Overcoming depression further to breaks

Hello Carr,

What you are basically trying to imply is the depressed state you find yourself in, further to the break in Brahmacharya and how to get out of it. Let’s try and address the issue.

As per your statement, you managed to stay without slips for more than four months. This is an achievement by itself. It shows your interest in the concept of Brahmacharya. A slip only means that you need to persist more and in the right direction. With divine grace, honesty, integrity and commitment you can succeed further.

Let’s first try and understand what made you slip. Our current state of mind, intellect, consciousness and ego is a cumulative of our past ‘karma’ or deeds. Each and every deed we have indulged in the past creates a ‘Vasana’ or a tendency. This is the reason why different people have different likes and dislikes. I may have a craving for sweets while your craving could be for spicy food. These inherent likes and dislikes for certain things are all a result of our constant past indulgences in those objects.

A universal common factor among majority of people however is the strong like and craving for the sexual act. A, B and C might have different tastes when it comes to food, clothes and cars. But most often you will find that they all have a strong liking for sex

Why? Let me quote from the book- “The practice of Brahmacharya” by His Highness Swami Sivananda who gives us the answer: || “Because the sex instinct is the greatest urge in human life. Sex energy or lust is the most deep-rooted instinct in man. Sex energy entirely fills the mind, intellect, Prana, senses and the whole body. It is the oldest of the factors that have gone into the constitution of the human being. A man has a thousand and one desires. But the central strong desire is the sexual desire. The fundamental desire is the urge for a mate. All hang on this central basic desire. The desire for money, the desire for children, the desire for property, the desire for houses and other desires come later on. Because the whole creation of this universe is to be kept up, God has made the sexual desire very, very powerful”||

In a man trying to be Brahmachari, the initial period is like swimming upstream, against the current of a swift river. Your strokes have to be very consistent, powerful and focused to make headway, else you will soon find yourself being washed downstream. But along with efficient strokes, there is another very strong factor necessary to successfully swim against the river of lust and reach the banks of chastity. That is the grace of the divine lord. No amount of mere physical, mental restraint and intellectual know how regarding the subject can help a man reach the chaste shores without the grace of the mighty lord.

Any man who reads books on the subject of Brahmacharya can know the subject. But ‘realizing’ the content wholly and staying out of lusts reach? That is something very difficult. It is for this reason that you have very, very few people who are able to succeed in this path. Success in Brahmacharya comes only to him who follows a very special mode of life with the blessings of god.

I will now address the topic of depression. When man becomes chaste, he practically lifts himself out of the scum and sludge called lust and passion. Each day you remain truly chaste, the mind, body and soul rejoice in splendor. Man experiences pure ‘Ananda’ or unipolar bliss. When you stayed chaste for a period of four and half months, your system at the mental, physical and psychic level underwent purification. This gave you joy and happiness. At the point when you gave into your past tendencies and slipped, all this joy and bliss your system had experienced by constant effort got negated for a moment’s pleasure... You said everything goes wrong when this happened. That’s because your ‘Veerya’ or semen is actually the basis of life, your very ‘Atman’ or soul. It is God in motion. It is dynamic will. It is the ‘Prana of Pranas’. He who loses semen loses everything. Nothing else can compensate. Depression caused thus can be quite painful. Man feels disoriented and ashamed. But don’t let this depression linger on. It will last only as long as you want it to last. A Brahmachari is firstly a man of great valor and poise. With honest effort and prayer to God, success is guaranteed. I will list out the methods to succeed that I have been able to gather from my own personal experience.

1. FOOD: Eat mildly spiced food wholly devoid of onion, garlic, synthetic additives and flavors. Give up meat & eggs. Meat eaters cannot succeed in Brahmacharya beyond a limit. Go for balanced, nutritious food made of wheat, pulses, legumes, milk and dairy products, fresh fruits and veggies. Give up all forms of alcohol, tobacco and use of perfumes. Half the battle is won with the right food.

2. LIFESTYLE: Get up early in the morning by 4.00 A.M and drink 1-2 glasses of water on an empty stomach. Drink some milk/fruit if hungry. Perform Asana , Bandha, Nadi Shodhana, Pranayama and meditation. This is very important. By the correct practice of breath control, the mind, breath, semen and Prana (Vital energy) come under one’s control. All these four are interlinked. He who controls any one of them develops control over the other three. You can learn Pranayama from a good yoga tutor. Now pray to the lord to give you strength over the senses. Sit in Padmasana (Lotus posture) and meditate upon the lord. Concentrate deeply at the region between the eyebrows. Your concentration must be deep with the honesty, humility and the innocence of a child.

Indulge in creative/intellectual activity for the rest of the day (this can be your job at the workplace). Stay away from people who talk of sexuality and women. Stay away from women whose intentions you feel are not conducive to chastity. Even with women who aren’t a threat, keep interactions to the point. Lust is the greatest trickster! It will find ways to crop up even from innocent contact.

Avoid looking into the eyes of women you feel sexually attracted to. Whenever a sexual thought comes into your mind, nip it at the bud and chant the lord’s name. Ask him to help you win over lust. With honest efforts, no one can snatch away success from you. We fall due to our own weaknesses. We practice celibacy strictly for a month and then cheat ourselves saying ‘Let me take one look at that woman, it wont hurt’. Every image your brain registers with a sexual intent will make a corresponding fraction of your semen get ready to go out! It gets into the ‘ejaculatory mode’. Further to a number of such images getting stored, you will slip.

3. CHARITY & LOVE: To the extent possible, develop an intent of true love, consideration, kindness and care towards the people around you. Curb anger. Anger is the catalyst to passion and vice-versa. Both have kinship. Feed a stray animal with love and affection, you can visit an old age home or place for the destitute and spend some time with them out of true love, helping them in any manner you can either in cash, kind or in service. They are after all gods’ children and god will feel happy when you make the less privileged happy. Their blessings will make your chastity rock solid. This is very important as celibacy never stays with self centered, egoistic people and trust me; most of us are self centered and egoistic during the course of the day without our own knowledge! Trust this will serve as a pointer to you to stay chaste. Revert to me for clarifications if any Carr.

God bless, be spirited and have a nice day
Dhananjay