Paramahansa Yogananda on Sex

"Who created sex temptation ...? ... God." – "Satan created sex; that temptation . . ." (Confusing Yogananda, 1993, 108; 1982, 281)

The two verbatim Yogananda citations can amount to making many of us wiser in some ways, but hardly all ways — The following Yogananda quotations on sex are from three Yogananda books published by his fellowship, SRF. All of them may not be good for you and many others, but here they are as evidence at any rate. He claims that having sex devitalises or weakens you, even morally. Might it be the other way round also? Is there a middle ground somewhere?

Medical research findings indicate that some of Yogananda's very restrictive ideas against morally OK sex are of little worth: "Of little worth, of little help."

Depending in part on how violent a possible suppression or repression of natural impulses might be, various kinks or neuroses may form on top of more or less curbed and strangled id-based development over time. There is a danger there, many psychoanalysts think. (Cf. Billig 2004; Gossop 1981)

The gathered Yogananda-sayings are arranged here according to a scheme. Headings are added, a comment, and a list of sex benefits according to medical findings. References to books and articles are at the end.

Paramahansa Yogananda on Sex: Quotations

Yogananda teaches that married couples should be moderate in having sex and singles should not have it

The sexual man . . . man forgets his own position, and his relations with society, and commits great blunders that ruin his life and the lives of others. [Yogananda 1982:200]

A most important way to eliminate fatigue is to conserve the sex vitality. The single person should be fully self-controlled, and married couples should be moderate in their sexual relations. [Yogananda 1993:184]

It is extremely important to conserve your power of sex. Overindulgence in sex and misuse of Nature's creative force will bring on disease and old age quicker than anything else [!]. It devitalizes the body and weakens the immune system. Married couples should practice moderation, and single persons should observe abstinence. [Yogananda 2000:14, emphasis added] ◊

COMMENT: "Quicker than anything" . . . what a crazy idea! If that were true, sex should be worse than the devastating Black Plague. Besides, there are injuries, food poisoning from such as deadly mushroom, insect bites and venom to take into account too- and some infections cause diseases or death in days and weeks. Having ample, sound sex is to be preferred to all of it, if there is a choice.

Slavery to habits such as drinking or sex indulgence will destroy you. [Yogananda 1993:313]

Except for the purpose of procreation, and the expression of mutual true love in the holy state of matrimony, the creative urge is intended by God to be transmuted into energy and divine realization. [Yogananda 1982:315]

Yogananda teaches that self-controlled people should be used creatively some way too, by associating with them

To be enslaved by sex is to lose ... everything that man needs to be happy. [Yogananda 1982:315] (3)

Who created sex temptation ...? ... We do find evil in the world. And where did it come from? God. [Yogananda 1993:108]

Sex experience is ruinous to youthful lives ... In India, young people never touch or kiss until they are married. [Yogananda 1993:10]

The sexual person ought to be surrounded by self-controlled people; the habitual thief needs the society of honest people. [Yogananda 1982:201]

Some spiritual aspirants renounce sex, money, and material desires to enter a monastery or ashram, and then want to renounce constructive activities also. [Yogananda 1993:237]

Persons who are licentious in their habits might find some good in the basic aspects of practicing moderation and mental control. [Yogananda 2000:184] ◊

Those who live too much on the sex plane lose their way and fail to find a satisfying marital relationship. [Yogananda 1993:7-8]

The vital essence, or sexual fluid, contains a high concentration of prana. If not dissipated, the power therein can be used to enhance physical health, mental vitality and creativity, and spiritual development. [Yogananda 1982:64n]

It is wrong to strive purposely to attract the opposite sex through sex appeal. [Yogananda 1993:10]

Yogananda says that having much sex weakens the body and renders it vulnerable to illness. It could well be the other way round, if you get not more than you can handle.

Corroding emotions of anger, greed, and jealousy, and overstimulation by sex, alcohol, or drugs are extremely detrimental to you. [Yogananda 1982:194] (5)

If you are a slave to sex and misuse its power, and forget its divine purpose - to create children - you will lose energy, and destroy your physical and mental health. [Yogananda 1993:368]

Sexual excess impairs the nervous system and the brain cells ... Overindulgence in sex destroys will power, also. Hence ... practice moderation in marital relations, as nature intended [Yogananda 1982:201, emphasis added.]

COMMENT. All with potent, frequent sexual urges may note that point: "as nature intended". A fallen nature or a vital nature that is not fallen, can seem much alike, but vive la differance. Further, sexual urges in a population may go along with the curve og natural distribution, the Bell curve, the Gauss curve: Some persons have extreme sexual drives - that is, more than average sexual drives - all natural. Yogananda's teachings may not fit all. It is the same with sound sleep. There is an average, and there are Yogananda teachings. He tells others to cut down on sleep too. Consider it in the light of this: Sleep deprivation is known to have harmful, accruing effects. Should we talk of sex deprivation too?

