Yoga is mastery over the senses

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Yogi Ashwini [1]

“Yoga chitta vritti nirodh” says Patanjali, the fountainhead of yoga, which means blocking the activities of the senses. Blocking the activities of the mind/senses definitely cannot be connoted as suppression of desires for one of the five yamas (principles) of ashtanga yoga is ahimsa/non-violence, which means prohibition of an action perforce. Suppression, therefore, is considered an act of violence. A normal human being has five basic senses, the satisfaction of which is a must. When a normal human being holds the hand of a Guru and is in yoga then s/he crosses the sansar sagar and gains complete control and mastery over the five senses. The sense of touch (sexual sense) is one of these senses.
Yoga is not suppression of these senses and abnormal behaviour just because you want to project yourself as a super being. Yoga is a mastery over the senses where if you choose to have sex then you will have, the difference being that the desire does not control you but you control the desire and you may indulge or may want to indulge for generating a specific kind of heat which is used to activate the higher senses (the orgasm has to be held back in this case and a yogi would maintain the sexual heat for long periods of time, like for two hours to 48 hours). Complete control and mastery is what is the subject of yoga.
The rishis of yesteryears were householders and missed no aspect of physical life. A modern day yogi and a master, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, was also a householder. Hence in yog one is asked not to leave anything forcefully. The purpose of yoga is evolution, and yoga sadhana is aimed at achieving this state where you rise over your desires, not by suppressing them but by experiencing them and rising over them. Like a charioteer who controls the reins, a yogi becomes the master of his senses and controls them at will. As one progresses in yog, anything, lifestyle, actions, thoughts etc that are gross, begin to leave the person automatically.
Brahmacharya is another yama practiced by the practitioner of yoga, which requires a person to be celibate during long periods of sadhana, for the potent energy which is lost during orgasm is conserved and utilised for higher purposes but it does not bar a person from having sex at all, for if that were the case the rishis of yesteryears would not have had many wives and children. One of the basic requirements of the body is sexual fulfillment, which would not let a person evolve if suppressed forcefully. That is why in texts like Manusmriti there is mention of ganikas and vaishyas besides wives, for ancients very well understood that until the senses are satisfied, they would not let a person move beyond the basic desires which hold a person from evolving. Manusmriti gives four objectives of human life, dharma, artha, kama and moksha. Dharma is righteous behaviour following codes of conduct of a civilised society, ways to interact with gods and energies which run the creation, charity, service. Artha is attainment of material objectives, wealth, name, fame etc. Kama is satisfaction of senses and desires and only after attainment of these can one think of moksha, which is liberation.
Yoga is an individual’s personal practice and it is for his/her Guru to judge or prescribe the do’s and don’ts s/he has to follow. We as individuals are no one to judge another being. A yogi’s form exhibits youth and glow till the last and that is the first sign one must look for in a yogi. Anyone claiming big words like radiance perfect form or youth and glow should also exude it because when the energy of yoga flows, all of these follow. There is no doubt that a sexual orgasm drains a yogi of the vital sukra (life force) and a person who orgasms frequently does not deserve to be called a yogi (unless he chooses to orgasm at will for a specific purpose).
Unfortunately, in the present time pious sciences of Yoga and Tantra are being misrepresented and misused by unscrupulous people for their political and financial gains. In tantric culture certain techniques in Tantra and also yog, stimulation, as I have said earlier, also is essential but orgasm is not and as per the laws of our country consensual sex between two adults is not a crime. Any adult in the act of consensual sex is not sleaze and not against law, but yes videoing it and projecting the same as sleaze, by clever words is definitely sleazy and a crime.
Let’s not waste our energy in ravaging and plundering our own inheritance. Open admission from certain spiritual people of the modern civilised society of exploiting young children is ample proof of the fact that sexual urge cannot be kept suppressed by donning garbs, whether white or saffron, which further proves the efficacy of the perfect and open yogic lifestyle.
The need of the hour is to revive the lost glory of this ultimate science by projecting the authentic path and its magnanimous power. Sadly however, we are busy pointing fingers at one another and indulging in acts of violence antagonistic to the very idea of a civilised society, leave alone an advanced civilisation like ours.

— Yogi Ashwini is an authority on yoga, tantra and the Vedic sciences. He is the guiding light of Dhyan
Foundation. He has recently written a book,
Sanatan Kriya: 51 Miracles... And a Haunting.
Contact him at dhyan@dhyanfoundation.com [2]