An Interview with
Sri Swami Chidananda
A DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY PUBLICATION
First Edition: 1998
(2,000 copies)
World Wide Web (WWW) Edition : 2001
Website: http://www.divinelifesociety.org/
This WWW reprint is for free distribution
© The Divine Life Trust Society
Published By
THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
P.O. Shivanandanagar—249 192
Distt. Tehri-Garhwal, Uttaranchal,
Himalayas, India.
In October, 1997, His Holiness Sri Swami Chidananda-who in 1963 succeeded
His Holiness Sri Swami Sivananda Maharaj as president of the Divine
Life Society-was interviewed by a leading
American spiritual magazine on the question of the role of celibacy
in the spiritual life.
This very powerful booklet is a presentation of the questions asked
and the answers given. It provides the sincere spiritual seeker with
rare insights, not only into the role of celibacy in the spiritual life,
but into the goal of life itself, enlightenment.
The publishers are happy to release this valuable booklet on July 3,
1998, the auspicious 50th anniversary of the Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy,
which is an important and integral part of the Divine Life Society headquarters,
Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, India.
THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
In considering the role of celibacy in the spiritual life, it is important
to remember that, in the context of Hindu society, the subject of brahmacharya
or celibacy or self-restraint does not necessarily have any connection
at all with the spiritual life, or sadhana (spiritual practices),
or with Self-realisation as such. It is not normally discussed or recommended
only with a view to promote spiritual life. The situation is
totally different because of a certain uniqueness that has come to be
part and parcel of the life of a Hindu in Indian-Hindu society.
That uniqueness is that our ancients have drawn up a certain social
structure and also a pattern of social life for the individual. In ancient
India, a person's life was reckoned as 100 years, divided into four
stages. The first stage was the student stage, or brahmacharya stage,
where the young people were expected to study hard, build a good physique,
cultivate a noble character and in all ways prepare themselves for their
adult lives. During this first stage they were expected to observe strict
celibacy.
The second stage was the householder stage, where the exercise of the
sexual faculty was taken for granted and recognised as a legitimate
part of human life. It was regarded as a fundamental, sacred duty of
a family to create and offer progeny to form the next generation-for
the perpetuation of society and also of the species. So here there was
no question of celibacy in the strict sense of the term implying total
abstinence. On the other hand, the exercise of sex was an indispensable
duty for the householder. Of course, its exercise was not meant to be
unbridled and unrestrained; otherwise it would be degrading. But it
was given the full sanction of society and was considered to he something
sacred and quite accepted.
The third stage of life was the retired stage, when the couple turned
over to their sons the burdens of earning a living and themselves turned
their minds to higher things. Here again brahmacharya was expected.
The lawgivers said: "Do you want to go on being just a physical creature,
bound down to physical consciousness, all your life? Now, raise your
consciousness above its present total identification with the body and
aspire to go higher!" So they said, restraint is necessary. But peculiarly
enough this restraint was not an ordinary restraint; it was a sort of
a challenge. It became part of their sadhana.
Then during the fourth stage, one's entire life was to be devoted to
God and God alone. One became a sannyasin, or monk, and then,
of course, celibacy was automatically total. Therefore, the concept
of brahmacharva was part and parcel of the Indian-Hindu social
tradition. In its narrowest, restricted sense, brahmacharya meant
complete celibacy, but in its broader sense, as it could be applied
to the life of a householder, it meant moderation and self-restraint,
not abusing the sex function, and strict fidelity to one's partner.
Man is a mixture of three ingredients: first, an animal with all the
physical propensities and sense urges that one shares in common with
animals; second, the rational, logical human level; and third, the dormant
Divinity, the sleeping God within. The whole of the spiritual life is
a gradual elimination, eradication, of the animal within, and the refinement
or purification and education of the entire human nature so that it
stops its movement in all other directions and starts taking on an ascending
vertical direction. Once the human nature is given an upward turn, one
simultaneously starts awakening the sleeping Divinity with the help
of all one's spiritual practices.
If one knows that the spiritual process, the spiritual life, is the
elimination of the animal, the refining and directing upwards of the
human, and the awakening and unfoldment of the Divine, then all spiritual
practices, including the role that brahmacharya plays, fall into
their right place.
Swami Chidananda
An Interview with
SWAMI CHIDANANDA
Question: Celibacy or brahmacharya has always been given
a prominent place in the spiritual life, and we know that both Swami
Sivananda and yourself have subscribed to its importance. Why is celibacy
important and what is its role in the spiritual life?
Swamiji: One of the reasons for its importance is that we have
received as part and parcel of our heritage from our spiritual past
the concept and view of celibacy being a basic requirement, a prerequisite,
of spiritual life. And this concept and view has continued to have a
certain recognition over many, many centuries during which time Indian
society has changed, and many other old concepts have been discarded.
