Stopping Sex Life Through Higher Taste
The voluntary cessation of sex life is described by Śrīla Prabhupāda as the secret to spiritual power. In the material world, sex is the driving force behind all activity; without it, the materialist loses enthusiasm. However, for a spiritualist, the conservation of this vital energy through brahmacarya is essential. It transforms into spiritual determination, enabling one to execute the rigorous discipline of tapasya. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that this cessation is best achieved not by artificial suppression, but by experiencing the superior pleasure of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Secret of Spiritual Determination
Śrīla Prabhupāda reveals a profound secret: the restraint of the sex drive creates a reservoir of power within the human being. While materialists rely on sex life for their motivation, a person engaged in spiritual life finds that stopping this expenditure of energy leads to a higher form of enthusiasm. This austerity is the actual purpose of human life, allowing one to focus entirely on the goal of self-realization.
- Even if you don't do anything, if you simply restrain your sex life, you become a very powerful man. People do not know the secret. So anything you do, if you want to do it with determination, you have to stop sex life. That is the secret.
- Without sex life one cannot be materially enthusiastic. And if you stop sex life, then you become spiritually advanced. This is the secret.
- Human life is meant for tapasya, or austerity. By the austerity of voluntarily stopping sex life at home and going to the forest to engage in spiritual activities in the association of devotees, one achieves the actual purpose of human life.
Regulation vs. Illicit Indulgence
Total celibacy is difficult in the modern age, so the Vedic culture offers the gṛhastha ashram as a transitional stage. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that sex life is not stopped forcefully for everyone but is restricted to marriage for the purpose of procreation. Illicit sex—sex outside of marriage or for mere pleasure—is strictly forbidden, as it leads to suffering and binds the soul to the material world.
- Sex life we are not stopping. But sex life allowed only to the grhasthas, householder, restricted. Not illicit sex. We are not stopping sex life. Sex life is required. But under rules.
- If one does not want more than one or two children, he should voluntarily stop sex life. But one should not strictly use any contraceptive method and at the same time indulge in sex life.
- Indeed, he (the conditioned soul) commits abominable acts that cause him to suffer both in this life and in the next. Consequently illicit sex must be stopped by those who are spiritually inclined or who are on the path of spiritual realization.
- Younger generation, they're allowed grhastha life from twenty-five years to fifty years. That's all. After that, stop sex life.
Conquering Through Higher Taste
The most effective way to stop sex life is to replace the lower pleasure with a higher one. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that devotees absorbed in chanting, dancing, and serving Kṛṣṇa naturally lose their taste for sex. This "higher taste" makes the flickering pleasure of the senses seem insignificant. True brahmacarya involves eight types of regulation, including not even thinking or whispering about sex, which is only possible when the mind is fully absorbed in the transcendental pleasure of devotion.
- They are so much absorbed in this chanting and dancing, they are no more interested in sex. That is the only way. If you want to stop the pleasure of sex, then you have to take this pleasure, this transcendental pleasure. You'll forget everything.
- Brahmacarya, the descriptions are given here (in BG 7.11), how you can execute brahmacari life. You cannot think of sex life, you cannot talk of sex life, you cannot whisper about sex life. There are eight types of different regulation to stop sex life.
- You are repenting, so Krsna will excuse you. But never do this again. Rather you should stop sex-life altogether, make this your austerity.
A Cultural Contrast
Śrīla Prabhupāda observes a fundamental difference between spiritual and material civilizations regarding this issue. Eastern culture creates social structures designed to help the individual gradually stop sex life and attain liberation, whereas Western culture often promotes the increase of sex life as a goal in itself. For a spiritualist, the choice is clear: to conserve energy for the ultimate goal rather than wasting it on temporary gratification.
- That is the difference between Western and Eastern culture: the whole Eastern culture is based on how to stop sex life, and here in the Western countries, how to increase sex life.
- If a person who is working in the factory, if you stop sex, he cannot work. And when he's unable to enjoy sex life, then he takes intoxication. This is material life. So energy must be there. Here in the material world the energy is sex.
Conclusion
Ultimately, stopping sex life is a requirement for serious spiritual advancement. While it may seem impossible for the conditioned soul, it becomes possible through the mercy of the Lord and strict adherence to regulative principles. By utilizing the facility of marriage correctly or by renouncing it completely for the service of the Lord, one can transcend the material urge and achieve the highest perfection of life. As Śrīla Prabhupāda advises, we must stop the "nonsense" of illicit life and remain fixed in good character.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Stopping Sex Life. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.