Vital (Sri Aurobindo)

The Vital or Life faculty or part of the being, in Sri Aurobindo's philosophy, refers not simply to the life force as to the various passions, desires, feelings, emotions, affects, compulsions, and likes and dislikes that strongly determine human motivation and action through desire and enthusiasm.

Related Topics:
Sri Aurobindo - Life force

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It would seem to correspond to the "animal soul" or "irrational soul" of Platonic, Neoplatonic, Christian, and Islamic thought, the Nefesh Behemis of Chabad Hassidism and Kabbalah, Blavatsky's Kama or desire principle (see the Septenary), Leadbeater's (and later New Age) Emotional body, and Théon's Nervoux or Nervous Principle.

Related Topics:
Platonic - Neoplatonic - Nefesh Behemis - Chabad Hassidism - Kabbalah - Blavatsky - The Septenary - Leadbeater - New Age - Théon

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Unlike Western psychology, in which mind, emotions, instincts, and consciousness are all lumped together, Sri Aurobindo strongly distinguishes between the "Vital" and the "Mental" faculties.

Related Topics:
Psychology - Consciousness - Mental

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In addition to the individual Vital faculty, Sri Aurobindo refers to a Vital Plane or Vital world, which would seem to be partly equivalent to the Astral Plane of popular occultism and New Age thought.

Related Topics:
Plane - Vital world - Astral Plane - Occultism - New Age

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