Brahmacharya, Kundalini and Evolution of Humans

In recent times, it has often become necessary to dilute traditional guidelines and strict injunctions towards spiritual practice or sadhana to suit our modern lazy minds. A diluted approach, however, yields only dilute results. Traditionally, a twofold approach of abhyasa and vairagya, or practice and detachment to translate loosely from the original Sanskrit import, was prescribed as a sure means towards realization of human Divinity. This approach still remains relevant and effective today.

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras outline a comprehensive eightfold approach which was prescribed as a foundation for yogic studies (not necessarily a stepwise heirarchy as commonly believed) so that humanity might achieve its summum bonum. An essential component of the Patanjali tradition, and indeed, that of all sannyasi traditions, was Brahmacharya. The word Brahmacharya is commonly believed to mean sexual abstinence. Continence is a more accurate description, albeit of only one facet of a life of Brahmacharya, or "being conscious of Divinity, or Brahman, and being absorbed in it at all times".

True Brahmacharya flowers not by regarding sex as "sinful", but by repeatedly allowing the mind subtle experience, through deep meditation, of such pure inner silence and bliss or Ananda, that it automatically results in our nervous system being refined to a great degree, with the consequence that all eight approaches that Patanjali describes are naturally and spontaneously expressed in our lives. However, in addition to this inner wisdom and guidance, it becomes simultaneously vital to exercise discrimination in our outer lives as well, and to allow that inner fragrance borne of meditation to permeate all outward actions with higher intelligence. This, of course, naturally means a regulated sex life; one which happens without repression or untoward consequences. A married man and woman with a family can be just as perfected in Brahmacharya as a fully celibate sannyasi.


The need for a highly balanced and regulated life, as a prerequisite for cosmic consciousness, was recognized in India from very early days. The emphasis on Brahmacharya, common to most religions of the world, is clearly rooted in the fact that, in the case of earnest seekers after illumination, the need for the preservation of sexual fluids is imperative to meet the exigencies of the awakening. Unless sexual energy is needed in some way for spiritual unfoldment, why should any prophet or any saint or any spiritual teacher recommend celibacy as a method of reaching God? Since part of the life energy, produced by the reproductive mechanism, is needed for the evolutionary process, it is obvious that this part cannot be utilized for amatory purposes without detriment to the latter. The words below (edited for clarity and brevity) come from Gopi Krishna. I have chosen to include his words and experience since I have not achieved the same realization of experience, nor am I a yogic expert (yet!)


"The precious organic substance and the concentrated energy, present in sexual secretion (both male and female), instead of being ejected for a momentary pleasure, can also be used, when the rejuvenation process is at work, as tonic nourishment for the nerves and the brain cells. By no other external feeding known to science can this wonderful transformation be brought about. An excess expenditure of the reproductive essences can cause ravages in the system which make adaptation to the new activity of the brain impossible. It is a colossal blunder to yield to the demands of sexual desire without restraint. The cost paid for the momentary thrill of erotic sensation, when it exceeds a healthy limit, is so high that generations can suffer for the unbridled lust of one libidinous ancestor.


The ignorance prevailing at the present moment about this vital issue can be gauged from the fact that in the thousands of modern books on marital happiness, conjugal relationship and the psychology of sex, there is rarely if ever, any hint about the fact that a part of this energy goes to nourish the brain and is essentially needed for its growth. There is not even a hint in any of the thousands of books on psychology or other sciences or philosophy to show that a higher dimension of consciousness is possible or has been experienced at rare intervals by some fortunate members of the race. Owing to the fact that the evolutionary and the reproductive processes work side by side in human bodies, and the main reservoir of the energy is the same, it is of utmost importance that this position should be verified empirically to educate the rank and file in the essential rudiments of the knowledge.


The source behind the evolution of the brain is the reproductive system. Normally the sex energy is used for procreative purposes, but nature has designed it for evolutionary purposes also. The reproductive apparatus has its own set of subtle nerves which integrate with the entire nervous system of the body. There is no doubt that a direct link exists between the brain and the reproductive organs; when the reversal of the functioning of the human reproductive system to its more evolutionary mechanism takes place with the attendant arousal of Kundalini, this connection becomes clearly perceptible."

Continued in Part II