Hinduism And Celibacy

Hinduism And Celibacy

In Christianity, what is the biggest sin of Adam and Eve?
They ate the fruit of knowledge.
The Forbidden fruit.
Because of this knowledge, they became aware of their human nature
Following that, they knew their limitation, their emotion, and feeling
They became shy and covered their bodies.
This led to their sex life,
And because of sex, progeny happened.
And we humans are the creation of that.

Different people have different interpretations of this event.
But for any normal thinking human being,
It looks like an absurd idea.
Why having knowledge is sin?
Why are humans knowing their limitations is a sin?
If sex is a sin then entire humanity is the outcome of sin.
This way, Christianity gives very high importance to celibacy.

In Islam what is the biggest reward of following the Path of Allah?
You get eternal heaven
But why is heaven so interesting in Islam?
Because in heaven, each Momin gets 72 virgins!
But what will you do of 72 virgins?
Have sex for eternal life!
So sex is good in Islam
For this people do as many marriages as they can afford
People live for it and die for sex.

In Santana Dharma tradition like Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism
Celibacy or Brahmacharya is considered one of the highest Virtue
Patanjali yoga sutra says one of the five Yama is Brahamcharya
Without proper Yama and Niyama in place,
you cannot proceed on the Path of Yoga.
Eight sequential steps of Patanjali Ashtanga Yoga are
Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayam, Pratayahara,
Dharana, Dhyana, and finally Samadhi.

If you interpret it properly, then Patanjali is saying
Without Celibacy, you cannot move on the path of Yoga
Why? Because Yama means ethical life
The absence of ethical life Will cause you restlessness
Following that, you cannot do Asana
Pranayam without Asana is not effective
Dharana without Pranayam is not possible.
Dhyana without Dharana is impossible
Samadhi and self-realization without Dhyana are unthinkable.

But, if people are interested in both
self-realization and family life, then what to do?
Hindu Philosophical systems say
the purpose of marriage are many
One, to fulfill sexual desire
Two, to compliment two opposite energy channels of the
two bodies so that each individual becomes balance.
Three, have progeny so that society can survive
and the knowledge system continues
Four, build a healthy society with reliable relationships
where children’s physical and mental health is taken care of
Fifth, think beyond life, do good Karma, Yagnya together
so that you both reach heaven together
Sixth and final inspire each other for Moksha and Mukti.

Unfortunately, most people do not understand this properly
and they give so much importance to one or two aspects
of their married life that they don’t realize that
there is married life beyond sex and children.

But keeping that aside,
How a person who is interested in family life can have celibacy?
Which is one of the key components of Yoga and self-realization?

Have you seen the caves of Khajuraho?
That is the part of Sanatana Dharama.
Not only that, there are many temples around India
where you see these kinds of erotic postures
between a male and a female around the outside wall of the temple.
What is the message?
Sanatana Dharma is advocating do all
whatever sensual you feel is necessary for life.
After you are fully satisfied
When you feel there is nothing else to be done
then only go inside the temple with a calm mind.

You cannot mediate if you are thinking about sex.
Without meditation, Samadhi is impossible
and hence self-realization is unattainable.

People develop their own purpose of life and married life
And to fulfill that, they do whatever is required for them.
Sometimes they do it mutually and other times as alone.

In Hindu systems, we hear many stories of
Brahmacharya of Bhisma, Vishwamitra
Sri Ramachandra of Ayodhya, Lakshman,
Hanuman, Ramkrishna Paramhamsa, Vivekananda etc.
Some were married, some not.
Chose your ideal of life rightly,
and try to live up to them, you may have ups and downs in your life
but you will not feel succumbed to life.

In Hinduism unlike Christianity
Brahmacharya is not a binary concept that either you or not.
Here it is a gradual control of life forces.
There are people who chose lifetime Celibacy.
There are others who chose for one year or one month.
Ramchandra chose celibacy for fourteen years.
Whatever degree of celibacy you can practice in your life
that much control you can exercise on your physical and mental body.

The highest degree of Brahmacharya can lead to the highest virtuous life
It can protect one from physical aging and physical diseases,
It can protect one from disgrace and confusion.
It gives you intellectual, mental, and physical strength to live like a Jeevan Mukta.

It protects one from mental sickness, craziness,
It helps in culminating Bhakti and meditative mind.
It helps in developing strong resolute.
It frees one from the dual mind
It gives clarity in thinking.

In Sanatana Dharma Sex is neither virtue nor sin.
Celibacy doesn’t mean lifelong celibacy
Everything has some purpose in life.
Try to understand the purpose and move.
Don’t become crazy about anything
As you see in everyday newspapers or health magazines.

Oh Pratibimba, Am I making sense to you?
What do you think about Brahmacharya ?

Hari Om Tat Sat
Yours Truly Hari