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Brahmacharya

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Brahmacharya also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...

: ब्रह्मचर्य behavior that leads to Brahman
Brahman
In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...

) is one of the four stages of life

Ashrama (stage)

An Ashrama in Hinduism is one of four stages in an age-based social system as laid out in the Manu Smrti and later Classical Sanskrit texts.-The Ashram system:...

in an age-based social system as laid out in the Manu Smrti and later Classical Sanskrit texts in Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

. It refers to an educational period of 14–20 years which starts before the age of puberty. During this time the traditional vedic sciences

Vedanga

The Vedanga are six auxiliary disciplines traditionally associated with the study and understanding of the Vedas.#Shiksha : phonetics, phonology and morphophonology #Kalpa : ritual#Vyakarana : grammar...

are studied, along with the religious texts contained within the Vedas

Vedas

The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....

and Upanishads. This stage of life was characterized by the practice of strict celibacy

Celibacy

Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...

.

Among the Hindu monastic as well as sramanic traditions, Brahmacharya is the term used for the practice of self-imposed celibacy that is generally considered an essential prerequisite for spiritual practice

Sadhana

Sādhanā literally "a means of accomplishing something" is ego-transcending spiritual practice. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Sikh , Buddhist and Muslim traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.The historian N...

. These characteristics correspond to Western notions of the religious life as practiced in monastic settings.

Derivation

The word brahmacharya stems literally from two components:

Brahma, (shortened from brahman), the absolute, eternal, supreme God-head. (As opposed to Brahmā, the deity in the Hindu triad responsible for creation).
charya, which means "to follow". This is often translated as activity, mode of behaviour, a "virtuous" way of life.

So the word brahmacharya indicates a lifestyle adopted to enable one to attain the ultimate reality.

Sexual abstinence

One common usage denotes the practice of brahmacharya, which indicates the practice of sexual continence or celibacy. At its most basic level, brahmacharya means abstinence from sexual intercourse, by eight types of sexual contact. For a male practitioner of Buddhist, Jain or Hindu monasticism, it refers more specifically to refraining from voluntary loss of semen

Semen

Semen is an organic fluid, also known as seminal fluid, that may contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize female ova...

. At more subtle levels, brahmacharya includes greater physical and mental sexual discipline, until ultimately the practitioner experiences complete absence of sexual desire despite the most alluring stimuli. Hindu scriptures state that the practice of brahmacharya promotes mental and spiritual purity, and it is encouraged for anyone wishing to attain spiritual realization. Thus, Hindu scriptures prescribe such practice for householders prior to important religious rites, such as yagnas, or observances, such as vrats. However, the practice of brahmacharya is more sustained for most sadhus, or renunciates, who often take a lifelong vow of brahmacharya, or celibacy, so that their life becomes centered on surrender to Guru and God, with the firm hope of God realization and the perfect divine happiness.

Life stage

Another common usage denotes the life stage of brahmacharya within the Vedic ashram system. Brahmacharya ashram is the life stage that occupies the first 20 or 25 years of life. Ancient Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

culture divides the human lifespan into 100 years. Brahmacharya is the stage when the young child leads a student life (ideally in the Gurukula, the household of the Guru

Guru

A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...

). It is one of the four stages of life (ashramas) in traditional Indian civilisation as outlined in the Manusmṛti. It refers to an educational period lasting 14–20 years which starts before the age of puberty. During this time the traditional vedic sciences

Vedanga

are studied along with the religious texts contained within the Vedas

Vedas

The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....

and Upanishads. This stage of life was characterised by the practice of strict celibacy

Celibacy

. This stage of life is preceded by the child's Upanayanam
Upanayanam
Upanayana is the initiation ritual by which initiates are invested with a sacred thread, to symbolize the transference of spiritual knowledge .- Significance of the sacred thread :...

, a ceremony in which the child is considered to take a second birth. Brahmacharya is the first of the four phases of human life, namely, Brahmacharya, Grihastha
Grihastha
Grihasthya refers to the second phase of an individual's life in the Vedic ashram system. It is often called 'the householders life' revolving as it does around the duties of maintaining a household and leading a family-centred life.-Usage:...

, Vanaprastha
Vanaprastha
A Vanaprastha is a person who is living in the forest as a hermit after partially giving up material desires. Vanaprastha ashram is the stage of life in the Vedic ashram system, when a person one gradually withdraws from the world...

and Sannyasa
Sannyasa
Sannyasa is the order of life of the renouncer within the Hindu scheme of āśramas, or life stages. It is considered the topmost and final stage of the ashram systems and is traditionally taken by men or women at or beyond the age of fifty years old or by young monks who wish to renounce worldly...

, prescribed by Manusmriti for the dvija
Dvija
Dvija is one of the members of the first three varnas in Hindu Dharma. Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas are included in Dvija.The first birth is physical. The second occurs when one uptakes fulfilling a role in society...

castes in the Hindu

Hindu

system of life.

