Yoga and Sex vs Celibacy

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#161

[QUOTE=panoramix;63533]Does the manu smriti advice about masturbation for singles?
I cannot withhold my bindu for longer than one month, my pubic region starts hurting…[/QUOTE]

Dear Friend:

Celibacy is not easy at all. Your post quoting Swami Sivananda describes the difficulty.

As a first step, one should pray to the Guru to help you out in this. With grace of Guru and Almighty, nothing is impossible.

You try the following:

[ol]
[li]At the dietary level, stop consuming meat, eggs, onion and garlic and reduce intake of common salt. You could replace common salt with mountain salt.[/li][li]At the [I]Hatha Yoga[/I] level you could take up the simplified Vajaroli, which is exactly the same as the second of the five tibetan rites. (Lying down with palms facing the floor, inhaling and then raising up the legs and the head, till the legs are vertically up and then exhaling further and further bringing about a strain just below the abdomen and maintaining this final position for some time, which is to be increased from say 5 seconds to 20 seconds. Repeat 3 to 7 times increasing with practice.[/li][li]At the attitude level, one could read literature of the saints and yes, you could chant the siddha mantra,[I][B]“Aum Namo Narayanaya”[/B][/I], whenever the mind is thus troubled.[/li][/ol]

Having said this, I must also say that the introductory practice of mahayoga, in which the mind gets engaged in only and only Prana, is definitely the simplest and highest yoga practice. Here is how:

[ol]
[li]Sit in any comfortable pose on a wool mat laid on the floor. Relax the body to the maximum possible.[/li][li]Calmly close the eyes with an [I]inner attitude[/I] of surrender tor [I]Pana[/I], the divine life force in us that drives the body and mind.[/li][li][B]Allow[/B] Prana to move the air into and out of the body. Do not impose any breathing. Simply follow the air that [B]automatically[/B] enters and leaves the body.[/li][/ol]

Practise this sitting for 3 minutes or more as per available time. By this practice, slowly, your question will get answered from within.

regards, anand

#162

[QUOTE=The Scales;63540]lol

You sure do have a lot of fixed ideas.[/QUOTE]

Dear Friend:

I am not the subject matter of this thread.

regards, anand

#163

[QUOTE=Anand Kulkarni;63551]Dear Friend:

I am not the subject matter of this thread.

regards, anand[/QUOTE]

well your right about that part.

#164

Contemplating; becoming proficient at the skillful practice of yogic techniques/methods one gains deeper understanding and control of the physical, pranic, conscious-unconscious-subconscious, ego, etc., eventually a finite to infinite level of awareness is directly experienced and recognized, illusions dissipate as a non-dualistic state emerges, “worldly distractions” no longer entangled ones existence thus techniques become less important, one becomes ?as is?, not as one imagines to be therefore beliefs, faith, acceptance, all dogma becomes weighty without purpose, shed fear and the burden of luggage (attachments) is cast away, the journey becomes less impeded.

#165

[QUOTE=The Scales;63540]lol

You sure do have a lot of fixed ideas.[/QUOTE]

Dear friend:

You said the above, in response to these thoughts posted by me:

“Jaisa Bhava, taisi siddhi”. It means, one’s inner attitude is the cause of attaining to the fruit of that attitude. So your words express your inner attitude viz. that of everything being business.

With this attitude one can become a good businessman, but not a yogi.

Let me further illustrate these thoughts.

In Hinduism, there is a deity known as [B]Lord [I]Hanuman[/I][/B]. This Lord has the human like body and the head of a monkey.

Those who are yet unprepared in their inner attitude will scoff and ridicule those who worship such a “creature”.

To spiritual aspirants, [B]Lord [I]Hanuman[/I][/B], among other things is:

a) an epitome of selfless service, which is seen in His dedication to Lord Rama.
b) an epitome of might and strength, which he remembers, only when reminded by His Lord Rama.
c) an epitome of celibacy, from which he derives all his super human strength.

Moreover Hanuman is [I][B]Vayu Putra[/B][/I] literally meaning “son of Lord Wind”. In Yogic terms, Wind or breath represents and in fact, [B]is[/B] [I]Prana[/I].

