By Sanjib Mukherjee,
Celibacy is perhaps the most confusing topic for many spiritual aspirants with so many conflicting views and interpretations being given around this very basic subject. The following post will address the issue once and for all, and explain exactly what our yogic scriptures say.
Our nervous system is made up of 7 chakras (energy centres) which run down the spine of our skeleton body. The first chakra is located on the root of spine, with the 7th chakra being located on the top of our heads. Each chakra has a specific purpose and is responsible for releasing various emotions and feelings into our psychological system. The 2nd chakra (located behind the genitals) has two purposes, to inspire one to become creative or to give rise to sexual urges. The interesting fact to note is that these two conditions cannot exist at the same time, meaning when you feel creative and inspired, your sexual urges will disappear, but when you feel dull and disinterested in life, that’s when the yearning for sex and lust will arise to the forefront of your mind.
The innate nature of the mind is to always look for happiness, but when delving into spirituality, we need to take a closer look at the different states of happiness which can exist. Satvic happiness is of the highest form and is observed when our prana (energy levels) are raised through the a good diet, positive mindset and solid spiritual practices. Rajasic happiness occurs through restless activity which ultimately tires us all out after a short period of time. The third type of happiness is tamasic, which is actually born from dullness and fatigue. Such happiness is very instantaneous, short lived and depletes our energy levels in a very short period of time.
When is a satvic state of mind, our second chakra releases a huge amount of energy within our system which flourishes your creative forces and fuels our life with vigour and enthusiasm. The more we extend our creativity, the more energetic and passionate we become, thus our energy levels rise higher to release the next chakras as well. When in a tamasic state of mind, creativity does not exist and thus our mind looks for immediate substitutes for short term happiness. Sex and lust immediately come into our minds and thus the necessity to fulfil these urges become strong and desirable during these uninspired moments.
To help make the above knowledge more practical, think about the moments in your life where you have been at your creative and inspired best, moments where you have felt absolutely complete within yourself and filled with internal happiness….for example, the first time you held your baby or scoring a winning goal for your football team or even travelling to a dream holiday destination … during these inspired moments, sex does not enter your mind…it’s a psychological impossibility. Now think back to the moments in your life when you have been low on energy, uninspired or unsatisfied with life…say whilst sitting on the couch flicking through various TV channels, or going through the motions in a routine job. At some point or another, where creativity is at its lowest, thoughts of a sexual nature will enter your mind to keep your spirits engaged. Once again, during these moments of lustful thoughts, creativity cannot enter your mind.
Both forms of the 2nd chakra (creativity and sex) will give rise to happiness within you, the only difference being that creativity will be of a satvic nature and continue to give rise to further energy releases within your spirit, whereas sex will be of a tamasic nature and ultimately deplete you of any further release of energy levels. Again to help make this knowledge practical for you, imagine how exhilarated you would feel after painting a glorious picture on a blank canvass and how inspired you would become to produce another masterpiece. Now imagine how energetic you feel after any sexual act you may have performed with a partner or by yourself. Yoga, through the analysis of our chakra’s, has a scientific explanation for all these states of emotions.
No-where in any yogic scriptures does it say that sex or sexual thoughts are bad. In the realms of spirituality and the highest knowledge, we move beyond good and bad or right and wrong. However, to spiritually progress, each of our chakras need to be released through intense practices and lifestyle choices. Continuous sex will deprive your 2nd chakra the opportunity to rise and unflower the energy levels in the following chakras up the spine, and thus our spiritual experiences will be severely limited. Also, the release of semen from the bodily system takes away a subtle substance called ojas from our internal system, which is responsible for much of the energy we have conserved within us.
As each chakra within our spine becomes released, greater energy levels are observed with our mind-body complex, till ultimately we release the highest forms of energy once the 7th chakra is fully blossomed. It is said, the ecstasy experienced once the final chakra is open is equivalent to 100 times the climax you feel during sexual intercourse, and also the 7th chakra gives rise to this experience for a prolonged period of time (sometimes forever when you become fully enlightened).
