How Celibacy Came Into Being
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
17
November 2023
“Daily
meditation and constant Japa is the essential foundation of brahmacharya. Japa
and meditation cause the subtle forces known as prana to rise upward. Those who
become adept in these spiritual practices will become “Urdhvareta Yogis”–those
in whom the sexual energies flow upward and become transmuted into spiritual
energies."
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Mr
Anburaj's recipe for an asexual existence has amused me no end. In olden times,
kings and monarchs used to have jesters (Vidooshak/Maskhara) in their courts
who'd say and do all funny things to keep the courtiers in good humour. Mr Anburaj is a modern jester. That said, the
futile emphasis on Brahmacharya (celibacy or sexual abstinence) is not just
ridiculous, it's against nature. Celibacy is self-deception and practised by all
deluded humans whose sense of spirituality is not only muddled but morbidly
pathological.
We
must understand our sexual behaviour from a socio-religious perspective.
Anthropologists believe that religion (quasi-religions or prototypes of
'modern' faiths) and god emerged simultaneously with human civilization that
started fifteen to eighteen thousand or max. twenty thousand years ago. Homo
sapiens emerged nearly 60, 000 years ago. Right from the beginning, humans
understood that sex was the most pleasurable activity- it's and there cannot be
two views about it. So pleasurable that the early humans even depicted crude
coital postures on the walls of the caves. Not only that, early humans even
associated their gods and deities with unbridled sexual capers and
peccadilloes. Religion and god birthed priesthood. Mind you, prostitution and
priesthood are the oldest professions in the world. With that, a misconception
started to take root. It was believed that if humans remained neck-deep
exploring 'depths' (pun intended), they'd not be focused on gods, deities and
spiritual matters. This misconception turned into a false (spiritual) narrative
that sex was a morally unedifying act and a serious impediment to realising god
or godhood. Readers will be amazed to know that Zoroastrianism, in its
formative centuries, advised its priests and followers to practise celibacy to
understand the nature of god (called Viasta in Avesta). Zoroastrianism, the
world's first monotheistic faith, is approximately 4,000 years old. In its
first seven or eight centuries, it (Zoroastrianism) vehemently advocated
against sex and spread a canard that Ahura Mazda (Avestan: Wise Lord) hated sex
and ejaculation (Vaar in ancient Iranian; equivalent to Veerya or Semen in
Sanskrit). The same thinking was prevalent in this part of the world during the
Vedic or pre-Vedic era (there was no Hinduism at that time). By the way, Avesta
and Sanskrit are pretty similar languages with a plethora of common words and
derivatives. You have the example of Bhishma's supposed celibacy and how he was
revered for not having sex till he breathed his last. According to Mahabharata,
he died at the age of 159! What a waste! When you go deeper into these
phenomena related to sexual abstinence in early human societies, cults, groups
and ancient faiths, you observe a very interesting thing. It was not sex per se
that was condemned. It was the ejaculation that was called the defilement of
body and mind (Veeryam Varjyate Apvitram Sarvatre) and a serious stumbling
block to the attainment of godhood. In short, semen was considered to be impure
and intolerable to god. That's the reason, old texts of Hindu mythology used
Skhalan as a euphemism or substitute for Veerya. Jayadeva vividly described
Radha-Krishna's mating in his Geet Govinda (written, circa 12th century), yet
calling it non-ejaculative! Isn't it tantamount to drinking non-alcoholic beer
or smoking an e-cigarette without tobacco? All man-made moronic faiths have
termed semen as something terribly dirty despite being generative fluid.
Buddhism and Jainism have gone to the extent of calling it 'Niga' and 'Gosera'
respectively. Both the words mean poison and are extremely reprehensible. Since
sex generally results in ejaculation, which is supposed to be an impure act and
extremely detestable to god, the whole shebang of sex was prohibited by all
idiotic religions. Most of the sexually frustrated Jain Munis and Buddhist
monks waste their lives in controlling the physical urge and they call it an
achievement! My foot! These religious fools even try to thwart their
involuntary nocturnal emissions. Catholic priests, who're not supposed to
marry, indulge in all sorts of perversions. No wonder, Aurobindo, Vivekanand,
Shivanand, this Nand and that Nand remained deluded and thought that having sex
would keep them away from their 'lofty' enlightenment. Alas, Na Khuda Hi Mila,
Na Visaal-E-Sanam/ Na Idhar Ke Rahe, Na Udhar Ke Hum. What a pity! Sex,
nature's greatest gift to mankind, became something so sinful owing to all
silly religious beliefs and brainless practitioners of celibacy.
…
A
regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative
religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the
world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
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