Celibacy : Scientific Analysis

Celibacy is absolute freedom from sexual thoughts and desires. It is the total control of all the senses in thought, word and deed.
Celibacy is not mere bachelorhood. There should be strict abstinence not merely from sexual intercourse but also from auto-erotic manifestations, from masturbation, from homosexual acts and from all perverse sexual practices.

The instincts related to food, fear, sex and possession are so strong in all living beings from timeless beginning that they soon accept the thoughts that are suitable to these instincts. That is why the so-called researches of sexologists and the researches of psychologists like Freud are accepted sooner than researches showing the importance of celibacy. Freud says, “Desires should not be suppressed. Suppressions of desires create many perversions, which if suppressed, make the man perverted and mad.” Of course, these researches are not totally invalid or baseless. But they are only one side of the coin. The latter half of their conclusions and statements is as under. Regarding celibacy, Freud himself says: Semen has a great strength. That strength should be well channelized. By observing celibacy mental/intellectual and physical strength should be increased. We should, therefore, also think of other side of the coin.

Scientific Reasons to maintain Celibacy:

If celibacy is not observed by body, speech or mind/sense and sensory organs, sex hormones flow out of the body of men and women. The sex hormones are mostly made of lecithin, phosphorus, nitrogen, and iodine, the components which are very useful to life, body and brain. Sometime one has to give up hope for life as a result of excessive sexual activities.

In this connection ‘Science of Regeneration’, the book written by Raymond Bernard is worth reading. He says that man’s sexual tendencies are fully controlled by endocrine glands. The endocrine glands produce sex hormones and they control other glands. Youth subsists on abundance of sex hormones in the blood. As endocrine glands decrease the production of sex hormones, we begin to experience old age and weakness. Semen is a treasure of inexhaustible strength. By protecting and preserving it man can maintain his energies and youth for a very long time.

Just imagining about sexual pleasures can use up energy. Those who have lost much of their semen become easily irritated. They lose their balance of mind quickly. Little things upset them. The body and mind refuse to work energetically. There is physical and mental lethargy. Exhaustion and weakness are experienced. Bad memory, premature old age, impotence, various sorts of eye diseases and nervous diseases are attributable to the heavy loss of this vital fluid. Those who have not observed the vow of celibacy become slaves of anger, laziness and fear. If you do not have your senses under control, you venture to do foolish things which even children will not dare to do.

Modern science does not lag behind in making experiments for regaining youth, rejuvenation etc. but the energy lasts only for 3-4 years. Therefore, in order to sustain, youth endocrine glands should be kept active and sex hormones in blood should be abundant.

9 Rules of Celibacy and their Scientific Analysis:

In these days of excessive indulgence in sexual enjoyments, is it possible to observe perfect celibacy physically, vocally or mentally? Most of the people will answer this question in the negative. But in my opinion, the observance of celibacy is very simple and natural if the nine rules of celibacy, which in Jain terminology, are called nine guptis (restrictions related to activities of body, speech and mind) of celibacy are rightly and strictly observed.

The nine rules of celibacy with their scientific analysis are as under:

1. One should live in a place devoid of woman (man), a beast or a eunuch - Every living being has his bio-electro-magnetic field. Scientists have also proved this. It is a general rule of magnetism that like poles repel and unlike poles attract, if they are within the magnetic field of each other. Men and women have their bio-electro-magnetic poles in the opposite order. Eunuchs also have their magnetic poles, but they are not definite because magnetic poles depend on changes in mind, i.e. thoughts. When an eunuch’s mind changes, its magnetic poles also change. The sexual excitement of eunuchs is great, and therefore, their magnetic power and magnetic field are very strong. Changes of poles go on in eunuchs, like an alternate current of electricity. If, therefore, a monk lives in a place inhabited by a woman, a beast or an eunuch, on account of attraction of unlike poles, it becomes very difficult for him to observe celibacy. In order to observe celibacy fully, it is necessary for a monk to stay in a place uninhabited by a woman, an eunuch or a beast.

2. A lone man/woman should not tell religious stories or give sermon to a lone woman/man. A man should refrain from talks about a woman and a woman should refrain from talks about a man - When a lone man talks to a lone woman, generally they look at each other. Since the bio-electro-magnetic poles of a man and a woman are in the opposite order, when they look at each other, the electro-magnetic lines emerging from their poles, join together and as their electro-magnetic fields join together, their bio-electromagnetic attraction becomes stronger. In these circumstances, if their electromagnetic waves are of unequal frequency, their mutual attraction also becomes unequal. If the wavelength and the amplitude are not proportionate, the thoughts in their minds mutually differ from each other. As a result, the circuit of magnetic-electric current remains incomplete. But if the electro-magnetic waves emerging from them have equal frequency, their power of attraction also becomes equal. If the wavelength and amplitude of the waves are equal, the circuit of the magnetic-electric current is also completed. As a result, strong mental attraction is produced and that becomes ultimately the cause of fall of a self-restrained man.

