The Occult Action and Power of Vital Beings and Forces in Human Activities and Institutions

For the most part, people live on the surface of their being, and do not see into the occult or hidden beings and forces that exist and act upon them, unseen, invisible and essentially unregarded. Many things that occur in the world are hard to explain without an understanding of the occult forces at work. Western medicine made a great progress when it finally opened up to the action of invisible entities and forces that are causative factors in disease. Consider that the widespread and deadly disease we call malaria was originally thought to be caused by the bad air in certain locales, hence the name ‘malaria’ or “bad air”. In fact, Western medicine was able to identify that malaria is actually caused by a single-cell parasite called ‘Plasmodium’ which is transmitted through the bite of certain mosquitoes. Once the vector and the cause were understood, invisible to the normal surface vision, steps could be taken to mitigate the spread of the disease through vector control, etc. As long as the cause of malaria was unknown it was subject to the development of superstition based on unwarranted assumptions, based on what we take for knowledge when we are limited to the surface view of things.

This is not an isolated example, but an indicator of how things occur in all areas of our lives, including in our religious institutions and practices. We do not see the forces and beings that actually either erect, or at least take advantage of, the institutions within which we bring and express our fears, regrets, desires, and impulsions. These vital beings are also very conscious about where and how they can best feed off of human emotions and energetic expression, and thus, they tend to congregate and in some cases even actively manage what takes place in these places of worship.

This is not restricted to any specific religion, but is more generally operative, just as sincere consecration and devotion is not limited to any one religion. The depth of the individual sincerity is a measure of both the type of protection the individual has when entering into such a vitally charged environment, and the amount and type of progress in his spiritual seeking that he can obtain, even when he undertakes his practices in what might be seen as a ‘compromised’ environment.

The Mother observes: “I am sorry, but that’s how it is. I tell you I have deliberately tried this experiment a little everywhere. Maybe I found some very tiny places, like a tiny village church at times, where there was a very quiet little spot for meditation, very still, very silent, where there was some aspiration; but this was so rare! I have seen the beautiful churches of Italy, magnificent places; they were full of these vital beings and full of terror. I remember painting in a basilica of Venice, and while I was working, in the confessional a priest was hearing the confession of a poor woman. Well, it was truly a frightful sight! I don’t know what the priest was like, what his character was, he could not be seen — you know, don’t you? that they are not seen, they are shut up in a box and receive the confession through a grille. There was such a dark and sucking power over him, and that poor woman was in such a state of fearful terror that it was truly painful to see it. And all these people believe this is something holy! But is is a web of the hostile vital forces which use all this to feed upon. Besides, in the invisible world hardly any beings love to be worshipped, except those of the vital. These, as I said, are quite pleased by it. And then, it gives them importance. They are puffed up with pride and feel very happy, and when they can get a herd of people to worship them they are quite satisfied….”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch. 5 Occult Forces, pp. 118-119

The Attraction of the Spiritual Life to Beings of the Vital World

Beings of the vital worlds in many cases interact with and act upon the material world in which we live and act as embodied beings. What is the attraction? Vital beings generally crave energy, excitement, novelty, the ‘food’ of their existence. If they are seeking to harvest such energy from human beings, they look for individuals who can provide them sustenance with less cost and risk, as do predatory species we see in the world. Spiritual seekers tend to have more openness generally and less resistance to non-material forces, and thus, can become easier prey for the vital beings to feast upon. Add to this various types of confusion and basic ignorance about the functioning of these non-material forces and beings, and we have a recipe for spiritual aspirants to be turned into prey.

In some cases, there may be beings in the vital world who become dissatisfied with the limitations of their lives and who want to participate in the evolution. While this may be more rare, given the nature of these beings, it can occur.

In some cases the vital beings use a spiritual cloak to attract individuals, and this then is simply an act of pure deception. Thus, we may find that some beings take on the shape or form of a religious leader or even an angelic being of some sort in order to capture the gullible and get them to do what they are bidding to be done. They take on a dynamic, charismatic form, pretend to be great masters, and then either entertain themselves or treat their followers as food. They have no sincerity, no respect for those they capture, and no interest in actual spiritual progress in such cases.

The Mother describes various circumstances in response to a disciple’s questoin.