Thus the spiritual aspirant who may have problems in cultivating certain qualities, has an inner attitude of worshipful reverence towards Lord Hanuman, because he knows that this inner attitude will eventually calm the monkey mind in him and bestow all the divine qualities that Lord Hanuman stands for.

regards, anand

#166

I really dont think , being single or getting married makes any difference

The topic is sex and celibacy, not singlehood and marraige. Many marriages are sexless and many single people have an active sex life.

If one has sex but does not ejaculate, is that brahmacharya/celibacy?

If one masterbates is that or is that not celibacy?

Many monks, nuns, swamis, priests, yogis and godmen have been single and celibate throughout the ages but are we really to believe they never masterbated?

I say that masterbation counts as celibacy because you are not engaging in sex with someone else.

What do you guys think?

#167

[QUOTE=GORI YOGINI;63584]The topic is sex and celibacy, not singlehood and marraige. Many marriages are sexless and many single people have an active sex life.

If one has sex but does not ejaculate, is that brahmacharya/celibacy?

If one masterbates is that or is that not celibacy?

Many monks, nuns, swamis, priests, yogis and godmen have been single and celibate throughout the ages but are we really to believe they never masterbated?

I say that masterbation counts as celibacy because you are not engaging in sex with someone else.

What do you guys think?[/QUOTE]

Dear Friend:

Preserving the reproductive fluids, i.e. not letting them out of one’s body, is celibacy.

The question of what monks etc have done is a separate issue, pertaining to their spiritual attainment.

regards, anand

#168

Yeah but if one has a girlfriend, even if he never dropped a drop during sex with her, he would not be considered celibate in India, right?

#169

[QUOTE=GORI YOGINI;63591]Yeah but if one has a girlfriend, even if he never dropped a drop during sex with her, he would not be considered celibate in India, right?[/QUOTE]

dear friend:

I have already posted about the yoga principle that celibacy is a practical alternative to the difficult [I]hatha yoga[/I] practice known as [I]vajaroli,[/I] available to men, in which a partner is involved till discharge, but the semen is immediately drawn in.

regards, anand

#170

Well as far as i can think celibacy is more of a emotional or mental concept and the physical concept comes next. I don’t think what anand said and gori thinks that preserving the semen and not ejaculating it is what we call celibacy but its more than that. Celibacy’s work is to use the essens of semen for the purpose of increasing ones vibration so that the native can use its help to transcend the path of spirituality. Well one can masturbate and do sex and still can preserve the fluid but if awareness is not there and the native is overwhelmed or overtaken by lust then its not celibacy at all because in such a case his consciousness is following the downward path with the help of his lustful mentality rather than the opposite and it could lead to suppression which is more dangerous; well he might get physical benefit but spiritual benefit is more than nil. Awareness with other things play major role here thereby checking that neither you are suppressing your desire nor you are in time taking you to the level of animalism because human being has the ability to go below the muladhara level of consciousness. So for some its better to follow the natural course of sex life than to remain celibate because they are just suppressing their desire in name of celibacy and when it bounce back people remain in a state of shock.

#171

[QUOTE=Anand Kulkarni;63542]Dear Friend:

Celibacy is not easy at all. Your post quoting Swami Sivananda describes the difficulty.

As a first step, one should pray to the Guru to help you out in this. With grace of Guru and Almighty, nothing is impossible.

You try the following:

[ol]
[li]At the dietary level, stop consuming meat, eggs, onion and garlic and reduce intake of common salt. You could replace common salt with mountain salt.[/li][li]At the [I]Hatha Yoga[/I] level you could take up the simplified Vajaroli, which is exactly the same as the second of the five tibetan rites. (Lying down with palms facing the floor, inhaling and then raising up the legs and the head, till the legs are vertically up and then exhaling further and further bringing about a strain just below the abdomen and maintaining this final position for some time, which is to be increased from say 5 seconds to 20 seconds. Repeat 3 to 7 times increasing with practice.[/li][li]At the attitude level, one could read literature of the saints and yes, you could chant the siddha mantra,[I][B]“Aum Namo Narayanaya”[/B][/I], whenever the mind is thus troubled.[/li][/ol]

