Sex Desire

The Gauòéya Vaiñëava Understanding

From the teachings of

His Divine Grace A .C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupäda

Part 1: The Original Spiritual Bliss

Part 2: Love into Lust

Part 3: Back again: Lust into Love

Part 4: Back again: Dealing with lust while one is gradually in the real cure: two ways

The Original Spiritual Bliss

ädi-rasa, the realitySex life is not unreal. Its reality is experienced in the spiritual world. The material sex life is but a perverted reflection of the original fact. (purport SB 1.1.1)

Kåñëa is the real Cupid

In the spiritual realm of Våndävana, Kåñëa is the spiritual, ever-fresh Cupid(CC Madhya 8.138)

Käma-deva, Puñpa-bäëa and Anaìga

In the material world, if one is sexually inclined and enjoys sex life, he enjoys something temporary. His enjoyment vanishes after a few minutes. However, in the spiritual world the same enjoyment may be there, but it never vanishes. It is continuously enjoyed. In the spiritual world such sex pleasure appears to the enjoyer to be more and more relishable with each new feature. In the material world, however, sex enjoyment becomes distasteful after a few minutes only, and it is never permanent. Because Kåñëa appears very much sexually inclined, He is called the new Cupid in the spiritual world. There is no material inebriety in such desire, however.(purport CC Madhya 8.138)

Kåñëa and the jévas both desire pleasure

The desire for enjoyment is present both in Kåñëa and in His parts and parcels, the living entities. In the spiritual world, such desires are also spiritual(purport CC Madhya 8.138)

Kåñëa and the jévas both desire pleasure

The living entity is by nature full of an enjoying spirit, as stated in the Vedänta-sütra (1.1.12): änanda-mayo ’bhyäsät.(purport CC Ädi 14.29)

Sexual feelings in spiritual bodies

When males and females touch each other's bodies, their lusty desires naturally awaken. It appears from this verse that there are similar sensations in spiritual bodies… All sensations originally exist in the spiritual body. ..Çréla Viçvanätha Cakravarté Öhäkura has commented in this connection that the word ädi means ädi-rasa, the original lusty feeling, which is born from the Supreme. However, spiritual lust and material lust are as completely different as gold and iron. (purport SB 5.25.5)

THEREFORE, “We cannot kill desires”

(purport SB 4.22.30)

They say that "You become desireless." No, that is not possible. How can I...? If I become desireless, I become dead. So long I am living entity, I must desire. I cannot check it. (lecture Çrémad-Bhägavatam 3.26.27 -- Bombay, January 4, 1975)

butterfly or stone?

We cannot kill sexual desire because it is originally a spiritual urge

Actually, lust and the sex urge are there in spiritual life, but when the spirit soul is embodied in material elements, that spiritual urge is expressed through the material body and is therefore pervertedly reflected. One who actually becomes conversant with the science of Kåñëa consciousness can understand that his material desire for sex is abominable whereas spiritual sex is desirable.

(TLC 31: The Supreme Perfection)

Kåñëa, the real cupid

Results of trying to kill sexuality

Anger [käma-anujena—the younger brother of lust (anger) (SB 3.15.31)]

A hard heart—the hearts of those who are engaged in severe austerities and penances do not become very easily softened. (NOD 31)

Falldown—If one wants to artificially stop the activities of the senses, his attempt will be a failure. (purport SB 3.27.5)

ädi-rasaThe Personality of Godhead enjoys eternally a bliss of His own potency, which is called the hlädiné potency. (purport SB 3.1.31)

The pleasure potency: ädi-rasa

Rädhä, resembles Kåñëa’s own spiritual figure and embodies the ecstatic potency hlädiné (Br Sam 5.37)

She is the personified hlädiné-çakti (the pleasure-giving energy of the Lord’s internal potency), and therefore She is the only source of enjoyment for Çré Kåñëa. (purport CC Ädi 4.71)

How jévas experience the ädi-rasa

The pleasure relished by Kåñëa’s pure devotees is also manifested by His pleasure potency.(CC Madhya 8.158)

