“Brahmacharya is the basis for morality. It is the basis for eternal life. It is a spring flower that exhales immortality from its petals.” –Swami Sivananda Brahmacharya is conservation and mastery of all the energy systems and powers of our being. Sexuality is usually considered the main focus of brahmacharya because it has such a powerful grip and influence on the human being. It is considered that if sex is mastered, all the senses will be mastered as well. The conservation and application of energy is the main determinant of success or failure in spiritual endeavor. Diffusion and dissipation of energy always weakens us. Hence brahmacharya is a vital element of Yoga, without which we cannot successfully pursue the greater life of Higher Consciousness. In this volume, Swami Nirmalananda has collected valuable writings from a number of authorities on the various beneficial aspects of self-control related to sexuality: Swami Sivananda and Swami Chidananda of Rishikesh, Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, Paramhansa Yogananda, Gandhi, Swami Jagadishwarananda, Dr. Edwin Flatto, Dr. Raymond Bernard, as well as his own articles on the subject. This unique collection of articles provides important information and perspectives on how brahmacharya contributes to the well-being of all levels of our lives – physical, psychological, and social/moral – and as an indispensable foundation for progress on the liberating path of Yoga. And most importantly, the aspirant will discover practical recommendations for achieving success in brahmacharya. “Far from denying self-expression, [brahmacharya] 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.” Swami Chidananda, Divine Life Society
The benefits of brahmacharya are infinite because in this only, We only remember God. We sing the qualities of God.We thank God for his blessings to us. So, The benefits of remembering God are also infinite, no one can count them, but still, if there is a crisis in your life, then remember these 100 benefits so that you can save your precious semen, and divert your attention from lust . You will be able to meditate on the divine and get the knowledge of God by reading good and religious books and make your life successful. If your answer for our questions is yes, then this ebook is best suitable for you for reading now. 1. Even after trying so many times, are you unable to stop your bad habit of watching lustful things and porn addiction and want the best way to solve this problem? 2. Have you bad habit of masturbation and want to overcome it? 3. Do you think about lust? 4. Have you faced inferiority due to wasting of semen of your body? 5. Do you feel less physical power due to big loss of your semen? 6. Do you feel mental weakness due to the loss of your semen? 7. Are you facing the problem for practicing brahmacharya? 8. Have you ever been unable to observe brahmacharya even for 100 days? 9. Do you want to meet God? 10. Are you unable to detach with lust? 11. Have you always wanted to be healthy? 12. Do you want to increase your ability to fight diseases?
This book deals with various aspects of Brahmacharya or chastity, explaining why and how of living a life of self-control and holiness. A guide for all spiritual seekers, especially the youth.
It is a matter of common observation that people in general do not really understand the importance of Brahmacharya. Now-a-days at religious centres and in discourses people are advised, even exhorted, to renounce attachments and not to be greedy. But no mention of continence is made at all, and even if it happens to be mentioned it is only secondarily, as if it is meant to be observed by recluses only. Violation of Brahmacharya and indulgence in sex gratification has ceased to be included among the five well-known vices of man. But, no one can deny that sex-lust is one of the main causes of so many of the predicaments in our daily lives, in society and in matters of business, administration, financial etc. Failure to observe Brahmacharya according to the tenets of spiritual knowledge blocks an aspirant's progress in the sphere of spirituality. It is true that while praising God they call Him the uplifter of the fallen, but they do not make efforts to abandon this degrading vice in order to become pure by observing continence. It is true that they admit that lust, anger and greed are the gateways to hell, but they do not do anything to keep away from the gateway of hell and enter the gates of heaven by observing Brahmacharya. Possibly, all this is due to the fact that they have no clear idea of how great is the loss that sex-lust causes and how great is the gain resulting from chastity. They do not at all know that this vice is plundering all their treasures, nor ever think that if they observed Brahmacharya during the few years left to them now, they could have all heavenly joy. But the truth that they can have the keys of heavenly bliss and render themselves worthy of God's love through observance of Brahmacharya has not yet dawned on them. This book has been written to bring out the gains resulting from observance of continence and the losses due to lust. I have expounded the importance of Brahmacharya not only from the standpoint of spirituality in daily life but also from the social and the economic points of view, besides presenting opinions of experts on biology, physiology and medicine. In the early chapters I have stated the points of view of monks, saints, devotees, Āchāryās, Rishis etc., so that religious minded seekers find inspiration therein. Reference, though not detailed, has been made to psychology on this topic, besides mention of certain historical examples to illustrate the fact that this vice has razed to the ground great personages, countries and cultures. It has been observed that some people relying on the science of biology regard sexual gratification as natural, while others go so far as to declare that it is a law of Nature, a law in force from times beyond memory and applicable to the world as created by God. There are those who consider it to be one of the invaluable natural impulses from the psychological point of view, and consider it harmful to renounce it. Still others regard sexual desires as love, without which life becomes uninteresting and sapless. There is yet another class of people who often ask how the world can go on if this vice was given up. An extraordinary instance is of those who are setting limits to sexual gratification but are opposed to its total prohibition in this case. I have presented all these divergent views and tried to remove the misconceptions embodied in them rationally and even scientifically and that is the special purpose, and, consequently, the usefulness of this book. In fact, I wished to throw light on other subjects, as, for instance, on the common view that even the deities could not maintain chastity, so much so that 'Shankar too lost his heart once and that Shri Krishna had a large troupe of queens' all this only to bring home forcefully to the common man that these are just fictions. Being beyond the limits of the available space, this subject has not been dealt with, though referred to only slightly. The point of view, enjoining on man to observe Brahmacharya as expounded in this book, is based on the methods revealed to us by the Supreme Father, the Supreme Soul, Who is all Grace and to Whom you and we and all of us are immensely beholden.
