The Standpoint of the Individual Rooted in the Vital Nature

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Each individual is rooted
primarily in one of the major

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component aspects of our human
individuality.

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Some are clearly rooted in the
physical, and their thoughts,

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actions, and needs are those
called for by the physical

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being.
The vast majority of people are

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moved by their vital being and
are moved by their sensations,

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emotions, desires, and vital
drives.

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A much smaller number are based
in the mental range and their

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focus is then on concerns and
issues of the mental being.

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There are also those who are
rooted in either the psychic

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soul aspect or the spiritual
aspect of the being.

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Wherever the individual finds
his primary focus or standpoint,

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he tends to act from there and
evaluate things based on that

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standpoint.
Those who take up spiritual

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pursuits do not suddenly lose or
abandon their natural

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standpoint.
Rather, they tend to bring that

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frame with them into their
spiritual endeavors.

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For the large number who live
primarily in the vital being,

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they are consumed by feelings,
emotions and relations, as well

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as desires, even if those
desires are set forth under the

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guise of spiritual progress or
the greater glory of the

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spiritual leader or path they
are following.

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This standpoint, of course, has
the effect of actually retarding

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the progress.
In most cases, even desire for

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progress can become an obstacle
if it disturbs or disrupts and

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brings in the unsettling
energies associated with the

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guna of rajas.
To any great degree, Sriorobindo

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observes, quote, Most people
live in the vital.

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That means that they live in
their desires, sensations,

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emotional feelings, vital
imaginations, and see and

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experience and judge everything
from that point of view.

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It is the vital that moves them,
the mind being at its service,

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not its master.
In yoga also many people do

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sadhana from that plane and
their experience is full of

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vital visions, formations,
experiences of all kinds.

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But there is no mental clarity
or or order, neither do they

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rise above the mind.
It is only the minority of men

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who live in the mind or in the
psychic or try to live in the

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spiritual plane.
In quote reference Sriorobindo

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and the Mother Our Many Selves,
Practical Yogic Psychology,

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Chapter 2, Plains and Parts of
the Being, page 31.