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Part 1: The Essence of Brahmacharya Welcome back. Let us continue our session on the yamas and niyamas. We now come to the fourth yama principle: Brahmacharya. This is perhaps one of the most well-known and widely discussed principles, and there are quite conflicting opinions about it. In common understanding, Brahmacharya means to have no sexual relations—sexual abstinence or celibacy. This is one interpretation. We will explore this later and understand that it is just one small aspect, and not even necessarily the core point. However, it is definitely a very powerful principle because our sexual energy is something very potent. We have ten sense organs: the five karma indriyas (organs of action) and the five jñāna indriyas (organs of perception). Controlling them is not easy, but two are the most difficult to control. There is a bhajan about this, and I would like to begin this session by singing it. It is a bhajan from Ācāramjī, "Indriya do prabalavichāra hatakyā jagata inasāra." We don't sing it often, but it is precisely right for this point. Let's first sing the refrain and then explore its meaning before singing the whole bhajan. The refrain speaks of the indriyas. As I said, there are ten, but the bhajan mentions "do," meaning two. It says we should understand that two of our sense organs are truly powerful (prabal). "Prabal" implies great energy, like a wild animal that is hard to tame. "Hatte kia jagatte inesara" means these two indriyas are so powerful that they control the entire world (jagat). They control everyone. "Iṣṭān me indriya daśhe. Koi pure yogīke bashe." In this body, there are ten indriyas, and only a few perfect yogīs are able to control them. But two are especially difficult to master, and they have the whole world under their sway. We still haven't named them. They are upastha (the organ of reproduction, relating to sexuality) and rasanā (the organ of taste). This means keeping discipline in eating and bringing our sexual desires under control is most difficult. We must also see that these indriyas influence each other. When we eat certain foods, our desires awaken. In the Kaṭi Kāmkārya, they produce many wishes, desires, and passions. These indriyas are connected, but working on one can also affect the other. When we receive a mantra from Swamījī, he already gives us a technique for this. Which one? Fasting. Through fasting, we consciously begin to control at least one of these sense organs. The second technique Swamījī gives us, if seen as such, is becoming vegetarian. That also helps us keep our senses under control. Furthermore, Swamījī teaches us about the three guṇas. If we choose our food in a certain way, it helps us again. What we achieve on one level definitely influences the other levels. The bhajan continues: "Brahmā, Indra, Saptivādī, Narasura, Pakṣī, Paśuvādī." It mentions all different beings—Brahmā, Indra, the Devas, humans, Asuras, birds, and other animals. These two sense organs have all of them under control. Achala Ram, who wrote this bhajan, says, "tinko pranam hamara"—my deep salutation and adoration to those who have somehow achieved mastery over them. This makes clear that we are dealing not with a minor point of self-control, but with something requiring great respect. This energy is not for play or experimentation. If we truly wish to practice Brahmacharya in its full sense, we really need the guidance of a guru. Let's sing the bhajan and then go deeper into its message. [Bhajan is sung.] This bhajan is quite special. I don't know any other bhajan that is so direct. Indians are often very polite and speak indirectly, but here he speaks right to the point. Yes, Brahmacharya is a bit of a hot topic. When Swamījī once spoke about the Yoga Sūtras and Brahmacharya, he said, "When I speak about this topic, I always have a full hall." It is always a topic essential to our lives because the energy we are dealing with is divine energy. That is why we must respect and understand it. I said the common understanding of Brahmacharya is celibacy, but that is actually an interpretation. Let us explore what Brahmacharya truly means. "Brahm"—what is Brahm? Brahm is God. It especially denotes the formless, Nirguṇa God, the divine consciousness. Brahm is that which we want to realize, that with which we want to become one. "Ācārya" basically means movement, change, any kind of activity. It is our manner or style of behavior. So, Brahmacharya together would mean directing our activity toward Brahma. It means thinking on Brahma, allowing Brahma to direct our life. This is the real meaning of Brahmacharya. Whoever always thinks on God practices Brahmacharya. Whoever tries to see God in everything around them has the attitude of Brahmacharya. We have a very beautiful mantra about this Brahmacharya attitude: seeing Brahman in everything. You all know it—yes, our eating mantra. It is a perfect Brahmacharya mantra. Let's chant it together: "Brahma arpaṇaṁ, brahma haviḥ, brahmāgnau, brahmaṇā hutam, brahmaiva tena gantavyaṁ." The word "Brahma" appears five times. The example here is taken from an act of sacrificial offering. In such a