Chastity
Chastity is the most beautiful flower of all human virtues. It makes an angel of a man. Its beauty lies in its own purity, it has the quality of keeping the soul and the body free from any blemish and defect. Chastity consists in having no thought of connection with any person other than one's own wife or husband. It needs very great restraint because chastity may be destroyed by even thinking an evil thought. Fruits remain fresh on the trees, but once they are plucked their freshness is destroyed. One may preserve them for sometime by placing them in a jar of honey. Similarly, chastity of a man or woman, once broken, can be protected only by devotion of a very high order. Such a devotion has a protecting influence for the soul, just as honey has for plucked fruit. We are otherwise destroyed like a moth in the fire.
In the beginning we transgress the limits of chastity. Then there is no resistance and we do not try to control the passions. Instead of the right use we put it to a wrong use. Everybody needs chastity. Married couples need it to keep to the path of virtue.
In Case of separation, he or she needs to pass the rest of the life happily in remembrance of the Lord. No man can see the Lord without being chaste. The Lord cannot manifest himself in an impure heart.
Christ says:
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Revelation 22:15
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
St. Matthew 5:8
It is necessary to give up desire and lust when on the spiritual path.
Maulana Rumi says,
If you desire consciousness and awareness of the soul, give up lust and passion, as these shut our inner eye, which cannot see the Light (Jyoti) of God, nor can our inner ear hear the celestial music within.
Give up lust if you want awareness, for it closes the eye and the ear.
Human bodies are like mirrors of glass, which cannot be carried together because they are liable to be broken by striking against each other. Even the pure rain water becomes dirty as soon as it touches the earth. Therefore, do not allow anyone to touch you even in innocent play or love. It may be that your chastity remains intact, yet some damage is done to freshness of purity and the sweet smell of beauty. If you are ashamed by allowing another to touch you, then your chastity is affected. To preserve the chastity, the company of lustful men and women should be avoided as their speech has the effect of injecting poison in you, and this becomes the cause of ruin of your chastity.
Keep the company of pure men. If you cannot meet them, contemplate lovingly on the Master. In this way, your inner dirt would be washed. Do not, therefore, permit anybody to spoil your chastity. In order to be chaste, you should avoid the company of such persons as are given to sensual enjoyments. The poison of their lustful ideas will surely affect those who come across them. You should always keep the company of pure and chaste persons. If you fail to get such a company, meditate on the form of the Master with love and devotion. In this manner, your inner impurities will gradually be washed out.
Tolstoy says,
One should preserve one's vital fluid.1 He should not only abstain from evil action, but should keep his thoughts pure and clean and should not besmear the soul with the dirt of sins and evil ideas.
He should, in other words, be a true and perfect celibate. Husband and wife both should lead a life of restraint and should suppress their urge. With the birth of desired children, they should give up their relationship of man and wife and engage themselves in the development and education of their children, who should be given proper guidance on the path of virtue so that they, in due course, may turn out to be true devotees of God.
Buddha says:
One should not cause pain to anybody. He should behave with others as he would himself like to be treated by others. Evil thoughts must be kept under control. It is necessary to control the lustful desires and senses in order to be virtuous. Lust and sensual pleasures lead to trouble. They are the cause of disputes, pains and worries in this world.
Zoroaster says:
You should work together with your companions. It is not necessary to remain separate from each other, but your way of life must be pure.
Lao Tse says:
I have three precious things which I value greatly:
i. Compassion,
ii. Economy2 and
iii. Humility.By compassion I try to become brave; by economy I can be the leader of men.
He further says:
For you, it is enough that you should know your own self and be chaste. Do not punish others after quarrelling with them. Do not be satisfied only with the purity of your talks and actions. You should be pure in mind. Then you may be the leader of others.
Charan Das says:
Good character is a yoga of high order, provided one knows. Without good character, salvation is not possible. All good qualities without good character are like a poison and Jap-Tap (austerities and recitations) will be of no avail. It is a very precious thing. A person without it is ignoble. Men of bad character go to hell and are subjected to punishment by the angel of death (yama).
Without it, a person has no stability of mind or body.
Good character is a yoga of high merit if one knows it. Oh Charan Das, without good character no one obtains emancipation. If you possess all virtues but have no character, Your Jap Tap will be in vain. Learn discrimination at His feet. Character occupies a high position among the thirty virtues. The mind that has no character is debased. Without character, one goes to hell and is subject to death. Without character he wanders all over the world.
He further says that with good character, all other virtues remain intact just as an army functions properly while under the control of a commander. Nothing remains after truth departs. With the loss of character, all virtues are lost. When there is no fence, how can the field of devotion be protected? He who is not of good character in youth loses his health. When the face is pale, what is the use of repentence? With the loss of character, man's stature is lowered in the eyes of the world. Man is rebuked like a dog. He is not honoured anywhere. It is an invaluable advice that you should be of good character. You would be redeemed and would meet the Lord. Therefore, bathe in the pool of good character and serve the Lord. There is no other place of pilgrimage like it.
