Discriminative
and selective practices, and engagement with conscious intimacy, are believed
to be the best path to hita, best
translated as a harmonious and good life.
Often mistranslated in English as celibacy, brahmacharya does not mean the absence of sexual contact. This
translation was probably propagated by the Christian, puritanical influences on
Sanskrit translations since the 1750s.
Brahma-charya
is the charana, or walk, toward Brahma, the Creator, signalling an
attitude toward oneness and mental purity.
As taught by the masters, brahmacharya is the purposeful engagement into relationships with other humans using choice. There is a choice to engage others on different levels: either only mentally and emotionally, as we do with family members and friends; or in physical proximity, as in housemates and family with which we live; or in both emotional, physical and spiritual intimacy, as with our sexual-emotional partner.
As taught by the masters, brahmacharya is the purposeful engagement into relationships with other humans using choice. There is a choice to engage others on different levels: either only mentally and emotionally, as we do with family members and friends; or in physical proximity, as in housemates and family with which we live; or in both emotional, physical and spiritual intimacy, as with our sexual-emotional partner.
~ EveryDay Ayurveda, 2015, Chapter 37 - Real Sex: Intimacy
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