About Sublimation

By Matsyavatara dasa

Sublimation is the art of transferring our impulses to a superior level. It can therefore be defined as the art of transformation of the psychological contents.

It is fundamental to apply our willpower on superior ideal levels because if such strength goes downward, the result will not lead us to achieving our projects of cultural, psychological and spiritual growth. Instead it will lead us to dissatisfaction and we will risk many incidents in our path.

The process of sublimation happens at the highest level through prayer and meditation. It could also be favored by the aesthetic experience. Think of music or dance that is expressed through the body, mimic and rhythm. They could seem like simple aesthetic exercises, but, through them, a kind of energy of negative and sometime destructive nature, deriving from rancor, violence, hostility, etc., can regenerate into ecological and positive energy if what we do is done as an offer to the Divine.

The art of raising our psychological energy to superior levels is of great beneficial value.

Through this art, the levels of individual egoism can gradually be overcome through increasingly better evolutionary levels. It can spread from a personal level to a family level, from a group level to one that is increasingly extended to the entire social structure, until we give priority to the wellbeing of all creatures of any species.

The expansion of benevolence toward all the living beings leads to a cosmic fraternity and to the rediscovery of God as an origin, seed and sustainment of the universe in all of its forms and life manifestations.

Every experience should be considered as a precious opportunity for better oneself without distinction between friends and enemies because every creature should look at itself as a fragment of God like he would be able to look at a turf of dirt and at a gold nugget with impartiality (Bhagavad-Gita VI.8). The psychological tradition of Bhakti offers theoretical and practical instruments to acquire this capability and attitude toward life, by reaching that high level of consciousness that allows us to face in a constructive-evolutionary way, any event, even the most painful one without being emotionally overcome.

Managing ones emotions is much more difficult than managing ones thoughts. On contrary of our thoughts, emotions are psychological impulses produced by the interaction of external and internal stimulus that do not pass through the rationale process. Therefore they are not mediated, not sufficiently controlled by the buddy (intellect). As a flood of a river, they overflow from our subconscious level to the exterior.

Often, ones comprehension of the importance of sublimation is blocked at a merely rationale-theoretical level, without a significant exercise dedicated to its realization with the result of a flow of emotions that becomes unstoppable from the subconscious which work in a opposite direction that the individual would like to pursue.

To overcome such inner discrepancies and realize substantial improvements of the personality we should operate at the deep psyche level through instruments of meditative visualization and active imagination and overcome the merely emotional-intellectual level by reactivating the consciousness of the Self and ascending to consciousness and spiritual vision.