The normal Hindu has always been progressive. He has never hesitated
to change if he felt that the change would enhance his knowledge and
take him in a better direction. And in coming into contact with views
and knowledge from other societies, there has been an ongoing reappraisal
of our ancient concepts and views. In spite of this we find that the
concept of brahmacharya and its having an important role to play
in the spiritual life has continued. It has stood the test of time;
it has become time-honoured.
Had it not been something of enduring value, it would also have changed.
But it has not. As it used to be regarded thousands of years ago, so
is it regarded even today amongst spiritual teachers, gurus and
yogis-with the same attitude of its being a necessary and important
thing.
So, even though Swami Sivananda was very broadminded and up to date
in his outlook, a modern sage-a prophet of the new age, as they say-he
never hesitated to stick to tradition if he found that it had something
of permanent value. He was most flexible, and he also could be inflexible.
And that is his disciple also, Swami Chidananda, for the same reason.
Another reason I have always been an advocate of celibacy is that the
towering spiritual personalities who have been a moulding influence
in my life ever since I can remember-personalities like Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo Ghosh-were all people
who swore by celibacy. They were people who said that it is most important,
indispensable. So naturally, when these people who were the source of
my inspiration in the spiritual life were so forthright and absolutely
clear-they didn't seem to have any doubt about it-I said, well, this
is it! So that decided the matter for me in my approach to the life
spiritual.
Brahmacharya or celibacy is a rational process of preserving
and conserving precious energy so that it can be utilised in other very
essential and indispensable functions. And if it is preserved like this,
it can be converted, just as tangible, gross water is converted into
subtle steam. Then it can do wonders. A river may not have much power
in it by itself. You may be easily able to row or swim across it. But,
if it is dammed up and its waters conserved, then it has the power,
when properly channelled, to turn huge turbines and produce electricity.
The hot sun, even in summer, does not normally cause a fire, but if
you concentrate its rays through a lens, those rays will immediately
burn whatever they are focused on. That is what celibacy actually is.
Now, the interesting question is: What is the origin, the source, of
this energy? After years and years of theory and discovery, modern physicists
have arrived at the conclusion that what exists in nature is not palpable
or solid matter as such. It is energy, energy that fills the entire
cosmos, all space. Everything that exists is filled with unutterable
energy, energy which takes so many forms. Everything that you see here,
every force derives from that ultimate source of cosmic energy.
And our ancients have said that it is this cosmic energy that holds
the heavenly bodies in their course. They are all kept moving by this
mysterious, inexplicable, indescribable, unimaginable energy. And they
regarded that energy as something divine, something that has neither
a beginning nor an end. It is eternal and pervades everywhere. There
is nowhere that it is not. And it is this energy, which not only keeps
this universe going but countless such universes, that is present in
living beings as the sex force.
So Hindus regarded this energy as sacred, something that is worthy
of being worshipped, not frittered away. They said that this energy
is none other than the manifestation of the Divine Mother, the cosmic
energy. Therefore, it should be regarded with reverence.
This cosmic force manifests in our own system as prana (vital
energy, life force). And prana is the precious reserve of the
seeker. Any sense activity or sense experience consumes a lot of prana.
And the activity that consumes the greatest amount of prana is
the sex act. Gurudev has put it very strongly: "It shatters the entire
nervous system." Because it creates great excitement, great agitation,
and such an intensity of feeling that as an aftermath it leaves the
person exhausted and depleted.
The highest of all goals in human life-spiritual attainment-requires
the maximum available pranic energy on all levels: mental, intellectual
and emotional. It is through prana that one has to restrain one's
senses. It is through prana that one has to still the restless
activity of the mind. It is through prana that one has to centralise
all the scattered rays of the mind and make it one-pointed in concentration.
It is through prana that one has to direct the concentrated mind
upon the object of meditation.
Prana is required for spiritual reflection and discrimination.
The thinking must be sharp and the intellect penetrating. To understand
the inner implications of a guru's instructions requires a special
type of intelligence. You may be a very intellectual person, and you
may immediately grasp the language meaning of something the guru
is telling you, but if the guru is speaking of an abstruse
subject not within the normal range of your ordinary human experience,
you require a special subtle type of understanding. And that understanding
develops through brahmacharya.
So as I said, all these various practices require the use of prana,
and celibacy insures that an abundance of pranic reserve
is available to the seeker. So viewed from this angle, it is a rational
and very positive process.
Many orthodox Hindus have said that you can worship God, want to have
union with Him, to attain His vision, but still marry and lead a normal
life. But our ancients also knew that that is not an easy path, because
there are so many distractions, so many pressures, so many tensions,
so many demands made upon the person in family life, that to give yourself
wholly and totally to God-well, anything may be possible, but not this.