A disciple inquires: “You have said that these beings of the vital world are attracted by the spiritual life. Why?”

The Mother responds: They are attracted, but this does not mean that they have decided sincerely to follow the spiritual life. The chief characteristic of these beings is falsehood: their nature is made of deceit. They have a power for illusion; they can take the appearance of divine beings or higher beings, they can appear in a dazzling light, but truly sincere people are not deceived, they immediately feel something that warns them. But if one likes the marvellous, the unexpected, if one loves fantastic things, if one likes to live a romance, one is likely to be easily deceived.”

“Not long ago there was a historical instance, that of Hitler, who was in contact with a being whom he considered to be the Supreme: this being came and gave him advice, told him all that he had to do. Hitler used to retire into solitude and remain there as long as it was necessary to come into contact with his ‘guide’ and receive from him inspirations which he carried out later very faithfully. This being which Hitler took for the Supreme was quite plainly an Asura, one who is called the ‘Lord of Falsehood’ in occultism, but who proclaimed himself the ‘Lord of the Nations’. He had a shining appearance, he could mislead anybody except one who really had occult knowledge and could see what was there behind the appearance. Generally he used to appear to Hitler wearing a silver cuirass and helmet; a kind of flame came out of his head and there was an atmosphere of dazzling light around him, so dazzling that Hitler could hardly look at him. He used to tell Hitler everything that had to be done — he played with him as with a monkey or a mouse. He had decided clearly to make Hitler commit all possible extravagances till the day he would break his neck, which did happen. But cases like this are frequent, though on a smaller scale, of course.”

\”Hitler was a very good medium, he had great mediumistic capacities, but he lacked intelligence and discrimination. This being could tell him anything whatever and he swallowed it all. It was he who pushed Hitler little by little. And he was doing this as a distraction, he did not take life seriously. For these beings men are very tiny things with whom they play, as a cat plays with a mouse, till finally they eat them up.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch. 5 Occult Forces, pp. 115-116

Vital Beings and Their Interaction in the Evolutionary World on the Material Plane

According to sages and rishis who have investigated the issue deeply, the earth, the material manifested world we live in, is the place where evolution of consciousness takes place, and thus, where the psychic being develops to carry the progress in this evolution at the individual level through from lifetime to lifetime. It is said that even the gods need to take birth in this world in order to progress. Otherwise, they are what we may call ‘static’ beings with a fixed place in the hierarchy of the manifestation.

This brings us then to the interaction between beings who are native to one of the vital domains but which interact with beings on the earth-plane. Thee vital beings are themselves static, non-evolutionary beings, and they thus do not possess a soul or psychic being. Their interactions are based on the fixed propensities and built-in needs and desires that they harbour. In some cases they feed off of the energies produced by their action. In other cases, they find enjoyment in the reactions they elicit.

Many human beings treat animals as a source of food, and they also control and train animals in many cases as a source of entertainment. We can see something analogous with respect to vital beings that invade the human domain for sustenance or enjoyment.

In the case of full-scale possession, they essentially take over the instrumentation of the body-life-mind complex but eliminate the psychic being and its evolutionary purpose. They want to use and eventually discard the frame without concern for any evolutionary purpose. In that instance, the body-life-mind that they occupy is no longer an evolutionary being but a static formation taking a physical shape in the material world. Identifying these circumstances however is not easy and requires considerable study and investigation in most cases, other than the most extreme, such as we saw with the situation of Hitler, who was clearly possessed and controlled by a vital entity.

A disciple asks: “Have these vital beings a psychic being?”

The Mother answers: “No, I said that the first thing they have to do to incarnate is to drive away the psychic being of the person whom they possess. That may happen from the very birth. There are children who are almost still-born; they are taken to be dead and suddenly they revive — this means that a vital being has incarnated in them. I have known such cases. This may happen also in the course of an illness: someone is very ill and gradually he lets go the contact with the psychic being, then, in a swoon or some other similar state, he cuts the contact entirely and the vital being rushes into the body. I have known cases of this kind also. Or it may be a slow action: the vital being enters into the atmosphere of the person, goes on influencing him and finally brings about illness, attacks, specially mental illness; then a time comes when the connection with the psychic being is entirely cut and the vital being takes possession of the body. There are cases of people falling very ill and coming out of the illness altogether different from what they were. Very often it is this that happens.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch. 5 Occult Forces, pp. 114-115

