Initial barriers and Virginity benefits

Hello Raj,

Good to see that you are interested in the practice of celibacy. Thanks for the queries. Coming to the answers,

Q1: Does a person inexperienced in the sexual act have more of an advantage to succeed in celibacy?
A: Every thought and action we indulge in gets stored in the mind and etched in our causal body or the 'Kaarana sharira'. The causal body is a repository of all our present and past actions. The nature of man to perform a particular action is a result of 'Samskaara' or the 'lines of action' that are etched in the causal body. These 'Samskaaras' in turn produce 'Vaasanas' or tendencies towards a particular deed. It is for this reason that different people have different tendencies towards the same object. While a person with cruel vaasanas might be tended to hurt and injure a helpless animal, a man with kind and humane vaasanas will have a tendency to protect and show kindness to the same animal under similar circumstances.

If man repeatedly indulges in sexual activity for a purpose other than procreation, he starts to associate the act as a source of 'delusive pleasure' and entertainment following which the mind begins to get corrupted and tainted. The purpose of the sexual act is only procreation and not recreation. By misuse of the organs of excretion/ procreation as organs of recreation, man opens a can of poisonous worms which ultimately devour and destroy him. On the contrary, limiting the use of these very same organs to what they are actually meant for, bestows upon man a life filled with health, happiness, accomplishment and ultimately self-realization.

Coming to the topic regarding the effect of indulgence in the sexual act upon one's mind and psyche, each and every sexual thought and act  produces corresponding 'Samskaaras' or 'lines of action' in the causal body. Our thoughts and actions are like the stylus of a lie detector machine. Just as the stylus in the machine produces a pattern on paper based on the heart beat and pulse rate of the person under test, our thoughts and actions etch their own 'lines of action' into our psyche.   These lines are stored forever in the causal body and in turn make us the people we are.

A person who has not had any sexual intercourse/ encounter with a member of the opposite sex, correspondingly also does not have a first hand experience of the sensations that the act generates at the practical level in this particular birth. To this extent, he or she is not fully aware of these sensations and their after effects. This insulates the person concerned to a large extent from the delusion that is created further to indulgence in the sexual act as a source of pleasure. To a large extent, the person might be said to have abstained from opening a 'can of worms' and is that much more safe as compared to one who has opened the can and has to deal with the mess. To this degree, the person without first hand knowledge of sexual intercourse is more poised to succeed in celibacy. He doesn't have to deal with the apparent 'sexual longings' and 'needs' which surface in a man who has tasted the forbidden fruit and thereby colored his mind.

It is for this reason that all religions in the true sense profess man and woman to stay virgin till marriage. The very pertinent and valid reason behind this rule is to prevent man from adopting a recreational stance towards the sexual act. Also people who have stayed virgin and have practiced strict celibacy until marriage (without sex, oral sex, masturbation or any other sexual stimulation) by keeping their thoughts and deeds pure, elevate themselves spiritually and do not feel the need or desire to resort to the sexual act as a form of recreation even after marriage. They tend to limit the activity for progeny only and thereby poise themselves for real progress in the path of spirituality.

Q2: What is the connection between illness/ ill health and celibacy during initial stages?
A: As one starts a life of celibacy, he or she begins to lead a life which is drastically converse to the earlier mode of thinking, activity and life style which were largely based on sense stimulation. All efforts at celibacy are directed towards freeing man from the grip of delusion and sense stimulation. The mind and psyche which were earlier used to the objects of senses as a source of pleasure now find themselves being imprisoned in a vacant land bereft of these sense pleasures. They naturally revolt with anger, agitation and try to find ways to reclaim their old haunts.

The first year of celibacy is generally agog with purification at different levels. Purification and removal of 'toxins' that have been embedded within us due to our past karma slowly start getting undone. This purification generally starts at the physical level and then proceeds to the astral and causal levels. Removal of toxins from the physical body can take various forms such as ulcers, disease, illness, etc... These are essentially happenings related to detoxification and the release of toxins is generally a painful experience. They may also be considered as 'tests' given by God to analyze the commitment one has towards celibacy as the celibate's resolve towards celibacy gets 'tested' at these troublesome times. In reality, the celibacy one is practicing is actually undoing all the sources of imperfection and disease present within and paving the way for perfection. Many give in to the stress and strain and give up the practice of celibacy, while the strong and determined march on, immaterial of these obstructions.