That hlädiné energy gives Kåñëa pleasure and nourishes His devotees. (CC Ädi 4.60)

How jévas experience the ädi-rasa

Devotees, as soon as they see smiling Kåñëa, pleasing Kåñëa, they become pleased. They become pleased by seeing Kåñëa pleased. They do not want to be pleased independently. That is not devotee. Devotee's pleasure is seeing Kåñëa is pleased. Kåñëa is also pleased when He sees the devotees are pleased. (lecture The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 30, 1973)

How jévas experience the ädi-

rasa“Kåñëa consciousness movement is for approaching Rädhä-Kåñëa, to be associated with the Supreme Lord in His sublime pleasure dance. That is the aim of Kåñëa consciousness.” (lecture Los Angeles 21, 1968)

How jévas experience the ädi-rasa

When you simply try to please Kåñëa, that is spiritual pleasure. (PQPA 5: Becoming Pure)

How jévas experience the ädi-rasa

Please the Lord, or in other words, unite the Lord with His energy of pleasure

How jévas experience the ädi-rasaUnite Rädhä and Kåñëa.

As I go to draw water from the Yamunä, I shall cherish knowing the confidential mellows that unite the divine pair Rädhä and Kåñëa. (Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura, Çaraëägati)

How jévas experience the ädi-rasaUnite Lakñmé & Näräyaëa

Engage Lakñmé in the service of Lord Näräyaëa and be happy. (purport SB 1.5.32)

How jévas experience the ädi-rasaUnite Sétä and Räma

Hanumän fought for Lord Rämacandra. He did not fight for himself, not for his personal interest. The interest was how to get out Sétäjé from the hands of Rävaëa, and let her sit down on the side of Rämacandra. This is the policy of Hanumän, devotees. (lecture Bhagavad-gétä 2.6 -- London, August 6, 1973)

Love into Lust

Material Sexual Desire: LustTry to enjoy the pleasure energy

separately from the Lord

Rävaëa’s policy is "Take away Sétä from the clutches of Räma and enjoy it." This is Rävaëa policy. And the Hanumänpolicy is: "Take out Sétä from thehands of Rävaëa and get herseated by the side of Räma." The same Sétä. (lecture Bhagavad-gétä 2.6 -- London, August 6, 1973)

Material Sexual Desire: LustSex life in the mundane world is the root-cause of being conditioned by the shackles of illusion (purport SB 2.4.20)

Material Sexual Desire: Lust

The material Cupid increases the attraction of the external flesh and body, but the spiritual Cupid increases the attraction the Supersoul exerts upon the individual soul. Actually, lust and the sex urge are there in spiritual life, but when the spirit soul is embodied in material elements, that spiritual urge is expressed through the material body and is therefore pervertedly reflected. One who actually becomes conversant with the science of Kåñëa consciousness can understand that his material desire for sex is abominable whereas spiritual sex is desirable.

(TLC 31: The Supreme Perfection)

Gross form of mental desires

The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, eye, tongue, nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particularset of sense objects. (Bg 15.9)

Spiritual and Material Cupid

“When the women saw Pradyumna, dressed in yellowish garments, with very long arms, curling hair, beautiful reddish eyes, a smiling face, jewelry and ornaments, they at first could not recognize him as a personality different from Kåñëa…..

Spiritual and Material Cupid

“Pradyumna’s personal appearance was exactly like Kåñëa’s, and he was factually Cupid himself. …Pradyumna’s bodily characteristics were so similar to Kåñëa’s that he was mistaken for Kåñëa even by his mother.”

