This word Brahmacharya is probably the most misunderstood word. People somehow link it to ‘preserving sexual energy’, being celibate, transmuting the ‘sexual power’ etc. There is a long history behind all these notions and it is hard to see the light.
Brahmacharya just means a stage in one’s life when one is with a teacher doing his studies. Brahma means ‘teacher’ and charya means ‘to be with’. Since one has to focus completely on studies during that time, one is advised to have restraint over one’s desires, so that he won’t get distracted from studies.
This is what the ancient sage Manu says about how one should be when one is in Brahmacharya.stage - student stage - of life.
A student should keep his senses always under control in the same way a horse rider reins in his unruly horses. With complete control over his senses and the mind, he should keep his body fit and concentrate on his studies with full attention. (Manu Smrthi 2.88 & 2.100)
But during the adolescent stage with many natural changes that go on in the body, and with a vulnerable mind, a youngster often finds it difficult to control his desires. Yielding to those desires can divert attention and can be a hurdle on one’s path. Though it is totally unavoidable, one needs to make every attempt to rein in the desires.
Manu dwells into why this is necessary.
The desires can never be fully satiated by enjoying various sense pleasures. The more one enjoys the sense pleasures, the more aroused are his desires, the way fire erupts more by adding fuel to it. (Manu Smrthi 2.94)
At the same time Manu is more pragmatic in understanding the youngster’s mind. He says that
It is not possible to be totally free from desires. The right thing to do is to understand the adverse consequences on one’s studies and cautiously rein in the desires. (Manu Smrthi 2.96)
Unfortunately, too much emphasis is given on sexual desires and the word Brahmacharya has now-a-days almost become synonymous to sexual control - whatever that means.
Many self claimed experts as well as some well known Gurus have become misguided by this wrongly placed emphasis on sex. It is true that one has to have control over excessive desires, sexual desire including. But stretching it beyond that, is just meaningless.
Many of these experts and some Gurus who talk so confidently about sexual energy have no idea about what this sexual energy is all about. There are lot of misconceptions about preserving sexual energy and what happens if someone fails to do that, and so on.
The root of all these is in the ancient Tantric practices of India which revolved around sex as one the most difficult urges to conquer. So, these tantrics imagined that they can control the nature if they could control sex. Tantrik texts keep repeating that ‘if one conquers sexual urges and preserves ‘sexual energy’ one would attain immortality!
These ideas were carried over to Hatayoga, which is an offshoot of Tantra. Hatayoga has even ‘techniques’ like Vajroli, Sahajoli and Amaroli, to preserve the ‘sexual energy’ even if someone indulges in sex! Entire idea of Kundalini is centered around this transmuting sexual energy into spiritual energy.
It is futile to discuss more on this, since many of these ideas have nothing substantial to support, and are myths built over a period of time.
To sum it up, if by Brahmacharya you mean restraint over desires, yes, definitely that would help in avoiding distractions from the spiritual path. It is also helpful in life with or without spirituality. Too much is always bad.
But these benefits accrue not because of some mystical idea of ‘preservation of sexual energy’ but merely because it enables you to focus on your life/spiritual path better. It is time we, shrug ourselves off from these ill founded ideas which have been carried over generations, and never subjected to serious scrutiny.
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