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Brahmacharya
“Walking or having ethical conduct like God. Relating to another with unconditional love and integrity without selfishness or manipulation, restraining from sexual misconduct, practicing sexual, moderation, not lusting.”
Are you of high moral character? "What fun is that?" you ask. Let's look upon this as a cycle of sorts. If you respect yourself, then, of course, you would want others to respect you. For others to respect you, you must respect them. Look at the birds and the bees... they respect each other... .
Brahmacarya means Life of Holiness or Living a Virtuous Life
Bramacharya - ModerationThe 4th of the yamas is Brahmacharya which usually translates to mean moderation and moderation in all things. The root of the word is actually Brahma which refers to creation. When I was first introduced to the concept of Brahmacharya, it had to do with having sex and not being indescrimanate and promiscuous. But, that has since been expanded in my definition to include moderation in all things or allowing one activity overtake your whole life.
Do we eat in moderation, think in moderation, talk in moderation, do all activities in moderation? What kind of demands do we put on ourselves. John Friend
Everyone has a certain level of vitality which is called prana in Sanskrit. Your individual vitality is partly an expression of your state of health and partly a sign of your interest in something. Sometimes, a person seems to continually bubble over with energy perhaps from nervous excitement, which isn’t backed by adequate energy resources. Usually such people become exhausted quite quickly. And they constantly ride an emotional seesaw. You want both energy and balance . Others have a hard time getting started on something, but once they are moving, they are as difficult to stop as a freight train. You want adaptability in addition to energy.
Binding your energy through habit patterns
Your personality, or character, is shaped by your habit patterns. Habits in turn represent what you typically do with the energy at your disposal. Here are four principal ways in which you express the life force in you:
Repression: You are afraid to cut loose and so you keep the lid on your energy. You believe that you have no energy and so feel disempowered. You deny yourself pleasure and joy, and others call you a “wet blanket” or a “downer.” You have a hard time coming to terms with the present and worry about the future.
Digression: You bubble over with energy but don’t really know what to do with it. You can’t sit still or are chronically lost in thoughts—a daydreamer. You start projects but never finish them. You start projects but never finish them because your mind wanders from one thing to the next. Your life is unfocused. And you always wonder why you can’t seem to succeed.
Obsession: You know how to access your energy but you run it on a single track. You are fixed on a single idea or ideal—be it a task or another person. In its pursuit, you ignore everyone and everything else and are even willing to sacrifice your own happiness.
Integration: You are energetic and know how to deploy your energy appropriately. Your timing tends to be excellent, and you are neither timid nor reckless, neither frenzied nor sullen.
Gernerating subtle energy
By harnessing your sexual energy properly, you increase what is known in the Sanskrit language as ojas (oh-jahs) which means subtle vitality. Ojas is the high-octane fuel that not only nourishes all your organs but also enables you to experience deep meditation and even ecstatic states of consciousness. In other words, ojas allows you to complete the yogic journey. The most important means for harnessing this subtle energy, is self-control relative to your sexual thoughts, feelings, sensations, and actions.
The Yoga masters recommend brahmacarya (brah-mah-chahr-yah) or chastity. They are great believers in recycling your sexual energy rather than spending it liberally. For householders, this belief means sexual economy rather that complete sexual abstinence. Mainly it means not obsessing about sex and approaching sexual activity, whenever it occurs, with your whole body and whole mind. All Yoga masters argue against casual sex. You don’t have to switch “it”off, just make each sexual experience count. Involve awareness of the heart. Great sex begins with an open heart and blossoms through awareness.
If you are eager to explore your body’s full potential, you must channel the life energy upward by the various means of Hatha Yoga, especially meditation. But build the foundations first: Strengthen you body, discipline your emotions, and train you mind.
Mula Bandha means literally root lock. This technique is used to raise energy up to the more subtle spiritual energies.
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