Universal Forces, the Chakra Energy Centers, and the Utilization of the Forces

Each individual has his own unique types and levels of receptivity, and these too can vary over time. The universal forces are constantly there, but if an individual is closed off, unresponsive, then he does not gain the full benefit of that force. The ancient description of the energy centres in the subtle body, the chakras, holds that we receive energies through an ascending series of centres, and each one has its own characteristic action and expression. In other words, the universal force is converted into specific types of energy based on which chakra is able to open and receive it, and to what extent. Some paths of yoga actually work to move energy from the lower chakras that govern drives such as sex, desire, greed, power, etc. and channel those energies through the higher centres which govern things such as compassion, expression, will, intellect and spiritual focus. One can look at the chakras as representing different vibrational intensities and levels. People make use of the energy not simply based on the chakras, but also based on the predominance of a particular Guna, tamas, rajas or sattva, at the time the energy is received.

Chakras can also close off or shut down and this is particularly true when there is trauma involved and the individual draws in as a form of protective device. Generally, there is some amount of energy flowing through various chakras at any point in time, although the higher chakras governing will, intellect and spiritual development may remain closed, or mostly closed, for people focused almost entirely on the external life and channeling energy thereby through the lower 3 chakras for the most part.

Spiritual aspirants have a special responsibility as the chakras open and they become receptive to forces that are working toward spiritual development. If they utilize the force to fulfil desires of various sorts, channeling the energy out through the lower chakras, they tend to suffer consequences. This includes individuals who, for instance, take up spiritual practices and then use the powers that result to exalt themselves through fame, acquire wealth or obtain sexual satisfactions. The force tends to withdraw eventually from such individuals and they wind up in many cases broken, physically, vitally and mentally. In some cases they see the effect of their misuse rebound upon them in very consequential ways.

On the other hand, those who become receptive to the forces that enhance spiritual progress, and who use those forces to continue to develop and grow spiritually, find that their capacity to receive them tends to expand, and there is an ever-increasing action that takes place as they tune themselves to the higher vibrational patterns that act through the higher chakras.

“The Mother writes: “Each person has a different receptivity. No two receptivities are the same in quality and quantity, but specially in quality. One enters into contact with very pure, very intense forces — what could be already called converted forces, that is, universal vital forces which are in contact with the Divine and not only receive the Divine but aspire to receive Him. So if you absorb these forces it gives you a great strength for progress. It is in this that the quality is much more important. And for the quality of the universal vital forces, it depends naturally a great deal on what one is, but also much on what one does.”

“If one uses these forces for a purely selfish action of a base kind, well, one makes it almost totally impossible for himself to receive any new ones of as fine a quality. All depends on the utilisation of the forces one receives. If, on the other hand, you use them to make progress, to perfect yourself, it gives you… it increases your capacity of receiving enormously, and the next time you can have a lot more. All depends (in any case, principally) on the use made of them. There are people, for instance, who are short-tempered by nature and haven’t succeeded in controlling their anger. Well, if with an aspiration or by some method or other they have managed to receive some higher vital forces, instead of this calming their irritation or anger… because they have no self-control it increases their anger, that is, their irritability, their movement of violence is full of a greater force, a greater energy, and becomes much more violent. So it is well said that to be in contact with universal forces does not make one progress. But this is because they make a bad use of them. Yet naturally in the long run, this bad use diminishes the capacity of receiving; but it takes time, it is not immediate. So it is very important to put yourself in a good condition to receive the higher forces and not the lower ones, and secondly, when you have received them use them for the best thing possible, in order to prepare yourself to receive those which are of a higher quality. But if you open yourself, receive the forces and afterwards, being satisfied with having received them you let yourself fall into all the ordinary movements, well, you close the door and the force no longer returns.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch. 4 Cosmic and Universal Forces, pp 96-97

The Need to Prepare the Being to Receive, Hold and Utilize the Influx of the Higher Forces

The raw power generated by an electricity power plant is far greater than any single house can sustain. Thus, the utility company utilizes step-down transformers to systematically bring the power down to a level that the homes and the wiring to the homes can sustain.

