Om! The vital-emotional sheath - Atman Nityananda

The vital-emotional sheath

The Vital energy (Life energy, prana in Sanskrit) is the life force in all living beings; it has two aspects the Physical and Psychic Vital energy and carries out all physiological and psychological functions. All physical functions, such as those of the cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal system, digestive system and all other bodily systems, are performed by the physical vital energy (physical prana). Likewise, all psychological functions such as thinking, imagination, feelings, emotions and all other mental and emotional processes are performed by the vital-psychic energy (psychic prana). It follows that the vital-emotional sheath and all vital-emotional expressions are related to the vital-psychic energy.

When psychic life energy is dominated by desire, greed, passion, ambitions and ego, then it brings disorder and disharmony and becomes the main source of pain and suffering. When purified from lower emotions and harmonized, the vital enable us to experience the happiness of sattva and the peace, plenitude and bliss of our true Self or Consciousness. Since time immemorial the humans developed a distorted state of vital energy and all low vital-emotional disturbances (greed, lasciviousness, anger, fear, envy, etc.). 

These disturbances of the vital sheath are connected with sexual energy which has taken in human beings the form of lust. Paramahansa Yogananda and Samael Aun Weor speak of the degradation and attachment of human consciousness to the body and sensory experiences and the development of egoic tendencies due to sexual activity. The forbidden apple of Eden for Adam and Eve was sexual union only for pleasure through orgasms, instead of conserving and transforming sexual energy into spiritual energy (Ojas and Tejas). Gurdjieff and Samael Aun Weor have also said that this degradation occurred because of the organ of kundartiguador or kundabaffer.

 

The seed of the original error of “Adam and Eve” remains in all human beings as the first temptation of the flesh against the immaculate laws of Spirit (‘touch not the tree in the centre of the garden!’). Each individual since that dim era has had to engage his soul in battle with the cosmically present temptation of sex.

Man and woman, instead of seeking emancipation in God through soul unity, sought satisfaction through the flesh. 

The sex impulse is the single most physically magnetic power that pulls the life and consciousness down from Spirit in the higher centres in the brain, out through the coccygeal centre into matter and body consciousness. The beginner in yoga meditation experiences all too definitely how grounded he is by the stubborn attachment of his life and energy to the body, sometimes without realizing that it is his uncontrolled thoughts and acts of sex that are primarily responsible for his earthbound condition.   

 ~ Paramahamsa Yogananda 

The connection of sexual energy, the mind and the vital energy (prana) affirms clearly Swami Sivananda in the following extract:

Mind, Prana and Veerya (sexual energy or semen) are one.
By controlling the mind, you can control Prana and semen (sexual energy).
By controlling Prana you can control the mind and semen (sexual energy).
By controlling semen (sexual energy), you can control the mind and Prana.

  ~ Swami Sivananda

Dr. Freud had also found that sexuality plays a major role in human life and that is related with human behaviour as well as with human neurosis and other psychological imbalances. He named this unconscious impulse for sexual pleasure and any kind of sense pleasure id.

According Dr. Freud the id is the impulsive and unconscious part of our psyche which responds directly and immediately to the instincts including the sex instinct. It operates on the pleasure principle which is the idea that every wishful impulse should be satisfied immediately, regardless of the consequences. The id demands immediate satisfaction and when this happens, we experience pleasure, when it is denied, we experience ‘frustration’ or pain.  The id engages in a process of thinking, which is primitive illogical, irrational, and fantasy oriented. Impatience, like-dislike, anger, hatred, anxiety, fear and depression are the emotions that are directly related with the id. 

Dr.Freud investigated people with psychological disturbances and diseases but he didn't study yogis, saints or people of a high level of consciousness. He didn't also investigate the positive aspects or the spiritual aspects of sexuality as well as he didn't investigate the higher capacities of the human mind and the Soul. Nevertheless, he was a pioneer for his age and he gave us a very deep knowledge about the human subconscious mind and its disfunctioning; this knowledge at some degree can be very useful for anyone who works for the dissolution of his egoic mind and the desire mechanism. 

