Brahmacharya, this is a word which is very common in India. Unless I had read about it in detail, I probably knew a lot that is not true. As brahmacharya means only semen retention, those who want to become sages should follow this. If you have lived your life then become a Sanyasi or follow Brahmacharya.
Children cannot follow brahmacharya, married people cannot follow brahmacharya, girls cannot follow brahmacharya. But none of this is true. And ever since I’ve known this, I’ve been on my way to a better life, along with my work. I am seeing changes in every sphere of life.
So today we will know about this in detail, and see how we can change our life completely by following celibacy in our life.
What is Brahmacharya?
As we have heard, Lord Shri Hanuman ji, Adi Shankaracharya ji, and many others have done great things by following brahmacharya throughout their lives. For them celibacy means that instead of just wasting their energy, it is by putting it in the right place.
Brahmacharya is made up of two words :- Brahma and Charya, which simply means, living life to gain knowledge. Celibacy is one of the foundation pillars of Yoga. It means living a simple life, through good thoughts, saving your semen means not wasting it in wrong places, meditating on God and learning more and more.
observing brahmacharya, one has to acquire knowledge for the life to come. Extraordinary wisdom can be gained from brahmacharya – it is so effective that it has been recommended by all sages from the Vedic period to the present day.
Celibacy is as important in our life as it is necessary to breathe. Sages practice celibacy for happiness, thousands of years ago. Only those who follow celibacy are called Brahmachari.Ayurveda states that celibacy is one of the main pillars of the body. Ayurveda has three pillars of the body: food, sleep and celibacy.
A person who is surrounded by many diseases, or faces many problems in his life, can get rid of every disease and every problem by following celibacy.
According to the Vedas, a person who controls his sexual desires can truly practice celibacy. Those who die suddenly do not attain salvation. To avoid such death, celibacy is required.
1 – It is said in Rigveda, that no human being can live his whole life without following celibacy.
2 – It has been said in Patanjali that by following celibacy one gets willpower.
What are the benefits of celibacy?
Celibacy is recommended if you wish to keep your thoughts, speech, and intellect clean. Ayurveda also states that if you practice brahmacharya for three months, you will notice a difference in your mind, sound, and intelligence strength.
Brahmacharya should be practiced in order to reach the most important aim in life. Following celibacy also provides us with the following advantages:
- By practicing celibacy, you can keep your mind under your control.
- There is no disease in the body by following celibacy.
- Following celibacy increases your morale.
- Following celibacy increases the power to fight diseases.
- Concentration increases with brahmacharya and you can learn anything easily.
- A person who observes celibacy can complete any work.
- A celibate person can face it by remaining stable in every situation.
- By observing celibacy the mind becomes completely pure.
How to observe celibacy?
For example, ‘Brahmacharya’ means ‘to think in the form of Brahman’. This means that one who meditates on his Lord every single moment, he is completely celibate. To observe ‘Brahmacharya’ you need the powers of your body, senses, mind and intellect.
Brahmacharya is achieved in three ways, by concentrating on God, by concentrating on learning more and more, and by preserving one’s semen. You can observe Brahmacharya Vrat by keeping your semen away from all kinds of things and desires.
Those who follow ‘Brahmacharya’ should not do any such work, nor should they have any such relationship, nor should they take any such substance, which harms their semen.
In ‘Brahmacharya’, people should stay away from tea-cofee, tobacco, alcohol etc. Overall celibacy can be followed by keeping one’s semen safe and concentrating fully on God.
If you do brahmacharya with all the rules and in the right way, you can start getting benefits of brahmacharya just by following brahmacharya for 30 days. And if you follow brahmacharya for 1 year, then your self-confidence can be strengthened and along with it your health can also be better than before.
What are the things to stay away from?
There are many things that people practicing celibacy should stay away from. Like: Movies – Often such things are shown in movies, in which the mind is attracted like wrong things.
Literature (novels, magazines etc.), advertisements and pictures that distract the mind should also not be seen and read. Its effect causes great damage to health and character.
Boys and females, according to Brahmacharya, should not touch each other. Often boys joke with other boys with dirty signals – by doing this they become impure, so boys should avoid doing this very much. Boys and girls should not look at anyone with wrong intentions, never talk about porn and should not even joke with it.
Because it causes mental illnesses. Overall, the more you can control your desires and keep your distance from the opposite sex, the more you will be able to practice brahmacharya. This means that it is very important for everyone that your thoughts are pure. And for whatever reason wrong feelings come in your mind, make a distance from them as soon as possible.
What is the importance of celibacy in the life of students?
Students must focus on their knowledge, as it is equal to Brahman, and their work is to increase their knowledge by thinking about Brahman with full concentration. By observing celibacy, students’ intelligence and memory power become sharp, and their face glows.
Vivekananda states that following celibacy for 12 years can attain the most wonderful power. Celibacy is important for the first 25 years of life, and the Puranas emphasize its importance.
It is advised to avoid sexual activities before the age of 25 to prevent personality development and diseases. However, if one is beyond this age, they can still follow celibacy by following its rules. A spirit within the mind and a spirit within the body are essential for celibacy. Identifying the damage caused by a disorder and removing it from oneself is crucial for moving towards celibacy.
For married couples, approval is necessary to take a vow of celibacy, or loyalty can be maintained. After marriage, maintaining friendship relationships with partners is essential for celibacy. Meditation on the Lord with a true heart can help follow celibacy, ensuring the health of the mind and body.
Rules of Brahmacharya
- Celibacy is based more on the spirit than on the body. So control your mind and keep your ideals high.
- The eyes and ears are the ministers of the mind. So avoid seeing wrong pictures and bad things and listening to dirty things.
- The mind always wants something or the other. When you leave your mind empty, dirty thoughts can come, so always meditate on God.
- As you eat, so will your mind. That’s why I don’t eat hot spices, chutneys, overheated food, and meat, fish, eggs, tea, cofee, fast food etc. at all.
- Clothes affect the mind. That’s why I wear plain, clean and cotton clothes. It is even better to wear Khadi clothes. Do not wear synthetic clothes. Khadi, cotton, woolen clothes save life and synthetic etc. and other types of clothes harm life.
- Never sleep straight, with the support of the spine, always sleep on the side. If you are sleeping on a cot then that cot should be strong.
- Get up early in the morning. One should never sleep in the morning.
- Stay away from all (intoxicating) things like Pan Masala, Gutkha, Cigarettes, Liquor, Charas, Opium, Bhang etc.
- Eat sticky things like okra, etc.
- Pour cold water on your stomach every night before sleeping, it will be beneficial for your digestion.
- Save yourself from indigestion and gas.
- Stay away from scents, lavender, and perfumes. Do not read books that provoke the senses, nor watch such movies and dramas.
- If you are married then sleep in a separate bed.
- Do exercise, asana and pranayama every morning and evening.
In this summary, we learned about celibacy. By following celibacy you can get happiness by removing all your diseases. By practicing brahmacharya you get salvation in the end and you can make your whole life meaningful. For this, always meditate on your God while removing your detailed thoughts and achieve the greatness of your life.
Thank you.