You cannot serve God and Mammon. Mammon sums up the worldly life, earthly
life. Because, if you marry, you want mammon. Without mammon you cannot
look after your household, keep the home fires burning, the pot boiling,
and do everything that is necessary. Only the married person knows all
that he has to do. Therefore, they said that renunciation of the earthly
life is necessary to go whole hog into the spiritual quest; and the
entire energy potential is also necessary if you really and truly mean
to make the supreme effort to throw yourself entirely into the spiritual
pursuit and its necessary disciplines.
Gurudev Swami Sivananda himself built his intense penance and austerity
in yoga practice upon the basis of brahmacharva. So what
he spoke about was a leaf from his own book of life. He had had a brief
episode of a householder's life way back when he was in Malaysia as
a doctor, and perhaps that also must have given him, being a doctor,
an idea of how much expending of energy it constitutes. So all the more
his comparative experience confirmed him in the belief of the importance
of brahmacharya for the yogi and the spiritual person.
This is the rationale behind celibacy. If you conserve this vital energy
and divert it to the spiritual process of contemplation, philosophical
study and reflection, and meditation, it becomes successful, because
you have concentrated your force and you are able to direct the concentrated
force by focusing it upon your spiritual practices. If it is preserved,
concentrated and diverted into a specific channel, it works wonders.
There is another reason why brahmacharya is important. I am
not now talking about exceptional persons who have a sudden illumination
and then they are once and for all lifted from the gross physical plane
of body consciousness into another, never to return back. In one moment
of illumination, Ramana Maharshi became established in "I am neither
mind nor body, Immortal Self am I. I have neither time nor space, I
was never born." In one split second-one moment he was just an ordinary
student and then suddenly he knows that he is what the Bhagavad Gita
describes as "Fire cannot burn you; water cannot wet you; weapons cannot
injure you; wind cannot dry you. You are unborn, permanent, eternal,
beyond time. Death is nothing to you"-he became established once and
for all in that experience, and he never budged from that state. All
his life, no matter what was going on around him, it did not touch him.
It did not affect him. I am not talking about such people.
Vedanta long ago probed into this subject of the human situation, and
the sages saw clearly that 999 persons out of every 1000 or 9,999 out
of every 10,000 were completely caught up in a state of "I am this body."
They knew of their identity only as a physical entity, a being with
hands and feet and ears and eyes, eating, drinking, sleeping, talking,
doing things. So they are totally body-bound. Their consciousness is
held upon the level of the physical body.
This is the situation. But the goal of the spiritual seeker is Cosmic
Consciousness, which is their inner reality beyond time, space, name
and form. So, when you juxtapose their present state of consciousness
and the experience they wish to attain, you can just imagine how impossible
this would be if they go on perpetuating this total identification with
the physical body and all its processes.
Among all these bodily processes, most have become mechanical. Most
people are not intensely aware of eating, drinking, sleeping, voiding.
All these things have become automatic. But the one process that most
of them purposefully engage in, with great desire for it-wanting it,
thinking about it, planning for it and going after it-is sex enjoyment,
which means that this is a process that concentrates their entire consciousness,
entire mind, entire attention upon the physical, their physical identity.
From one angle the sex act is the acme of physicality or animality.
It is a process that perforce directs your entire attention upon the
physical, and even more, the full focusing of your desire and intention
upon that part of your physical nature that you share in common with
the entire animal kingdom. Is this going to be in any way helpful for
attaining Cosmic Consciousness?
So here is a human being, the crown and glory of God's creation, high
above all the rest of the living species, going down to the gross, physical,
material animal level and giving oneself totally to it-seeking it, wanting
it, going after it, doing everything one can in order to obtain it,
indulging in it, and wanting to have it always available. That means
that one is voluntarily binding oneself down to a level of physical
consciousness.
If you are a spiritual seeker, can you not see that you are working
against yourself? You have to liberate your consciousness from the lesser
levels and go on lifting it to progressively higher and higher levels
of finer and more refined states. For if the whole of the spiritual
process of illumination and enlightenment is a process of rising into
a higher state of consciousness, it automatically implies liberating
yourself from a lower state of consciousness. If you want to move northward
it means moving away from the south.
And one of the things that helps you to free yourself from being caught
in this physical level is celibacy. Cosmic Consciousness, Absolute Consciousness,
is a far cry if you don't recognise the necessity of liberating yourself
from your total identification with the body.
Question: Are there particular stages in the spiritual life
when celibacy becomes especially important or even essential?
Swamiji: Yes and no. From one point of view, celibacy forms
the very foundation, and the foundation is not any later stage of a
constructive process. It is the very first stage, the ABC stage. So
we may say that it is not at some stage that it becomes important
or indispensable, but that it is essential right from the very beginning.