Sri Aurobindo refers to the vital sheath as the vital proper, which is acting with impulses, emotions, desires, ambitions, etc. He says that all lower vital-emotional formations are related to the outer heart while the higher or psychic feelings, the intuitive yearnings and impulses of the Soul to the inner heart. According Aurobindo the vital proper has four parts: 1. The mental vital, 2. The emotional vital, 3. The central vital and 4. The lower vital.

 The mental vital has as its seat the region from the throat to the heart and gives a mental expression by thought, imagination and speech or otherwise to the emotions, desires, passions, sensations and other movements of the vital.

The emotional vital has its seat is the outer heart and expresses various feelings such as, love, joy, sorrow, hatred and the rest.

The central vital has as its seat the region from the heart to navel and expresses the stronger vital longings, and reactions such as ambition, pride, fear, love of fame and power, attractions repulsions, desires, passions of various kinds.

The lower vital has as its seat the region below the navel and is occupied with desires and emotions such as make the greater party of the daily life e.g. food desire, sexual desire, small likings and dislikings, vanity, quarrels, anger at blame, little wishes of all kind and a numberless host of other things.

He considers that the expressions of the mind (thoughts, imagination, ideas, beliefs) and the vital-emotional expressions (desire, anger, envy, greed, lasciviousness, etc.) are separate forces in themselves that blend together when they emerge into surface consciousness.

Αccording Aurobindo the Mental vital (which is the higher aspect of the vital sheath) functions as a mediator between vital-emotions, desires, impulsions, etc. and the mind. The Mental vital throws in the mind the vital desires, emotions, feelings, passions, ambitions, possessive and active tendencies of the vital where they take the form of imaginations or dreams of greatness, pleasure, fear, happiness, etc. Through the Mental Vital, the vital passions, emotions, impulses, desires, ascend and enter the intellect (buddhi) and, as a result, cloud or distort it. 

The impure vital sheath is the seat of the lower rajasotamasic ego and all its expressions. The ego related to the vital sheath it is called Vital-emotional ego and is the one which clouds and distorts mind and intellect and create all misery, pain and sorrow.  Egoism, lust, desire, pride, negative emotions, pain-body and the sense ‘the body is me’ are all formations of the distorted psychic vital energy. All innumerable expressions of ego such as likes, dislikes, repulsion, attraction, fear, anger, greed, impatience, irritability, depression, guilty, etc. are only expressions of the Vital-emotional ego.

It is the Vital-ego the greatest impediment of the spiritual practice (sadhana) and inner growth and transformation and the cause of all distortions and false understanding about ourselves, others, spiritual life and practice and Self-realization. The vital has also a perverse aspect which keep us attached to pain and suffering and prevents us from letting go suffering and the negative emotional states.

The vital-emotional sheath and pain-body

The vital-emotional ego uses thoughts and imagination to intensify the pleasure or the pain related to a situation (whatever it is). In reality, the external situations are only opportunities for the Vital-ego to project itself and experience the same pleasure or pain that is accumulated in the vital sheath and the subconscious.

When there is not a strong enough external stimulus to cause an experience of pleasure or pain for the vital-emotional ego, then the Vital-ego creates a feeling of incompleteness, discontentment, dissatisfaction, uneasiness or boredom. This inner state impels the mind to think and find some stimulus to give some pleasure to the vital ego (eating something that is sweet is the easiest stimulus).

If the external circumstances do not give the vital-emotional ego any chance to experience a pleasure, the vital-emotional ego manipulates the imagination and thoughts to experience it virtually. In fact, the almost continuous compulsive thinking which is accompanied with mental images is created by the vital-emotional ego using the mind to experience the same emotions, desires, passions, pleasures and pains again and again.