Did you know that it has been shown in hundreds of Biology experiments that the rate of reproduction in an animal directly depends upon its rate of aging? If we increase the rate of reproduction, the rate of aging also increases! Did you know that there exist experiments done on male primates proving that ejaculate is costly for them in significant way, in the form of energy? Did you know that if a lactating female lacks some nutrients in her diet; her body erodes itself to enrich her milk so that the offspring does not have to suffer? But the theory of Celibacy is not so simple. For example, 'controlling' your sexual impulse because it 'wastes' energy and that the same energy will make you a 'better' person is not what this book proposes. Such logic has holes in it. Serious holes! For example, suppose a man loses some vital nutrients during ejaculations. The man can easily restore the loss by eating few supplements! It is as simple as that! Why take the pains to practice celibacy? At this point, all debates stop! The supporters of celibacy close their ears and pretend as if they heard nothing and those who attack the concept stare at the supporters with sympathy and irritation! But one question remains- How to explain the experimental data that shows direct relationship between rate of aging and reproduction? It is all chaos now, and nothing makes sense! Let's make it more chaotic- Do you know what happens when we increase the food supplies of a 'well fed' mouse? Its rate of aging remains almost constant while its rate of reproduction increases with the feeding. So no aging benefit of 'extra food' on a mouse! But do you know what happens when we 'decrease' the food supplies? The animal starts aging much 'slower'! Yes, you read it correctly! The lifespan of the mouse 'increases' and its rate of reproduction decreases drastically! So what will happen if a person eats supplements to restore the nutrients lost during sex? What do you think the answer is? Why do you think the answer is this? Don't you think that this is paradoxical and very interesting? Don't you think that to understand the true mysteries of celibacy, we must approach it with a scientific attitude, with commitment to study and do experiments and arrive at conclusions, whatever they may be, and to not let go of any loose ends or unnecessary extra pieces in this jigsaw puzzle. Everything must fit in. If one piece does not fit, every piece must be taken down... ABOUT THE BOOK This book is divided into 3 parts. The first part discusses about a dozen research papers and their data only, without explaining them. I have fully cited every experiment in case you are interested in any of them and want to read the full research. The second part of this book contains an introduction to modern biological understanding of these experiments. It is here that we will be studying the implications of these theories on the philosophy of Celibacy and try solving all the paradoxes to construct a complete theory of Celibacy. The third part of this book deals with few philosophical matters following Celibacy- questioning its necessities and implications on psychology of a person and society. I have used graphs to explain difficult results of many of the experiments and theory to make the concept easier and intuitive to understand. Few curious people may wonder- if we already have the experimental evidence that reducing rate of reproduction slows the rate of aging of an organism, can celibacy stop it? Well, you have asked a very important question indeed. Yes, after thinking about this in a scientific way, I do believe that celibacy, it its true form, may stop aging! And I have strong reasons for what I say, based on firm theoretical arguments and solid experimental data.
This book, first published in 1962, is an analysis of the history of the philosophy of a country that has never distinguished philosophy from religion. Indian philosophy is not merely metaphysical speculation, but has its foundation in immediate perception. This insistence upon immediate perception rather than abstract reasoning is what distinguishes the Indian philosophy of religion from philosophy as Western nations know it.
Rajmohan Gandhi's book on Mahatma Gandhi has created a controversy mainly because one of the chapters is devoted to Gandhiji's relations with Saraladevi Choudharani whom he called his spiritual wife. Girja Kumar gives a more vivid characterisation of this relationship in his book which was released last year. This book, in fact, gives an authentic account of the Mahatma's relations with various other women associates and the repercussions these romantic liaisons produced on those close to him, including 'Ba' (Kasturba Gandhi).The book is ready to go into reprint and the paperback edition will shortly hit the stands. A Hindi edition is also coming up.
