Understanding the Stage of Striving and the Role of Instincts in Response to External Events

0:01 Beyond the stage of flight or fight, we see in panic and the eventual recoil into inertia where we see the initial reactions of instinct at play. The stage of striving begins to harness energy of response by the vital being, albeit still very much under the influence and control of the power of instinctive behaviour. Striving, however, implies marshaling of the vital forces to try to address and overcome the perceived threat or obstacle in the way of the being's desire and thus goes beyond pure instinct to a type of vital focus or attention characterized by the guna of rajas.

0:47 Dr. Dalal writes quote in this stage striving. An individual still living primarily in the vital consciousness struggles against difficulties with the reactions of the vital consciousness, namely instincts and impulses. But instinctive reactions which serve the animal marvelously well in its struggle for existence are inadequate guides for a human being, because in the 1st place, instincts in man are far inferior to those in the animal. And secondly, because the problems which a human being has to tackle are far more complex than those faced by an animal calling for an intelligence which can see beyond a limited sphere where instincts are proverbially regarded as blind.

1:39 Moreover, instincts in themselves pose a problem to the human being because of the perpetual conflict between one instinct and another, and between instinct and reason. Thus, besides being inadequate for helping man and mastering the problems of life, instincts create an additional problem for the human being. The problem of self mastery, feelings and emotions which, like instincts also pertain to the vital consciousness, are indeed much more highly developed in the human being than even in the highest species of animal, but they have the same essential drawbacks as instincts. They operate within too narrow a sphere, primarily that of interpersonal relations, and like instincts they are fraught with conflict in the stage of striving during which human beings try to come to grips with the problems of life mastery and self mastery while still living predominantly in the vital consciousness.

2:47 Life is more or less a blind struggle, a groping towards I'll perceived and ever eluding goals. The course of life is determined mostly by forces other than one's conscious choices and deliberate decisions. Therefore, 1's internal state is characterized by feelings of uncertainty, insecurity, conflict, anxiety and tension. End Quote reference Srioro Vindo and the Mother looking from Within Introduction by Doctor Dalal Pages Roman 10 to Roman 11.