The internet, tv and the cinema are very useful tools for the vital-emotional ego to experience pleasure when there is no possibility for real sense stimulus. For example, if the ego likes sex pleasure and a mate is not available the vital-emotional ego uses the technology (video-movie in pc, cell phone, tv, etc.) to substitute the real stimulus with a virtual one.

All expectations, ambitions, desires, fears, anger, jealousy, impatience, discontent, agony, anxiety, greed, possessiveness, domination, violence etc. and the sense ‘I am the body” are only expressions of the vital ego.

A part of the vital-emotional ego is so perverted that likes also pain and suffering. Sri Aurobindo also refers to this perverse part of the vital-emotional ego which attaches to pain and suffering and even finds pleasure on it.

There is also something perverse in the vital which takes a kind of dramatic pleasure in its own misery and tragedy even in degradation or illness.
..It cries out against sorrow and trouble and acuses the Divine in life and everybody else of torturing it, but for the most part the sorrow and the trouble come and remain because the perverse something in the vital wants them

   ~ Sri Aurobindo

The pain-body that Eckhart Tolle refers to is the impure vital sheath. Eckhart Tolle denotes as pain-body the emotional pain that is accumulated as a negative energy field in our bodies and minds. This pain-body is attached to pain and wants to perpetuate itself and experience again and again the same frequency of psychic vital energy in the form of anger, fear, depression, feeling victim, guilty, etc.

The vital-emotional ego in the form of desire (for pleasure, fame, name, money and possessions, etc.) functions as does the vital-emotional ego in the form of pain-body. This desirous vital-emotional ego is attached to pleasures and wants to perpetuate itself to experience all kind of pleasures (primarily sex pleasure) in eternity. Both, the dissolution of the vital-emotional ego in the form desire for pleasure, money, success, etc. and in the form of all negative or painful emotions are necessary our mind to regain their pristine nature of purity and enjoy the peace and bliss of our divine essence.

Exctracts of Eckhart Tolle about the pain-body

Every emotional pain that you experience leaves behind a residue of pain that lives on in you. It merges with the pain from the past, which was already there, and becomes lodged in your mind and body. This accumulated pain is a negative energy field that occupies your body and mind. It’s the emotional pain-body.

Some pain-bodies are obnoxious but relatively harmless, for example like a child who won’t stop whining. Others are vicious and destructive monsters, true demons. Some are physically violent; many more are emotionally violent. Some will attack people around you or close to you, while others may attack you, their host. Thoughts and feelings you have about your life then become deeply negative and self-destructive. Illnesses and accidents are often created in this way. Some pain-bodies drive their hosts to suicide.

Watch out for any sign of unhappiness in yourself, in whatever form — it may be the awakening pain-body. This can take the form of irritation, impatience, a somber mood, a desire to hurt, anger, rage, depression, a need to have some drama in your relationship, and so on. Catch it the moment it awakens from its dormant state.

The pain-body wants to survive, just like every other entity in existence, and it can only survive if it gets you to unconsciously identify with it.

Once the pain-body has taken you over, you want more pain. You become a victim or a perpetrator. You want to inflict pain, or you want to suffer pain, or both. There isn’t really much difference between the two. You are not conscious of this, of course, and will vehemently claim that you do not want pain. But look closely and you will find that your thinking and behavior are designed to keep the pain going, for yourself and others. If you were truly conscious of it, the pattern would dissolve, for to want more pain is insanity, and nobody is consciously insane.

The ego-created sense of lack or incompleteness, of not being whole of Eckhart Tolle

The ego-created sense of lack or incompleteness, of not being whole

Extract of the book The Power of Now of Eckhart Tolle

Another aspect of the emotional pain that is an intrinsic part of the egoic mind is a deep-seated sense of lack or incompleteness, of not being whole. In some people, this is conscious, in others unconscious. If it is conscious, it manifests as the unsettling and constant feeling of not being worthy or good enough. If it is unconscious, it will only be felt indirectly as an intense craving, wanting and needing. In either case, people will often enter into a compulsive pursuit of ego gratification and things to identify with in order to fill this hole they feel within. So they strive* after possessions, money, success, power, recognition, or a special relationship, basically so that they can feel better about themselves, feel more complete. But even when they attain all these things, they soon find that the hole is still there, that it is bottomless. Then they are really in trouble, because they cannot delude themselves anymore. Well, they can and do, but it gets more

difficult.

