Brahmacharya. Control of senses (Yama)

There are at least 2 ways to understand the Brahmacharya principle:

1) Control of senses.
2) Walking with the Brahman. You see Creator everywhere.

Brahmacharya has a wide understanding, from sexual abstinence to refraining from taste. People get used to wasting energy: watching movies, going to the cinema, listening to music, browsing the internet, scrolling on mobile, and eating food. People became addicted to getting emotions. When you throw away energy, satisfaction comes, and then you become calm for a short time. When you don’t have energy, it’s not possible to grow spiritually. That’s the reason why we need to learn to control our minds. We always want to raise our energy as high as possible. We can do it through yoga practice, we don’t use any stimulants.

Imagine you have 1 hour of time. You can eat cookies, you can do yoga practice, you can do something good for others. The same 1 hour, but results will be different. So one side of understanding Brahmacharya is control of senses.

Another meaning of Brahmacharya. Imagine that creator Brahma is everywhere in everybody. You walk down the street, and you see a form of the Creator that looks like a tree, you see a form of the Creator that looks like a human, you see a form of the Creator that looks like a bird, and so on. And then all your life becomes filled with divine because you become interacting with the divine energy of the Creator. When you talk with people, you talk with the Creator that communicates with you through this person. Then your life becomes uplifted. It gives a different perspective on how you see the world.

Benefits of Brahmacharya

1) You gain more energy.
2) You develop your good inner virtues and qualities of character.
3) You get a clear brain and understanding.
4) Your memory and will increase.
5) You grow physically, mentally, and spiritually.
6) You purify your thoughts, speech, and actions.

How to practice Brahmacharya

1) Control your desires. Self-discipline, self-control.
2) Moderate satisfaction of your basic needs associated with instincts. Food can be just simple food.
3) Before any action, remember that you interact with the divine. Before eating food, before talking to people, before doing everything. See the Creator everywhere and in everybody.
4) Do yoga asanas, pranayamas, meditation, shatkarmas, and mantra chanting.

In the Upanishads, Brahmacharya means stage of learning. In Vyasa Yoga Bhashya, Brahmacharya means “Control of hidden feelings.” In later yoga texts, Brahmacharya becomes like denial of sex.

When your state of mind is very calm and bright and your energy is of very high quality, you don’t even want to satisfy your senses.

Main idea of Brahmacharya: when you control your senses keep your energy in the highest chakras, and then you act in life based on your highest virtues.