Question: If you wanted to call it a stage, then it means
you'd call it the stage where you start taking the spiritual life seriously.
Swamiji: Yes, seriously-when you say it and you mean what
you say. If your aspiration is to be authentic and genuine, and if the
aspiration is to take the form of an all-out commitment towards the
spiritual experience and an all-out effort to move in that direction,
then you must keep moving only in that direction. You cannot run after
two things. Because then it will be taking one step forward and one
step backwards, and you will never really progress.
The spiritual life starts with your recognition that as long as you
keep going headlong in the pursuit of sense satisfaction and pleasure,
you are not going to move one step. So all will be academic and theoretical.
Our aspiration, our wanting spiritual life will only be in theory-a
fancy and a feeling. You have not started. So the beginning stage itself
of the spiritual life is a turning away from sense experience and sense
indulgence and starting to move in the opposite direction.
It is perhaps precisely for this reason that Maharshi Patanjali put
brahmacharya right at the very commencement of his eight-stage
Raja Yoga and not at any later stage. It is one of the five vows that
constitute the first stage. If he had thought that it was only important
or essential at a later stage, he would have brought it in at the third
or fourth stage. But no, he did it at the very beginning.
Swami Sivananda used to say: "Brahmacharya is the basis of immortality."
And in many places in the Upanishads it says: "Wisdom experience cannot
come to one who has not his senses under restraint and who has not controlled
the vagaries of his wandering mind."
So I believe that it is not at some stage, but it is the all
of the life spiritual. Because spiritual life is a transcendence
of your human nature, human consciousness. And if it is a transcendence,
you have to leave behind all that constitutes your human nature, your
physicality. You will have to commence with it and keep on with it.
You view celibacy in a positive manner, not as something anti-nature.
You do not at all feel that you are doing any violence to yourself.
Finally, from a purely scientific and technical point of view, one
of the yogas where celibacy is absolutely essential and indispensable
is kundalini yoga. There is no compromise with that. Right from
the beginning it is absolutely essential and indispensable. Otherwise
it is dangerous to go into kundalini yoga which is based upon
pranayama and many mudras, bandhas and asanas.
That's the "no" part of the answer.
The "yes" part is to state that in the total context of spiritual life
in India, there are certain stages and states where one can be highly
spiritual and yet at the same time be leading a normal sex life. That
is true especially in the bhakti path-people who are following
the path of love of God, devotion, prayer and worship, chanting the
Divine Name, singing His glories. This path does not make any distinction
between a celibate brahmachari, a married householder, and a
retired couple living a spiritually oriented life after they have finished
their duties as householders.
So the path of devotion seems to be a dimension of spiritual life in
India where total celibacy in its sense of absolute abstinence is not
insisted upon. It is not looked upon with disfavour, but it is not insisted
upon either. But because the sexual act consumes a great amount of pranic
energy, naturally self-restraint is also important. And promiscuous
sex was never countenanced, never looked upon with favour. So a sort
of celibacy in the form of self-control and fidelity in your sexual
relationship with your recognised legal partner can also be regarded
as brahmacharya. Here, the husband looks upon all other women
as mothers. He has only one woman and that is his lawfully wedded wife.
He is what is called an eka-patni-vrata husband, one who has
taken the vow of a single wife. There is no question of having a mistress
or of even thinking of another woman. And the wife bases her life on
the vow of pati-vrata. In a total sense, she has only one partner
in life. All other men are like her children; she has the feeling of
motherhood in her heart towards all other men except her husband. So
here the sex life does not in any way go contrary to spiritual life.
And this has been the case with ever so many devotees, lovers of God,
and spiritual India lacks no example of them. Throughout India we have
seen the phenomenon of large communities of ecstatic devotees of God,
many or most of whom have been married people, living a normal sex life,
but nevertheless absorbed in divine love of God. So, this is the "yes"
portion. In this stage sexuality seems not in any way forbidden or incompatible
with spiritual life.
Question: I presume that Vedantic enquiry, the more intellectual
approach to the spiritual life, would also not be incompatible with
normal married life.
Swamiji: Yes, yes. But in the Vedantic type of life, gradually,
unconsciously, without even intending it on purpose, in the course of
time the person would graduate to that level of consciousness where
sex would begin to seem superfluous. Because it contradicts the very
basic thesis of Vedanta: "I am not this body. I am not the five elements.
I am not the limiting adjuncts. I am something quite distinct and different."
And for that different, distinct Thing, sex has no meaning. For, It
is not within the realm of physical consciousness and physical functioning.