A similar principle is at work with regard to the universal forces and the ability of any individual to receive and hold those forces. This is the reason that much of the work done in any yogic practice is to prepare the being to receive and utilize the force that descends.

Raja Yoga provides a great example. The first two steps, yama and niyama include various vital purifications and control and management of the vital forces active in the being, such as non injury, non stealing, truthfulness, contentment, etc. If any of these vital predilections is active, it can either misuse the energy coming in or waste it without accomplishing the spiritual objective. The next stage includes asana, in terms of maintaining a solid physical frame and capacity to hold and move energy. While this is mostly associated with the physical frame, actually the term asana can signify the entire being at all its levels. The goal of a solid ‘seat’ therefore is to have a framework, physical, vital and mental, that can hold the yogic forces when they enter and are activated in the being. The next step is pranayama which is the management of the prana or the vital force that activates and operates within the physical body. The prana is also the link between the external forces and the physical frame, and is usually controlled through management of the breathing process. There is a direct link also between the management of the thoughts and the management of the breath, so it is an essential step to gain control of the breath, purify the ‘channels’ through which the various forms of prana move, and bring the thoughts also under control, eventually leading to a quieting of the mental process. It is only after these 4 preliminary stages are accomplished that Raja Yoga moves on to the deeper practices that bring direct connection to the spiritual reality and the forces that are at work at those levels.

A disciple asks: “Sweet Mother, do the universal vital forces have any limits?”

The Mother answers: “I don’t think that forces have a limit, because in comparison with us they are certainly unlimited. But it’s our capacity of reception that is limited. We cannot absorb them beyond a certain measure, and then we must keep a balance between the expenditure and the capacity to receive. If one spends suddenly in a kind of impulse — for example, in an impulsive movement — if one spends much more than one has received, one needs a brief moment of concentration, calm, receptivity to absorb universal forces. You must put yourself in a certain condition to receive them; and then, they last for a certain time, and once you have spent them you must begin again to receive them. It is in this sense that there are limits. It isn’t the forces that are limited, it is the receptivity.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch. 4 Cosmic and Universal Forces, pg 96

How to Experience the Influx of Universal Forces Directly Through the Experience of a Wider Consciousness

The Vedic Rishis described a change in conscious awareness as representing satyam, rtam, brihat, the truth, the right, the vast. It is difficult for most people living in the modern world to gain a conception of the vastness of existence. We may know intellectually that the universe is large, we may know that the world, from our individual perspective is large, but the sense of infinity, the sense of unending wideness is missing as we remain circumscribed by the limits of our daily life and the frenetic pace of interaction that occurs within that life. Few are the times or occasions when an individual is able to extract himself from the hustle and bustle of daily life and focus his attention on the vastness that automatically widens his consciousness and opens it up to the direct impact of the universal forces.

In the days of the Vedic rishis, there was not a pervasive and overwhelming buzz of electricity, artificial lighting and constant vibrations of sound of television, radio, internet, fluorescent lights, billboard signs, motor vehicles, etc. They could sit quietly in nature, and naturally observe the stars, the ocean, the mountain ranges and thereby open themselves to an experience of Nature. Until an individual has an actual experience of that vast consciousness, it remains purely a mental concept and does not thereby create the necessary status of consciousness for the kind of direct connection that is described by the rishis.

The First Nations’ people of North America have a tradition for those with a calling to go on a ‘vision quest’. Typically they go out alone, into the wilderness, to commune with Nature, to experience a touch of the infinite expanse of the universal creation, and to let the day to day life slip away so they can experience a deeper realisation and understand who they are and why they are alive.

If one takes the time to travel to isolated places, to the mountains, to the ocean, to a great old growth forest, and observes the night sky, for instance, there arises within a feeling of unlimited wideness that corresponds to the outer view. One can share in the experience of infinity, of a timelessness that escapes our normal daily awareness, of a beauty that captivates our souls as one leaves behind the limiting factors that distract us from the greater reality within which we live. Truly it is said that day for the ordinary man is night for the sage.