3. A woman should not look steadily at eyes, face and other organs of man’s body nor should a man look steadily at eyes, face and other organs of a woman’s body - According to the belief of Jain philosophy, the magnetic field is formed by Mano Vargana (paramanu-units of material particles) emitted by sensorium, as the sensorium is made of material particles. When a man looks at a particular object or person in a particular direction, his magnetic field extends as far as the object or person. Of course, mathematically, the magnetic field of any living or non-living thing extends as long as infinite distance but it has very little influence on very distant objects. When a man thinks of sensual pleasures with a woman, his mind attracts the woman’s mind and thoughts of mind create attraction between unlike poles of each other. Their mind gets united, the circuit of bio-electromagnetic current is completed, misconduct is unknowingly and invisibly committed and there is a mental breach of celibacy.

4. A man should not sit on a seat occupied by a woman for 48 minutes after she vacates it, and a woman should not sit on a seat occupied by a man for three hours after he vacates it - While a man sits at a place, an aura is formed around his body. The aura can be good or bad according to the thoughts of the person’s mind. Moreover, invisible particles (matter) also drop from the body of the person. A mushroom, which is called Anantakaya according to Jain scriptures, sprouts up anywhere in the rainy season. If its upper portion is cut off, and put up side down on a piece of paper for a while, the particles emitted from the mushroom, will make a circular figure there. Similarly, invisible particles dropped from the body of a man or a woman lie there for a long time. These particles produce a bad effect on our mind and defile it. That is why this rule is included in the nine rules of celibacy.

5. One should leave the place, where words of amorous plays of a woman and a man from the other side of the wall are heard - This rule also defiles the bio-electro-magnetic field of a person explained above.

6. One should abstain from recollections of amorous plays indulged in previously - This rule also defiles the bio-electro-magnetic field of a person explained above. Really speaking pure or impure, good or bad thoughts of our mind make our bio-electro-magnetic field good or bad.

7. One should abstain from very oily, spice and infatuating food - For every living organism, food is an important source of energy, which is necessary for life. Generally, a monk should not take food such as milk, curd, ghee, jaggery, oil and sweets. Garlic, onions, meat, fish, and eggs stimulate passion. The Jain scriptures call all these six substances to be infatuating food items because they can produce infatuation in the body. But if a monk is constantly engaged in study, thinking, meditation and specially learning and teaching and if he is physically weak, scriptures allow him to take all the six kinds of infatuating food items with his guru’s permission. Food should be eaten only to get necessary strength of the body. Infatuation is also caused by getting more than necessary physical strength. Occasional fasting checks passion, calms the emotions, controls the Indriyas (senses), and helps in the practice of celibacy.

8. One should not take in excess even the dry, unoiled or arid food - Similarly, food without milk, curds, ghee, oil, jaggery, sweets etc., taken in excess, also leads to physical deterioration and inactiveness. Therefore, even dry food must be taken in a limited quantity. Semen is an energy. If the semen produced in our body is prevented from being wasted, it gets sublimated. To put it in terms of modern science, according to the natural arrangement in our body, semen itself is again absorbed in blood, reaches the brain and ultimately fast develops in the form of intellect and memory. Spiritually speaking, this is the sublimation of energy.

9. One should not attractively and artistically cut or decorate hair on the head, hair on the body, finger-nails or toe-nails. One should refrain from cosmetic treatment and bodily decoration - Celibates are also forbidden to shave or cut attractively and artistically hair on the body, hair on the head, finger-nails, toe-nails and to take cosmetic treatment because celibates naturally have a bright personality, full of vitality. Their celibacy is their bathing and chastity is fragrance. They, therefore, do not need a bath and a cosmetic treatment. If they take bath and cosmetic treatment, they may look bright and shiny and become a center of attraction for others. As a result, the magnetic field i.e. sensorium of some other person may become defiled by inauspicious thoughts. A contact with a person of defiled magnetic field may soon defile the magnetic field of a celibate person. A celibate, therefore, should not decorate his body, nor should he take bath or cosmetic treatment.

