27 Oct 2018
Shri Anil asked: Padanamaskaram Swami! Recently some sexual scandals were observed in spiritual institutions like the Catholic Church involving spiritual leaders like Bishops etc. In the light of this kindly give Your valuable advice to devotees who have faith in such belief systems. Kindly give Your reply on this. At Your Divine Lotus feet, Anil
Swami replied: I do not understand why people are always very sensitive about sex. It is just a biological activity like hunger, thirst, sleep etc. If the desire for sex still remains even after formally taking sainthood, such a person should have his wife stay with him. There is nothing wrong in it. We say that such a person is in the state called Vaanaprastha Aashrama, which is living with his wife while participating in the spiritual effort. There is no difference between Vaanaprastha Aashrama and sainthood (Samnyasa Aashrama) except that in Vaanaprastha Aashrama, the wife or the husband also stays with the spiritual aspirant. Saint Sureshvara, the important disciple of Shankara, followed Shankara in the propagation of spiritual knowledge along with his wife, Ubhayabharati. God Datta is known to be with goddess Anagha while wearing the saffron cloth, which is the external sign of a saint. Just as food is required to pacify hunger and just as water is required to pacify thirst, the wife or the husband is required to pacify the desire for sex. The important point is that such sex should be legal. It should not be illegal. Illegal sex is equal to stealing food and water in order to pacify one’s hunger and thirst respectively. Sex is as normal as hunger and thirst. Sex with one’s wife or husband is justified and holy as told in the Gita (Dharmaaviruddhah bhuteshu kaamosmi—Gita).
In ancient days, spiritual preachers used to visit the houses of their disciples to preach or revise the spiritual knowledge necessary for the spiritual life of the disciples. They always used to visit the houses of these disciples along with their wives. Such spiritual preachers were very good scholars. They were not lesser than any saint, even though they did not wear the saffron cloth. The saffron cloth is just an external indication of sainthood, which is not at all important. A person should become a saint only when all the worldly fascinations drop off naturally, without any force. Worldly fascinations drop off due to the climax of fascination for God. In case of such a person, all these wrong and unjust things will not happen. These illegal things happen only when sainthood is taken without achieving perfect detachment from worldly fascinations in a natural and effortless way. Once the climax of fascination for God is attained, the person becomes a perfect saint, even though he or she might not be wearing the saffron cloth and might still be staying at home. There are several devotees, who pleased God by their climax devotion and attained salvation from the worldly bonds in a natural way.
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