An Esoteric Understanding of Sexuality
"Those acts are wrong that are not shared in love.
Those acts are wrong that are selfish.
Those acts are good, however,that cause a sharing between two souls"
Universal Mind
Channeled Through Paul Solomon

By
Dr. Joshua David Stone

One of the most confusing subjects on the spiritual path for aspirants and disciples is that of sexuality. In my opinion there are very few books that really explain this complex subject in an adequate manner. This subject is complex for a number of reasons.

First off because the ego and soul have completely different views on how sexuality should be used. Secondly it is complicated because the use of one's sexuality is affected by some of the following variables.

1. One's chronological age.
2. One's soul age.
3. Whether one is single or married.
4. Whether one is single or in a relationship.
5. One's initiation level in this lifetime.
6. One's goals and purposes in this lifetime.
7. One's past life karma and purpose for incarnation this time around.
8. One's degree of physical health or lack thereof.
9. One's commitment whether they want to ascend in this lifetime.

The ego is interested in only selfishly pleasuring of oneself. The spirit is interested in "love", and pleasuring the other as well as self. The ego treats people like a piece of beef. seeking to use that physical body for self gratification. The spirit sees the other person as the Eternal Self embodied inside a temple (body).

The ego has only physical vision. The spirit has spiritual and physical vision. The ego is a victim of one's desires, senses, mind, emotions, physical body, sensations, and sexual energy. The spirit is master of these aspects of self, and uses them in service of God.

The ego, being focused totally on lust, uses all sexuality through the second chakra. The spirit recognizes sexual energy as just one octave of energy within the seven chakra system, and seeks "often" to raise this energy up through the chakra system for such things as creativity, greater physical health, love, service, meditation, greater shakti, mental illumination, spiritual illumination, and God realization to name a few.

The ego is obsessed with sexuality and looks at every person from this frame of reference. The spirit sees all people first as the Eternal Self and God incarnate. The ego uses all kundalini energy for sexual pleasuring. The spirit seeks to raise the kundalini energy, of which sexual energy is a part, to the crown chakra.

The ego seeks to have orgasm only at the second chakra level. The Spirit through practicing tantric sexuality seeks orgasm with one's mate at all seven levels or chakras. The ego sees sexuality as the most important thing in life and gets moody, angry, upset, and irritable if it does not "get it".

The spirit coming from the frame of reference of absolute sexual mastery and disidentification with all one's energies has preferences but no attachments. This being the case, the spiritual person remains within total joy, peace, and equilibrium whether they have it or not.

The ego can't conceive of being happy without sexuality. The spirit's happiness is a state of mind and has nothing to do with sexuality, and seriously considers celibacy as a viable option if one does not have a mate. The ego as the single person constantly gets into relationships that are not spiritually right because of the sexual urge and body attraction.

The spirit, being solidly centered in self mastery is perfectly willing to be celibate for one's whole life if necessary, if the right "spiritual mate" isn't manifested yet. The ego dissipates enormous amounts of sexual energy through masturbation. The spirit, although seeing absolutely nothing wrong with masturbation, seeks to raise some of this energy into "ojas shakti" (brain illumination).

The ego uses sexuality with the goal of having an orgasm. The spirit uses sexuality for intimacy and the sharing of spiritual love, and may often not even choose to have an orgasm. The spirit sees the foreplay as being more important than the orgasm.

The ego is interested in pornography, and is the state of consciousness that created it. The spirit does not use sexuality in this manner, and uses it instead for the glory of God. The ego is making love only to the physical body. The spirit is making love to the spirit living within the physical body.

The ego puts its own pleasuring first. The spirit puts the other person's pleasure first. The ego is interested in having an orgasm as soon as is possible. The spirit is interested in having the sharing of love last as long as possible. The ego uses fantasy of other people often in masturbation or sexual involvement with a mate. The spirit is extremely self controlled in the use of fantasy recognizing that all minds are joined and that what one fantasizes affects that person.