As long as the egoic mind is running your life, you cannot truly be at ease; you cannot be at peace or fulfilled except for brief intervals when you obtained what you wanted, when a craving has just been fulfilled. Since the ego is a derived sense of self, it needs to identify with external things. It needs to be both defended and fed constantly. The most common ego identifications have to do with possessions, the work you do, social status and recognition, knowledge and education, physical appearance, special abilities, relationships, personal and family history, belief systems, and often also political, nationalistic, racial, religious, and other collective identifications. None of these is you.

COMMENT by Atman Nityananda

they strive* after possessions, money, success, power, recognition, or a special relationship:

I will add also pleasures. According my own experience the ego causes this sense of lack, that something is missing here and now in order to drive us find something pleasurable to fill the hole. Desire for pleasure is what generates this sense of lack in order to drive us to seek some pleasurable experience. Moreover  desire end ego are one and the same thing. I am talking about the vital rajasotamasic ego which what makes us identify with the body, the mental and emotional formations and the sense objects and situations. The essential nature of this vital ego is lust and desire.

Read about the vital ego:

 THE VITAL EGO IS THE GREATEST OBSTACLE OF SELF-TRANSFORMATION ~ Atman Nityananda

Our true Self (Consciousness), is beyond the lower and the higher ego ~ Atman Nityananda

 

The Ego's Search For Wholeness ~ Eckhart Tolle

The Ego's Search For Wholeness
~ Eckhart Tolle

extract from his book " The power of now"

Another aspect of the emotional pain that is an intrinsic part of the egoic mind is a deep-seated sense of lack or incompleteness, of not being whole. In some people, this is conscious, in others unconscious.

If it is conscious, it manifests as the unsettling and constant feeling of not being worthy or good enough.
If it is unconscious, it will only be felt indirectly as an intense craving, wanting and needing. In either case, people will often enter into a compulsive pursuit of ego-gratification and things to
identify with in order to fill this hole they feel within.

So they strive after possessions, money, success, power, recognition, or a special relationship, basically so that they
can feel better about themselves, feel more complete. But even when they attain allthese things, they soon find that the hole is still there, that it is bottomless.

 Then they are really in trouble, because they cannot delude themselves anymore. Well, they can and do, but it gets more difficult.

As long as the egoic mind is running your life, you cannot truly be at ease; you cannot be at peace or fulfilled except for brief intervals when you obtained what you wanted, when a craving has just been fulfilled.

Since the ego is a derived sense ofself, it needs to identify with external things. It needs to be both defended and fed constantly. The most common ego identifications have to do with possessions, the work you do, social status and recognition, knowledge and education, physical appearance, special abilities, relationships, personal and family history, belief systems, and often also political, nationalistic, racial, religious, and other collective  identifications.

 None of these is you.

Do you find this frightening? Or is it a relief to know this? All of these things you will have to relinquish sooner or later. Perhaps you find it as yet hard to believe, and I am certainly not asking you to believe that your identity cannot be found in any of those things. You will know the truth of it for yourself. You willknow it at the latest  when you feel death approaching. Death is a stripping away of all that is not you.

The secret of life is to "die before you die" - and find that there is no death.