Sri Aurobindo describes this sense of wideness, and the power of Nature in his epic poem Savitri: a Legend and a Symbol, when he writes: “I know there shall inform the inconscient cells, At one with Nature and at height with heaven, A spirit vast as the containing sky And swept with ecstasy from invisible founts….”

The Mother notes: “But when one has this capacity in his own consciousness — for example, you go for a walk and come to a place which is somewhat vast, like the seashore or like a great plain or the summit of a mountain, a place where the horizon is fairly vast, then if you have this kind of physical instinct which suddenly makes you as vast as the horizon, you have a sense of infinity, immensity, and the vaster you become, the quieter and more peaceful you become.”

“It is enough for you to have a contact with Nature like that.”

“There are many other means, but this one is very spontaneous. There is also… when you see something very beautiful you can have the same thing: a kind of inner joy and an opening to the forces, and so this widens you and fills you at the same time. There are many means but usually one does not use them. Naturally, if you enter into contemplation and aspire for a higher life and call down the forces from above, this recuperates your energies more than anything else. But there are numerous methods.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch. 4 Cosmic and Universal Forces, pp 95-96

Accessing Universal Vital Forces Directly or Through Vital Interchange With Others

The Mother clarifies a distinction between receiving the universal vital forces directly and receiving them through a vital interchange with other individuals. These two methods represent two entirely different statuses of consciousness. To receive the universal vital forces directly, a wide and receptive consciousness is needed. Many people do not appreciate that this is an actual, palpable experience of wideness, not restricted to a mental status. As the yogic practice develops, it is possible to have glimpses of this experiential state, and eventually to live constantly in that wideness, not limited to the awareness of the physical frame of the body.

Most individuals, however, identify themselves with the physical body and its limited frame. In such cases, they do not openly and consciously receive the universal vital forces (although these forces are constantly active and working on a subliminal level). They engage for the most part in interchange with other individuals similarly situated and draw in vital energies from those other individuals and pass along the vital energies they are holding to their associates. The Mother describes the limitations and the issues involved with such a process.

The Mother observes: “But those who draw back upon themselves, who turn and double up on themselves, cannot do this. One must live all the time in a very vast and very expansive consciousness (I don’t know if you understand the word, it means something which extends very homogeneously and quietly, as when the tide is at its height and the water spreads like that, quietly — that’s the impression). The vital must be like that — then one is open to the universal forces. But if, for example, one has the very bad habit of exchanging vital forces with one’s fellowmen, then one loses the capacity altogether. So unless one is in relation with someone, one receives nothing at all. But naturally if you receive forces through others, you receive at the same time all the difficulties of the other person, perhaps sometimes his qualities also, but these are less contagious. This indeed is something that shuts you up most.”

“Some people… unless they have more or less social relations with others, relations of friendship, conversing… and then it goes still farther… they don’t receive any forces; and this is how they receive them. But this always makes a soup. The forces one receives are already half digested, in any case they don’t have their primal purity, and this affects your own capacity.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch. 4 Cosmic and Universal Forces, pp 94-95

Increasing Lifespan and Wellness Is the Trajectory of Human Development

If we observe the trajectory of human development, we can see a very clear direction taking shape. As we have become more conscious of the stages of life, and the processes that accompany those stages, including the increasing weakening and deterioration of the body and the life energy, and the eventual breakdown and thus, the movement toward the death of the body, we also have taken steps to learn how to increase health, wellness and longevity. Some of the means employed relate to developing an understanding of the factors that lead to the breakdown of the systems of the body, the increasing focus on hygiene and sanitation, the improvement in dietary understanding, and the need for exercise, etc. We thus see a dramatic improvement over the last century in both average lifespan (other than that caused through war, poverty, drought or famine or floods, etc.) and, with advances in medical science, definite improvements in the possibility of maintaining a general state of wellness commensurate to the increased lifespan. Of course, factors such as poor dietary habits, alcoholism, stressful work environments, and other lifestyle and diet issues can, for individuals, work against the general trend of humanity’s enhancements. Here we are focusing on the general trend, not the specific fate of any specific individual.