Question: Celibacy is often seen in the modern West as an
outmoded, old-fashioned practice. It is often viewed as repressive,
life-denying-even antithetical to what spiritual practice is ultimately
all about. Many spiritual authorities in the West are now teaching that
to realise our full potential as human beings, we must embrace, rather
than in any way avoid or repress, our sexuality. These views stand in
stark contrast to what the great traditions have always taught. What
do you think about this?
Swamiji: I don't agree with the general attitude that has just
been expressed. They have failed to grasp the place of brahmacharya
in the spiritual life.
It is not outmoded; it is not at all old-fashioned, and it is not repressive
or life-denying. On the contrary, it is used as a plank for everlasting
life, endless life. Their view of life seems to be a very, very limited
and narrow view of life. This is not the only life there is. When you
come to have a little glimpse or idea of what real life is, then you
will just stand amazed. This present life as such is meaningless. It
is a petty trifle, a nothing, if not understood in terms of its being
a take-off runway for catapulting into that greater life.
This life is a means to that great, glorious, grand end and aim of
human existence which is to enter into a life that is the life of God,
that is one with God's life, the Kingdom of Heaven. That is the whole
purpose of human existence. Human life has been given to us as a passageway
to Divinity, as a passageway to everlasting life.
No person with a little religious knowledge and awareness or a spiritual
view will ever deny the validity of brahmacharya. It is something
scientific and a scientific thing never gets outmoded or old-fashioned.
Brahmacharya is neither avoiding sexuality nor repressing sexuality.
It is giving the go-by to sexuality so that the potential and the power
of the sexual process can now be used for something so wonderful that
sex pales into insignificance in contrast.
So brahmacharya is neither repressing sexuality nor avoiding
sexuality. It is just bypassing sexuality-making use of this sexual
potential for something ten times, a hundred times greater. Therefore,
the question of repression and suppression is a misnomer. It is due
to a lack of proper understanding of what the real spiritual quest is.
If it is understood, then these terms will not be used. We are not just
human beings; we are more than human beings. Our human status is only
a pale reflection of what we really are. The only reason our human status
acquires some meaning and significance is because if it is properly
utilised, it can raise us up and take us into that which is our own,
bring us into the Kingdom-to which we have a birthright.
If you want to understand the practice of celibacy through an analogy
that is within the thought forms of today, consider an athlete whose
great ambition is to win a gold medal at the Olympics. He will willingly
put himself into the hands of a trainer, and if the trainer says, "No
more late night revelry, no more sex, no more junk food, no more alcohol,"
the athlete readily agrees. He says: "I'll agree to this and more also
if you want it." Why? Because he wants the gold medal. And no one raises
an eyebrow, no one is outraged. Why? Because the gold medal justifies
all these so-called "inhibitions." You cannot say that he' s doing violence
to or repressing himself, because he is not looking at it that way.
He is willing to do anything that the trainer demands of him. It is
not imposed upon him by other people. We understand why he is doing
it and we accept it.
However, in one way the idea in the West that brahmacharya is
suppression is not entirely off the mark. If one represses or suppresses
some inherent natural force or faculty, it can bring about undesirable
changes in the personality. If brahmacharya is forced upon an
individual against the individual's inclination and will, abnormal conditions
naturally may result, because the person is being compelled to do something
that deep within himself or herself the person does not want to do-compelled
by others, by social restraint or by taking up vows that he or she ought
not to have taken before having well considered exactly what it implied.
But if an intelligent person, having deeply pondered the whole basis
of life, says: "When I want to achieve something great, something mighty,
I cannot afford to deplete the energies that I have. The more I conserve,
the more I can divert into that achievement and the greater the chance
of succeeding." So thinking and having understood the rationale of it
and fully appreciating the ultimate achievement it would lead to, if
he or she voluntarily, willingly and with great enthusiasm undertakes
celibacy, where comes the question of suppression?
On the contrary, what appears to be a sort of denial is actually giving
full self-expression to a higher dimension of your being into which
you have now placed yourself. So, far from denying self-expression,
it is giving full expression to yourself because you are no longer identified
with the lesser aspect of your total personality. You are identified
with the higher aspect. It is a sort of a liberation and evolution to
a higher level. It is something positive, creative, and not anything
negative. It is not a denial but an actual expression of yourself in
the form of a keen aspiration and a noble ambition.
When it constitutes such a process, then Freud and the others are off
the mark. They have never visualised such a situation, such a possibility.
But it is not only a possibility, it is a tradition of centuries, of
millennia-someone being prepared to do anything, give anything, pay
any price for the attainment of the Highest.
Question: Tantra or the practice of "Sacred Sexuality," is
becoming very popular in the West today. Do you think these teachings
offer an authentic spiritual path?
Swamiji: No, I do not think that these teachings offer an authentic
spiritual path. Why? Because of human frailty, human weakness. The human
mind is so made that it always takes the path of least resistance. It
always wants the easy way.