ceremony in India, you offer something like seeds. With a ladle, you offer ghee as fuel, chant mantras, and a pandit leads the ceremony. This is the background. The mantra says: the one who offers is Brahmā (God); that which is offered is also Brahman; the fuel (ghee) is also Brahman; the whole act of offering is Brahman. It is offered by Brahman into the fire of Brahman. The fire that accepts and burns it is also Brahmā. Another meaning, which we usually apply when singing it as an eating mantra, is slightly different. Here, the offering is our food. The fuel is the digestive fluids and acids that work on and digest the food. The fire is the jāṭharāgni, the digestive fire, which we can activate through practices like agni sākriyā or nauli. So you already have two levels of interpretation. Fundamentally, you can apply it to every act of daily life. You could say: here sits God, speaking to God; the sound waves are God; the room is God; the camera is God. It is another way to express the same truth. Although it appears as an eating mantra, it is actually a general mantra about the attitude of seeing God in everything. The second line of the mantra, which has nothing to do with the fire ceremony or eating, gives the essence: "Who lives in this way, seeing God in every moment of daily life, will in the end become one with Brahman, one with God." This is the attitude of Brahmacharya. This is its real, deeper meaning. Now, to direct the energy, we come to another interpretation. We can look from the point of view of Kuṇḍalinī Yoga and the chakras, as Swāmījī teaches us. When we say, "Direct your whole life, your thinking, everything toward God," we could also say, in the language of Kuṇḍalinī Yoga, that we have an energy we should guide upward. This energy, generally called prāṇa and in the context of spiritual awakening called the kuṇḍalinī śakti, is actually the energy of the Divine Mother. It rises to Sahasrāra, the center of Śiva, the Divine Consciousness—our Brahmā. So, direct the energy that flows toward Brahmā, and in the end, you can unite with Brahmā. From this viewpoint, we can understand the other interpretation of Brahmacharya. We speak about energy—one energy, not two or three. This one energy flows and has certain effects. To understand this, take the example of a flute. A flute is empty with holes. We blow air into it; this air is the energy. It is one air, not two. This energy, this air, flows through the flute and can have different effects depending on which hole we open. Opening the first hole produces one sound; the next hole, a different one. The crucial point is: it is the same energy, the same air. What are these holes? They are the chakras. The energy, the prāṇa, the kuṇḍalinī, flows in a certain direction. Which effect it has depends on us—which hole we open, meaning on which chakra we allow it to have an effect. It is fundamentally one and the same divine energy. When we speak about sexuality, it means we open the second hole, the Svādhiṣṭhāna chakra. It is divine energy. We can see this from the simple fact that through this energy, we can create a child, create life—something we as humans cannot do by ourselves. From the result, we can see we are dealing with divine energy, the divine kuṇḍalinī. In the Mūlādhāra cakra, you can use this energy for physical activities, for establishing the physical base of your life. In the Manipūra Chakra, you can use it for power, to rule a country. In the Anāhata Chakra, you can use it to create beautiful art, a poem, or a symphony. In the Viśuddhi Chakra, you can use it to understand others, to help as a therapist, for example. When the energy rises to the head chakras—Ājñā Chakra, Bindu, Sahasrāra—the effects are already divine. As the energy manifests in the upper chakras, we are slowly transformed into a saint, a real yogī. This is the background for understanding the common interpretation of Brahmacharya. There is no separate "sexual energy"; it is merely a certain manifestation of this one divine energy. However, the energy is limited. When we use it for one purpose, it is no longer available for another. When something is very important to you, all your awareness and energy go into it, leaving no energy for other things. Here we come to the point of how we use this energy. It is our decision, under our control. If we live very unconsciously, the energy will follow natural instinct—the instincts animals already have. What are these instincts? First, to eat; second, to procreate. "Indriyendo prabala vichāra hatāhiā." This is why these two are so strong in us. We have lived this way, perhaps for millions of lives. How easy it is to forget that we are now human and have the chance to act differently. We can live according to instincts we do not necessarily need to follow. This is the underlying idea of controlling this energy and leading it into higher centers, in the direction of Brahman. Going a bit more into detail: for a man, the sexual energy resides in the semen. If I'm not mistaken, in Āyurveda they say there are ten different tissues (dhātus) built in our body. They have different stages—some grosser, some finer; some are built quickly, others need