This trajectory also has moved into the fields of vital and mental factors, and the need for techniques of stress reduction, life satisfaction, and mental stimulation and purpose become relevant as the lifespan continues. We are beginning to recognise that a vegetarian or vegan diet can actually provide benefits not only physically but also vitally and mentally, and we see an increasing trend in this direction as well. The real question that then begins to limit longevity and wellness is whether the increased life represents a benefit to an individual, or is seen as a burden. In this sense, the Mother’s statement that “an aimless life is a meaningless life” becomes centrally relevant. Increased life and health will be dependent on the attitude of the individual toward having a meaningful life.

If we follow this trajectory further, we find that humanity is now beginning to explore more seriously what heretofore has been a random circumstance, to explore ways to actually develop more inward relation to the body and its processes and its ability to receive and utilize energy, and thus, there is experimentation with breath control techniques, the use of sound vibrational therapy, and the use of deep meditation techniques to begin to positively impact what have generally been thought to be subconscious and automatic functioning of the various bodily systems.

We also recognise that various animals have the ability to regenerate parts of their body that become injured. The genetic coding for this lies hidden deep within the human being, and cutting edge research is exploring the details of the human genome and experimenting with the idea of actually turning on, or off, various code sequences that govern issues that confront us in extending lifespan and wellness.

The fields of spiritual development and Western science are both converging toward an understanding that our past, and even our current, view of human life and wellness is based almost entirely on physical anatomy and physiology. But given the trends we see, we can begin to open our minds to a time when, through one direction or another, or through a combined impact, we can begin to replace or regenerate worn out organs, we can learn to optimize the care and feeding of the human body’s machinery, and thereby find ways to extend considerably more, human life, while at the same time, providing a higher quality of that extended life. Are there individuals who already have some of this capacity?

The Mother writes: “But those who know instinctively or who have learnt to receive and accumulate the universal vital forces, these can last almost indefinitely. The wear and tear is very little, especially if they know how to do it and do it with knowledge and method; then here it can reach a certain degree of perfection.”

“When one knows, sometimes just two or three minutes are sufficient to recuperate the energies spent over a long period. Only, one must know how to do it.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch. 4 Cosmic and Universal Forces, pg. 94

Receiving and Utilizing the Universal Vital Forces

In our fragmented process of understanding, we frequently create an artificial separation that does not exist in reality. Thus, seekers sometimes undertake to find ways to draw on the universal vital energy, when in fact, it is through the flow of that energy that they live, breathe, exist, grow and undertake actions. A more precise formulation of their interest is how to tap into the universal vital force consciously, at will, and with enhanced power flow.

The first thing necessary is to understand the nature of universal forces, wherever they are operative. All existence occurs as a result of the operation of universal forces. For the most part, we take their action for granted, and thus, do not see or recognise them as such. As an example, in his book The Mother, Sri Aurobindo points out that “Money is the visible sign of a universal force, and this force in its manifestation on earth works on the vital and physical planes and is indispensable to the fullness of the outer life. In its origin and its true action it belongs to the Divine.” Few actually consciously recognise what Sri Aurobindo implies here.

We are constantly drawing on the universal vital forces and then expending them again in our various actions and activities. This occurs automatically, unconsciously and spontaneously. The Mother provides the example of how children are automatically participating in this flow of energy on the vital level.

There are ways to restrict or block off flow of these forces, and that occurs in the acculturation, education and development process as individuals try to adjust their energetic action to fit within the framework of the society within which they are living. It also occurs through traumatic experiences, painful episodes or anything that causes an individual to “close off” and shut down their receptivity or build a wall around himself. Additionally, the play of forces focused through one chakra or another tends to restrict the flow of energy through the other energetic centers, so that, for instance, people fixated on ambition, or greed, or sex will have frequently very little openness to the centers that deal with intellect, higher emotions, compassion, etc. While this is not a complete correlation, it is often the case.

For anyone who has taken steps to wall off any of these energy nexuses within themselves, the ability to reopen those centers and get the energy flowing once again is of high importance.

This then brings us to the individual who is a spiritual aspirant, who has a reasonably receptive being and who seeks to enhance the flow of energies. There is an extensive body of yogic literature that describes how to open, activate and direct the energies, so it is not necessary to go into those options here. Each of the yogic paths addresses some aspect of opening to the higher forces and putting that energy to work in a positive way. the use of asana, pranayama, mudra, dhyana, concentration and samadhi are some of the techniques to bring the energy into the being and apply it for the seeker’s purpose.