Tantra is an approach to God through all types of sense enjoyment.
Everything is offered to God and so everything becomes sanctified; nothing
is profane. One enjoys sense satisfaction and sees it also as part of
God's bliss. There is a view, and it has something to it, that while
in all human experiences duality persists-there is an "I am enjoying
this object" feeling-that in the ultimate sexual experience between
a truly loving male, intensely in love with the female and fully reciprocated
by the female, there is no consciousness of one's separate individuality.
There is a total fusion of the separatist consciousness in each one,
and there is only the awareness of bliss experience. There is no experiencer.
They say this is a possibility when it is done to its perfection. The
two cease to be and there is only one, non-dual experience, Experience
Absolute, Brahmic-consciousness. So they say that the human body is
an instrument that, if properly made use of, can bring about a rising
above body consciousness.
For one in a million it may click.
The pursuit of pleasure is part of the Western view of life-not the
denial of pleasure. And one teacher in ten may be an authentic teacher
genuinely offering something suited to the Western temperament. But
nine of them are very shrewd people. They know there is a market for
this, and they are wise to it. The approach is: You can have your cake
and eat it too.
Mind you, this was an authentic path that did once upon a time exist
in India, especially in the Eastern part. Even now it exists. But it
became grossly perverted. People became enmeshed in it. They said they
were practising tantra but it was only wining, dining, and sex
pleasure. It took them nowhere, but I suppose it took them where they
wanted to go. So it was dubbed by enlightened people of that time as
the "perverted path." Two paths then came into existence: the authentic
path which was called the "right-hand path," and the perverted path
which was only after enjoyment. That was called the "left-hand path."
There is an episode in the life of the great Sri Ramakrishna, the guru
of Swami Vivekananda. He practised all the yogic paths as
well as Christianity, Islam and others, and he discovered that they
all led to the same ultimate God-experience. And during one period of
his spiritual life he practised tantra also. A woman tantric
approached him and said, "I have been sent here by God to initiate
you into the tantric way of attaining God." Day after day she
expounded the tantric way. But when it came to the final stage,
Sri Ramakrishna, who swore by brahmacharya, replied that through
this [his] body it is impossible. She said, "Then I'll have the whole
thing enacted before you." So she got a tantric male and a tantric
female to enact the ultimate consummation of the practice before
him. As he was observing it stage by stage she went on describing it
to him: "Observe carefully. Now you see how they are in ecstasy; they
are ecstatic. They are losing their own consciousness." And at that
stage, suddenly Ramakrishna lost all consciousness. He went into deep
samadhi. So he vicariously proved to himself that that ultimate
sexual experience can lift one up into that state beyond all duality.
And so the science as such exists, but there are very few authentic
gurus, and it has to be strictly followed under the personal
supervision of a true guru. I am likely to be accused of being
uncharitable, but I believe that most purveyors of modern sacred sexuality
are interested in making a profit out of it for themselves.
As I told you, the sex force is sacred; sex is sacred. It is one of
the most sacred of all things. But sacred sexuality is a misnomer. Once
you get enmeshed in sexuality, the sacredness is given the bye-bye.
That is due to man's weakness, frailty. Therefore, I am not going to
be an advocate of it.
Question: Considering the number of lapses and aberrations
in those who have taken a lifelong vow of celibacy both in the West
and East, do you feel that perhaps undertaking the practice should be
restricted to individuals who have attained a certain degree of spiritual
maturity first?
Swamiji: I wouldn't fully subscribe to this view because, first
and foremost, people who have attained to a certain degree of spiritual
maturity would have reached that at least partially through brahmacharya.
The very fact that they have reached a certain degree of spiritual
maturity indicates that brahmacharya, at least in the broader
sense of the term, must have been part of their make up or part of the
way by which they ascended to that degree of maturity. And I have no
hesitation in saying that the lapses and aberrations you refer to cannot
lessen the validity of the concept and the tradition of brahmacharya
in any way. They are solely due to the imperfection of the persons
concerned.
On the other hand, before one takes a lifelong vow of celibacy one
has to make sure one has a real vocation; there has to be an inner call
to the life and to embrace celibacy. It cannot be a decision based on
sentiment and emotional euphoria, rather it is a judgement through a
rational, logical appraisal of the life. I also insist that one should
not take the vow of monasticism until one is old enough to understand
one's own biology and has had some experience of what one has within
oneself, what one has to deal with. One has to face this squarely.
I would also suggest that a person be allowed to take the vow of lifelong
celibacy only after they have been kept under observation and tutelage
for some time. For example, the Ramakrishna Mission keeps a person as
a pre-probationer for one full year. Then he goes through a probationary
period for a minimum of eight years. Only then is he eligible to request
that he be a full monastic swami. So this type of taking in,
sifting and observing would perhaps obviate many of these lapses and
aberrations. You only allow a person to undertake that vow after a certain
period in the spiritual life.