more time. The finest and last is actually the semen (śukra). Building this takes about one month. That means you work for one month to create something truly special. This is divine energy, and then you might simply throw it away. This is the underlying idea for understanding the value of this energy. In the female body, a very similar process occurs through the menstrual cycle, which also takes about a month. These are corresponding processes of building up this energy. This energy is very valuable and is an important nourishment for our brain—not only as spiritual energy for enlightenment, but for nourishing our brain and its functions. If we use this energy excessively, we may, for example, have poor memory. This energy is called by different names. One yogic name is Vīrya. Another is Ojas, and we would most probably call it Kuṇḍalinī, which is basically one form of Prāṇa. We will understand the importance of Brahmacharya in this context when we look at the second sūtra, number 38: "When someone becomes steadfast in Brahmacharya, then he acquires spiritual energy (vīrya)." It is said he acquires spiritual energy, but the energy is already there. We can say that then we can truly make use of this energy. Or, this energy, which is potentially spiritual, can then actually work in us as spiritual energy and not for something else. This is the idea of sublimating the energy so it can act truly as spiritual energy. That is why some yogīs say that if you want to achieve the goal of yoga, you should practice it in the form of celibacy. However, this is not a straightforward point. It is not possible or advisable for everyone. One must consider different life situations and different ages. We get closer to understanding its concrete meaning by looking at the four āśramas. Do you know what "āśrama" means in this context? Yes, there are different periods of life. Traditionally, life is divided into four phases of about 25 years each. What is the first phase called in Sanskrit? Yes, exactly, it is called Brahmacharya. So there we are. This means when you are preparing for your life, when you are young and studying, you should do two things. Think about the aim of your life. When you want to shoot an arrow, it is first important to know in which direction you aim. Similarly, when you are young, it is crucial to be clear: what is the aim of my life? What do I want, so that as I grow older and go through different stages, I never forget? This is Brahmacharya: thinking on God, going in the direction of Brahma. Therefore, spiritual education in youth is actually essential—something not well understood today, where it is often treated as a hobby. Nowadays, only material education is emphasized, preparing us to earn money. But that is not the aim of our life; it is a bare necessity. To give a direction to our life when we are young is what is important. Part 2: The Four Āśramas and the Practice of Brahmacharya Traditional education occurs in a gurukul, under the guidance of a spiritual master. In this gurukul, one also learns all the worldly things needed for life. When you are young, you are not yet earning money, meaning you lack the material base for family life. Your studies are unfinished, and you are not yet able to earn your own livelihood. It is therefore logical that in this phase, sexual relations are not the focus. In this first stage of life, Brahmacharya, the practice should be strict celibacy. As Swāmījī says, if students practiced this, they would study much better. This energy is the best nourishment for our brain. When questions of partnership arise, the mind becomes distracted. It makes sense to set a clear boundary: "Not until now." Then comes the next phase. The second phase of life is the Gṛhastha Āśrama, the householder life. Now you are married, you have sexual activities, a family, children, and all the associated duties. But now you are prepared for it. Consider the suffering that arises when underage girls become mothers. The relationship at that stage is often not serious; the partner may disappear, leaving her alone with a child. Even if the father stays, if he does not earn money, there are financial and material problems. The girl is still a child but already a mother. How can she properly educate her child? She lacks sufficient life experience. For the first phase of Brahmacharya, it makes great sense to abstain from sexual relationships. But what does Brahmacharya mean for a married householder? If two people marry and one suddenly declares, "I want to practice Brahmacharya," while the other had different expectations, it can become a problem. The normal way for a householder is to live the householder's life with family and children. We must understand the importance of householders. From a material point of view, the householder is the base of the whole society. They earn money and possess material resources. Young people, who do not yet have these, depend on them. Retired elders also depend on them. The sannyāsīs, sādhus, and monks, who by definition are not in material life, also depend on them. There is nothing wrong with being a householder. Yet the question remains: how can a householder