The negative ego that controls the incarnated personality guides them to have affairs because of lack of sexual mastery. The spirit, understanding the law of karma, will never do anything that would hurt another person, that is dishonest, or that will build negative karma. The ego guides people to see others as sexual objects. The spirit guides people to see each person as God visiting you in physical form.

I could go on for a lot longer, however, I think that this section has given you a very clear sense of the basic picture. In summary, those sexual acts are sinful or wrong that are selfish and not shared in love. Those acts are good that cause a sharing of love between two souls.

It must be understood that sexual energy is just one of seven octaves of energy within the human body. There is nothing wrong with pleasure from a spiritual perspective. Is pleasure the only way you want to use your energy, however? There is not judgment from spiritual realms if this is your choice at any given moment. It is important to see the tremendous accomplishments, creativity, and spiritual growth that could be attained if this energy were raised, to a large extent.

Another important point to consider is that, according to the channelings of the Universal Mind through Paul Solomon, for whom I have enormous respect, "the physical act as itself would prevent the higher act of the soul from taking place." In other words, once the lower self or animal nature is given expression, it prevents you from being a channel for the Higher Self or soul.

In Paul's channelings the Source also speaks to the fact that the sharing of fluids between two people creates a spiritual bond or cord of energy that cannot be broken for that entire lifetime. The cords can be broken in a psychological sense once the relationship has ended, however, not in a spiritual sense.

These cords are like electrical wires, and energy passes back and forth through them. This is why, in many spiritual teachings the giving of oneself sexually would be for the completion of the self for the lifetime.

If people understood the karmic bonds they were creating with people every time they had sex, I think they would be a little more discriminating about who they had sex with. Many people who are psychological victims, and not masters of their minds and emotions, are often victimized by energies flowing through these cords. Their moodiness, depression, and anger may not be their own, but rather those of a person with whom they slept, whose energies continue to flow to them through these cords. Since the energy flows both ways, the lifestyle of the mate or partner continues to flow back to you as well as from you, so it behooves one to choose wisely.

We all have these cords and the ideal now would be to achieve mastery of your energies so you are not victimized by the energies flowing through them. In the highest sense, you want to be such a generator of light and love that your divine energy flows back through these cords to uplift those people you have been involved with. This is nothing that you have to do consciously. The general lifestyle of being a light to the world will naturally or automatically do this.

It is also important to understand that the state of consciousness you are holding when you are having sex is what you are implanting into your partner. In other words, the man is not only implanting his physical seed, but also implanting either lustful energy of the lower self or the love of the Higher Self.

This applies to other forms of sexual activity, not just intercourse. Remember your partner is God, as you are. The question to ask yourself is whether what you are giving to your partner is what you would be willing to give to God, for in truth, that is exactly what you are doing.

So understand that the physical act is only a physical act. What is judged by Self, and God, is one's mental, emotional and spiritual intents and purposes for entering the sexual involvement.

In situations where an affair has taken place, there is a karmic lesson or bond that has been created between all three people. This is nothing to be taken lightly, for this karmic lesson will have to be resolved in this life or throughout eternity, in terms of the ultimate balancing of one's karma that must be achieved before taking ascension, or the sixth initiation.

Before getting involved with sexual activity there also must be considered if the involvement will cause a feeling of regret or guilt in self or your partner. The ego usually wants immediate gratification and doesn't consider the bigger picture. This is why the Masters have often said that unless one is willing to give one's self to that person for the lifetime they would not issue forth their seed. For those that are single this is why it is also better to masturbate or allow the sexual release to come in nature's way, rather than create an inappropriate karmic bond.

Another tool that might be considered here is that when there is the sexual arousal in the lower chakras, the idea is to bring the hands together in prayer. Then bring the hands to point to each chakra and raise this energy up though each chakra in this manner to be used for a higher purpose. This will bring the experience of having an orgasm on seven different levels of your being, without the spilling forth of one's seed. One might feel a convulsing of the muscles at each of the seven chakras and the overall experience would be a much greater experience than what one could experience on just one level.