To sum up, men and women are two opposite poles. When these two poles are connected in one way or another, energy comes to be used. This connection is established in five ways:

1. Through the actual sexual intercourse
2. Only through touch
3. Through eyes
4. Through words and
5. Through mind or sensorium

This is why scriptures have forbidden one who fully and sincerely observes celibacy to touch a person of opposite sex, to look steadily at him or her, to talk with him or her for a long time or even to think of the person of opposite sex.

Even in these days, it is possible to observe physical and mental celibacy, if one strictly follows these nine rules.

Different religious and scriptural views:

1. Sri Niskulanandaji of Swaminarayan religion has made a poem on the nine rules of celibacy. This shows the importance of celibacy.

2. The description of sexual pleasures of celestial beings given in the fourth chapter of the ancient Jain scripture, ‘The Tattvartha Sutra’ supports this statement.

3. Gods who live up to Saudharma-the first heaven and Eshana-the second heaven satisfy their sex urge with actual sexual intercourse. Of the higher types of gods, some enjoy sexual pleasures only through touch, some enjoy only through eyes, some enjoy them through words and some enjoy them only through sensorium.

- Sri Umasvati (Tattvartha Sutra)

4. A person who practices celibacy for even a single night earns virtue so great which even thousands of Yagnyas fail to give.

- Dharmopanishada

5. A man who gets an oil massage and enjoys physical relations with a woman on eclipse, Sankranti, no-moonday and the fourteenth day of the waxing and waning moon is reborn as a Chandala – man of a lowest caste.

- Dharmopanishada

6. A man who desires to walk on the path of the dharma, must desist from having carnal relations with any other woman except his own wife. A person who breaks this rule enters hell 21 times.

- Dharmopanishada

7. The poet Dyanat Ray says that a person reaches the place of salvation (‘Shiva Mahala’) by climbing up the (spiritual) stairs of ten-religions of which the tenth stair is of Celibacy (Bhramacharya) and beyond it is the beatitude (‘Moksha’).

- Dharma ke das lakshan

BENEFITS OF CELIBACY:

1. Reduces risk of other STDs such as herpes, gonorrhea, chlamydia, genital warts, etc.

2. Reduces risk of getting HIV or Hepatitis C, which can lead to death

3. Reduces risk of getting HPV which can lead to cervical cancer or even throat cancer contracted from oral sex. Cervical cancer can spread cancer throughout the body, which may lead to death

4. Sperms, if not released, are reabsorbed by the body and it also contains tons of rich nutrients that are found in nerve cells. So if it is continuously reabsorbed every 2 days (that’s the life span of a sperm cell) your body gets more nutrients allowing it to think better and be healthier. The body can get nutrients simply by eating food but it spends lot of energy trying to digest food and extract nutrients from it and then it spends those nutrients creating more sperm. So reabsorbing sperm by keeping chaste is the most efficient way to govern your body and maintain good health.

5. Reduce risk of dropping out of high school or college due to an unwanted pregnancy; achieving one’s educational goals before getting pregnant.

6. Today AIDS has spread all over the world. For married men, the only preventive which can ward it off is the vow of sexual satisfaction confined to one’s own life partner and for others; it is observance of celibacy (Brahmacharya).

7. Women can preserve the sex hormones by observing celibacy through which they remain young throughout their life.

8. Reduce risk of unwanted pregnancy.

Great known men who observed celibacy
Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Isaac Newton, Morarji Desai etc. observed celibacy since youth, though they were householders.

For further reference:

1. Scientific Secrets of Jainism
2. Truth is generally believed to be absolute, however in the domain of science. the results of scientific investigations do not always fit into this expectation. Grinnal says that the reality described by science is not complete or absolute since changes occur with alternations In scientific attitude. (Everyman’ s Science. 1993. p. 131 . Published by ISCA Calcutta.)
3. On account of restrictions of a monk’s life, I do not enter into a detailed analysis of this, but I suggest that the readers may read, for other scientific aspects, Shri Kanti bhatt’s article ‘Advantages of Celibacy’ (second part) in ‘Jnana Gatnariya’ column in the Shatadal supplement of ‘Gujarat Samachar’ of Wednesday, February, 17, 1993.
4. ‘Sramanakriya Na Sutro‘ (artha sahita) p. 260.
5. In an aquarium. a fish named ‘Electric Eel’ is preserved. This fish produces an electric current of 600 volts and with that electricity, the board ‘Electric Eel’ is lighted.
6. Now, a photographic technique has been invented. If someone sits at a place for some time and then goes away and if a photograph of his former place is taken, his figure and aura stand out in the photograph. tn future, this technique will be used to identify criminals.
7. The Tattvartha Sutra – Chapter 4 (Sutra-8)
8. Ten Characteristics of Religion