The abuse of sex is comparable to running a car without oil; the body cannot stand it. Each drop of vital essence lost is equivalent to the loss of eight drops of blood. But the important point to remember is to learn self-control. [Yogananda 1993:9]

The use of alcohol and drugs frequently leads to overindulgence in sex, which shuts out the power of spiritual inspiration. [Yogananda 1982:160] ◊

The highest use of sex is the sublimation of its power in order to manifest spiritual thoughts and ideals and wisdom. [Yogananda 1982:315]

To be overactive sexually is detrimental to memory, draining its power more than any other factor. [Yogananda 1993:157]

Illness comes when the resisting power of the blood has been diminished by wrong eating or by overeating, or when overindulgence in sex has depleted the vital energy. To conserve the physical creative energy is to supply all the cells with vibrant life energy; the body then possesses a tremendous resistance to disease. Sexual overindulgence weakens the body and renders it vulnerable to illness. [Yogananda 1982:87-89] ◊◊

Hickman, who murdered a little girl many years ago, was possessed. I have studied him thoroughly. He was a good boy, but abnormal sexual drive and abuse weakened his brain, and a tramp soul took possession of his body. This is the reason he killed the girl in such a vicious way. [Yogananda 1993:291-92]

In married life there is the compulsion of sex. [Yogananda 1982:159] ◊◊◊

Banish all desires born of selfishness or sex compulsion. [Yogananda 1982:158]

One must practice celibacy and absolutely forget sex if one wants to know divine love through friendship. [Yogananda 1993:12]

Liquor increases man's desires for money and sex, and it is therefore the worst evil of the three. [Yogananda 1982:86]

When sex is ... used only to gratify lustful instincts, it becomes a tool of the devil. [Yogananda 1982:282]

Satan created sex; that temptation . . . [Yogananda 1982:281]

Gist

Beware, an old cauldron is here! [More]

1. Yogananda teaches that married couples should be moderate in having sex, and singles should not have it.
2. Yogananda also teaches that self-controlled people should be used creatively . . .
3. Yogananda further claims that having much sex weakens the body and renders it vulnerable to illness. It may well be the other way round for a lot of persons. Consider psychodynamic theory about id development (Erik H. Erikson) and Freudian findings about how neuroses may form through repression, suppression and the like.

Yogananda teaches that married couples should be sexually moderate and self-controlled - to be used creatively so that the sex urge weakens and the body gets less vulnerable to disease. A fulfilling life might just be the other way round. Consider what medical doctors have to tell of sex benefits too (further down).

Comment

Decent sex belongs to the private sphere of life, and one's private life is endangered by rules, regulations, surveillance, harmful living conditions, and so on. As for gurus, some are wise and kind, and others plot.

A well protected private sphere is endangered by (1) bossy "doctrination" as blurred abstention norms that may not work well at all, and (2) by bosses who invade the lives of followers to have "sex slaves" and similar, with little fear of repercussions. The Scylla and Charybdis call for good navigation ability at the very least, and maybe a little luck too.

Some kriya yoga gurus are not as outré and repressive as Yogananda (1893-1952). In a kriya yoga tradition that comes via Swami Sivananda, for example, kriya is taught freely, in books. [1993; 2001]. Swami Satyananda Saraswati, a disciple of Sivananda, says for example,

Yoga can improve or rectify sexual relationships ... Inadequate sexual relations are often the cause of much unhappiness and frustration ... Yoga practices ... increase one's ability to enjoy sexual union. [Satyananda 1981:2]

Satyananda, further, "We are only interested in helping you to gain maximum happiness and fulfilment in life. [Satyananda 1981:3]"

It sounds good, but be on your guard anyhow so as not to be beaten. [Some dangers of close encounters]

Back to Yogananda

Paying heed to silver-tongued, stiff barking and prattle against regular sex and against fun can lead into a counterproductive drift in life. Such a take is what the cauldron picture signals. In other words, it says "BEWARE!"

Yogananda has decreed many sorts of regulations for members of his kriya church. One wife of an SRF devotee blurted out about Yogananda in my presence, "He ruined my marriage!" She also said she hated him.

Forewarned is forearmed. Medical expertise today may say "Good Heavens!" to some of the guru's barker views, and blood donors too. They may lose more blood than some who have lovely sex thousands of times. I guess Yogananda did not think of that. And by the way, if you drink half a glass of milk, it helps the building of blood cells very well - to compensate for fluids spent on having sex or giving blood.

The repeated stance of the monk Yogananda was that money, sex, and drinking were bad and of Satan, but he also decreed that it was God who had created the sex temptation. Seek consistency, seek elsewhere.

There are four key ideals for Hindus. They are dharma, righteousness, artha, wealth, kama, delight, and moksha, great freedom. Artha is wealth, prosperity, and kama is sensual pleasure, lust, and other pleasures. It behoves humans to prosper and delight as long as universal righteousness (dharma) is not violated. Such is the firmly established stance in Hinduism. Compare what Buddha says about true friends.

What is right for humans as to having sex? Is it having it once a year for the purpose of having children only? Also for those with a ravenous sexual appetite? And for all who seek sex for pleasure? Sex may serve several functions beyond reproduction that may not be favoured in cults that dogmatise for total abstinence against "sexual slavery". The risk is that "dogmatist slavery" rises and takes its toll.