Sex between single people is not wrong. It is just that all these things mentioned in this chapter need to be considered. Most people in this world have absolutely no understanding of these esoteric laws.

Then there is the spiritual lesson of how to avoid temptation. The key here is keeping your mind and consciousness attuned to the things of God, the love of God, and the realization of God. As Djwhal Khul has said so often, "keep your mind steady in the light". When your mind is on God, temptation does not even arise.

It is when your mind leaves God, and reverts to body consciousness that this occurs. This is why everyone should have an ongoing regime and routine of spiritual practices they do every day. It is the old saying, an "idle mind is the devil's workshop". The mind needs to be constantly preoccupied with prayer, meditation, spiritual affirmations, and visualizations, repeating the name of God, chanting, singing devotional songs, practicing the presence of God, seeing the Eternal Self in every person and as your self, spiritual reading, physical exercise, good diet, spending time with spiritual people, church or temple, spiritual classes and lectures and so on.

When your life is filled with these things, temptation will hardly ever even be an issue. This applies to sinning on other areas of your life as well. When you are with a person and temptation arises, immediately thank God for this person, and see them as the Eternal Self.

It comes down to an issue of where you put your "attention". Most people let their subconscious mind, five senses, desire body, and negative ego control their attention and that is the problem. The ideal is for the conscious mind always to control the attention in service of the soul, spirit, and the Christ consciousness.

When your attention begins to slip into body consciousness that is inappropriate, then shift it back to God like you would changing the channel of your television. It must be understood that energy follows thought, and all feelings are created by your mind.

The key to achieving sexual mastery is learning to master your mind. This process could also be called attitudinal healing. When the ego begins to take control of your attitude, just shift it back to God and the Christ attitude. Sexual temptation will always begins with a thought or feeling in your mind. The key is to nip it in the bud. What you give energy to grows. This takes great vigilance. When this begins to happen, just ask yourself, "do I want God, or my ego in this situation?" Put it in this perspective, I am sure you will choose God. It must be understood that sexual energy is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. The only force more powerful is your conscious will or personal power in service of God. You need to ask yourself whether you want animal consciousness or Ascended Master consciousness. Do you serve your lower self or your Higher Self?

One of the best methods for overcoming temptation is to immediately begin chanting the name of God silently or out loud. As "The Course in Miracles says, "Deny any thought that is not of God to enter your mind."

When mistakes are made in regard to your sexuality, just forgive yourself and get back on track. Until higher initiations are taken there is a battle that goes on between the lower and Higher Self. Don't waste time with guilt and regret. When mistakes are made just gain the golden nugget of wisdom from the mistake and learn the lesson and do what Jesus said to Mary Magdalene; "You are forgiven. Go and sin no more."

Mahatma Ghandi, in his autobiography, tells of his tremendous battle he had with his own sexuality until he finally gained mastery over it. When temptation begins to occur, stop doing those things that are producing that temptation. It all comes down to what you want this lifetime. If you truly want God, God realization, and ascension, so you can be of greater service to mankind, then you must choose God in every moment of your life.

Each moment, if we keep choosing God over negative ego, then this is liberation over a lifetime. It must be emphasized that what you see in the world is just a projection of your own thoughts. You are seeing your own movie. See each person as the Eternal Self and as God in all situations, and you will realize God in your self.

As you are walking down the street and you are seeing through just your physical eyes, you will just be judging physical bodies according to the ego's Playboy or Play Girl type images that have poisoned our collective mind. This sick indoctrinaton is everywhere. It is in all our magazines, newspapers, television programs, and movies.

The outer world worships the physical body. If you want to realize God, then you must see only God in your daily life. See the Eternal Self in all people, animals plants and rocks, and as your self. If you don't see God in your brother and sister you will not ever realize Him within yourself. So sexuality is much more than just the physical act. We are also speaking of mental, emotional, and spiritual adultery that is occurring in our minds as we walk down the street, or watch movies.