Having said this, I must also say that the introductory practice of mahayoga, in which the mind gets engaged in only and only Prana, is definitely the simplest and highest yoga practice. Here is how:

[ol]
[li]Sit in any comfortable pose on a wool mat laid on the floor. Relax the body to the maximum possible.[/li][li]Calmly close the eyes with an [I]inner attitude[/I] of surrender tor [I]Pana[/I], the divine life force in us that drives the body and mind.[/li][li][B]Allow[/B] Prana to move the air into and out of the body. Do not impose any breathing. Simply follow the air that [B]automatically[/B] enters and leaves the body.[/li][/ol]

Practise this sitting for 3 minutes or more as per available time. By this practice, slowly, your question will get answered from within.

regards, anand[/QUOTE]

Anand,

I have no guru, but I frequently ask living and passed masters for help. I shall utter the Siddha Mantra too, as you suggest. Thank you.

I don’t eat all that stuff except eggs. I have three eggs per week, in order to get the required amino acids.

As to the practice:

I do practice vajroli in order to activate my rogue swadishthana chakra.
And a bunch of other tantric and yogic practices to awaken my prana and chakras, as well as asanas and meditation. I couldn’t do more.

Western streets, specially in summertime, are true hell for young brahmacharis like me. I’m about to invent the “chastity glasses”, I’ll keep you informed…

[B]Aum Namo Narayanaya![/B]

#172

[QUOTE=panoramix;63702]Anand,

I have no guru, but I frequently ask living and passed masters for help. I shall utter the Siddha Mantra too, as you suggest. Thank you.

I don’t eat all that stuff except eggs. I have three eggs per week, in order to get the required amino acids.

As to the practice:

I do practice vajroli in order to activate my rogue swadishthana chakra.
And a bunch of other tantric and yogic practices to awaken my prana and chakras, as well as asanas and meditation. I couldn’t do more.

Western streets, specially in summertime, are true hell for young brahmacharis like me. I’m about to invent the “chastity glasses”, I’ll keep you informed…

[B]Aum Namo Narayanaya![/B]
[/QUOTE]

Dear Friend:

Good to hear your resolve.

The[I] swadhisthan chakra[/I] is also known as [I][B]“karmashaya”[/B][/I] i.e. the storehouse of all [I]karma[/I]. So the relevant yogic practices are for emptying this storehouse rather than to activate it.

My Guru has told me not to worry about the result, because that aspect is up to Divinity. Dedication is what is in our hands.

Thus, all the asanas which one does should be held in their final positions, with an [B]inner attitude[/B] of “offering” that asana to Divine Prana, because by performing that asana it is Prana that is getting channelised to some particular zone in the astral / pranic body.

regards, anand

#173

[QUOTE=Anand Kulkarni;63704]

“The[I] swadhisthan chakra[/I] is also known as [I][B]“karmashaya”[/B][/I] i.e. the storehouse of all [I]karma[/I]. So the relevant yogic practices are for emptying this storehouse rather than to activate it.”

[/QUOTE]
.
.
.
.
Well Anand did you mean that activating of swadisthan chakra is not necessary with regard to above lines or that i misunderstood. Well no question regarding it to be karmashaya but isn’t it that activation of this chakra really important with regards to kundalini sadhana.

#174

[QUOTE=Spirit175;63710].
.
.
.
Well Anand did you mean that activating of swadisthan chakra is not necessary with regard to above lines or that i misunderstood. Well no question regarding it to be karmashaya but isn’t it that activation of this chakra really important with regards to kundalini sadhana.[/QUOTE]

Dear friend:

I apologise for the misunderstanding caused. The chakra certainly should be in an awakened state for the concerned purification to take place. I said it a sense of giving more importance to purification associated with this chakra.

