James: Hi, Ron. I’m glad you wrote. I’ve replied inline.
Ron: Vasanas. I have not understood the causal body very well. I think it is the collective unconscious, which stores all humanities’ likes and dislikes, desires and fears, as well as all good experiences. Is this correct?
James: Yes, that is the macrocosmic causal body. You’re conditioning – your sex vasana, for instance – is the microcosmic causal body. It is all you need to worry about.
Ron: When the casual body throws out so much cherished sex vasanas, I tend to give into this easily at times, especially when I’m bored with the humdrum of life, and then of course the vasana is reinforced as the scripture says it will be.
Sex vasanas seem somewhat strong because we incorrectly think they are real and can complete us. I have that problem as well as many others. I have my bouts with pornography, especially when I’m bored with life. So, while I indulge it, I just consecrate this to God whenever it gets the best of me. Yet I know simultaneously that “I” am never affected by this. What a seeming paradox!
James: Yes, because sex only produces a momentary experience of completeness, it is a frustrating activity. Usually, sex is a proxy for love. Men particularly associate sex with love. So you can just as well argue that you cherish it because you don’t love yourself properly.
You could also argue that its rajas-tamas energy destroys discrimination so that dispassion can’t develop. It’s a very limited pleasure that causes equal amounts of pain, the ultimate zero-sum activity. Your interest in it will wane when you see that the downside cancels the upside.
Ron: Yet, when I give in to it, as you have stated from the scriptures, the equipoise of the mind is disturbed. Your lectures from the Bhagavad Gita state this. This is true even if I consecrate this to God/MYSELF. What to do???
James: Consecrate Ron to God. Consecrating the sex vasana doesn’t get rid of Ron. If you turn your life over to God, then you will not be bored and you will see the sex issue for what it is and it will fall away in the fullness of time. If Ron wrestles with it, the vasana persists.
Ron: So I consecrate the lack of peace and disturbance to Bhagavan also. This is karma yoga – correct?
James: Yes and no. Karma yoga is right attitude, which you know. But karma yoga is equally right action. And sex is not the right action if you are committed to God. So you have to change your lifestyle so that the sex-thought doesn’t have the power to disturb you. A media fast is probably wise. Living on your own is always good, etc. This doesn’t mean that sex is verboten, only that you manage it wisely.
Ron: All action throughout each day must be consecrated to God – that means all our likes, dislikes, desires, fears that we indulge, all that presents itself from the causal body as well as the sacred and the profane – correct? Even the shit thoughts like murder and revenge – correct?
James: Yes, but they are not going to go away unless you do a values inventory and drop the values that generate the thoughts (see The Yoga of the Three Energies and The Yoga of Love).
Here are the links:
The Yoga of the Three Energies
Ron: Paul states in the Bible that we indulge experiences that we know are not good for us because we can’t help it. And this is sin and this is the reinforcement of vasanas. And this sucks!!!
James: It only sucks because you value sex, food, etc. If you value shanti you wouldn’t accommodate activities that disturb the mind.
Ron: However, if I offer this to God while I indulge with real devotion it will decrease. I have seen this and have experienced this over time. Consciousness tends to reveal the ignorance of the sin to you while you indulge it. And then later on, if you choose to indulge it again, it hurts even more! And that conflict in consciousness pushes you toward SELF-control through understanding, not through will power – correct?
James: Got it in one, Ron! I wish I had read this paragraph before I wrote replies to the preceding paragraphs. ☺ You answered your own question. So what’s the whine?
Ron: I was sitting in front of my shrine speaking to God, who is only MYSELF, and I felt I should write to you about this. I don’t like to bother you, because you have so much to do. But is this case I took the chance.
James: Good. So I’m going to give you a rap on the knuckles, okay? Think of it as tough love. And it is: shit or get off the pot. You know what’s right, just live it.
Ron: I hope to see you at Trout Lake. I have to put in for the time off. I wish you would schedule your satsangs a year in advance. This would make it a lot easier for me so during vacation bid I can have the week or two set aside in advance.
James: I try my best. We are now settled in Spain so it is easy to plan a year ahead. Anyway, I hope you make it. I like you.
~ Much love, James