OM! The main cause of suffering is desire / Part II - The game of desire

The main cause of suffering is desire / Part II

by Atman Nityananda  

The Second Noble Truth

The principal cause of suffering (dukkha), the Buddha said, is due to deep-rooted desires or craving (tanha)) within us. These desires can take many forms; desire for sensual enjoyment, desire for material gain and achievement, desire for continuation, and even desire for self-destruction.  -- Buddha

The game of desire

Desire first creates in us the illusion that we cannot here and now  be happy and content (which is a lie) and at the same time, creates in us emotions of unease, discontent, anxiety, incompleteness and boredom aiming to force our mind to imagine and think of something that could give us pleasure, pleasant sensations and joy (which is half-lie). Thus desire through the mind thinks and imagines various objects and situations, and projects on them pleasant sensations, pleasure and joy.

With this psychological play, desire makes us believe that we cannot be here and now happy and content and that we could be happy and content in the future, in another place and other circumstances when we could have the desired object. Thus due the desire mechanism we almost never find ourselves at peace, complete and content in the now (except the moments we enjoy a desired object) and we imagine that in the future in an imagined situation we can find ourselves finally complete, content and real happy.

But due the hypnotic power of desire, and the rajas and tamas gunas we do not realize that we are trapped in this illusory desire-made game and that will never find ourselves complete, free, peaceful, content and real happy.

Desire as an automatic mechanism does not want nothing else but pleasure and pleasant sensations; wants also money to fulfil all these pleasurable experiences.

Two more things that desire wants are recognition and power. These two also can help desire meet the pleasurable experiences but recognition and power are by themselves pleasurable to our ego.

    Until we get the desired object there is anxiety, agony, impatience and fear thinking that something could prevent us from enjoying the desired object. And if something or someone prevents or delays the fulfilment of desire arises irritability and anger; in reality desire itself modifies as irritability and anger.

    When we are in touch with the desired object and enjoy it, the feelings of discomfort sink temporarily and arise pleasant sensations, pleasure and joy that we associate with the desired object. But this is an illusion.

    What in reality happens is that the pleasant sensations are caused by the interaction of the senses and mind with the object (the same object it is not pleasant to us at different conditions) and the pleasure and joy we experience are projected by the ego to the object or the situation and they have nothing to do with the object itself.

  Pleasure and happiness doesn't belong to objects

Pleasure

The pleasure has nothing to do with the object (except with making love that is a little more complicated to explain). The desire projects onto the object the pleasure that is crystallized in our subconscious mind and energy field and makes us believe that the pleasure comes from the object. So when we eat pizza for example we believe that the pleasure we experience is due to the pizza but this is not the case. We experience only an illusory pleasure projected on the pizza. This projection of pleasure on the objects is more obvious in the dream state when we experience the imaginary pleasure while the mind by the power of imagination creates the desired objects from the stuff of memory.

    Happiness

The joy also we experience while we experience the desired object has nothing to do with the object. The moments we enjoy an object the mind becomes calm and very focused on the here and now because there is no anymore distance between the mind and the object; the mind now enjoys the object that wanted so much. When the mind is calm and focused reflects partially the joy of our true Self or Soul. Remember that the only condition to enjoy the joy of Being is a concentrated and calm mind. Then joy and contentment we feel when we enjoy a desired object, it comes from within, from the consciousness and not from the object. But since the mind is hypnotized by the Rajas and Tamas qualities and desire, we cannot be aware of what actually happens during these moments. And so, we associate joy, happiness and contentment with the desired object.

    After these trifling moments of pleasure, a few days, hours or minutes (which happen more often) later the desire creates again the same sensations of discomfort because the desire by its nature is insatiable. Thus we find ourselves again in a negative state trying to overcome it by seeking again a new pleasant experience.

    The vicious circle of pleasure and pain

 1. First the desire creates in us an unpleasant emotional state with emotions of boredom, dissatisfaction, uneasiness, discontent, incompleteness, etc. (All these is a kind of suffering)

    2. In order to overcome the above mentioned unpleasant unemotional state the desire creates in the mind imaginations and thoughts (about objects, people, activities) and projects on them pleasant sensations, pleasure and happiness in order to convince us to obtain or achieve something pleasurable or pleasant (object, person, situation).

