{"id":7370,"date":"2009-06-16T11:53:23","date_gmt":"2009-06-16T10:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=7370"},"modified":"2009-06-16T11:55:38","modified_gmt":"2009-06-16T10:55:38","slug":"the-process-of-celibacy-as-given-to-us-by-srila-prabhupada-is-rather-simple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=7370","title":{"rendered":"The process of celibacy as given to us by Srila Prabhupada is rather simple"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Yugala Kishor Das<\/strong><\/p>\n

In response to “A Request for help in starting a new website for Struggling Devotees<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

The process of celibacy as given to us by Srila Prabhupada is rather simple.<\/p>\n

Self-control in matters of sex starts with brahmacarya, passes through grhastha and eventually goes back to absolute celibacy in sannyasa.<\/p>\n

Brhamacarya means several things, namely, not associating with women, eating properly, taking appropriate association, and engaging oneself in active devotional service.<\/p>\n

a) THE VOW OF NOT ASSOCIATING WITH WOMEN. This includes the mind, body and the speech. Pure and simple, brahmacaris are not to think of women, nor in being in physical contact with women (it includes actual sexual indulgence), nor are they to speak about women. There goes out TV, newspapers, magazines, movies, and no-devotional entertainment. Sometimes, even so-called devotional entertainment may be detrimental to brahmacarya vows. Nowadays, it is very common to see, in ISKCON temples, dance performances by young, attractive girls and young women. In my humble opinion, even these kinds of entertainment events are to be avoided, at all cost, by someone who is serious about celibacy.<\/p>\n

b) EATING PROPERLY. This is another big one. People interested in celibacy are not free to eat any kind of foodstuff, even it is prasadam. First of all, sweetmeats are to be avoided. This includes not only Indian sweets (even though mahaprasadam) but also cakes, pies, and a myriad of all kinds of tempting preparations.<\/p>\n

Secondly, vegetarian food even though cooked by non-devotees must be avoided. In the West, we often see ISKCON devotees going to vegetarian restaurants, Buddhists, Indians, Chinese, etc. to consume their bhoga. Eating food cooked by non-devotees carries a great risk of contamination. (The story of Bhishmadeva, as found in Mahabharata, comes to mind). And one of those is the aggravation of sex desires.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, avoid at all cost eating late in the day. Specifically, avoid eating after sunset.<\/p>\n

Fourthly, avoid food that is pungent, spicy, and too sweet. Avoid food that is aphrodisiac, which does include many non-animal-based foodstuff. Avoid yogurt late in the day!<\/p>\n

c) TAKING PROPER ASSOCIATION. This is also crucial. Brahmacaris should hang around other brahmacaris or sannyasis. In turn, sannyasis should take association of other sannyasis, or give association to brahmacaris. As far as grhasthas is concerned, they should practice, more or less the same restrictions, save and except those necessary to handle their secular duties, in which case, avoiding women\u2019s association is not practical.<\/p>\n

d) ENGAGEMENT IN DEVOTIONAL SERVICES. This is equally important. One should pick a specific service, related to some ISKCON Temple or center, and serve the Deity, in a humble way.<\/p>\n

e) PRAYING. Make a habit to visit the Deity, in your temple, and beg the Lord for his mercy, by way of controlling your senses. Do it daily. After all, Sri Krishna is known as Hrishikesha, because He fully controls the senses, the mind and the intelligence. If you do not reside nearby a temple, then obtain a picture of the Lord and have His darshana every single day, in your home, and ask for help from Him. We should start with the conviction all problems of material life (sex included) are not overcome on our own. The help of the spiritual master and the Lord Himself is required. Even though we may have an addiction to sex indulgence or aberrant sexual behavior, as in addiction to pornography, we ought to start with the realization that we can\u2019t do it alone. Hence, praying is essential.<\/p>\n

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!<\/p>\n

Your servant, Yugala Kishor Das<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yugala Kishor Das<\/strong><\/p>\n

In response to “A Request for help in starting a new website for Struggling Devotees<\/a>.” Self-control in matters of sex starts with brahmacarya, passes through grhastha and eventually goes back to absolute celibacy in sannyasa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7370\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}