Page 43 - Mystic Pathways through the Bible

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through the practice of celibacy and restraint of sex pleasures. Generally, therefore, people think of a brahmachari as a young person or a monk who is celibate and unmarried. However, the term has profound implications. In the deeper philosophical sense, brahmacharya implies the control and sublimation of biological passion, leading to the realization of a far more exalted state of Bliss. This inspiring and elevating love unites not just the sexes, but unites every individual with the universe and with all that exists. The ideal of brahmacharya asserts that a human being, whether male or female, is intrinsically the Self (Brahman). Thus, their instinct to love must ultimately be completely and sublimely ful lled in the state of Self-realization, wherein union with God, the Self-in-all, is attained.
Therefore, in ancient India, for the purpose of raising the consciousness of humanity to this exalted state, Sages divided the human lifetime into four twenty- ve year stages or ashrams. According to this system, people are to spend the rst twenty- ve years of their life in the brahmacharya ashram, or student life. The second twenty- ve years are devoted to the grihastha ashram or householder/married life. The third stage is vanaprastha ashram, the retired stage, focused upon the practice of austerity and the dissemination of wisdom in forest schools. The fourth and nal stage is sanyasa ashram or renunciation.