Kämadeva & Rati

Back again: Lust into Love

The Real Cure

Turn our desires to pleasing Kåñëa

The material desire for sense enjoyment is the cause of our falldown in this material world… However, if we turn our desires toward the transcendental loving service of the Lord, our desires become purified. We cannot kill desires. We have to purify them of different designations. ..if our desires are applied to the service of the Lord, they become purified, and thus we become immediately freed from material contamination. (purport SB 4.22.30)

Turn our desires to pleasing Kåñëa

Kämaù kåñëa-karmärpaëe. ..at the present moment, we are desiring how to become happy in this material world…. This is käma. So this brain taxation, if you engage in Kåñëa's service—how to spread Kåñëa consciousness, how to convince people about Kåñëa, how to take them to the Kåñëa's desire, sarva-dharmän parityajya [Bg. 18.66](lecture Çrémad-Bhägavatam 3.26.27 -- Bombay, January 4, 1975)

Absorbed in the Real

mäm anusmara yudhya ca (Bg 8.7)

mayy äsakta-manäù(Bg 7.1)

Get the Real ExperienceUnless we have got the taste for the better thing, the inferior things we cannot give up. (lecture Çrémad-Bhägavatam 7.6.11-13 -- New Vrindaban, June 27, 1976)

pratyakñävagamaà dharmyaàsu-sukhaà kartum avyayam (Bg 9.2)

But, it’s gradual!

gradually and progressively they can advance to the abode of the Personality of Godhead. (purport SB 3.27.28-29)

Everyone has to cleanse his heart by a gradual process, not abruptly. (purport Bg 3.35)

But, it’s gradual!What will we do with the material part of our sexuality while we are gradually walking the path of transforming the totality of our desires back into the spiritual?

Lust Back into Love:

Two Ways of Using Material Sexual Desire in Devotional Service

While in the Gradual Process of Awakening the Reality

Does not a thing, applied therapeutically, cure a disease which was caused by that very same thing?(SB 1.5.33)

This is the essence of Kåñëa consciousness movement …. The milk is the cause of your dysentery, but the same milk, when it is medically treated, can cure it.

(lecture Çrémad-Bhägavatam 1.5.33 -- Våndävana, August 14, 1974)

Kåñëa’s Kindness

SB 2.6.8: From the Lord's genitals originate water, semen, generatives, rains, and the procreators. His genitals are the cause of a pleasure that counteracts the distress of begetting. Purport: This pleasure-giving substance is not false because it originates from the transcendental body of the Lord. In other words, the pleasure-giving substance is a reality

Kåñëa’s Intelligence

Linking bodily sex to reproduction

Viçvämitra Muni, he was such a great yogi that he used to create human being from trees. (lectures Bhagavad-gétä 7.3 -- Våndävana, October 31, 1973)

Sex, Dharma, and Sacrifice

SexChildren Responsibility yajïa

If the link between sex and reproduction is kept intact, then either way of dealing with material sexuality becomes a sacrifice, either—

“sacrifice in celibacy [or] in household life”(purport Bg 4.42)

What is the Benefit of Sacrifice? sarva-gataà brahma

nityaà yajïe pratiñöhitam

the all-pervading Transcendence is eternally situated in acts of sacrifice(Bg 3.15)

Butter and Fire in SacrificeI am the butter and the fire and the offering(Bg 9.16)

Butter and Fire in Sacrifice

brahmärpaëaà brahma havirbrahmägnau brahmaëä hutam

brahmaiva tena gantavyaàbrahma-karma-samädhinä

brahma—spiritual in nature; arpaëam—contribution; brahma—the Supreme; haviù—butter; brahma—spiritual; agnau—in the fire of consummation; brahmaëä—by the spirit soul; hutam—offered; brahma—spiritual kingdom; eva—certainly; tena—by him; gantavyam—to be reached; brahma—spiritual; karma—in activities; samädhinä—by complete absorption(Bg 4.24)

Matter dovetailed for the cause of the Absolute Truth regains its spiritual quality. Kåñëa consciousness is the process of converting the illusory consciousness into Brahman, or the Supreme. (purport Bg 4.24)

Sexual Energy

Connection (yoga)Pleasure (änanda)Creation (kriyä-çakti)Life (sat)Vitality (vérya)

Note: evidence that vérya is sexual energy

tämasät—from egoism in ignorance; ca—and; vikurväëät—undergoing transformation; bhagavat-vérya—by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; codität—impelled; çabda-mätram—the subtle element sound; abhüt—was manifested; tasmät—from that; nabhaù—ether; çrotram—the sense of hearing; tu—then; çabda-gam—which catches sound.TRANSLATIONWhen egoism in ignorance is agitated by the sex energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the subtle element sound is manifested, and from sound come the ethereal sky and the sense of hearing.(SB 3.26.32)

LUST TO LOVE: RENOUNCED LIFE

PATH ONE

According to Ayurveda, semen is the last dhatu that is formed out of majja or marrow. From food, rasa is manufactured. Out of rasa comes blood (rakta); out of blood comes flesh; out of flesh comes fat, out of fat comes marrow; out of marrow comes semen. These are the seven dhatus. Semen nourishes the physical body, heart and intellect. 

