Roberto Assagioli on Sublimation, Asceticism, and the Transformation of Instinctive Energy
By Roberto Assagioli
Assagioli Archive, Florence
Original title: La Transmutazione della Sensualità
Translated with notes by Jan Kuniholm
Editorial Note
This text is a short archival document by Roberto Assagioli on the transmutation of sensuality. The abstract and contextual subtitle in this online edition have been added by the editor, Kenneth Sørensen, to support readability, navigation, and archival consistency. The original wording has not been altered.
Abstract
In this brief text, Roberto Assagioli argues that the energies of sensuality and instinct are not to be suppressed but transmuted, elevated through a dynamic and constructive method into emotional love and higher aesthetic, intellectual, and spiritual aspiration. Contrasting ancient asceticism’s often violent and separative approach with a more integrated path, he presents transmutation as rooted in the fundamental property of biological and psychological energy, grounded in the dual call to be lord of the outer world while remaining servant of the inner Spirit.
Infinite Life, for countless ages, has been immersed in form, in matter. . .
Thus our I or self, imprisoned and limited in the body, obscured by dense clouds of passion, continually agitated and distracted [. . .], has lost the memory of its divine origin and its intrinsic nobility.
We live amid a great deal of passion and vanity that are always harmful, like wasted resources, even when they appear simply useless. This is the conclusion to which anyone who considers the point of view of spiritual evolution is forced, without wishing to be ascetic. [1]
“Good is what benefits evolution, evil is what hinders it.” Thus, any dissipation of any [of our] energies is evil. Therefore, excessive luxury, avarice, and debauchery are causes of future suffering.
The Value and Limits of Asceticism
The principle, value, and necessity of asceticism lie in the attainment of complete self-control and inner freedom through purification, detachment, and discipline. Let us maintain a twofold attitude: maximum control over external things and our inner elements, and maximum obedience to the “King” who has his throne in the mysterious center of our soul — let this be the motto of each of us. Lord of the world, servant of the Spirit.
Ancient asceticism was effective and often heroic, but it used overly violent artificial methods: it aimed too much at producing physical pain, was conceived in too separative a way, and often tended to become an end in itself.
However, there is another alternative, a more dynamic and constructive way. This method is based on a fundamental property of biological and psychological energies, namely their possibility of transmutation. Through elevation, the purely physical sexual instinct can in fact be transformed into emotional love, and the craving for sensual pleasures can be transformed into the aspiration for aesthetic, intellectual, and spiritual joys.
[1] The author has written a short essay on “modern asceticism” (Archive Doc. #23086) in which he suggests that “Asceticism is psychic, moral and spiritual gymnastics.” – Oath.
