Latest / Sri Aurobindo Studies / Addressing the Arguments Against Management and Redirection of the Sexual Energy by the Spiritual Seeker

Transcript

Addressing the Arguments Against Management and Redirection of the Sexual Energy by the Spiritual Seeker · Sri Aurobindo Studies

• 0:00
  People tend to get very defensive about the idea of
• 0:03
  celibacy, sexual abstinence, Brahmacharia, however it may be
• 0:09
  termed. They argue that it is unhealthy.
• 0:13
  They argue that this is a process in nature that ensures
• 0:16
  the continuity of the race. They argue that the suppression
• 0:21
  of sexual expression leads to all kinds of perversions and
• 0:25
  criminality, including pedophilia, rape, or utilization
• 0:31
  of power dynamics to pressure others into sex.
• 0:35
  All of these arguments have some basis in fact.
• 0:39
  However, the spiritual seeker or practitioner is not the general
• 0:44
  case but a very specific instance for a very small
• 0:48
  percentage of the population, and thus some of the arguments,
• 0:53
  such as those relating to continuation of the species, are
• 0:57
  actually not relevant here. With with respect to the health
• 1:02
  argument, a factual review finds that a case can be made either
• 1:07
  way, depending on the actual circumstances.
• 1:11
  Elite athletes, for instance, frequently abstain from sexual
• 1:15
  activity before a competition based on their experience of the
• 1:19
  potential weakening effect short term of the expression of sexual
• 1:24
  energy rather than holding it in the core of the being.
• 1:28
  This is easily understood. It takes energy to produce the
• 1:33
  sexual seed, the sperm, as well as the semen that carries the
• 1:37
  sperm. Every time a sexual act occurs,
• 1:41
  these elements are dispersed and then the body begins to devote
• 1:46
  energy to rebuilding them. This energy takes away from the
• 1:50
  energy that could be used elsewhere in the system.
• 1:54
  Where health issues can arise is when the sexual energy is
• 1:57
  artificially suppressed and yet creating pressures that disrupt
• 2:02
  the vital energy, the emotions and the mental focus.
• 2:06
  Active suppression can disrupt the nerves, the emotions and the
• 2:10
  mental balance. On the other side, excessive
• 2:14
  sexual expression can deplete the core energy of the physical
• 2:17
  body and make the nerves weak and exhausted.
• 2:23
  Positive health benefits have been noted by many.
• 2:26
  If the sexual energy is conserved and allowed to provide
• 2:30
  positive support to the physical foundation, and if it is
• 2:34
  refocused on positive growth processes, the artificial
• 2:39
  suppression without redirection of the sexual energy can indeed
• 2:44
  cause unhealthy fixations that can tend to lead to expression
• 2:49
  of sexual energies in ways that are harmful to others in the
• 2:53
  society. A potentially greater cause of
• 2:56
  these societal harms, however, lies in the hypersexual focus of
• 3:01
  the society at large. When sexual energy, sexual
• 3:05
  imagery, sexual provocation surround people on all sides,
• 3:10
  there is no doubt that it will breed a certain amount of
• 3:13
  fixation that is unhealthy and without a reasonable outlet.
• 3:18
  It works to disrupt both internally and externally.
• 3:24
  The solution here is to recognize that for the spiritual
• 3:27
  seeker, the optimum approach is to conserve and refocus the
• 3:31
  energy and the application of it towards the spiritual objective.
• 3:37
  This is done through separation from identification with the
• 3:41
  ego, personality and the external action, and shift the
• 3:46
  standpoint to that of the psychic being with its
• 3:50
  expression of love and devotion focused on the divine,
• 3:55
  Sriorobindo notes quote. The contrary opinion of which
• 4:00
  you speak may be due to the idea that sex is a natural part of
• 4:03
  the human vital physical whole, a necessity like food and sleep,
• 4:09
  and that its total inhibition may lead to unbalancing and to
• 4:12
  serious disorders. It is a fact that sex suppressed
• 4:17
  in outward action but indulged in other ways, may lead to
• 4:20
  disorders of the system and brain troubles.
• 4:24
  That is the root of the medical theory which discourages sexual
• 4:27
  abstinence. But I have observed that these
• 4:31
  things happen only when there is either secret indulgence of a
• 4:35
  perverse kind replacing the normal sexual activity, or else
• 4:40
  an indulgent of it in a kind of subtle vital way by imagination,
• 4:45
  or by an invisible vital, vital interchange of an occult kind.
• 4:50
  I do not think harm ever occurs when there is true spiritual
• 4:54
  effort at mastery and abstinence.
• 4:58
  It is now held by many medical men in Europe that sexual
• 5:02
  abstinence, if it is genuine, is beneficial.
• 5:06
  For the element in the ratus which serves the sexual act is
• 5:10
  then changed into other elements which feeds the energies of the
• 5:15
  system, mental, vital and physical.
• 5:20
  And that justifies the Indian idea, Brahmacharya, the
• 5:23
  transformation of ratus into ojas and the raising of its
• 5:28
  energies upward so that they change into a spiritual force.
• 5:33
  End Quote reference Srioro window Faces of Yoga chapter 4
• 5:40
  desire food sex page 75.