Some individuals try to grab the force and appropriate it for their own desire-fulfillment. While this can be done in some cases, it can also be highly counter-productive and even harmful, particularly if the instrument, the body-life-mind complex, is not prepared and able to hold that force. Generally the best approach is a consistent, persistent, and focused receptivity in the being.

The Mother writes: “Some people discover that with certain movements, certain gestures, certain activities, they enter into contact more closely. I knew people who gesticulated while walking… this truly gave them the impression that they were in contact — certain gestures they made while walking… But children do this spontaneously: when they give themselves completely in their games, running, playing, jumping, shouting; when they spend all their energies like that, they give themselves entirely, and in the joy of playing and moving and running they put themselves in contact with this universal vital force; they don’t know it, but they spend their vital force in a contact with the universal vital force and that is why they can run without really feeling very tired, except after a very long time. That is, they spend so much that if they were not in contact with the universal force, they would be absolutely exhausted, immediately. And that is why, besides, they grow up; it is also because they receive more than they spend. And this does not correspond to any knowledge. It is a natural, spontaneous movement. It is the movement… a movement of joy in what they are doing — of joyful expenditure. One can do many things with that.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch. 4 Cosmic and Universal Forces, pp. 90-91

Preparation and Training Needed to Consciously Draw on the Universal Vital Force

We recognise that there are ocean currents which circulate ocean water world wide and regulate the climate. We also recognise that there are air currents which we can partially observe through the soaring of birds who let the air currents carry them along, and experience directly if we are participating in the sport of hang gliding, or operating an air balloon or small airplane. Meteorologists refer to the jet stream and the movement of air in consistent patterns is a well-known and accept phenomenon, on which we rely and which we utilize constantly. There are also currents internal to the earth with the flow of molten magma which over time can change the speed of the spin of the world in space and shift the magnetic orientation of the planet as well. We recognise the movement of streams of energy from the sun and other sources of radiation in the universe.

A similar process of the movement of currents occurs at the vital and the mental levels of energy. We marvel at the synchronized flight of birds or swimming of schools of fish. In these cases, it is a vital force that connects all of them and they respond instantaneously, together, to create the mass movement patterns about which we marvel when we observe them.

When we stop to reflect we can observe the symbiotic vital existence between plants and trees and animals and humans. We breathe regularly and as we do so, we are taking in the elements of the air excreted by the plant kingdom, and in turn, they take in the elements excreted by us. We are thus all part of one large vital existence. Sometimes when we enter an old growth forest, we can feel a change in the energetic nature of the life that surrounds us and we may experience a feeling of awe, or consecration or deep peace that comes over us. There are also vital energies that circulate among human beings, which can create various emotional or vital states such as devotion, love, fear, hatred, consecration etc.

On the mental plane, similarly, there are patterns of thought that move as waves or currents and which thereby tend to influence and develop in the individuals who come in contact with them. We can experience this sometimes in a highly concentrated mental atmosphere such as in a library or research laboratory.

Once we recognise these patterns, we can systematically work to open ourselves to those we seek to bring into our lives. Certain practitioners of yoga, for instance, practice various forms of breath control, called pranayama, whereby they focus their state of awareness on the movement of the vital energies that they bring in and circulate within themselves and thereby can influence the thoughts, emotions, feelings and physical status. Special practices of this sort are not, however, absolutely necessary to draw upon the vital force; rather, a sense of openness and receptivity can provide the opportunity needed for these forces to act within one consciously, while it must be recognised that they are active all the time, at some level, whether we are consciously aware of it or not.

A disciple asks: “Sweet Mother, how can one draw on ‘the universal vital Force’? “

The Mother responds: “One can do it in many ways. First of all, you must know that it exists and that one can enter into contact with it. Secondly, you must try to make this contact, to feel it circulating everywhere, through everything, in all persons and all circumstances; to have this experience, for example, when you are in the countryside among trees, to see it circulating in the whole of Nature, in trees and things, and then commune with it, feel yourself close to it, and each time you want to deal with it, recall that impression you had and try to enter into contact.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Ch. 4 Cosmic and Universal Forces, pg. 90