Sex Benefits according to Medical Research

Sex can be good for many equipped with sexual organs. It may boost our immune system and help maintain a healthy weight and ease depression too. How else can sex add to our life and enhance our physical and psychological health? Each of the following health benefits of healthy loving in a relationship (sex) is backed by some measure of scientific scrutiny.

1. Sex relieves stress and lowers bloods pressure. (Researchers from Scotland studied 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their sexual activity. Those who had intercourse had better responses to stress than those who engaged in other sexual behaviours or abstained. Another study shows that frequent intercourse is associated with lower diastolic blood pressure in persons who live together. Other research has found a link between partner hugs and lower blood pressure in women.
2. Sex helps the immunity system. Having sex once or twice a week has been linked with higher levels of an antibody that can protect you from getting colds and other infections.
3. Sex burns calories: 42 half-hour sessions will burn 3,570 calories, more than enough to lose a pound. Consider it helpful exercise - too.
4. Sex improves cardiovascular health. In a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, scientists found that how much and often people had sex was not associated with stroke in the 914 men they followed for 20 years. The researchers also found that having sex twice or more a week reduced the risk of fatal heart attack by half for the men, compared with those who had sex less than once a month.
5. Sex may boost self-esteem, and those who already have self-esteem may have sex to feel good about themselves and feel even better, for "Great sex begins with self-esteem, and it raises it. If the sex is loving, connected, and what you want, it raises it."
6. Sex improves Intimacy. Having sex and orgasms increases levels of the hormone oxytocin, which helps us bond and build trust. Researchers have found that the more contact, the higher the oxytocin levels.
7. Sex can reduce pain thanks to higher oxytocin levels. In a study, 48 volunteers who inhaled oxytocin vapour and then had their fingers pricked, lowered their pain threshold by more than half.
8. Sex reduces prostate cancer risk. "Frequent ejaculations, especially in 20-something men, may reduce the risk of prostate cancer later in life," Australian researchers have reported. They found men who had five or more ejaculations weekly while in their 20s reduced their risk of getting prostate cancer later by a third. Another study, reported in the JAMA (a journal) found that frequent ejaculations, 21 or more a month, were linked to lower prostate cancer risk in older men.
9. Sex helps you sleep better. [The points so far: Note 1]

Sex in a monogamous relationship has been shown in numerous studies to increase one's ability to be intimate with others, specifically one's special other, thus improving overall mental well being. And studies have shown just the opposite for those with many and multiple partners. [2]

Sex may improve the blood flow, thereby perhaps alleviating headaches.

A British study of 1,000 men found those who had at least two orgasms a week for some reason or other had half the death rate of their countrymen who indulge less than once a month. Deductions from this finding should not be over-simplified, though: Could sex increase vitality, or is better vitality leading to more sex? It could work both ways, and what is reason and what is cause has not been sorted out, to my knowing.

Anyway, the weight of the summarised evidence above may help you think twice about submitting to a guru doctrine that is not exactly embraced by all kinds of sex experts today.

Is there anything good to say about the monk Yogananda's main views on sex? If you find that having sex about once or twice a year, his main views could suit you. We are not all alike.

Also, Yogananda was rather against getting married also, not just against having a good sex life. There is much social research about stressors among Americans today. It shows up through the Holmes and Rahe scale that getting intimate with one or more others may well be the basic source of stress if you cannot handle the "side effects" and ramifications of love, so to speak. For many of the fourteen main stressors among people in America tie may result from intimacy enough. See for yourself, follow this link and study the strain and stresses of marriage through "the eyes of" the Life Event Scale by Rahe and Holmes. It is based on American averages, and there is no one that is perfectly average, but still . . . And note too that the other half of the coin, so to speak, is that having sex alleviates stress ...

So Yogananda's views look a lot like "minus x minus" becomes "plus" too. That is, "Oh, marry not" and "have next to no sex if wed" seem tolerable to monks, at least at first. And maybe to those who are served by guru dictates too in the way of prestige and status and privileges, among others.

Well, consider the good sides to having a family and decent, warm and fulfilling sex while you maximise their boons and minimise their downsides if you can and where you can. That should help many. Also consider the tensions of adhering to guru statements or whatever that make you lose a lot of good chances to find and get a favourable mate for life - and a possible risk of losing good help against problems you might not get at all if unmarried and hermit-like (cf. the Life Event Scale of Rahe and Holmes again) - and such help is what the fit husband and equally fit wife even delights to offer ...

At any rate, it should be good to study the research findings that the gleanings are taken from - that could be helpful, or what?

A healthy sex life boosts self-esteem, reduces stress and "makes people feel more alive and vibrant. [Linda De Villers, licensed psychologist and sex therapist author of Love Skills. [3]]

Masturbation: the primary sexual activity of mankind. In the nineteenth century it was a disease; in the twentieth, it's a cure. [Thomas Szasz]

I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex, and rich food. He was healthy right up to the day he killed himself. [Johnny Carson]

Should we take advice on sex from the pope? If he knows anything about it, he shouldn't! [George Bernard Shaw]