food and time

Hello Pushparaj :-)

Great to see your interest as regards to celibacy. Thank you for the query, lets get to the answer.

Q1: Is it possible to practice celibacy, without the normal night sleep cycle and an early morning start?

A: The normal man functions at his best with regular hours of sleep at night and activity at day. Sunrise denotes the beginning of all activity with the advent of abundant cosmic energy in the form of heat, light and positive energy, while sunset denotes withdrawal. This is the basic norm on which all life in nature functions. You will have seen how birds start to chirp early in the morning all by themselves purely through their instincts without the aid of electronic alarms! There is not a single bird or animal on earth which stays asleep beyond dawn. Their morning tweets are a celebration of a new day and new life. Man however, due to various factors and reasons, most of which are a product of his degenerated mental state, chooses to ignore his innate voice to rise early, stays riveted to the bed and consequently loses the innumerable benefits of an early morning start to his day.

Why wake up early?
Early morning, before dawn ( 4 A.M~ 6 A.M) is called in Hindu philosophy as 'Brahmi muhurtham' which means the period of time most suitable for the attainment of 'Brahma jnana' or the knowledge of the Almighty creator, the 'Brahman'. During this period all forces and energies in nature are in perfect resonance for one to attain divine spiritual knowledge, the very objective of Brahmacharya. It is said to be the time when the gods come down to earth, to bless and uplift souls who are aspiring for liberation. This is the reason why a celibate is required to rise early. The man who rises early and indulges in communion with god gets great success in every mode of life.

One's career at the work front today forms an important part of his/ her growth at the worldly level. Even to concentrate on a life of spirituality or celibacy, one needs to ensure a constant supply of the basic needs (food, clothing, shelter) and backup capital for life post-retirement. Keeping the above aim in mind, it becomes necessary many a time to partake in occupations with erratic work hours, which might not be very conducive to one's overall well being. At such times a celibate aspirant might get into a quandary as to what should be done.

Ask yourself if you will be able to meet your current financial commitments & job satisfaction by a change over to a day job,

If yes- good, then by all means should you go ahead, for nothing beats the health and well being one achieves from the normal sleep/ activity cycle coupled with an early morning start and a life of ideal celibacy.

If no, you could investigate if there is a possibility of tempering these commitments, thus spreading your financial target to a longer point of time. Many a time we all run after money thinking it to be a source of happiness, while in reality money has very little to do with true happiness, beyond the basic needs mentioned above. Celibacy can still be practiced in this state, though it might not be as easy as with the former.

Life is always a compromise and a fine tuning process between what we want and what we can actually get. Everything comes at the cost of something. The merry making man who hops from one house party to another finds little time for spirituality, while the celibate spiritualist finds little time for merry making and eventually finds himself in a state with no further interest in what the world refers to as 'socialising' !!!... For he has started to get in touch with true bliss- His inner soul bliss, which is millions of miles ahead of the non-permanent happiness derived from external sources.

Ultimately, if one's commitment and interest in 'Brahmacharya' is genuine, sincere and persistent, god will eventually ensure that the path to growth is cleared of all obstacles and suitable conditions are created for the celibate.

Q2: Is it possible to derive benefits by starting a life of celibacy beyond the age of 35?

A: There is no age bar to a man or lady genuinely interested in getting into a life of celibacy. While sooner is always the better, better be late than never. Scriptures recommend a start age around 32~34 as the upper limit to achieve maximum benefits. This is further to the fact that the best sperm and vitality are within man unto this age. Beyond this age, the quality of the seed in a normal man starts to deteriorate. By transmuting the best of his vitality available during this period with unbroken celibacy for a period of 12 years, he can achieve the impossible. There are many instances of people in history who became celibates even beyond this age and yet achieved spectacular name, fame and self-realization. An age around 35 is still close enough for notable growth. So by all means should you get into being a celibate at the earliest :-)

Trust this helps, revert for clarifications if any
God bless and have a nice day :-)
Dhananjay