The vow of the Brahmacharya is that vow which I highly recommend, that each person make to self and God, to use sexuality only in the way that God would have you use it. Making a vow is something our Western culture doesn't partake in as a spiritual practice very often, and this is unfortunate. The taking of certain spiritual vows provides an enormous freedom.

I took the vow of the Brahmacharya in my own life long before I knew what it really was. It provided me with a liberation and an acceleration of my spiritual growth a thousand times beyond anything I had ever experienced in my life before. The taking of a vow, in a sense, closes and locks a door that needs to be locked.

Most people don't lock these psychic doors, and so when they get tired or weak, sick, or lose their personal power the lower self sneaks back in. The taking of the vow of the Brahmacharya closes these psychic doors, once taken completely, that prevents this from happening. The second half of this chapter will be dedicated to understanding what this most profound spiritual practice and commitment really means.

Temptation in itself is not sin. Temptation is the opportunity to sin. The key lesson here is to know where the point stops that you are praising God through a loved one, and where earthly desires are beginning. Keep your mind active on things of God, and your physical body released and active through physical exercise.

Let any sexual releases occur more in God's way or nature's way during the sleep time as they are needed. No sin or karma is occurred in this manner. Also this allows this enormous power of sexual energy and kundalini force to be raised through all seven chakras for the purposes of God realization, supernatural physical health, mental illumination, creativity, healing, accomplishing tasks and greater service of mankind.

As Paul Solomon said in one of his channelings from a book called, "Excerpts from the Paul Solomon Tapes", "and thy body and thy mind will remain pure in the Lord. Then you might present before Him that body that is a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God."

The term Brahmacharya literally means conduct that leads to the realization of Brahman, or of the Eternal Self. It means self restraint and perfect self mastery over sexual energy and freedom from lust, in thought, word and deed.

Brahmacharya also means celibacy, although I am not using it in the strictest sense of the term for my purposes. I first heard the term in reading Mahatma Ghandi's autobiography. He describes how he took the vow of the Brahmacharya, and how it was really one of the keys to the unfolding of his entire spiritual life.

He also uses the term in a much larger context than just sexuality. For him, the vow of the Brahmacharya was a commitment to a lifestyle of self mastery and self discipline in all areas of his life, to achieve Self realization.

Reading this section of his autobiography was quite meaningful to me because this vow of the Brahmacharya, as I said, was something I had taken in the same larger context about four years earlier, and I had never heard of the exact name of such a rite. I emphasize again that for me, personally, it was one of the most meaningful things I have ever done, and has brought me truly, "a peace that passeth understanding".

The reason I say this is that I am no longer in conflict or battling myself at times of weakness. The door to certain types of activities and states of mind of my lower self has been closed and locked and it no longer takes any energy to maintain this. In essence it has become a habit and the spiritual depth of the vows I took allow no possibility for me to open this door.

I have once heard it stated in a channeling that "perfection is not never making a mistake. Perfection is not ever making a conscious mistake." Conscious mistakes are under our control, unconscious mistakes are not. When I become aware of making unconscious mistakes, part of my vow of the Brahmacharya is to put my consciousness, in thought, word, and deed back onto God.

I once heard a term by Krishnamurti that he called "choiceless awareness". I do not know what context he used it in, however I relate to that term. I have no choices between my lower and Higher Self. That choice was made at my vow of the Brahmacharya. The only choice I have is to be guided by the holy spirit or, my Monad, the Ascended Masters and God. All other doors are consciously locked shut.

The vow of the Brahmacharya applies to married people, people in relationships, and single people. For me the vow of the Brahmacharya for single people who are seriously on the spiritual path and path of initiaion is to be celibate until that time that you find your "soul mate" or "twin flame", or "right spiritual mate". It is to not get sexually involved unless it is truly the right person on all levels, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

Many people I know who are single get involved over and over again where they are not matched spiritually. Over and over again the same karmic results return. If you put God first, then you have to have a partner that also puts God first. The form of religion or spiritual path does not matter.