    3. The desire compels the mind to think the way by which we can get the desired object, ie. the means and actions we must take. At this stage the desire (depending on the circumstances) takes the form of impatience, anxiety, fear, irritability and anger because we are not sure if we can fulfil the desire or because of something that could impede its fulfilment.

    4. When the desire is fulfilled we experience pleasant sensations and pleasure and at the same time the mechanism of desire subsides temporarily; for a while the mind free from desire's teeth becomes calm and rests at its source that is Consciousness (but we are not aware of it because the mind is not awake) and thus we enjoy partially the joy of Being. The happiness we experience has nothing to do with the desired object it is projected on it in a similar way that pleasure is projected on the object. The objects have neither pleasure nor happiness, the ego projects them on external objects and situations.

    5. A little later the desire recreates again the unpleasant emotional state ( which is suffering) by assuming the form of uneasiness,, discontent, etc. in order to force us seek again some pleasant and pleasurable experience.

The peak of suffering

In this repetitive function of the desire  mechanism we experience more suffering when we do not get what we desire, when we lose the desired object, when something impedes us to get what we desire, and when something causes to lose our desired object.

This suffering has the form of anger, fear, agony, anxiety, impatience, disappointment, depression, greed, attachment, jealously, hatred etc. 
In reality all these negative psychological disorders are modifications of desire itself. The energy of desire modifies as anger, fear, greed, depression, etc. as well as desire modifies as pleasure. 
Thus is impossible to avoid suffering as long as we desire pleasure and the energy of desire continues in us. These negative emotional and mental states which create innumerable suffering, disharmony, disequilibrium and diseases will continue as long as the desire mechanism will continue to function in us.

    Samsara

This vicious circle created by desire is the cause of suffering as well as the cause of Samsara which is the wheel of birth and death. We reincarnate in this 3D world to experience the desires that still live in our subconscious. We fulfil some desires but new desires are born and thus we reincarnate to fulfil the new desires. This is the wheel of Samsara. Samsara ends for us when we will eliminate all desires and ego and realize that we are eternal being and awareness beyond birth and death, time, space, form and causality.

    How we pass our everyday life

Because of the desire mechanism we experience sometimes pleasure and various pleasant sensations and occasionally a little joy, and the rest of our life we live in a state of incompleteness, inner conflicts, dissatisfaction, discontent, discomfort, misery and suffering.

    We live almost always identified with the sensual mind, thinking about the past and the future; and when we enjoy something in the here and now we have not a new experience but we live the past projected on this new experience.

 Rarely we are not in a projection mode; this happens mainly when we are engaged in bodily or mental activities and we are very well concentrated (this happens when is needed much attention to what we are doing or when it is very interested to us what we are doing). If the concentration prolongs and deepens enough we start to experience a higher state in which the silence, the peace and an alive presence become more and more evident.

Experiencing our essence

The moments that we experience the now fully are very rare and usually we find ourselves in a state of admiration, wonder, aliveness, a kind of ecstasy. The mind in these moments takes its natural state reflecting without distortion both the external reality and our true Self. It is an experience of unity or oneness in which there is no time, no past, no future, no ego, no memories, non fantasies; pure being experiencing itself both as an inner experience of fullness and as an apparent external reality. There is also a sense of effortless flowing, that everything happens perfectly without any conscious effort; that everything just happens by itself and there is an enjoyment which bypasses all understanding and any familiar experience based on memory, senses and sensory mind. Athletes and especially those who perform sports which require almost a perfect degree of concentration such as tennis, formula, golf, gymnastics and extreme sports have mentioned very often experiences like those that yogis and mystics have mentioned and in the sport terminology this is called ´´peak experience´´.

