there is only the subcontinent at work, and there is no conscious control. It is a sign of sexual desire, suppressed in the waking mind and vital, but not eliminated in the stuff of the physical nature. To eliminate it one must first be careful to harbour no sexual imagination or feeling in the waking state, next to put a strong will on the body, and especially on the sexual centre, that there should be nothing of the kind in sleep.

4:20 This may not succeed at once, but if persevered in for a long time, it usually has a result. The subcontinent begins to obey. End Quote reference Srioro window bases of yoga chapter 4 desire food sex page 80.