The desire for the ultimate happiness and spiritual growth is the main reason why our scriptures advise a seeker to abstain from sex, but the control of ones emotions has to come from within and can never be controlled through strict rules or philosophical doctrines. Like everything in yoga, the ultimate guru lies within, and we must all listen to our internal voices with govern us all. However, through study of the scriptures, we can begin to learn more about how the mind works, and how certain behaviours can affect us in certain ways. Once given all the information, the choices as to how you should lead your life has to come down to you.
So coming back to the original question “Should a yogi avoid sex on the spiritual path”…..well having read the above wisdom, its now a question for each seeker to decide….there is no right or wrong, just a correct decision which is in unison with your own set of beliefs and aspirations in life.
of-course….no base pleasures if you want to rise…
I guess, a true yogi would be no longer be able to derive pleasure from sex as he is already into the pursuit of seeking a greater pleasure. Essentially, when one is dwelling into spirutality, sex or lust appears to be very trivial.
nicely written.
as shastra sarvaucch brahmachari muni swami shivanand who refers d 1st scripture ” GITA ” as his point of view… and he presents that yogi means d one who is in yog means communion; communion can only take place with the supreme who is bodiless ocean of energy… spirituality itself means knowing urself as spirit or soul or divine energy; congregating with d supreme soul so wer does d questn arise of body in the middle…. & d1 who is der in flesh is not called yogi but BHOGI.. subject to ur 2nd chakra 4m wer it al strtd; so 2nd chakra u r reffering is svadishtan chkra and it does not means sex to be done but to be elevated to the further up so that lustful desires r apps gone & v c ourself as soul…… d 1 who performs is called as rajayogi……
Thank Sanjb for raising this topic once again.
Opening up the higher chakras is like experiencing orgasmic pleasure at more levels. Once this process begins to happen then one naturally moves away from lustful sexual experiences which would be from just one level of a second chakra.
The trick is to consciously move into this direction of raising the energy in to the upper chakras. Mere suppresion will not work. Once you make this choice without any outside pressure from a Guru or a religion you are on track for experiencing the ecstacy from all the chakras.
A sexual experience then feels like lighting a candle in a fully lit room! For an unmarried person this would mean no more physical entanglements and above all no more pain. For a married person or someone in relationship who is at this level would only have a sexual experience to create life. This had been the case with Paramhans Yogananda’s parents as he states in his autobiography.
everyone has their ideas or lets say anubhavam …..and that decides the flavor of spiritualism
Loved the article!! Very well written!
Very well written..Keep it up!
Jai Gurudev….Look for higher pleasure….via enlightenment…then,this tendency of sensual pleasures automatically disappears…keeping the fact,that we are all human beings with desires rooted in us…
Very good and educative article… one should read…
This article is enlightening and instructive. Thank you!
I agree with this……
hi! can u give me some yoga tips………
Hi Jena, I shall write a post on beginning yoga for you:)..thanks Jaya for your feedback..
the definition of “yogi” and “spiritual” is not absolute…..
First of all a nice article and I appreciate it …but I have some opinions…
Being true to oneself is also spiritual in a limited sense. Ultimate happiness and knowledge is not necessarily required by all. One can still enjoy sex and other pleasures and still be spiritual with the limited happiness(though not ultimate)….
What we are speaking about is the level of happiness one can derive if one abstains from all vices of life. That is true and it is the same when we apply this analogy to “better education”. Not all persons need a very high degree to be successful. There are very successful people who are doing good to society without having earned a proper qualification.
The point here is “what does the yogi with ultimate happiness?” – Help others or be content with his state?
One can still be a yogi with limited happiness who indulges in the pleasure of his senses and still do good to the society in his own limited way. SO THEY CANNOT BE EXCLUSIVE. But of course the pleasure of senses should be within legal limits otherwise it violates the concept of spirituality.
It is only from the point of view of society that everything looks white or black, otherwise we are all the same.
