Mastery Beyond Asceticism and Indulgence

Human beings have a tendency to move from one extreme to the other, like a pendulum swing. When we are faced with a particular conce
we want to resolve, we apply this tendency. When it comes therefore to the force of desire and the attraction of material objects, we either become attached to them and try to grab and hold onto them (the materialist approach) or else, we try to remove their influence from our lives and thereby deny our relation to these objects (the ascetic approach). In The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo provides a comprehensive overview of each of these extremes in the chapters on ‘The Materialist Denial’, and ‘The Refusal of the Ascetic’. His solution lies in the perception of unity as outlined in the chapter ‘Reality Omnipresent’.

A true solution to our relationship with material things and the desire to possess them is not in simply abandoning them, nor is it in losing oneself in the attempt to satisfy the desire for possession that we have when we come into relation with these material objects.

We find in Nature a widespread, seemingly wild dispersal of seeds in order to ensure the survival of the various species. As the mental power develops, we find a much more targeted action that does not require this type of (apparently) wasteful action. As the consciousness develops, there can come a point where action is directed, controlled and poised for achieving the intended purpose, without falling either to the side of ascetic denial of the force of the material creation, or to the side of Nature’s untrammeled dispersion.

For the spiritual seeker, too, there comes a point where indulgence in desire or in attachment to the objects of the senses needs to be curtailed so that the focus and energy can be directed toward the spiritual pursuits. Ideally, this can be done through non-attachment without going to the extreme of the ascetic refusal. In early stages it may be necessary for the seeker to cut himself off from the process until he is able to maintain his central focus and not be distracted. At that point, he may take up interfacing with material objects and activities if he is called upon to carry out his yogic development in the world.

Sri Aurobindo notes: “Asceticism for its own sake is not the ideal of this Yoga, but self-control in the vital and right order in the material are a very important part of it — and even an ascetic discipline is better for our purpose than a loose absence of true control. Mastery of the material does not mean having plenty and profusely throwing it out or spoiling it as fast as it comes or faster. Mastery implies in it the right and careful utilisation of things and also a self-control in their use.”

Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 4, Desire — Food — Sex, pg. 65