H.H. Shrimad Namchaitanya Bhanudas                                                     View Previous Article   View Next Article    
Published on: 29 December2009                                                                  View: Current Article in Marathi (PDF)
Courtesy: Marathi Daily, Mumbai Sakaal (Article No 69)                            For more articles click Here        
                                                                                               

     

Passion	Prohibited	Permitted
Lust	Sexual obsession	Sexual enjoyment with mutual consent

    Of all the six passions, 'lust' is the most powerful because it brings together a man and a woman in a very intimate relationship. Lust is very essential for procreation and, therefore, considered to be sacred from the viewpoint of Indian culture. Consequently, terms such as 'auspicious marriage', 'sacred union', 'blending of the minds', etc. have come into vogue. Moreover, temples having sculptures based on such a holistic attitude towards sex were erected at Khajurao by our ancestors. However, it is regrettable that women have been accorded a very insignificant place in the Kamasutra written by Rishi Vatsyayan inasmuch as it only illustrates various postures for enjoying sex with a woman. This could be the influence of a male-dominated culture even though woman is, in fact, not an object for sexual enjoyment. This is not at all acceptable to Spiritual-Science.

  One cannot afford to forget that a woman too has a human body and a sensitive mind. It is from this viewpoint that Spiritual-Science draws the Line of Restraint in respect of lust. Obviously, sambhog or sexual enjoyment between two adults with mutual consent is permitted while sexual obsession is prohibited. A person obsessed with sex will inevitably 'rape' person of the opposite sex. Sambhog means enjoying (sex) with each other. Therefore, sex between a husband and his wife can be considered as sambhog only if the physical and mental conditions of both are conducive therefor. In such a case, both can enjoy sex and be satisfied. However, if either the husband or wife are physically unable or mentally unwilling to have sex and the other has sex by employing physical force or mental pressure, it is deemed by Spiritual-Science to be an act of rape.

    Westerners have a completely different attitude towards sex. According to them, sex is a need of the body just like other physical needs viz. food, water and air or the need for bladder and bowel evacuation. However, according to Spiritual-Science, a man does not die if he doesn't have sex. If sex was a physical necessity, bachelors, spinsters, widowers and widows would never have been able to live till old age. According to Spiritual-Science, lust is a passion of the mind. A person's body does not cooperate or respond unless that person has a mental urge or desire to have sex. In old age, when the body ceases to respond adequately, it is the mind that gets tormented when sexual desires remain unfulfilled. Therefore, lust is associated with the mind and not with the body.