Loss of semen - loss of 'siddhi'

Hello Sen,

Good to know of your interest as regards Brahmacharya. Coming to the answers,

A1: Semen lost in the course of a wet dream is a little less debilitating to the body, mind and psyche as compared to that lost by voluntary emission. Firstly, the dream state involves activity at the astral plane and not the physical plane. Secondly, the dream state consists of activity sourced from the sub-conscious mind and not the fully conscious mind that functions while being awake. Due to the above reasons, the Vichâra shakthi (power of discrimination) and the Buddhi shakti (power of intellect) in the dream state are very minimal, scant or absent. The Jivâtma (embodied soul) is in a kind of a state that may be compared to a floating piece of wood on the waters of the ocean. The piece of wood has no sense of direction, purpose, trajectory or definite path. Its movements are fully in the grip of the ocean currents. It floats and moves around hither-thither depending on the nature of the oceanic flow. Based on the past Vâsanâs (tendencies garnered from past actions) embedded in the Kârana Sharira (causal body), the recent actions and the mental state of the person before retiring to bed, dreams manifest in various degrees and proportions.

Since involvement in sexual fantasy during a dream is generally at a more superficial level, there is a lesser chance for all components of semen to get ejaculated in totality. But this statement comes with a caveat. If the frequency of wet dreams becomes high and if the intensity of involvement in the sexual act in the dream state is of a high magnitude (due to the presence of say strong fantasy while being awake), the viscosity and substance in the ejaculate also increases. More Prâna (vital energy) will then go out through the ejaculate semen. It will then no longer be akin to the occasional wet dream that depletes lesser energy but will get close or become on par with a voluntary ejaculation due to the frequency and intensity. Hence one should always practice absolute Brahmacharya in thought, word and deed while being awake to the best of one's efforts by not letting sexual thoughts grow. Voluntary or involuntary; an ejaculation is always debilitating and depressing to the Brahmachari. It causes an interruption and hiccup in his practice towards enlightenment. Semen is brightness, strength and one's very self (Âtman). The real Brahmachari will never be in a frame of mind to lose it either way. To him, his semen is the very own essence of his life in the gross form. Losing semen is equivalent to losing a part of his very own inner self.

It is for this reason that a Yogi always meditates on God before retiring to bed at night and fills his mind with God-thought and vibrations, putting aside all thoughts. The last set of thought patterns before retiring to bed play a strong role in determining the nature of sleep. The last thought in the mind should hence be that of the Almighty Lord and nothing else. A dream is basically nothing but activity in the astral plane without or with minimal involvement of the power of discrimination and intellect through the sub-conscious mind as the vehicle of movement. If one fills the mind with the thought of the Almighty Lord, the possibility of the 'Jivâtma' to experience 'Nidra' (deep, sound and dreamless sleep) become manifold. The probability of disturbing, violent or sexually related dreams becomes minuscule. Thus the chances of occurance of an erotically stimulated dream that may turn into a wet dream also reduce. Hence a Brahmachari should cleanse his mind of all thoughts without exception at least an hour before he goes to sleep and contemplate on God, filling his mind with Godliness and expanding his consciousness to infinity. In course of time, as past Vâsanâs start slowly getting vacated through his practice of Yoga and Brahmacharya, he will experience deep, sound, dreamless sleep that relaxes and rejuvenates his system to an extent that is impossible for the non-Yogi. This is called 'Yoga- Nidra' (Yogic method of relaxation). This is sleep at its best. Such a Yogi gets refreshed and relaxed with just a few hours of Yoga-Nidra unlike the non-Yogi who may not be fully refreshed even after eight or nine hours of sleep. A Yogi who has mastered the art of Yoga-Nidra is bright, cheerful, smiling, energetic and full of happiness like a playful squirrel when he wakes up early in the morning much before sunrise. He has a mind that is eager and yearning to re-immerse itself in Yogic practices and involve itself in meditation. Brahmacharya becomes natural and easy through such an approach

A2: The production of semen is at its maximum and utmost from the onset of puberty in the early teens until the early twenties and very early thirties. The body of the child, having being in a state of natural Brahmacharya since birth is filled with much vigor, vitality and well being. Nature imposes this mandatory, automatic and total state of conservation of vital life energy in the child so as to aid the complete growth and development of the body, brain and the powers of intellect.This is what is referred to as the 'Fountain of youth'. This is what people unconsciously refer to when they say " Oh! The strength, alertness, agility and indefatigable tendency I earlier had when I was a young boy in my teens". This state is nothing but the result of the twelve to fourteen years of unbroken and natural Brahmacharya from birth to teenage. The production of vital energy in the child right from birth is continuous. It is only that this vital energy or Prâna is not converted to physical semen and let out of the body prior to puberty. Life energy is dammed and utilized to aid growth of body and intellect. Mark how nature herself takes recourse to 12 odd years of Brahmacharya in this context. With the onset of puberty, nature opens the downward channel of flow of this Prâna to enable reproduction via production of semen. With the onset of puberty, it is a signal from nature that the body and intellect having reached a certain stage of development, the reproductive ability to further the species is now available. This does not in any way mean that the mature youth can now squander and waste his vital essence through the downward channel. It only means that he has now been vested with the power of furthering his legacy through forming a family and producing offspring. This is the sole purpose of the sexual act, period! Enjoying sexual pleasure is not its purpose. For enjoying bliss of the highest order, there is another correct, permanent and everlasting avenue -- Self-realization. The sexual act has been laced with sexual pleasure to induce and tend the now mature youth to go forth and multiply through marriage. Note this point very carefully. If there had been no pleasure associated with the sexual act, the chances that a person would take the responsibility and effort required to form a family would become very less. So adding the pleasure component to the reproductive act is a clever ploy by nature to ensure continuation of the species and nothing more.

