THE GITA PERSPECTIVE ON SEXUAL GRATIFICATION

There are alternate perspectives on the truth regarding the pursuit of happiness. The Bhagwad Gita offers one in a rather crystallized form: it does not make sense to go about life without knowing the facts or having a fulfilling attitude...

66. For the uncontrolled person there is no knowledge, nor is there meditation for him; and for the un-meditative person there is no peace, and for one bereft of peace how can there be happiness?
67. Whichever of the wandering senses the mind follows, that one carries away his wisdom as the wind a ship on the sea.

--- Bhagwad Gita, Chapter 2 verses 66, 67 (Swamy Vireshvarananda’s translation)

A little reflection on the two verses above would reveal that whenever the mind is in pursuit of pleasures there is no chance of happiness… Is it not a radical thing to say…?

Do note that the verses do not browbeat; they are postulates; someone inquired and 'discovered' this ‘reality’ and he is presenting it in the two verses. In other words, the claim is that a sincere/honest (and may be lucky) explorer will find evidence that a person seeking pleasure will not be meditative; he will not have peace and therefore will not find happiness…

It is said that everything a man does is in pursuit of Happiness… If he believes that pleasures will give him happiness he will pursue it, if he believes that ‘rest’ will give him happiness he will want to take rest… similarly believing that 'achievements' or 'friendships' or even 'sacrifice' will give him happiness he could be pursuing these … And these things, which he pursues, need not be fixed, they can change from time to time … But be that as it may, all actions are supposedly taken up by man primarily in pursuit of happiness…

Now, when individuals seek happiness in sensual pleasures… according to these two verses, they chase red herrings… It supposedly is not going to get them to where they want to go...

Is this true...? If people follow the senses, would they find happiness and fulfillment in life or would they not …?!

There is evidence to believe that at the end of a pursuit there is momentary happiness… But then it is known to be momentary and is not assured either … Besides this there seems to be nothing positive to gain from such pursuit... Instead, there is this long phase of 'yearning' for what the senses seek; if the mind is not at peace, and if it is agitated over something it pines for, there seems to be little chance for happiness… This needs investigation and one hopes people will not delude themselves over it...

*******

Now, applying this logic to sexual intercourse (in which the senses have a major say) does it mean that in pursuit of (or through ‘seeking’) sexual intercourse, one cannot find happiness? Or, does that mean the fun in a sexual intercourse does not lie in pursuing it with a desire to satisfy the senses?!!

Chapter 3 of the Bhagwad Gita (verses 9 to 16) throws light on this;

9. This world is bound by action other than that done for sacrifice; (therefore) perform actions for the sake of that, O son of Kunti (Arjuna), free from attachment.

10. Prajapati, creating of yore beings who co-exist with a sacrifice, said; “By this you multiply, let this yield you covetable objects of desire."

The two passages indicate that man is created by Prajapati (God) in such a manner (in other words, it is the nature of man) that coexistence with the spouse is driven by a “sacrifice”… That is, humans are not ‘bound’ by their sexual 'needs'; as is otherwise claimed in current intellectual circles… It is not the nature of the human that he has ‘a healthy libido which needs satisfaction’… Instead he has a choice whether or not to take up the “sacrifice”…

Therefore ‘need’ and ‘sacrifice’ are two contrary observations about the nature of the human and there apparently exists a need to resolve between the two… But since we are familiar with the arguments in favor of the ‘need’ view, let us explore what the authors of the “sacrifice” perspective have to say…

Continuing in the vein that “sacrifice” is the way nature has designed man, the author says:

11. “By this entertain the gods and let the gods entertain you; entertaining each other you will both attain supreme good."

The 'sacrifice' perspective therefore asks for ‘entertaining’ a ‘god’… check it out… it is not a violent one sided act of Sc****** or F****** each other… further it is about letting the other entertain you and through that both attaining ‘Supreme Good’… 'Supreme Good' meaning that it is supposed to be consistent with the Highest Self or Godliness …

A one sided approach to it, that is, if sexual intercourse is pursued with the sole focus on one’s own satisfaction, and nothing is paid back to the god in (pleasure) kind at that instant (this has nothing to do with later on paying a sex worker for ‘services’), then it is the same as thieving. So the next passage says…

12. “Being entertained by the sacrifices the gods will surely bestow on you the desired enjoyments. He who enjoys what is given by them without offering it to them, is indeed a thief.

