All lower tendencies – violence, selfishness, vanity, sensuality & so on – can be transposed on to a higher plane in this way

"You cannot rid yourself of your faults. You will say: ‘But you are always asking us to improve ourselves; how can we do this if we cannot rid ourselves of our faults?' You cannot rid yourself of your faults, but you can work on your lower tendencies and transpose them on to a different plane. This is what is generally referred to as sublimation. A pyromaniac for instance will always want to light fires, but he will learn there are other fires to light, and so instead of setting light to forests or buildings and destroying everything, he will kindle hearts with the fire of divine Love and will warm them and vivify them. He will not lose the need to light fires, but he will give this need a more noble, more beneficial form. All lower tendencies – violence, selfishness, vanity, sensuality, and so on – can be transposed on to a higher plane in this way. The faults with which we are born form an inherent part of our make-up, of our temperament, and we cannot eradicate them, but we can correct them by transposing them on to a higher plane."