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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 16 2007 : 3:55:41 PM
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I've decided to practice brahmacharya - God help me:  Anyone who can give me pointers, such as things to avoid in the diet or any other tips would be great.
Thank you:
VIL |
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Hunter
USA
252 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2007 : 4:56:47 PM
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What a wonderful and exciting endeavor, VIL. I hope to correspond with you on this subject as well as anyone else who decides to add to this thread.
Hunter |
Edited by - Hunter on Jan 16 2007 5:07:51 PM |
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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2007 : 6:25:29 PM
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Thanks, Hunter, for the show of camaraderie:
I'm going to take it one day at a time; but it feels like the natural thing to do, for me, at this junction in my life. I've been reading various articles on brahmacharya and I really enjoyed what Sri Swami Sivananda said about the subject. I've also read a few posts from yogani about the importance of preserving the vital energy.
I'll let you know how it goes, but don't want to focus on it too much and make it something taboo and would eventually like to develop an indifference - if that makes sense.
Thanks again for your reply, Hunter:
VIL |
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david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Jan 16 2007 : 9:32:32 PM
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Remember to self-pace! Start with practicing Brahmacharya while at work, then gradually start to include your lunch-hour. Then spread it to the entire 24 hours of the working day. Lastly extend to include weekends (that's the hardest part).
ha ha 
I'm going to take it one day at a time; but it feels like the natural thing to do, for me, at this junction in my life.
Seriously, best of luck with it. When you know it is time for it, that is a good sign that, well, its time for it. I think you are rigt not taking any permanent vows or anything. Because eventually, it may no longer be the right thing for you.
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Edited by - david_obsidian on Jan 16 2007 9:33:16 PM |
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Athma_Shakti
India
81 Posts |
Posted - Jan 17 2007 : 04:53:22 AM
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regarding the food, any light food will be good.since more heat is generated during our practice. we can take more liquid items like fruit juice, curd. spicy foods makes disturbance to our inner silence/ our system. instead of frying the vegetables boiling will be good i think.
there is a breathing technique to cool our body:
protrude the tongue and roll it like a tube, inhale slowly through the tongue and hold the air until comfortable, and breath out through the nose.
this can be done some 4 to 5 times not more than that otherwise it may catch cold. this very good to cool the body immediately, during body temperature (fever) also its a good exercise, plus it creates immunity for poisonous bites of insects. |
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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Jan 17 2007 : 08:12:06 AM
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quote:
david: Remember to self-pace! Start with practicing Brahmacharya while at work, then gradually start to include your lunch-hour. Then spread it to the entire 24 hours of the working day. Lastly extend to include weekends (that's the hardest part).
ha ha
Thanks for the exercise, too, Athma_Shatki:
VIL |
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Alvin Chan
Hong Kong
407 Posts |
Posted - Jan 18 2007 : 8:32:54 PM
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Hi all,
I have some experiences which you may be interested. Here is my time line:
I started "attempting" brahmacharya about one year ago. (But I did it is only in the sense of not having ejaculations, not Sri Swami Sivananda's extreme version) For the first few weeks I just find it very hard and almost impossible. About the same time, a traumatic event struck me and changed my perceptions quite dramatically. Then all of a sudden I found brahmacharya easy. I felt great and rewarded from the practices, though the reward was not a high-order one: it came from the satisfaction of being able to control myself. I didn¡¦t have any fluid loss or orgasm for 7 weeks, then had a wet dream. I felt a bit frustrated, and had another orgasm within a few days. Then I decided to do brahmacharya again. This time I do it for about a month before the wet dream came. After that, I doubt whether I¡¦m forcing myself too much that fluid loss is inevitable, and whether brahmacharya is helping me. The next few weeks were a falling back to my old patterns. Then, with the encouragement from the others in this forum, I determined to start brahmacharya again, with a great determination this time. That was the most mature and successful practice in brahmacharya I¡¦ve ever had¡XI did it for more than 3 months, until the mid of Nov 2006. I started to feel something different, though it was hard to tell what the implications were. The feeling was a distinguished ¡§inner smell¡¨ that I posted in the forum during that time.
Back to my timeline¡K.then I had my oral defense along with a bunch of other high pressure obligations, which with these excuses I broke my brahmacharya. Really, it had nothing to do with an incontrollable urge; but only a feeling that 3 months is enough and I can do it over again immediately. But it wasn¡¦t. I fall back again to my old pattern again, since I thought: now I¡¦ve stopped it, why not start again later?
The busy life had deprived my time for yoga. And I stopped practicing asana (completely!) and other pranayama practices at around the same time. My practices fell apart quickly. I stopped my regular meditation 3 weeks ago, because of my exhaustion from a serious lack of sleep. (I found sleeping to be more helpful than meditation when I don¡¦t have enough sleep. Meditation is not at all eifficient nor enjoyable without enough rest) With these, the brahmacharya became very hard. Although once again, I wish I could start again. But my advice, both for me and for the others, would be to establish a stable sitting practices before attempting brahmacharya. Sitting practices helps your brahmacharya a lot, and vice versa.
I do think that the traumatic event helped me somehow in doing brahmacharya and other sitting practices, and helped me grow spiritually. This is something I would share in the future.
quote:
but don't want to focus on it too much and make it something taboo and would eventually like to develop an indifference - if that makes sense.
I doubt whether it will. My experience is that your urge will be more violent if you focus too much on it--quite the opposite of what you expect.
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Brahmacharya