The 'Fountain of youth' which people refer to can stay alive and forever even after a man advances in age if there is no loss of semen except for procreative purposes. The weakness, disease, loss of memory and the loss in physical & mental ability which people complain of with advancing age is a result of misuse of this vital fluid for recreational purposes. Nature made the vital energy available for reproduction and what did man do? Instead of fathering a child or two and continuing with the natural state of conservation, he started regularly wasting this great life power to enjoy sexual pleasure. The pleasure that was created by nature to induce man into forming a family started getting misused into a form of recreation and entertainment. Meddling with the ways and laws of nature always comes with a stiff penalty. In this case the penalty is of a severe magnitude. The penalty is in form of disease, weakness, loss of memory, deteriorating eyesight and a host of many more degenerative problems at the mind and body levels. Behind all these problems and many more, the root cause is the wastage of seminal fluid and nothing else. A Brahmachari who has conserved and transmuted his semen, limiting its expenditure to fathering a child or two will have good strength, an agile, lithe and flexible body, excellent eyesight and robust/radiant health immaterial of his age. He falls ill very, very rarely only due to remnant past karma unfolding and recovers from his illness in no time.

Now the production of semen surcharged with a large amount of Prâna (vital energy) is limited to the age of 32-34 in case of a male, provided he has lead a healthy lifestyle with adequate and nutritious food, exercise and hasn't wasted much of his vital essence since puberty. This is the upper age limit beyond which the ability of the body to produce vital life energy starts declining in the absence of conservation. Beyond this age, a person who does not conserve and transmute his semen starts to age rapidly and with acceleration. His semen starts losing the immense life power that it earlier had. For this reason, the scriptures state that a man should get done with his fathering objectives and strictly lead a life of Brahmacharya without any more voluntary losses at least before the 32-34 age bracket. A Brahmachari wishing to develop the superhuman powers that come further to 12 years of unbroken Brahmacharya (without voluntary or involuntary loss) should start his unbroken Brahmacharya at least within his 32-34th year. The earlier the better. Those who start their practice right at teenage without getting caught in the trap of sexuality experience even better and faster results. Each and every emission of vital fluid no doubt debilitates the body to a certain extent. It is irreversible. The degree to which the body debilitates is somewhat lesser in the teens, twenties and early thirties in the ascending order of magnitude but becomes very rapid and fast after the mid thirties. So while each loss no doubt sets one back by that extent, a Brahmachari who has started the practice of unbroken Brahmacharya much before his 32-34th year has a very live chance of achieving all the benefits/powers of a life of conservation and transmutation that leads to self-realization. The surcharge of power into his semen in the form of Prâna does not reduce even beyond his thirties.  The emission of fluid that has occurred before the practice of Brahmacharya, if within moderate limits could be compared to the removal of a few cups of water from a pond containing water. While the removal of each cup of water no doubt lessens the total volume by that extent, the net volume could be assumed to be more or less the same in terms of the total volume of water in the pond. Hence one should stop a life of wastage at the earliest and board the boat of Brahmacharya.

As rightly understood by you, the designated 12 year period is the bare minimum. Also, those who have succeeded in 12 years of glorious Brahmacharya will never have the mind or tendency to break the practice after this period. Does a man who has tasted the freshness and aroma of freshly cooked food go after stale and rotten food? A Brahmachari who has tasted the bliss of Brahmacharya will never be interested in the stale and rotten taste of sexuality. Brahmacharya is really the default state of the soul. It is the natural and native soul state. The sexual tendency or 'need' is really an acquired second nature further to eons of sexuality and not one's default and original state. It is a result of ignorance wound around the soul through 'Mâya' (illusion) and not in any way a part of one's nature. The Âtman (pure soul) has no birth and the Âtman has no death. So Brahmacharya is not just a lifelong practice, it is a practice unto eternity! After one has achieved self-realization and after losing this physical body through death, the Âtman merges into the Almighty creator and lives there for ever in a state of undiminished bliss and ecstasy, ever free from the sorrows and limitations of earthly life.

              ॐ तत् सत्
(That Supreme being is the absolute truth)