One drop of semen is made out of so many drops of blood. (Morning Walk At Cheviot Hills Golf Course -- May 15, 1973, Los Angeles)

Dhatus of

Ayurveda

PlasmaBlood

MuscleFat

BonesMarrowSemen/

ova

a brahmacäré is supposed to raise the semina to the brain, ürdhvam manthinaù, not discharge, but keep it on the brain. (lecture Çrémad-Bhägavatam 6.1.13-14 -- Los Angeles, June 26, 1975)

ojas and tejas

The vänaprastha should use garments colored like fire. (SB 7.12.21)

One should place the fire sacrifice within oneself. Thus, with the mindcompletely detached, one should enter the sannyäsa order of life. (SB 11.18.13)

A Renunciate is a Walking Sacrifice

Butter into the fire of sacrifice = ghee

What is the “ghee” of the renounced orders?

LUST TO LOVE: MARRIED LIFE

PATH TWO

Sex, Dharma, and SacrificeSexChildren Responsibility yajïa

the regulated householders sacrifice the objects of the senses in the fire of the senses(Bg 4.26)

The marriage ceremony is one of these sacrifices. It is called viväha-yajïa. (purport Bg 18.5)

Sex and Divine Sacrifice

Kåñëa says that dharmäviruddho bhüteñu kämo 'smi bharatarñabha. Who is following the, strictly the regulative principles, even in sex life he can see Kåñëa. (lecture Bhagavad-gétä 7.11-12 -- Bombay, February 25, 1974)

Sex and Divine Sacrifice

"So therefore Kṛṣṇa says, "When there is sexual intercourse according to the scriptural injunction, that is I am." Kṛṣṇa says, "I am that sexual intercourse." In such kind of sexual intercourse there is no sin. That is another yajïa. Just like we eat kṛṣṇa-prasādam by offering yajïa. Yajïa-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ."(lecture Bhagavad-gītā 7.11-13 -- Bombay, April 5, 1971)

“Just like we eat kṛṣṇa-prasādam by offering yajïa.”

Emotional as well as Physical

The reciprocation of service and love between husband and wife is the ideal of a householder's life

(purport SB 3.23.1)

Sex, Dharma, and Sacrifice

SexChildren Responsibility yajïa

Man is attracted to woman and woman demands responsibility and sacrifice

fire & butter in a pot = ghee

What is the “ghee” of married life?

ANOTHER ANALOGY

Summary

OriginalThe desire for pleasure is part of the soul

Sexual energy and desire are inherent in the spiritual forms of Kåñëa and living entities

Spiritual sexual satisfaction is in uniting Kåñëa and His pleasure energy

Trying to “kill” it is impossible (results? anger, hardheartedness, falldown)

Love into Lust

Spiritual sexual desire turns into lust, or material sexual desire, when a living entity misuses independence

That original spiritual desire then comes out in a twisted, impure manner through a gross body

Lust Back into Love: Real Cure

Practice taking pleasure in uniting Kåñëa with His pleasure potency

Chanting Hare Kåñëa

Serving Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu’ mission

Lust Back to Love: Engaging Sexuality

Sacrifice: butter on fire makes ghee

Ghee of renounced life—sacrificial fire in one’s own body

Expanding family—preaching Creative, connecting, pleasure energy in study, meditation, mission

Lust Back to Love: Engaging Sexuality

Sacrifice: butter on fire makes gheeGhee of household life—in a pot on the fire of marriage

Expanding family—children Creative, connecting, pleasure energy in offering one’s occupation to the Lord