This vow may be different for those that are chronologically younger and who may need experience in relationships as part of their spiritual growth. This vow is also different for those at an earlier stage in spiritual evolution and who are just stepping onto the path. So there are no hard and fast rules.

In studying the teachings of Brahmacharya in the yoga books and Hindu scriptures they are quite strict about the use of sexuality. Believe it or not, 1000 times stricter than I am expressing in this book. To them I would be described as an ultra liberal Brahmacharya.

My attempt here is to find the right balance of heaven and earth, yin and yang, with the proper integration of the Christ consciousness. This is not an easy task given that I am trying to write to all age groups and all levels of soul evolution.

What I speak of here is not easy, especially in the beginning stages of one's spiritual path. After the third initiation I believe it gets easier, and after the fourth initiation super much easier. Integral to mastering one's sexuality and learning how to sublimate and transform and transmute this energy is learning to have mastery over one's thoughts, emotions, ego, subconscious mind, desire body, and five senses. In taking the vow of the Brahamcharya you are also committing to mastering these parts of your self. Of all these desires, though, the sex urge is the strongest. To make it even harder, our environment doesn't support us but hinders us in this venture.

I believe the AIDS virus and other sexually transmuted diseases are the outer reflection of the past misuse of this most precious divine energy. It is essential to learn how to have mastery, and raise this energy if your goal in life is God realization, and ascension.

To achieve this you must have iron determination, undying patience, spiritual tenacity, and perseverance. Every day pray to God and ask Him for help in this venture. Why do it by yourself when you have God helping you. Over time it will become a habit and it will become much easier.

You will also learn to keep your remembrance on God at all times, as you learn to own your personal power and mastery at all times. In Buddhism they have a term called "exceptional Bodhicitta". This means the generation of a state of mind of unbelievable desire for enlightenment, liberation, God realization, so you can be of greater service to mankind in this lifetime.

If every morning you would cultivate this Bodhicitta or "mind of enlightenment" temptation will not even be able to affect you. In my own words I would describe this as an all consuming "spiritual fire". When your yearning for God is not just a match stick but an all consuming desire and fire every moment of your life, then sexual temptation will no longer even be an issue. In the Edgar Cayce readings one of the past life karmas that is carried over into one's next life from over indulgence in sexuality was "epilepsy".

The re-absorbing of the semen helps to enrich the blood and strengthen the brain. It is almost universally accepted by medical doctors who are experts in this field that the choice elements of the blood go into the composition of the spermatic secretions. Over indulgence in sexuality just drains and weakens the richness of your blood supply.

The vow of the Brahmacharya is one of the key doors to nirvana. The vow of the Brahmacharya also involves lustful thinking as well as lustful actions. For a liberated sage, the world is full of Brahma (God) only.

Mental adultery is more tricky to grasp than physical adultery. How do you look at men and women on the street, at the movie theaters, on television, in magazines? There is nothing wrong with looking at the physical body of the opposite sex, as long as you are looking from your heart, and seeing the Eternal Self first.

The ego will have you look with your physical eyes first, with an eye of judgment as to their sexual attractiveness. See the Christ in all people first, and then their physical vehicle and you will look with a whole other perception of reality. The ego creates separation through the judgment of appearances. The spirit sees all people exactly the same, and with an equal eye.

The self within you and the self that is within me is the same self. To create differentiation because of physical looks is illusion, maya, glamour, and ego. Another method is to see each person you meet as your favorite spiritual master. For in truth that is who they are.

Another technique is to see women as Mother, Kali, Quan Yin, the Virgin Mary, Isis. See the man as Jesus Christ, Sai Baba, Djwhal Khul or the Lord Maitreya. See each person as your brother or sister in your "spiritual family".

Mental Brahmacharya is the vow to keep a pure mind. You must succeed at physical, emotional, mental and spiritual Brahmacharya. You have succeeded at mental Brahmacharya when not a single lustful or lower self carnal thought do you allow to enter your mind, and instead keep the mind only focused on God and the Eternal Self.