practice Brahmacharya? Let us go through the other āśramas. The next is Vānaprastha, retirement. When you have raised your children and they begin their own lives, there is no point in sexual activity anymore. Why would you go through that cycle again? Traditionally, this is a phase of purification, a time for strong sādhanā to purify our karmas and prepare for a more serious Brahmacharya than in the first āśrama. Now we have life experience and approach the end of our life—the aim of our life—to achieve oneness with the Divine. This is again called the Sannyāsa Āśrama, where nothing else interests you and you pursue only your spiritual aim. Younger people can also choose to enter this āśrama early. Sannyāsīs need not be old; Swāmījī, for example, became a sannyāsī at age 17. Now, let us look at the Gṛhastha Āśrama. What could it mean for a householder to practice Brahmacharya while having a family and wife? First, it means a simple thing: if you marry one person, be faithful to that person. One interpretation of Brahmacharya for a householder is clearly to be chaste and faithful to the partner. You have a relationship with one partner because you wish to walk the spiritual path together. This is like two parts of an apple, hardly separable. If we truly love our partner, why would we cheat? These are divine principles. What does Brahmacharya mean? To see God in everything. You are married; now see God in your partner. There you practice Brahmacharya exactly where you have chosen your partnership. If you are a man, see the Divine Mother in your wife. If you are a woman, see the Divine Father in your husband. All your love goes to this divine principle. After prayer, we often say, "Mātā Pitā Guru Deva Kī Jai." The translation is easy: "Glory to the Mother, Father, and the Guru." But there is a deeper meaning. "Mother" means the Divine Mother. "Father" means the Divine Father. "Guru" means the guru tattva. These are the highest divine principles. If we contemplate this, it would transform our family life and partnership entirely. We would respect each other as we respect God. In our modern time, it is hard to believe this can be lived. I saw skepticism in your faces. But this gives us an orientation. If we realize only 10% of it, something will change. Through yoga practice, we naturally work on ourselves and begin to see things from a different point of view. We start to live more consciously and respectfully. And there it begins. Remember an old story from Swāmījī. When he was teaching yoga classes in Vienna, an elderly lady came regularly, but her husband was not interested. After a year, she came to Swāmījī with a question: "Swāmījī, I don’t know how yoga works. I don’t understand. I always come to your classes and practice, but my husband is not interested. Yet I have observed for a long time that he is changing so much. He has become so respectful, so loving, and our whole partnership has changed. How is it possible that I practice and he gets the benefit?" Understand what happened? Of course, she changed. These are subtle changes we are often not aware of. He reacted to her change, and only through his change did she become aware something was happening. Just by practicing yoga seriously, we go in this direction naturally. This is what Swāmījī calls social health: through yoga practice, our social relationships improve naturally. To respect your partner as the Divine Mother or Divine Father is the further aim. That it is possible, we have at least one example: the partnership between Ramakrishna and his wife, Śāradā Devī. When he was young, he was married in a child marriage, as was common. They did not live together initially. He began his spiritual life and was deeply immersed in it. After some years, she appeared. He was irritated and asked, "What do you really want? I have my life, my spiritual path." She said, in a very humble way, "I want to serve you." With this attitude, all problems vanished. He accepted her, and they lived together with the attitude of serving each other, respecting each other as divine beings. He was a devotee of the Divine Mother, working as a priest in a temple of Goddess Kālī. The Divine Mother was his Iṣṭadeva. Now his wife became Goddess Kālī. It is known in history that he worshipped his married wife. He put her on the altar, gave her the mālā, gave her the prasāda. He worshipped her as a living goddess. Can you imagine this high state of consciousness? For her, what happened? They both went into samādhi together. That is also a way to live Brahmacharya. As a side aspect, you simply forget about sexuality. Or you choose to practice it with a very clear aim, praying for a divine soul to incarnate, wishing to give a soul spiritual guidance. It is the same as with food. When we think of food, we think of enjoyment, of taste. But with neutral eyes, it is simply necessary nourishment for the physical body. The same dualism exists with sexuality. Most people think of it as a kind of enjoyment. But what is the real point of sexuality? That a child is born, that a soul has a body to incarnate. Just as we say, "Don’t eat when you are full," we can say, "Don’t have sex if you don’t want to