Celibacy in Yoga

I was at a meeting of ten or so persons on the astral side, where they discussed the principle of celibacy in yogic, philosophical, and devotional groups which begun in India. There were specific topics.

• How can a family man practice celibacy?
• How is celibacy defined for a sannyasi who took a vow never to be sexually expressive?
• Can anyone become liberated if that person is not celibate?

Needless to say, there was confusion in the astral meeting because no one could give a definition of celibacy which included subtle breaches of the discipline. When asked for clear statements about celibacy, no one provided any because their specific lineages did not render clarity in the matter.

Some years ago, I asked a recently licensed sannyasi, if he was given any special technique for maintaining a celibate condition of his body from the leading sannyasis who awarded him the authority. He flatly said no. And this was a person in a leading devotional group from India.

In the meeting, when requested I gave these opinions.

The leading exponent of celibacy for the Advaita Vedantists is Shankara. He is the only who is responsible for the sannyasis order in both the devotional and non-devotional groups from India. Shankara was so extreme in the matter, that when he challenged the leading pandit in India to a debate about Indian philosophy and conclusions, he stipulated that if he won the philosophical contest, the opponent should abandon family life, and follow as a wife-less disciple of Shankara.

However, there is a question from Shankara’s behavior where his first round of arguments with Mandana Mishra were interrupted at Shankara’s request. Shankara was unable to answer questions about sexual love. Thus, he could not be proclaimed as knowing everything about everything. To deal with this, Shankara asked for an intermission to prepare himself for such questions.

It is written that he left the debating arena and went where a prince just died. He mystically possessed the king’s body and aroused it to a living condition. Then he went and lived as that king who had several wives. Shankara then indulged fully in sexual love. Sometime after, he dispossessed himself from that prince’s body. He returned to the arena and perfectly answered the questions, thus winning the debate.

There is a text, the Amaru Shatakam which is attributed to Shankara. It is all about sexual love (kama sutra), but it is said that Shankara composed it after he made love to the numerous wives of the prince.

This brings to fore the matter of celibacy, as to if it is defined as having no sexual expression, or carnal experience, in the physical body only, or in the physical and subtle bodies. What is the definition?

In the astral discussion, I mentioned this other incidence.

I knew a sannyasis from a devotional sect who used to daydream and dream about having sexual experiences. He discussed this with me privately because he wanted to better understand the sexual urge. Once he told me that a woman, who was his disciple, carried a child for him, while her husband, who was also his disciple, was convinced that the child was his (the husband’s). He would smile when he told me confidentially about this.

Once I questioned him like this.

“Who is the factual father of the child, you or your disciple?”

This was his reply, “I am the father in the deeper sense because the lady loves me deeply. To protect my sannyasi celibate profile, myself and the lady agreed to let her husband feel, that he is the father.”

Then I said this.

“My inquiry is about the person who had sexual entry with her to produce the infant. How did you maneuver yourself to have sexual act with her, since you are watched day and night by junior celibates, who are your assistants.”

He replied like this.

“O that is a simple matter. I did not have sex with her physically only psychically. Our love was heavenly. The pleasure of it was pure bliss. He can take credit physically but I am the one she loves. How can my assistants know about this. They have no psychic perception.”

I replied like this,

“This material existence has several layers. What sannyasi are you if you consciously breach the vows What about your self-honesty? How do you negotiate that?”

He did not reply.

To the astral group in the meeting, I also stated this.

How is it possible to license someone as a sannyasi, if he was a family man or had some sexual expression, even masturbation, before taking the sannyasis vow.

It seems to me that once there is sexual experience in the form of sex with a female or male, either on the physical or astral sides of existence, and if there is masturbation or any self-stimulation, that person cannot be a sannyasis in fact, because the subtle body which is the body which carries the subtle impressions of one’s acts, will have the sexual tendency aroused in it, for the period of life of the physical body.

What I am declaring is that sannyasi vows should not be taken by anyone who in the present body, has sexual experience. In cases where a boy has no sexual expression and has also no masturbation tendency, his physical body is celibate, is without sexual experience. As for his subtle body, one must assume that it was sexual experienced in other lives, in other physical bodies, but there is no memory or mental impression in this life, which is in his psychic memory from this life.

Since it is near impossible for a human being to be outfitted like that as a fetus where it will not have a sexual maturity genetic capability, where for instance, he would be sexually like a five-year-old boy for even the adult stage of the body, then the entire talk about celibacy is pretentious.

Sannyasi or celibacy license as it is used in the lineages from India, is for status and gaining automatic respect from the public and from others who are officials in the respective religious and philosophical institutions. It is flawed. My view is that it should be abolish.

The persons who are leaders, founders, and officials of the lineages and who hold ceremonies to certify their advanced disciples as sannyasis, should desist from this certification. In the past, so many of these leading priests, yogis, founders, and licensed followers breached the vows, if your physically, then psychically, if not so, then by self-dishonest masturbation acts.

Any type of sexual arousal or any sort towards a female or male, or even when no other person is present, is a breach of celibacy. The miscalculation occurs because we falsely attribute total sex control to human beings, when the fact is that this is not possible, unless one is born with a body that has no potential sexual urge. As soon as we become self-honest and realize that sexual urge cannot be absolutely controlled by any limited being, we can see that it is unreasonable to expect full out celibacy. To certify a limited self to be celibate is a farce.

It is not up to any individual to be fully celibate. No limited being can control Nature in that way. It will not happen. Nature is not concerned with anyone’s puny willpower, no more than it is concerned with anyone living physically forever.

The idea about celibacy is idealism which is something that has no place in the realm of Nature. It is better that we negotiate this life with realism, where we recognize and do your best with what Nature displays. And do not mention anything about God, because the deity has nothing to do with this.