When you indulge in sexual fantasy or lustful thoughts, even though you don't act physically, you are still having sexual intercourse and activity on the mental plane and are creating karma. Remember what Edgar Cayce said, "thoughts are things". You give enough energy to these sexual fantasies and they take on a life of their own.

This is not meant as judgment for we certainly all have done this. This is meant to just remind you of these subtle, but very important spiritual laws we all know to be true. The vow of the Brahmacharya leads to purity on all levels.

Another interesting effect that sexuality has is that it weakens the legs enegertically after you have an orgasm. All boxers know this. That is why their trainers force them to be celibate for at least six weeks before a fight. This can be tested with dowsing rods or a pendulum and you will see it to be true.

I had a client once who took a healing class that I happened to attend, and when the people were doing healing on him they found his legs to be ice cold. I happened to know from being his counselor that he masturbated to or three times a day for almost five straight years. I knew immediately what the coldness was from.

The Vedas declare that, "by Brahmacharya and peace the devas have conquered death." It was the key to Ghandi's success. The "Mahabarata", which is the larger book that contains the "Bhagavad Gita", which may be the greatest book ever written, says: "Know that in this world there is nothing that cannot be attained by one who remains from birth to death a perfect celibate... In one person, knowledge of the four Vedas (the holiest book of India), and in another, perfect celibacy -- of these, the latter is superior to the former who is want in celibacy."

Lord Sankara, who was one of the greatest Hindu Avatars of all time, has said; "Brahmacharya, or spotless chastity is the best of all penances. A celibate of such spotless chastity is not a human being, but a God, indeed... To the celibate who conserves the semen with great efforts, what is there unattainable in this world. By the power of the composure of the semen, one will become just like myself."

Lord Krishna, the past life of the Lord Maitreya has said; "Sensuality destroys life, luster, strength, vitality, memory, wealth, great fame, holiness, and devotion to the supreme."

The Upanishads, which are the wisdom teachings of the Vedas says; "And those students who find that world of God through chastity, theirs is that heavenly country: Theirs, in whatever world they are, is freedom."

Lord Buddha guided people away from marriage because of their lack of control of their lower self. A person who has not attained self mastery over his energies should "avoid married life as if it were a burning pit of live coals. From the contact comes sensation, from sensation thirst, from thirst clinging; by ceasing from that, the soul is delivered from all sinful existence."

I will add to this, however, the true master who has taken the vow of the Brahmacharya can then be married and live in total purity because one's sexual energy will hence be used in the appropriate and moderate manner.

In our society it is so common to see, for example, the man pouting or being angry at his wife for not giving him sex. A master who has taken the vow of the Brahmacharya would be just as pleased to raise the energy. From a spiritual perspective there is nothing wrong with enjoying sexuality and mutual pleasuring as long as it is loving, and not a selfish act, and done in moderation, and recognizing your mate as the Eternal Self incarnate.

The vow of the Brahmacharya, for couples, has to do with staying in the "Tao" of appropriate sexual involvement given your mutual sexual ideals, and priorities. Couples who are approaching the higher initiations and ascension, I would recommend less sex and more tantric sexuality when you do have sex.

At medium levels of initiation you will just have to use your intuition to guide you how much is appropriate. There was a time in my life where it was very appropriate to live out my sexuality. In my life currently, even though I am married and I deeply love my wife, sex is not as important. I could, with no effort at all, be celibate the rest of my life. This has given me great freedom in being married for I am not attached to sexuality any more.

Men might consider not having an orgasm even though you choose to make love sometimes. All this energy is built up and then will be used for other purposes. This may seem strange, however, the question arises, What is the most enjoyable part of love making? Is it just the orgasm or the whole process of love making?

A person who takes the vow of the Brahmacharya is called a Brahmachari in India. Hindu scripture states that, "by the practice of Brahmacharya, longevity, glory, strength, vigor, knowledge, wealth, undying fame, virtues, and devotion to truth increase." The preservation of the semen is one of the secrets of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual success.