With good character all the good virtues remain just as the army remains with the commander. When Truth is lost, nothing remains; With loss of character, all is lost. How can the field of devotion be saved when the fence is broken? Good character was not kept in youth and health deteriorated. What is the use of repentance when one has lost face. With loss of character, the position in the world is lost. He is rebuked like a dog, and is not respected anywhere.
The best advice is to be of a good moral character. The life is redeemed and Lord is realised. Bathe in the pool of good character and serve the Lord. Sukh Dev says that there is no pilgrimage like it.
In 'Pran Sangli', Guru Nanak has described beautifully the merits of observing continence and demerits of not doing so.
Everybody talks of vital drop.
Seldom does one know super vital drop.
Super vital drop3 is the jewel those who search, find.
Who can know it?
One who contemplates finds it.
One ties a cloth tightly over the organ. One lives in a forest to be away from women. One does not close his eyes (sleep) for fear of loss of fluid. The mind, however, wanders in all directions.
The mind which is running in the ten directions is controlled.
Oh Nanak! the most precious jewel is found because of this control.
The Lord is realized by controlling the fluid.
Light appears by controlling the fluid.
The mind is controlled by controlling the fluid.
The jewel is got by controlling the fluid.
The body becomes pure by controlling the fluid.
Man becomes immortal by controlling the fluid.
One knows himself by controlling the fluid.
He approaches God by controlling the fluid.
One realises the Lord by controlling the fluid.
Oh Nanak! One is freed from rebirth by controlling the fluid.
One knows all the secrets by controlling the fluid.
One sees light by controlling the fluid.
One conquers difficulties by controlling the fluid.
One becomes fearless by controlling the fluid.
One sheds pretences by controlling the fluid.
One hears the unknowable melody by controlling the fluid.
One takes to yoga by controlling the fluid.
One knows the Lord by controlling the fluid.
One becomes compassionate by controlling the fluid.
One gets keen intellect by controlling the fluid.
One knows the secrets of the body by controlling the fluid.
Oh Nanak! There is seldom such a jewel among the millions.4
No one knows the quality of a jewel.
Only a jeweller knows the lustre of a jewel.
When a jeweller knows the lustre of a jewel,
He then gives out the quality of the jewel.
Only a connoisseur can find a jewel.
No one but a jeweller can recognise a jewel.
The jewel lights the mind of the connoisseur.
A jewel is liked by the connoisseur.
A connoisseur buys the jewel.
Oh Nanak! A jewel dwells in the mind of the connoisseur.
When the jewel is got, its light spreads.
When the jewel is got, attention is fixed in melody.
When the jewel is got, one merges in the spiritual regions.
When the jewel is got, the faith in the unknowable is strengthened.
When the jewel is got, the wonderful method is found.
When the jewel is got, peace is obtained.
When the jewel is got, all the wisdom is acquired.
When the jewel is got, one engages in contemplation.
Those who waste the fluid lose the jewel.
Those who waste the fluid are reborn.
Those who waste the fluid undergo the cycle of eighty-four.
Those who waste the fluid are over-powered by death.
These who waste the fluid have ailing bodies.
Those who waste the fluid are tyrannized by Kal.
Those who waste the fluid lose all.
Those who waste the fluid suffer greatly.
Those who waste the fluid get into difficulties.
Those who waste the fluid are ill-treated by Yama (death).
Those who waste the fluid suffer in the end.
Oh Nanak! He who wastes the fluid shall have to weep.
He who wastes the fluid has to be reborn.
He who wastes the fluid always suffers.
He who wastes the fluid gets into extreme troubles.
He who wastes the fluid again enters the womb.
He who wastes the fluid burns like fire.
These are the consequences of waste of fluid.
Oh Nanak! He who wastes the fluid is born again and again.
He who does not control the fluid visits the wives of others.
He who does not control the fluid weeps to the end.
He who does not control the fluid is not able to carry out the Dharma (duties).
He who does not control the fluid repents in the end.
He who does not control the fluid is false like a dog.
He who does not control the fluid is burnt by fire.
He who does not control the fluid is degraded.
He who does not control the fluid is sent to hell.
He who does not control the fluid is unwise.
Oh Nanak! He who wastes the fluid repents.
What is the benefit of self-control?
By self-control depression disappears.
Who can describe the benefits of self-control?
By self-control one gets knowledge of all things.
What is the use of self-control?
By self-control one crosses the ocean of the world.
By self-control one gets everything.
By self-control one gets emancipation.
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Footnote:
1) The male vital fluid; the semen.
2) While this term is used today more for the economy or economies on a larger scale – such as the economy of a region or a country – it was previously also used for economies on a smaller scale, such as in a household.
In its broader meaning, the term refers to the efficient, non-wasteful use of material and immaterial resources of all kinds, such as time, effort, energy, money, etc. Those who have achieved this have their outer life in order.
On a higher level, this also requires the Inner Knowledge of which resources should be used in what quantity, where and how, or who should be supported to what extent.
Only someone who has achieved this can also support others in the right way or apply these principles on a large scale to be a true leader of people in the next stage.
3) This refers to Naam.
4) That a soul receives the conscious connection with Naam is something very rare.
[…] ten of one million receive Naam, that is the relation. […]
(Anurag Sagar by Kabir in the edition of Bhai Jamal)