Hi Srivatsan, thank you so much for your detailed reply..I really do appreciate the efforts you put in your post….I encourage everyone to do the same:)
Actually if you read the post again, you will see we are actually saying the same thing……..the essence of the article is to re-irerate everyone needs to make their own choices about what is the right lifestyle for them…so no two paths are the same….
what may give the ultimate happiness to one person, may indeed be complete misery for another…….thus no hard and fast rules can ever be set…..
even with all the beautiful knowledge written in our vedas, you will see so many contradictions as different ideas were written for different times…
the context for this post is for those who are indeed seeking the highest spiritual attainment and thus the detailed explanation as the workings of the chakras and the effects they have on our bodies…
I accept, very much true….
Whether there is another birth or not, evolution of soul over life times etc is still unproven and may be true or may be false…
In this birth, do things which bring you Happiness, without harming any one else in the process..
Be a yogi or otherwise, for spirituality is about compassion, love and happiness… Sex is part of our existence, gives pleasure.. …as long u dont cause hurt ….. having sex with any one doesn’t make u any les spiritual.. …
YES..
Hi Sanjib-i do not know much-but i feel sex n yogism should go parallel and to be enjoyed separtely as long as each does not come on the other’s way-both are important for us–wat do u say-
Hi Meena, really there is no right or wrong answer…everyone has to formulate their own path..
ya true dear-finally it is my life which i have to deal with so need to understand what all is important for me–on prioriy basis and move on with all the things in life-thanx
Excellent article Sanjib! I really enjoyed it and fully agree with all that you have said. Well done and Keep it up!!!
Sanjib…very pertinent topic…don’t get me started…could write a thesis! lol…like Sai Raj’s last statement ..
I guess Yogi is some one who has experienced everything, Money , sex ,and all other things..and these are the things that don’t interest him anymore. Correct me if i am wrong. But the person who has experience all kinds of Yog (Pleasures) and realises that salvation is the only thing that’s required…i guess he or she is true yogi….Again my knowledge is limited on this…
Sai Raj….yeh there are many frsutrated spiritual folk who are unabel to deny their primal instincts, its such a personal matter for each person
Ravi….thanks for your words, promise to keep reading and I promise to keep writing!!
Vijay… your knowledge is awesome, a true yogi goes beyond sense pleasures for sure..
Senthil….write a thesis!!…I want your views:)
Meena…everyone fully appreciates and loves your words, MyYogaClub is a friendly community website where like minded people can express whatever they want to say, you have a voice, keep using it:)
The identification of the self as this body shall contain one to be limited to the joys of the senses…one of which is sex….
A true yogi is a realised being who may be divine by birth (rare) or may have gone through the journey of life through the senses and realised that the ultimate joy which is “Ananda” (permenant joy) cannot be attained through the senses without an effort of giving up on this or that moves on to experience eternal joy after which he finds the joysof the body as trivial …
thanks sanjib-will share again on your next topic too
wow..Sanjib ..it is so nicely explained n so simple explanation of such a complicated subject n emotions….
very nice…i never had idea that each n every feeling has an explanation…like dis fact of high creative period and low creativity period changes has effect on these kinda feelings also…
I was looking for a good read about this issue . Searching in Yahoo I found this blog. After going over this information I’m very happy to say that I have finally found just what I was looking for. I will make sure to save blog and come again on a constant basis. Thanks!
Hello Sanjib.
Just came across your article. Quite an Interesting one.
I hope you have heard about the “Flow” theory. Mihály Csíkszentmihályi Gave a more clearer view of it in his books.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
Human beings do “focus” on multiple things. One focus when its intense itself is a distraction for any other “focus” at a higher level of intensity.
Multi threading or multi focus can be used by a human being only when the intensity of what we are focusing on is very mediocre.
Its not just creativity and sex, it applies to anything.. Any operational activity, Reading, Intense singing, Work, Ability to meditate, Ability to dedicate yourself to a guru, anything for that matter if its singular will have a better result and satisfaction. In terms of what is happening inside ones brain.
I would like to connect with you and discuss more about this “Focus”
IF you can connect with me on my email. Would be great.
Chakra’s. I’m still to focus on it. Would like to know where to start!!
Regards,
Prasad.
“Searching in Yahoo I found this blog. After going over this information I’m very happy to say that I have finally found just what I was looking for. I will make sure to save blog and come again on a constant basis.”
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