However, even when all the conditions I have mentioned are fulfilled,
extreme caution must be exercised until a stage is reached where brahmacharya
is one's normal and natural condition.
Brahman is the highest brahmachari because He is One without
a second, and if you are established in Brahman, you are in that same
state-where there is no second, where there is no other. There is a
stage where one becomes totally devoid or free from the sex idea. There
is no sex or man or woman or this or that because one's view has radically
changed. Quite apart from whatever is around-the world in which one
is living-one is totally changed. One's consciousness is no longer kept
upon that level where these things have any meaning or relevance. When
consciousness is in another place, all things are seen, perceived, but
they make no difference. You look at this, you look at that; you are
seeing everything, but it doesn't bring about any change in the state
of your inner consciousness, which always remains the same. That is
the ultimate transcendence which is a possibility and which is an ideal,
which ought to be striven for and which ought to be attained. That is
what the guru wants for the disciple. That is what the saints
want for the ordinary man. Because, before this there is still risk
of a downfall. So our saints say that until the last breath always exercise
caution.
Actually, the vast, vast majority of human beings are human animals
only; they are totally rooted in body consciousness. So the yogi
says that their consciousness only revolves in the lowest three
centres, that is food, sex and lower elimination. If some higher awakening
comes and they develop compassion for others, a spirit of service, wanting
to make others happy, then the consciousness occasionally manifests
itself in the fourth centre, the centre of feeling.
If the consciousness persists in the upward trend of spiritual evolution
and ideal living, it can come to the visuddha-chakra where one
can have many subjective experiences, visions etc., but still the experiences
come and go and the consciousness moves up and down, up and down.
If consciousness rises further to the ajna-chakra, one tends
to be more and more stable, established, because it is the centre of
the mind, the psyche. But it is only when consciousness comes to the
sahasrara that there is no longer a chance of a downfall. One
is above body consciousness. One is not aware of oneself as a body.
One does not think or feel or conceive of oneself as a physical entity
at all. There is no moving down. Consciousness is firmly established.
But until then there is always a need to be vigilant.
Question: What is the key to success in brahmacharya?
Swamiji: It is how you look at it!
First of all it is how you understand it. Brahmacharya is the
diversion to a higher purpose and utilisation of the basic, quintessential
energy potential of the universe located in the individual being. It
is the individualised or microcosmic aspect of the illimitable, infinite,
primordial Cosmic Power that is the macrocosmic aspect or the dynamic
aspect of the one non-dual Reality. As you know, the static aspect is
Brahman which is the transcendental, non-dual Reality. And the kinetic
or the dynamic aspect is that same thing in manifestation or expression,
in movement.
The individualised aspect of this Primordial Power, located in all
beings, is this latent potential for unbroken continuity of life and
existence. This potential is practically everywhere. Just because you
may be in a position to describe it and define it or explain it in terms
of modern physics or chemistry doesn't in any way alter the actual metaphysical
or philosophical fact of its real nature. Physically you may explain
it in terms of pressure etc., but that is only an explanation of something
that is already a transforming, ongoing process of continuously being
and becoming, being and becoming.
This creative potential, creative power, is present throughout the
botanical and animal kingdoms. It is this alone that manifests as all
the different forces in the individual human being-the power of acting,
the power of thinking, the ability to see, hear, smell, taste, to digest,
to breathe-everything. And it is this that is equally present in both
sexes as the sex energy. Therefore, this being the key to life, one
can imagine its importance, and one can also imagine its precious quality.
If one can understand it in this way-realise its real, sacred cosmic
nature, as the microcosmic aspect of the macrocosmic sakti or
Cosmic Power-one takes a healthy attitude of reverence for it. It is
not something to be just spat away like spittle. A person may spend
away nickels and dimes, but if he has gold coins he will not so easily
part with them. So reverence is a fruit of this understanding. Furthermore,
the aspirant recognises and sees clearly: "There is something very important
that I have to do. I have a great goal to achieve and I require all
the energy at my disposal to put into my spiritual quest. I cannot afford
to divert it into other channels in order to obtain a lesser achievement."
As Swami Krishnanandaji used to say, "It is better to aim at a lion
and miss it than to aim at a jackal and hit it."
So the first key to success in brahmacharya is to recognise
and understand the sacred and precious nature of the energy potential
one has. When one has this clear perception that it is meant to be conserved,
preserved and directed towards the greatest of all attainments, then
one has a desire to be brahmachari. It is seen as a very
positive process.