have a child," if you are not ready. This means living the householder life on a higher level. It becomes a real spiritual life. When we live with this consciousness, there is no loss of energy. This is already living Brahmacharya in the real sense. Now, back to the sannyāsīs, who should practice Brahmacharya as celibacy. Why? Because that is the difference. When I have a partnership, I have a dharma: as a father, to care for my wife and children, to earn money, to provide a comfortable home. When you choose, as a monk, not to enter that, you cannot suddenly pick parts of it. You choose either this dharma, with all it entails, or the other dharma, with all it entails. Both paths are fully correct, but we must make a choice; we cannot jump from one to the other. Now we understand this sūtra: when someone becomes steadfast in Brahmacharya, he acquires spiritual energy. This can mean directing sexual energy into higher chakras, or directing our life attitude and living it in daily life. For a householder, the minimum is to be faithful and chaste towards the partner. We find the same in the Bible commandments: "You shall not commit adultery" (do not cheat your partner). The Tenth Commandment says even more clearly: "You shall not desire your neighbor’s wife, nor his servants." Another interesting point is the Fourth Commandment: "You shall honor your father and your mother." For me, this is an echo of "Mātā Pitā Guru Deva Kī Jai." Here, too, is a deeper meaning: not just the physical mother who gave birth to my body, but the divine principle to be respected. Seeing the context between the different senses, especially with the sense of eating, we can say that wherever we try to control one of our sense organs, it is a good step toward Brahmacharya. Swāmījī said in a lecture, humorously, that Brahmacharya means to control yourself mentally and physically from enjoyment. This concerns not only sexual life. As an example, if you are addicted to eating apples all the time, you are also not a brahmacārī, because you are addicted. Swāmījī says when you always just fulfill your desires, that is not Brahmacharya. This can give us guidance for daily life and for self-inquiry in meditation. So many things we do automatically without thinking. In meditation, you have the chance to become aware. For example, "I need to eat this and that every day. Is it really necessary?" You can think about your personal problem—perhaps smoking, drinking, or something else. You know it is not good, but you do it. That is a field where we can start practicing Brahmacharya as self-control. Fasting is already one way. Understood this way, Brahmacharya is a preparation for the later principle of tapas. Of course, sexual Brahmacharya, if truly lived or attempted, is definitely a kind of tapas. But here we must be very careful. Swāmījī gave a clear warning: Brahmacharya in the sense of real sexual continence is not for the majority of people. It can even be dangerous, because we must understand it is energy. The nature of energy is to move; it cannot just be fixed on one point. When we have this energy, feel it, but do not allow it to flow, something happens. If we say, "No, I want to live Brahmacharya; I don’t want a sexual life," and we do not give proper guidance to this energy in another direction, it accumulates more and more, like in a pressure cooker. If there is no exit, one day there is an explosion. Swāmījī speaks clearly: there is a danger of schizophrenia. You become completely confused, not knowing what to do. Aggressions arise, anger, even mental diseases. This affects not only the Svādhiṣṭhāna Chakra, but also the heart and head. It goes around in your mind all the time, affecting your behavior. You go to ku-saṅga (bad company), start eating at night, and do many other foolish things. We must be clear: we are dealing with the Divine Mother, with Divine Energy. That is not a game. If someone thinks, "I am now playing with Māyā," it is certain that Māyā is playing with you. Therefore, we should be very careful. The practice of celibacy should never be tried without a guru, as it could be truly dangerous. On the other hand, when we give this direction to Brahma in our whole thoughts and life, the energy we can achieve is immense. Therefore, in India, the most highly respected are the so-called Bāla Brahmacārīs. "Bāla" means child. These are those who entered the Brahmacharya path when young, meaning they never married and never had a sexual relation. This is a very exceptional path, for only very few with special karma. I hope the different aspects of Brahmacharya and the different life periods have become a little clearer. Is there any question? Such a person is actually called a brahmacārī—basically a kind of sādhu who is not initiated, not a swāmī or monk, but a sādhu on his own practicing Brahmacharya. But as said, even in such a case, it is good to do it under the guidance of a guru. We should not underestimate this energy. Swāmījī gives an example: "Okay, for half a year it works, for one year it works, for two years it works, but after five years, latest, you are out." So you need not be an initiated monk, but you should follow a guru.