Q3: What is the scientific basis behind the claim that celibacy improves faculties of the brain?
A:  Dr. Edwin Flatto, M.D. in his paper Dt.March 2005 says -" The seminal fluid is a viscid, proteinaceous fluid composed of secretory products of the testes, epididymis, seminal vesicles, prostate gland, and Cowper’s gland. It is rich in potassium, iron, lecithin, vitamin E. protease, spermine, albumen, phosphorous, calcium and other organic minerals and vitamins.  An average ejaculation is about 2 to 5 cubic centimeters of semen and contains from 200,000,000 to 500,000,000 sperm.  Each one of these millions of sperm carry 23 chromosomes, split chromosomes, prostaglandins, genes, electricity, and all the vitamins, enzymes, and minerals necessary for the creation of another human being. Besides being a factory manufacturing sperm, the testicles produce male hormones or androgens such as testosterone. If not ejaculated, they go directly into the blood stream and are carried to every part of the body. They stimulate the pituitary gland and the creative centers of the brain. Semen is not a substance to be wasted lightly. The faster you use it, the more the body is forced to produce it. Your blood stream takes the raw materials from every part of your body, including your brain, and transports them to the gonads to be used to replace expended resources. An analysis of both brain cells and semen shows great similarities. Both are very high in phosphorus, sodium, magnesium and chlorine. The sex glands and brain cells are intimately connected physiologically, but are adversaries in the sense that they are both competing for the same nutritional elements from the identical blood stream. In this sense, the brain and the sexual organs are also competitors in using bodily energy and nutrition"-End of quote.

In other words, semen contains the life force that alone has the power to create another life. When man indulges in the sexual act, he is giving a portion of his very life to produce another life. Such is the gravity, seriousness, divinity and importance of one single ejaculation. Would any of us 'play' a sport that would put our very lives on the line? Would we be interested in pole vaulting a high voltage, electricity transmission power line? No. Using sex for entertainment accounts to just that. Electricity is meant to be safely used to ease our life and not played around with. By using sex for pleasure, man is wasting the greatest power within him.

Medical research points out that semen, the spine and the brain are all linked. When semen is analysed, it becomes clear that it has the same constituents as the spine and brain. In other words, semen to a large extent is a derivative of the cerebro-spinal fluid. He who conserves and transmutes semen will never be troubled by joint pains, back aches, spinal problems or bone related disorders. The spine remains lithe and elastic and this can be made use of in the reversal of ageing (as the spine houses the channel 'Sushumna naadi'through which 'Kundalini' or life power flows) The brain becomes exceptionally powerful and all its abilities shine to the fullest extent. On the other hand those who waste semen will eventually be plagued by health problems such as joint pains, a deteriorating spine, bone disorders, poor memory, mental exhaustion, poor eye sight and innumerable diseases.

Hindu scriptures point out that by the honest and true, unbroken practice of Brahmacharya in thought word and deed for a period of 12 years, 'Buddhi naadi' or 'Medha naadi' is formed in the brain by which man can have a photographic memory of anything he reads or hears and can reproduce the same word to word unfailingly. He can solve extremely difficult problems and life situations easily by using the power of his 'Ojas' or divine energy. The ability of the brain to concentrate, focus and find solutions to any problem would be comparable to superhuman dimensions. Further to this period of true celibacy in thought, word and deed, man develops 'Trikaala Gnyana' or the knowledge of the past, present and future and rests in a state of incomparable bliss, constantly in the thought of God.

Swami Vivekananda was a living example for the benefits one derives from the practice of celibacy in effect. He attributed his remarkable mental prowess to a lifelong observance of Brahmacharya. At one point in time, a disciple of his was exclaiming at the impossibility of absorbing all the contents of the many volumes of 'Encyclopedia Brittanica' that had landed at the library the previous day.

Seeing the new, shining volumes, the disciple said to Swami - “It is almost impossible to read all these books in a single lifetime.”
The Swami said -" What do you say? Ask me anything you like from these ten volumes, and I will answer them all.
The disciple asked in wonder, “Have you read all these books?”
Swami - " Why should I ask you to question me otherwise?"

On being examined, Swami Vivekananda not only reproduced the sense, but at places the very language of the difficult topics selected from each volume. The disciple, astonished, put aside the books, saying, “This is not within human power!”
The Swami said: " Do you see?, simply by the observance of strict Brahmacharya all learning can be mastered in a very short time — one has an unfailing memory of what one hears or knows but once. That power may come to all. That power comes to him who observes unbroken Brahmacharya for a period of twelve years. With the sole object of realising God, I have practiced that kind of Brahmacharya myself, and so a screen has been removed, as it were, from my brain. For that reason, I need not any more think over or prepare myself for any lectures on such a subtle subject as philosophy. Suppose I have to lecture tomorrow; all that I shall speak about will pass tonight before my eyes like so many pictures; and the next day I put into words during my lecture all those things that I saw. So you will understand now that it is not any power which is exclusively my own. Whoever will practice unbroken Brahmacharya for twelve years will surely have it. If you do so, you too will get it".- End of quote.

Intelligence is largely dependent on the power of recollection. Memory is the catalyst to free flowing intelligence. Our intelligence is a product of how well we are able to grasp, store, analyze and reproduce what we learn and observe from life experiences and Brahmacharya is the base on which this intelligence rests, for Brahmacharya brings out the light of the soul and the soul is superior to intelligence.

Trust this helps
God bless and have a nice day :-)
Dhananjay