What is a peak experience?
Abraham  Maslow, the term's inventor, says that "peak experiences are sudden feelings of intense happiness and well-being, possibly the awareness of an "ultimate truth" and the unity of all things ... the experience fills the individual with wonder and awe....he feels at one with the world, and is pleased with it ...." They are moments when you feel more at one with yourself and the world, more integrated. You feel happy, even ecstatic, interconnected and in harmony. Peak experiences are one type of mystical experiences and perhaps one of the most interesting in that Maslow aims to talk about mystical experiences in non-supernatural terms.

Personally I had a peak experience when I was practicing tennis against a wall. But I did not managed to have this experience voluntary; just happened by itself due to deep consntration. This experience was the cause to begin the spiritual path systematically. After many years of practice I now know from my own experience that the only way to experience the peace and bliss of our true nature without effort  and without limits is to free our mind from ego and desire.

 In moments of great danger we can also get out of the conditioned mind and experience a higher state of consciousness.

The majority of people very rarely can have an intimate experience of their Soul and experience unlimited joy, peace and freedom.

The Third Noble Truth

Suffering can be eliminated through Nirodha. The meaning of Nirodha is elimination of sensual craving (desires for pleasures) and worldly attachment.
 -- Buddha

   

 The companions of desire

   The main partners of desire are fear, anger and depression.

    If we already posses the desired object and it is important for us the desire is associated with the fear of losing. Fear arises also  when we want something too much and we're not sure if we can get or achieve it. In this case the fear normally assumes the aspect of insecurity, anxiety or distress and concerns, and these emotions appear in the thinking mind as doubts and imagined things that could obstruct the fulfilment of desire. It is also very common fear to be accompanied with anger which can take the form of irritability or resentment while we think that something could obstruct the fulfilment of the desire.

    Anger arises when something or someone prevents us fulfill the desire or when we lose the desired object.

    Depression arises when we do not get what we want or when we lose it. It is the emotion we experience when finally the desired object is lost and we have no chance to experience it any more.

Egoic tendencies are only modifications of desire

Desire assumes a wide range of forms or expressions such as like-dislike, attraction-repulsion or aversion, all the negative emotions, the pain-body as call it nicely Eckhart Tolle, greed, jealousy, disappointment, etc.

All egoistic or negative tendencies and emotions are in reality modifications of desire itself. That is to say that the desire energy like a chameleon modifies constantly according the circumstances and assumes all other egoic forms. The ego, the desire and all egoic tendencies are one and the same energy assuming innumerable forms. If we compare the ego with a tree, the trunk of the tree would be the ego and desire and the branches all the innumerable egoic tendencies.

Desire, harmful and illegal actions and diseases

    To fulfil the desires we often misuse and overuse the senses, body and energy and thus we create imbalances in our body and mind and diseases. Blind from the hypnotic power of desire we can do also illegal actions or actions that harm our fellows, animals, nature and create imbalances in the world. All the chaos and suffering we see in the world today is the creation of the innumerable desires of earthlings. They live in a stressful mental and emotional state and like machines the try endlessly to avoid the discomfort emotions created by desire by experiencing pleasant and pleasurable sensations based on sensory inputs and impressions.

Inner transformation and desire

This mechanism of desire is very powerful and thus is not possible to dissolve it at once. Thus in the beginning of our inner transformation we can use this automatic mechanism of desire consciously for our benefit. We should first direct the power of desire on noble goals and actions.

We can also replace the harmful objects of desire with beneficial ones. For example we can replace our desire for drinks with alcohol for natural drinks.

But most important is to direct desire from mundane objects or achievements to spiritual goals and mainly to realization of truth. Of course finally we have to dissolve completely the desire-energy from our psych in order to live the freedom, the peace and Bliss eternal.

In order to march decisively and achieve its dissolution we must be properly prepared. That's why it is necessary to develop various mental and emotional capacities and qualities which will give us the strength and the capacity to do it effectively. The total dissolution of ego end desire happens in deep Nirvikalpa Samadhi which is the culmination of the spiritual journey.

May all be free from the grip of desire and realize their true Self which nature is peace, freedom and eternal bliss.

Peace, light and love