In the teaching and yoga sutras of Patanjali, which I have written about in Volume 3, the key ideals are non-killing, truthfulness, non-stealing, and celibacy or Brahmacharya. It is a key to success in one's material and spiritual life. You may think I am being too strict in what I am suggesting. In many of the Eastern and Western spiritual teachings it is recommended that people have sexual intercourse only for the sake of creating progeny. I, personally, don't think it is necessary or appropriate for married couples to go to that extreme.

I, personally, don't believe there is anything wrong with having sex and enjoying sex under the proper guidelines I have set forth, and as long as it is done in moderation. I am just giving you, in this chapter, the whole picture and you need to find your middle ground within this understanding. We are fed so much misinformation about sexuality from misinformed materialistically oriented doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists and counselors.

I am presenting you here sexuality from the soul, Monad, and Ascended Master's perception, not from some materialistic worldly view. Very few people in this world understand the esoteric aspects of this beautiful sublime form of energy.

The practice of Brahmacharya will also allow married couples when they do want to have a child, to attract a much higher level soul to incarnate through the physical vehicle they both provide.

In my personal opinion all adolescents in school should be required to take courses and classes in Brahmacharya. Adolescence by definition are completely out of control in terms of their emotional body, desire body, negative ego, and sexuality.

I can't but help to think about the news story recently that spoke of those high school boys who were having sex with girls as a game to see who could get the most "points". What was even more disgusting was that the boys were proud of it even though they got busted. They didn't think they had done anything wrong. This is symbolic of a certain segment of our collective consciousness. This is directly the result of lack of universalistic spiritual training in school.

If adolescents were taught the value of Brahmacharya, look at the drop in abortions and unwanted pregnancies. Look at the drop in the spreading of AIDS and sexually transmitted disease. Look at the drop in the spiritual and moral decline of our youth. Look at the karma in these young people's lives that could be avoided though proper spiritual and moral education.

The lack of Brahmacharya goes along with drinking alcohol, taking drugs, pornography, and in essence giving free reign to the lower self. I will guarantee you that 98% of all adolescents don't have a clue as to what the lower self and Higher Self even is. This is not adolescent's fault. It is our fault as a society and as educators who are not properly educating these young souls who are in our care.

The vow of the Brahmacharya also involves the diet you eat, the people you spend time with, the movies you go see, the television programs you watch, the magazines and the books you read.

The vow of the Brahmacharya also involves the building of character and virtue. It involves a clear knowledge of sexual health on the physical level, proper hygiene, and birth control.

It is also helpful to realize that the Atman or Eternal Self is sexless, and this is out true identity. Psychologists will tell you that the control of sexuality is repression, and this is bad. I am here to tell you as a psychologist that that is ignorance. The control and raising of one's sexuality is conservation, transmutation, sublimation, and conversion of one form of energy to another. In this case it is the conversion of lust into ojas shakti, brain illumination, and supernatural physical health.

Ojas is actually spiritual energy that is stored in the brain. It can be utilized for divine contemplation and spiritual pursuits. A person with a great deal of ojas in his brain can turn out enormous amounts of creativity and mental and spiritual work.

There is a luster and clearness in the eyes, and a magnetic aura in their feet. This type of person, be it male or female, can influence people by speaking very few words. Appolonius of Tyanna, Jesus Chist's next incarnation after His life as Jesus, where he took his fifth initiation, took the vow of Brahmacharya at the age of 16, and lived to the age of 100 or more and never broke his vows.

Sai Baba has recommended that people become celibate after the age of 65, even if they are married. If you have had any type of serious physical health problems I would highly recommend for a designated period of time that one take a vow of celibacy or certainly take a vow of extreme moderation in the use of one's sexuality. All this energy will be used to heal your body as well as your mind and spirit.

I want to say here, also, that there is an enormous worldly pressure in our society to get married or to find a mate. From the soul's perspective it is a totally viable option to remain single and celibate and be perfectly happy. You do not need a mate to be happy. Your soul and Monad are your true mates, in reality.

