Sri Aurobindo
Letters of Sri Aurobindo
Volume II - Part 3
Fragment ID: 11915
Some people do get disgusted with the body for its uncleanness, but I should say it is very few.
The suggestion of Patanjali1 supposes that the mind is everything, so if I get the idea that the body is an unclean thing, all my feelings will harmonise with that idea. But it is not so – there are other parts which do not care for the idea or knowledge in the mind and are not affected by it but are led by their own instincts and desires. It is only those who have already the turn to vairagya who can make use of Patanjali’s suggestion to help 
their already existing vairagya. The medical man for instance holds his knowledge of the composition of the body as a matter of fact of science, he keeps it separate there in the scientific compartment of his mind and it does not in the least affect his other ideas, feelings or activities.
1 The suggestion that disgust for one’s body arises from the idea of cleanliness. In his letter the correspondent quoted Patanjali’s aphorism, śaucāt svāṅga-jugupsā (Yogasūtra 2.40). – Ed.