Sri Aurobindo
Letters of Sri Aurobindo
Volume IV - Part 2
Fragment ID: 14146
That [indulging desire] is a mistake many have made because the vital wanted to make it1. Whether ascetic or non-ascetic, the Yogi, the sadhak must become free from vital desire and spiritually master of the movements of his nature – and for that he must be free from ego and desire and duality. I have always made that quite clear – that indulgence of desire is no more part of this Yoga than it is of Sannyasa. One must be able to use and handle physical things and physical life, but from the spiritual consciousness, not from the level of the vital ego.
1 The correspondent observed that because Sri Aurobindo had condemned asceticism, many took it as a sanction to continue fulfilling their desires. – Ed.