Traditionally, in this life stage, the brahmachāri student went to live, often in the forests, with a spiritual teacher under whom he practiced a life of strict celibacy

Celibacy

, morality and continence dedicated to learning all aspects of dharma that is the "principles righteous living". Dharma comprised personal responsibilities towards himself, family, society, humanity and God which included the environment, earth, nature and devotion to God. In the Hindu

Hindu

scheme of life, the brahmacharya life stage starts between the ages of five and eight, when the chela
Chela
Chela has two main meanings. One derivation comes from Hindi from Sanskrit , meaning "slave" or "servant". In English, the word means a religious student or disciple...

starts his/her studies.

Yoga

The word brahmacharya is also understood broadly in yoga

Yoga

Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...

as "sexual continence," which can be understood as being applicable as appropriate in different contexts (e.g., marital fidelity, celibacy for spiritual aspirants etc.), in more extreme terms (complete celibacy) or in more specific terms in relation to preserving and sublimating male sexual energy rather than losing it through ejaculation.

In yoga, the term brahmacharya tends to take on a connotation of disciplining the use of and preserving sexual energy. Brahmacharya is discussed in Patanjali

Patañjali

Patañjali is the compiler of the Yoga Sūtras, an important collection of aphorisms on Yoga practice. According to tradition, the same Patañjali was also the author of the Mahābhāṣya, a commentary on Kātyāyana's vārttikas on Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī as well as an unspecified work of medicine .In...

's Yoga Sutras

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali are 194 Indian sūtras that constitute the foundational text of Rāja Yoga. Yoga is one of the six orthodox āstika schools of Hindu philosophy, and Rāja Yoga is the highest practice....

as one of the 5 Yamas, the foundational commitments for the practice of yoga. According to the Yoga Sutras, the end-result or fruit of Brahmacharya practised to perfection is unbounded energy or vitality.

Many yogic techniques, such as meditation

Meditation

Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....

and asanas (e.g. shirsasana) can help one to achieve Brahmacharya interpreted as celibacy or strict control of sexual desires.

In Hindu as well as pre-vedic traditions, the spiritual aspirant is directed to emulate the transcendent absolute reality and obtain self-mastery of sexual energy in deed, mind, and speech so as to avoid causing any harm to self or others, on the level of body, mind, or spirit. A Brahmachari is a male and brahmacharini a female.

This embodiment discipline transcends gender and cultivaties the great power inherent in the sexual essence, channeling it upwards to enhance meditative capacity rather than dispersing it outwards. According to Patanjali's Yoga-Sutra, the yogin (practitioner of yoga) who is firmly grounded in this virtue gains great vitality. Among the sramanic traditions, Brahmacharya is the term used for the practice of self-imposed celibacy that is generally considered an essential prerequisite for spiritual practice

Sadhana

.These characteristics correspond to Western notions of the religious life as practised in monastic settings but in the Brahma Kumaris and Prajapita Brahma Kumaris religion, it is practised by married couples and householders too, as a way of formalizing sexual behavior into a conscious, co-creative practice rather than merely an unconscious habit.

Diet

Brahmacharya is also observed to contain one's sensual desires for food and taste, as well as materialism

Materialism

In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance...

. Most brahmacharis prescribe to avoiding the consumption of meat, spices and cooked foods, which are said to cultivate the taste buds and pleasure senses of the mind. Gandhi, one of the most known brahmacharis, besides being an adherent of simple living

Simple living

Simple living encompasses a number of different voluntary practices to simplify one's lifestyle. These may include reducing one's possessions or increasing self-sufficiency, for example. Simple living may be characterized by individuals being satisfied with what they need rather than want...

and nonresistance

Nonresistance

Nonresistance is generally defined as "the practice or principle of not resisting authority, even when it is unjustly exercised". At its core is discouragement of, even opposition to, physical resistance to an enemy...

, also devoted himself to creating what he believed to be a perfect diet. The diet, later named the "Gandhi-diet" meant a diet which was environmentally acceptable, based on economical (low-cost) products and healthy (allowing the body to perform at its best capabilities; thus keeping digestion

Digestion

Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller components that are more easily absorbed into a blood stream, for instance. Digestion is a form of catabolism: a breakdown of large food molecules to smaller ones....

in mind). The diet, on which he worked for 35 years, constantly re-evaluating and improving it for himself, consisted of :

1 litre of cow or goat milk
170 g cereals
85 g leafy vegetables
140 g other vegetables
30 g raw vegetables
40 g ghee
Ghee
Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in South Asia and is commonly used in South Asian cuisine....
60 g butter
and 40 g jaggery
Jaggery
Jaggery is a traditional unrefined non-centrifugal whole cane sugar consumed in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. It is a concentrated product of cane juice without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in color...

or sugar
fruits according to one's taste and purse
2 sour limes (juice taken with vegetables or in water, cold or hot)
salt according to taste

Gandhi also kept his weight low, with a Body Mass Index

Body mass index

The body mass index , or Quetelet index, is a heuristic proxy for human body fat based on an individual's weight and height. BMI does not actually measure the percentage of body fat. It was invented between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing...

of 17.7. Today, the Gandhi diet is again becoming more popular, and experts as Dr. P.P. Bose state the diet to be very healthy and to fit perfectly with the (USDA) food-pyramid.