13. “The good who partake of the remainants of a sacrifice are freed from all sins; but those sinful persons who cook for their own sake, partake of sin.”

It figures; there is a natural process and one has not fulfilled his side of the completeness when he pursues self gratification... so he is a thief. Further the passage 13 points out that if one does not follow the “sacrifice” route to sexual intercourse, it defies essential human nature and is sinful…

Verses 14 and 15 that follow are technical in nature and explain how the entire act of intercourse is essentially part of the natural process and that it essentially divine; the exchange is supposed to eternally rest in the Highest Goodness (the Veda)…

14. Beings are born from food, food is produced from rain, rain comes from a sacrifice, and a sacrifice results from action

15. Know that action originates from Brahman (the Veda), and Brahman originates from the Imperishable. Therefore the all-pervading Brahman (Veda) eternally rests in the sacrifice.

Here of course one needs to stretch the imagination to figure out what the various terms mean, but by the sequence it is clear that if the approach is 'sacrificial' then there is no question of sin...

16. He who does not follow here this cycle thus set revolving, who leads a sinful life and delights in the senses, in vain, O Partha (Arjuna), does he live.

So if one does not follow the 'sacrificial' approach, he lives in vain… in other words, a person who delights in the senses continues to live in a wandering mind that is doing nothing but ‘yearning’ for happiness always, and not managing to being quite there… and is perpetually miserable… That forlorn existence makes him live like ‘trees moving around’ (Bible), like a vegetable, devoid of happiness, in the lesser worlds, shorn of charisma and not living in the present moment

(http://www.sinduland.com)

KARMA YOGA

This is a read and chew, chew, chew, chew, kind of paper… It may require the kind of inquiry one takes up in order to understand Quantum Mechanics. Be that as it may, it still gives a how-to-do step-by-step guidance to an important touchstone of Indian Spirituality.

“Take up to Yoga and arise” was the concise message that Lord Krishna had for a dejected Arjuna at the battle field. So what is Yoga and specifically ‘Karma Yoga’? And how does it make one ‘rise’? Can it really pitch me to excellence? Can it really unleash my highest potentials?

For those that are unfamiliar with the basic precepts of the Hindu spiritual studies it will suffice at this point to consider the following as a postulate:

“Being human in our approach is considered to be a resultant of ‘ignorance’ where we wrongly attribute a personality to the body-mind mechanism. The dawning of an unshakable realization that this presumption is an error; and there by discovering and surrendering everything to the ‘True Self’ that lies deeper within is considered ‘enlightenment’ or ‘nirwana’ or ‘Self realization’ or ‘wisdom’.”

This would mean that a spiritual explorer is advised to seek to transcend from ignorance to self-realization and for that he must take to any possible ‘exercise’ that will help him make progress in his journey. This is where the various ‘yoga’ comes into play; and Karm Yoga is one of them.

‘Yoga’ can be defined as that mental-spiritual posturing (which may also consist of posturing in the physical world) in which there is a human-in-ignorance who takes to yoga at the beginning and even as the yogic process is successfully completed, in the place of the ‘personality’ there is a mind-body mechanism in which the ignorance is dispelled; the ‘mind’ or ‘personality’ becomes silent, and the ‘Self realizes itself’. Yoga is therefore the ‘exercise’ that catalyzes an ignorant individual to transcendence…

Karma Yoga: When talking of Karma Yoga it is usual for people to quote one passage from the ‘Bhagwad Gita’ which goes like this…

“Established in yoga, O Dhananjaya (Arjuna), perform actions, giving up attachment, and unconcerned as to success or failure: this equanimity is called yoga” 3:48

Truly speaking, this is just the punch line; karma yoga, as such, consists of taking to certain mental postures and it is entirely described in a set of passages ranging from 3:39 to 3:53

