sense control required
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One cannot enjoy unrestricted sex life and practice yoga; this is rascaldom. So-called yogīs advertise that one can go on enjoying as one likes and simultaneously become a yogī, but this is totally unauthorized. A brahmacari practices celibacy, controlling his sex life. One cannot enjoy unrestricted sex life and practice yoga; this is rascaldom. So-called yogis advertise that one can go on enjoying as one likes and simultaneously become a yogi, but this is totally unauthorized. It is very clearly explained here that one must observe celibacy. Brahmacaryam means that one leads his life simply in relationship with Brahman, or in full Krsna consciousness. Those who are too addicted to sex life cannot observe the regulations which will lead them to Krsna consciousness. Sex life should be restricted to persons who are married. A person whose sex life is restricted in marriage is also called a brahmacari.
(More...) The yogī should observe the rules and regulations of brahmacarya-to strictly live a life of self-restraint and celibacy. One cannot practice yoga in a congested city, living a life of extravagancy, including unrestricted sex indulgence and adultery o Krsna consciousness is the highest yoga performance by trained devotional yogis. Despite all the allurement of yoga practice, the eight kinds of yogic perfections are hardly achievable by the common man. But here it is described that the Lord, who appeared before the four sages, is Himself full of all eight of those perfections. The highest yoga-marga process is to concentrate the mind twenty-four hours a day on Krsna. This is called Krsna consciousness. The yoga system, as described in Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita or as recommended in the Patanjali yoga process, is different from the nowadays practiced hatha-yoga as it is generally understood in the Western countries. Real yoga practice is to control the senses and, after such control is established, to concentrate the mind on the Narayana form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna. Lord Krsna is the original Personality of Godhead, and all the other Visnu forms with four hands decorated with conch, lotus, club and wheel-are plenary expansions of Krsna. In Bhagavad-gita it is recommended that one should meditate upon the form of the Lord. To practice concentration of the mind, one has to sit with the head and the back in a straight line, and one must practice in a secluded place, sanctified by a sacred atmosphere. The yogi should observe the rules and regulations of brahmacarya-to strictly live a life of self-restraint and celibacy. One cannot practice yoga in a congested city, living a life of extravagancy, including unrestricted sex indulgence and adultery of the tongue. Yoga practice necessitates controlling the senses, and the beginning of sense control is to control the tongue. One who can control the tongue can also have control over the other senses. One cannot allow the tongue to take all kinds of forbidden food and drink and at the same time advance in the practice of yoga. It is a very regrettable fact that many unauthorized so-called yogis come to the Western countries and exploit people's inclination towards yoga practice. Such unauthorized yogis even dare to say publicly that one can indulge in the habit of drinking and at the same time practice meditation.
(More...) The yogic situation is that of detachment from all sensual engagements. Closing all the doors of the senses and fixing the mind on the heart and the life air at the top of the head, one establishes himself in yoga. "Persons learned in the Vedas, who utter omkara and who are great sages in the renounced order, enter into Brahman. Desiring such perfection, one practices celibacy. I shall now explain to you this process by which one may attain salvation. The yogic situation is that of detachment from all sensual engagements. Closing all the doors of the senses and fixing the mind on the heart and the life air at the top of the head, one establishes himself in yoga." (Bg. 8.11-12) In the yoga system this process is called pratyahara, which means, in technical language, "the opposite." Now the eyes are engaged in seeing worldly beauty, so one has to withdraw them enjoying that beauty and concentrate on seeing beauty inside. That is called pratyahara. Similarly, one has to hear the omkara sound from within.
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