A second key to success, and a way of looking at both brahmacharya
and the sex function, is even more fundamental, and it is one of
the two factors that to a large extent have been personally utilised
by me. It is to clearly perceive that first and foremost what they call
the male sexual organ is not a sexual organ at all. It is only a urinary
drainpipe. That is what it is, and that is its main function from the
moment a child comes out of his mother's womb and sees the light of
day, right up to the last breath, till one departs from this world.
Actually, if you look at it, sex is not in that part of our anatomy
at all. Sex is not in the urinary organ; sex is in the mind of a person.
So it is a question of your mental attitude. If you are convinced and
train your mind to think of it in a sane and rational manner-it's only
an eliminatory thing; its main purpose is not that which dominates the
world and drives it crazy-then you're already free of it. It doesn't
obsess you any longer because you don't think of it in the way in which
most of our unfortunate human society has been made to think.
Part of the reason for the world's obsession with sex and why it has
become such a big problem-premarital sex, adultery, promiscuous sex-is
its exploitation by commercial interests and their advertising. To sell
merchandise, they blow up the girl-meet-boy phenomenon-a girl's body
is meant to be enjoyed, and therefore she has to cultivate a body that
can attract as much as possible-as if sex was the only important thing
in life. They completely distort its basic purpose. The sooner that
this is recognised, the easier will become the possibility of brahmacharya.
Because when you come to think of it, the main function of the sex act
is the important, indispensable process of procreation.
From a higher metaphysical sense the husband and wife are cooperating
with the Creator for perpetuation of the species so that creation will
continue. That is its main function, not the experience of enjoyment
that accompanies it. That is a secondary offshoot of it. Then why was
this function made so enjoyable? It had to be. The procreative function,
the perpetuation of the species, was done through the sex act, and if
it was not combined with a super experience of pleasure and enjoyment,
no one would indulge in it, and its purpose would be nullified. So Mother
Nature in all Her wisdom combined these two, namely, the sex act and
pleasure.
But if the mind is diverted into higher things, automatically brahmacharya
becomes easy. You can succeed in brahmacharya if the mind
is totally taken up by something so wonderful, so big, it absorbs you
and elevates you, and the mind is simply gripped by it. When you want
an infinitely higher enjoyment, then you say: "My discarding this is
not any discarding. My discarding the smaller enjoyments of the physical
aspect of my being is not at all any renunciation to boast about." On
the contrary, you are being shrewd and wise because you want to go after
something infinitely more wonderful. It is like throwing away pieces
of glass if someone says, "I'll replace them with diamonds." That is
another way of looking at the whole phenomenon of celibacy from the
point of view of the spiritual life and the highest attainment of illumination
and enlightenment.
The third key to success is also something that I myself have used
right from the very beginning, and I think it is the ultimate answer.
The real secret of success in brahmacharya, the real key, is
what I'm just now going to state.
The moment you begin to think that I am Atman unborn, nameless, formless,
I have neither body nor mind, I am satchidananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss
Absolute), Self-sufficient, I am of the very nature of Bliss Absolute-if
you thus totally shift your consciousness to your reality, to your essential,
eternal, true identity, then, finished! Brahmacharya is no longer
a problem. The problem of brahmacharya ceases to exist except
only once in a while due to old impressions. If some factor outside
of you happens to act as a stimulus, then an idea may come.
Mind you, it is not only what your mental-intellectual mechanism thinks
about yourself, it is also your feeling about yourself. If both your
thinking and feeling are elevated to such a height, elevated to that
dimension-it's not only a question of height, it's a different dimension
altogether-and you move into that dimension, this lower dimension ceases
to be of importance, ceases to have any impact upon you. It is there;
it may function, but you are not at all affected by it in any way.
Once you start cultivating staying put in the consciousness of your
own essential identity, then brahmacharya is no longer a problem.
It is solved. So the ultimate key to success in brahmacharya is
atma bhav, to become absolutely convinced that you are something
totally beyond body, mind, senses etc. The mind, due to its habitual
wrong thinking, may periodically bring in a contrary idea that "I am
so and so." Be indifferent to it. Dismiss it as nonsense. Refuse to
entertain it. Don't pay any attention to it. Just be. Abide in your
own Self. This is the master key more than anything else.
If you want to put it in devotional terminology, there is a nice little
composition by Swami Yogananda. It goes something like this: "I am the
bubble, You are the sea. Let me cease to be the bubble, make me the
sea." And so the devotee prays to God: "I am Your child, what You are,
that I am. You are divine, so I am divine. You have no body, so I have
no body. I am pure Spirit, all pervading, like You. Take me up into
Your state of consciousness."
So the devotee puts it in a different way. But the ultimate key to
success in brahmacharya is the Vedantic process of shifting your
consciousness-rejecting the body consciousness and becoming established
in your true Self-awareness as something where there is neither male,
nor female, nor body, nor sex, nor personality.