Gratefully yours
anand

#175

Well anand i apologise too for misunderstanding it and since swadisthan when activated is a source of creativity,refined thinking,control of sex impulse,pure knowledge in terms of perception,helps in concentration and gives power to the brain needs proper activation otherwise it leads to off balance personality,excessive thinking,over ambition etc. and in your posts you gave its practical approach nicely. And thanks for the clarification.

#176

[QUOTE=Anand Kulkarni;63727]Dear friend:

I apologise for the misunderstanding caused. The chakra certainly should be in an awakened state for the concerned purification to take place. I said it a sense of giving more importance to purification associated with this chakra.

Gratefully yours
anand[/QUOTE]

By activation I mean purification or awareness, it’s a requisite of the Kriya Yoga sadhana I’m dealing with.

#177

Anand,

“Preserving the reproductive fluids, i.e. not letting them out of one’s body, is celibacy.”

There is a difference between living as a celibate, and being free of sexual desire. To live as a celibate means that you have simply prevented yourself from having sex. To be free of sexual desire simply means that whether you have sex or do not have sex, it makes no difference at all to your freedom. It should be made clear that where there is freedom - then whether you travel to the North, South, East, or West - that freedom will follow you just like a fragrance, it is inescapable. It one interprets being celibate as being free of sexual desire, then one is still being deceived by appearances and has not yet grasped that which is essential.

#178

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;63760]Anand,

“Preserving the reproductive fluids, i.e. not letting them out of one’s body, is celibacy.”

There is a difference between living as a celibate, and being free of sexual desire. To live as a celibate means that you have simply prevented yourself from having sex. To be free of sexual desire simply means that whether you have sex or do not have sex, it makes no difference at all to your freedom. It should be made clear that where there is freedom - then whether you travel to the North, South, East, or West - that freedom will follow you just like a fragrance, it is inescapable. It one interprets being celibate as being free of sexual desire, then one is still being deceived by appearances and has not yet grasped that which is essential.[/QUOTE]

dear friend:

Being celibate refers to the physical/ external aspect and being free from desire is the mental/ inner aspect.

If a tunnel is to be made through a mountain, today’s tunnel engineers start boring at both ends of the mountain, so that work is done in half the time.

regards, anand

#179

Anand,

“Being celibate refers to the physical/ external aspect and being free from desire is the mental/ inner aspect”

I am aware of that. But the question is, is it possible to be celibate and yet not free of sexual desire ? If it is possible, then being celibate is not a solution. Maybe it can be helpful in some ways to work towards a solution. But in itself, it is not a solution. The fact is that to be celibate as a permanent way of life is dangerous. Temporarily, it can be very useful. But permanently, very dangerous. Because nature has not intended man to be celibate. If nature has intended man to be celibate, then this would be a great threat to the survival of the species. To ensure the survival of the species, nature has not created man to be celibate. If you really realize this, then you will also realize that if you are living life as a permanent celibate, then you are doing something which is fundamentally against the nature of the body.

#180

[QUOTE=AmirMourad;63765]Anand,

“Being celibate refers to the physical/ external aspect and being free from desire is the mental/ inner aspect”

I am aware of that. But the question is, is it possible to be celibate and yet not free of sexual desire ? If it is possible, then being celibate is not a solution. Maybe it can be helpful in some ways to work towards a solution. But in itself, it is not a solution. The fact is that to be celibate as a permanent way of life is dangerous. Temporarily, it can be very useful. But permanently, very dangerous. Because nature has not intended man to be celibate. If nature has intended man to be celibate, then this would be a great threat to the survival of the species. To ensure the survival of the species, nature has not created man to be celibate. If you really realize this, then you will also realize that if you are living life as a permanent celibate, then you are doing something which is fundamentally against the nature of the body.[/QUOTE]

dear friend:

how true, what you say.

Except that yoga yoga involves merging lower products with the higher. In a way this is very much going against nature, which had produced these lower products, which were the cause of bondage.

A yogi need not worry about the propagation of the species. Only 1 in 100000 is interested in pure yoga and 1 out of 100000 such aspirants attains liberation.

Further, even if all current humans attain liberation, the space will get filled with new entrants from currently other species. And even if all these are liberated, they will continue to exist in higher spheres.

regards, anand