In Sanskrit, Brahma means ‘higher awareness’ and acharya means ‘to stay in’. In a discourse on brahmacharya, Anandmurti Gurumaa—the new-age teacher who is said to have attained enlightenment at age 6 in Amritsar—says brahmacharya is commonly understood as the complete control over libido.
In Vedic times, relationships between men and women conducted in righteousness and dharma were seen as ‘yagna’—offering oblations to a sacred fire. Unlike Catholicism, the vedas do not consider sex a sin. In yoga and tantra, brahmacharya means perfection in retaining the bindu—the core and being in a constant, positive state and not merely sexual abstention—it’s a means to create strength, power, heat vitality, resistance and endurance.
The Gurumaa points out that Lord Krishna had many consorts, yet was known as the eternal brahmacharya while the celibate Hanuman abjured all contact with women. Holistic development of the personality is why the Vedas ask men to wait until maturity to understand and integrate sexual experiences into life. Between the ages of eight and twenty five, one who is immersed in Vedic studies was known as a brahmachari. After marriage, he has sex with his wife but is still considered a brahmachari. Then at age 50, the individual adopts the principle Hari Om Tat Sat—or celibacy.
Tantric sex, a widely misunderstood practice, has three purposes. Those who seek superconsciousness through sex are considered yogis, those who do it for pleasure are humans, and those who have sex for the sake of having children are considered animals.
The sanyasin says that many find it difficult to be a brahmachari because “sexual abstention definitely affects the quality and structure of awareness”. Those who cling to celibacy become riven with guilt if they breach the rule; even once. Brahmacharya should be understood both physiologically and psychologically. Hormones influence libido. For the would-be brahmachari, awareness is the key—what sparks off the brain to release hormones ? The libidinal experience has to be observed from beginning to end. How does it affect the state of mind? Gurumaa recounts meeting someone years ago who had stayed unmarried. All he could think of was sex. “He was constantly fighting with himself. So one must live the life of a householder correctly; that is the first way to brahmacharya,” says the sanyasin.
With a dispassionate mind, the brahmachari merges with the supreme consciousness. The tantric attitude of sex as passionlessness, reverential and worshipful to the Supreme can be achieved only by gaining mastery over yogic kriyas; kumbhaka—breath control; uddiyana—the abdominal lock in hatha yoga and vajroli—the thunderbolt pose that awakens and redirects sexual energy— ajroli, sahajoli and amaroli specifically sublimate sexual energy into ojas (vitality) and kundalini shakti. Without this, brahmacharya is mere self-deception.