I know so many people who are single who are seeking their spiritual mate. This type of relationship is not always the easiest to find. I would say this is true especially for women. There are more spiritual women around than spiritual men.

For those of you who have not found your spiritual mate, try the celibate path until your mate comes. In my personal experience, being celibate is an "incredible high", once you give yourself to it and let go of all the egotistical programming.

For those of you who would like to find your ideal spiritual mate, I am now going to tell you the "secret of the ages" in terms of how to find this person. The secret is "give yourself 100% to your spiritual path and service to mankind. Find complete joy and happiness in your union with God, your union with Self, and union with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Fully own that you are 100% whole and complete within your self, and one with God. Live your life from this state of consciousness and when the time is right, your spiritual mate will be right before you without even having to look for them. This is because God attracts God.

Again I emphasize the need to not allow your mind to go on automatic pilot, for this is where the problems and temptations develop. The problems always begin on the mental plane first. Jesus said, "If you have a lustful look at a woman, you have already committed adultery in your heart." See, hear, taste, touch, smell, think, feel, sense, intuit, only God.

You will not be successful unless your life is one constant sequence of spiritual practices. After a while this isn't experienced as work. but rather as the greatest joy, for there is no better feeling than constantly affirming and experiencing God.

When you see a beautiful form in the shape of a physical body, remember who created that form and who is living inside that form. Ramakrishna, the God realized Avatar, was married and believe it or not, even consummated his marriage.

Sri Anandamayi Ma, the bliss permeated saint from India was married and did the same. She was so immersed in the eternal Self, she never even desired to. It brings up these examples, not because that is what we need to do, but rather to give you the full perspective of choices available to you on your spiritual path.

One of the keys to developing the siddhas (the higher spiritual gifts is to raise this sexual energy. In the beginning, try to make a vow of Brahmacharya for a week or month or three months. This is very much like fasting. We all know how good fasting is for the physical body. Fast from sexual activity for a little while to see how you feel.

Every time you do have sex, examine how you feel when you are done, to see if you were in the Tao. If not, don't judge yourself, just learn from the experience and make the correction in your mind and commit to staying in the Tao in the future.

The Vow of the Brahmacharya is a great spiritual experiment and ongoing evolving process. At different times in your life, the nature of your vow may be different. The main point of all is for you to be the master of your sexuality, and not let it master you.

I would like to end this chapter with a story about Socrates and his disciple from a book called, "The Practice of Brahmacharya", by Swami Sivananda. "One of the disciples of Socrates asked his teacher, "My Venerable Master, kindly instruct me how many times a householder can visit his legal wife." Socrates replied, "Only once in his lifetime."

The disciple said, "Oh, my lord! This is absolutely impossible for worldly men. Passion is dreadful and troublesome. This world is full of temptations and distractions. Householders have not a strong will to resist temptations. Their indriyas are very revolting and powerful. The mind is filled with passion. Thou art a philosopher and yogi. You can control. Pray, kindly prescribe an easy path for the men of the world." Then Socrates said, "A Householder can have copulation once in a year." The disciple replied, "Oh venerable sir, this is also a hard job for them. You must prescribe an easier course." Socrates then replied, Well, my dear disciple, once in a month. This is suitable. This is quite easy. I think you are satisfied now."

The disciple said, "This also is impossible, my revered Master. Householders are very fickle-minded. Their minds are full of sexual samskaras (programming) and vasanas. They cannot remain even for a single day without sexual intercourse. You have no idea of their mentality."

Then Socrates said, "Well said, my dear child. Do one thing now. Go directly to the burial ground now. Dig a grave and purchase a coffin and winding sheet for the corpse before hand. Now you can spill yourself any number of times you like. This is my final advice to you."

This last advice pierced the heart of the disciple. He felt it keenly. He thought over the matter seriously and understood the importance and glory of Brahmacharya. He took to spiritual sadhana (practice in right awareness). He took a vow of strict unbroken celibacy for life, became a yogi, and had self-realization. He became one of the favorite disciples of Socrates.