The following passage inaugurates this narration:

“The (requisite) mental attitude towards the self has been just taught to you, now hear about it in respect of the way of action (Karma-Yoga), being endowed with which (attitude), O Partha, you will get rid of the bondage if actions”. 3:39

Note how the ‘yoga’ is referred to as a ‘mental attitude’ and also note how the consequence is referred to as the point where one gets ‘rid of bondage of actions’
Without quoting the passages let us consider the steps that constitute Karma Yoga…

Assurance that there is nothing to lose:
‘You will get rid of the bondage of actions…’
‘There is no waste of undertaking…’
‘There is no chance of incurring sin…’
‘It is a religion, and even a bit of it saves you from great danger.

It has to do with one pointed determination and focus on the Lord:
In this exercise (yoga) your mind achieves one pointed determination. The alternate to this is an irresolute thought process which is multi-branched and endless or infinite… This alternate path does not lead to excellence and it does not lead to one-point concentration in God

Beware of delusion and of wanting enjoyments of fruits of action; especially when people speak flowery words to that effect from the scriptures
You will come across people who will regard Heaven as their highest goal, they will be enamored by the panegyric statements in the scriptures and of sayings of spiritual masters and will assert that there is nothing else (higher than this). They will quote flowery familiar words from the Great texts prescribing numerous kind of rites that produce birth, actions and their results as a means for enjoying power. But at the same time they will be dull-witted and full of desires and attached to enjoyment and power. Their minds will be carried away by the flowery words… and though they speak of the scriptures they do not have one-pointed determination that can lead to concentration in the Lord. Beware of this pitfall

What must your understanding be in respect of the volumes of knowledge in the scriptures?
Know that these verses from the scriptures are like small reservoirs and their purpose is served by a large lake… When transcendence is attained in an individual, it forms a huge lake and can serve almost the same purpose as these numerous reservoirs. So be reassured that all that is in the Vedas is taken care of in the path of he that takes to Karma Yoga…

Do the following and you need not bother anymore about the lessons that come from all the scriptures…
As a summary of all that the scriptures teach you, know that the Vedas elaborate on the three gunas (Sattwa, Rajas and Thamas). All that you need to do is to rise above these three gunas and always be established in goodness (sattwa), regardless of whether you the individual is blessed with acquisition, preservation and self-possessed… This should the substratum when you take to Karma Yoga...

The attitude when approaching action:
a) you have rights to work but never claim the result
b) as such do not make the result as the motivation for your action
c) and at the same time do not interpret this as you want to be attached to inaction
Established in yoga perform actions giving up attachment—unconcerned as to success or failure…

This equanimity is Yoga

Take refuge in wisdom:
Work done with desire is far inferior to that done with wisdom
Those who are impelled by desire are miserable
Endowed with wisdom one gets rid of both good and evil
Therefore take to Yoga

Yoga is skill in work

There is no fear of evil from those who truly practice karma yoga
Endowed with wisdom
Giving up the fruit resulting from action,
Attaining self-realization
And freed from bondage of birth
Surely
They go to the abode which is free from evil

The transition happens in due course and the final point is when understanding rests in the Supreme Self:

When your understanding will get beyond the maze of delusion, then you will have attained the difference to what is to be heard and what is heard

When your understanding (now) perplexed by hearing will rest in Samadhi (the Lord), unwavering and steady, they you shall attain yoga.


THEREFORE
Yoga leads to one point concentration in the lord and there is nothing to lose
Yogic Transcendence results in a lake where Vedic sayings are small reservoirs
Rights for actions—yes: Rights over results—no: Motivated by results—no:
Equanimity is Yoga
Refuge in Yoga is refuge in wisdom
Yoga is skill in work
Yoga is an abode which is free from evil
When Understanding rests in Samadhi you shall attain yoga

Having understood the steps involved one must take up his duties in the world with this attitude in mind… he will eventually move into the realm of the ‘Heroes’… into the ‘zone’… into the world of the charmed and charismatic…

www.sinduland.com