Guide To Piligrims

The most difficult achievement, but that of primary importance, is the elimination of sex, not only in deed but in thought and word also. If one looks at a woman’s beauty with a covetous eye one is committing adultery. All sensuality destroys the soul, it is better to renounce the pleasures of the flesh than to allow the soul to be destroyed by them.

When God sent man to the earth He said:

“Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it. You may eat freely of the fruits of the trees of the garden but of the fruit of the tree which is in the centre of the garden ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it lest ye die”.

Man disobeyed and ate of the fruit of the tree in the centre of the garden and became mortal.

Significantly, God proclaimed that propagation by animal physical union is not the means by which he desired man to multiply his species.

‘Lest ye die’ does not refer to physical death. Physical birth is necessarily followed by physical death. Death here refers to the death or extinction of the Divine Consciousness in man and of his immortal Soul.

Apart from the importance of continence in the spiritual quest, it has unique value in ordinary day-to-day life also. It helps us to keep perfect health and strength of body and mind, to endure any amount of physical strain and to face the vagaries of the weather.