BRAHMACHARYA
Moderation & Balance
Our second to last Yama is brahmacharya. In Sanskrit, “brahma” is translated as your Self, the unchanging reality. “Charya” loosely means conduct or behavior, translating literally as “engaging with, proceeding, going after”.
Putting all this together you get our big word of brahmacharya, meaning to stay true to your own Self or path.
In ancient texts and traditions, the term has a more complex meaning indicating an overall lifestyle conducive to the pursuit of sacred knowledge and spiritual liberation. It was focused heavily on sexual purity/abstinence, and usually included daily practices like simple living, cleanliness, studies, meditation, and voluntary restraints on certain foods and intoxicants.
Doesn’t make for a very popular Yama, but many believed it was a necessary step to achieve a deeper spiritual fulfillment.
“Brahmacharya means to follow God. Its spirit is to accept that a higher power permeates every atom of the universe, and there is a universal rhythm, a flow, that goes on beyond our comprehension, in which everything is balanced and brought to order. There comes a time in our lives when something inside wakes up. It is the part of us that needs to find itself; our inner-most being striving toward the perfect balance which is true humanness.” — A Woman's Guide to Tantra Yoga, Vimala McClure
The modern day approach of brahmacharya is a little less complicated— thought to be more about balance and moderation. It’s not as centered on celibacy, though still admissible, but more so relies on the idea of chosen personal restraints. Maintaining your energy and choosing to use it to live a healthy lifestyle, bring awareness to any overindulgences or idols, and stay within your own truth or path.
Especially in our culture today, most of us identify with our physical bodies so we spend a lot of energy trying to satisfy those bodily needs. We are dependent on physical satisfaction to experience joy; driven by every craving, aversion, pleasure and instinct that arises.
“Devoted to living a balanced and moderate life, the scope of one’s life forces becomes boundless.”
Benefits of practicing Brahmacharya:
Stronger willpower
Improves memory and concentration
Intuition strengthens as the mind sharpens
Greater sense of “oneness”, feeling less weighed down by earthly pressures
Promotes a healthy lifestyle with healthy body immunity
When we start to connect and build a relationship with the true Self, our worldly needs no longer dictate our every move. We learn to use our precious and vital energy in the correct way to moderate and balance ourselves physically, mentally and emotionally.
Brahmacharya reminds us our life force is both limited and sacred. If we use our energy wisely, we possess all the recourses to live a full and fulfilling life.
On Brahmacharya:
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna teaches spiritual aspirants to be "fearless, serene, restrained in mind and established in the vow of continence” and meditate on Him to reach the goal. Such a person is assured of liberation at the time of death.
“The pain that you do not fear, will not come before you at all. Neither do the gangsters come, and nor does God. Nothing happens to the one who has let go of fear.” ― Dada Bhagwan
Swami Vivekananda said: “Every one wants to command, and no one wants to obey; and this is owing to the absence of that wonderful Brahmacharya system of yore.”