The effect of certain food components in stimulating sexual desire may be attributed to their role in sex hormone synthesis. According to tradition, certain foods such as garlic and onion are said to induce sexual desire. Whole milk and milk products derived from cream (butter, ghee and cheese) are also said to stimulate sexual desire, despite being part of the Gandhi diet

Role of attitude in Brahmacharya

Mental attitude is an important component in sexual excitement. Believing something as sexually exciting makes it exciting. For example, a man never gets sexually excited by his mother as he would be by another woman. This shows the role of attitude in sexual excitement. Regarding all women other than one's wife as mothers and sisters will help purify one's mind. Sri Ramakrishna's says "I regard the breasts of any woman as those of my own mother".

Modern brahmacharis

Most Hindu

Hindu

, Buddhist and Jain monks take the vow for life, committing themselves to work of religious service and study. Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...

, the great Indian political and spiritual leader, had embraced the vow and lifestyle permanently at age 36.

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...

attributed his success and magnificent personality to his perfect observance of brahmacharya.

Other interpretations

Brahmacharya can also be interpreted more generally in a variety of ways, such as:

generally striving for excellence in all domains of activity and relationship
pursuing 'virtue' however defined. Brahmacharya understood in this sense is similar to the classical Greek concept of arete (excellence)
Arete (excellence)
Arete , in its basic sense, means excellence of any kind. In its earliest appearance in Greek, this notion of excellence was ultimately bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function: the act of living up to one's full potential...
clearing underlying personality conflicts and centering oneself and ones spiritual journey in clear, well conceived and sustainable values (that is, thinking of Brahmacharya as an ongoing practice of 'clearing' analogous to resolving personality complexes and conflicts in psychotherapy)
refining one's 'energies' (prana/chi/aura etc.) in relation to other people generally, to become aware of more subtle energies and to take one's energies or 'vibration' higher

Swami Vivekananda on Brahmacharya

"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."
"The chaste brain has tremendous energy and gigantic will power. Without chastity there can be no spiritual strength. Continence gives wonderful control over mankind.The spiritual leaders of men have been very continent and this is what gave them power."
"Every boy should be trained to practice absolute Brahmacharya and then, and then alone faith and Shraddha will come. Chastity in thought, word and deed always and in all conditions is what is called Brahmacharya. Unchaste imagination is as bad as unchaste action. The Brahmacharin must be pure in thought, word and deed."
"In order to attain to ideal Brahmacharya one has in the beginning to observe strict rules regarding chastity. For minimum 12 years, one should keep oneself strictly aloof from the least association with the opposite sex as far as possible. When spiritual aspirants are established in the ideal of Sannyasa and brahmacharya, they will be able to mix on an equal footing with worldly men without any harm. But in the beginning 12 years, if they do not keep themself within the barriers of strict rules, they will all go wrong."
"Brahmacharya should be like a burning fire within the veins!"
"Obedience to the Guru without questioning, and strict observance of Brahmacharya — this is the secret of success."
"To be able to realize God, one must practise absolute continence. Sages like Sukadeva are examples of an urdhareta. (A man of unbroken and complete continence.) Their chastity was absolutely unbroken. There is another class, who previously have had discharges of semen but who later on have controlled them. A man controlling the seminal fluid for twelve years develops a special power. He grows a new inner nerve called the nerve of memory. Through that nerve he remembers all, he understands all".

External links

Brahamcharya:Celibacy With Understanding
Yuvadhan Book on Brahmcharya by Sant Shri Asaramji Bapu
Articles on Brahmacharya by Swamis Sivananda, Chidananda, and Krishnananda
Celibacy - Useful notes on different aspects of brahmacharya
Interviews with Swami Chidananda: The Role of Celibacy in the Spiritual Life
Practice of Brahmacharya by Swami Sivananda
Swami Sivananda
Swami Sivananda Saraswati was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He studied medicine and served in Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism...

- html,pdf
Secrets and in-depth information on Brahmaharya from Hindu Sacred texts http://brahmacharya-celibacy.blogspot.com/
BRAHMACHARYA - Celibacy Attained With Understanding http://www.dadashri.org/brahmacharya.html
Saivite Virtue http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/virtue/VContent.html
Eternal Youth http://hariomgroup.net/hariombooks/satsang/English/TheSecretOfEternalYouth.htm#_Toc187499136

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