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Celibacy: A Scientific Analysis
The description of sexual pleasures of celestial beings given in the fourth chapter of the ancient Jain scripture, 'The Tattvartha Sutra' supports this statement. Śri Umāsvāti, the author of the 'Tattvärtha Sutra" says that gods who live up to Saudharma, the first heaven and Iśāna, the second heaven satisfy their sex urge with actual sexual intercourse. Of the higher types of gods, some enjoy sexual pleasures only through touch, some enjoy only through eyes, some enjoy them through words and some enjoy them only through sensorium."
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If the other person is only imaginary, is energy used up? Generally, there is not a living person in front of him who reads a sexual novel or a sexual part of a novel. In his mnd there are only imaginary characters imagined by the novelist. Does one loose his energy by thinking of the imaginary characters? This can be replied in the affirmative on the basis of the modern science and ancient narrative literature.
In ancient stories, we come across incidents which show that, sages of distinguished power created with their thinking power or will powerspecial charaters of a young girl etc. for a particular purpose and when the purpose was fulfilled, they dissolved what they had created. The same thing happens here at a subtler level. The strong will-power of the reader of a novel creates an imaginary character invisibly with subtle pudgalas i.e. paramāņus of the surrounding atmosphere and as soon as the mental association of the reader with the character, joins both the poles of the bio-electro-magnetic current, the electro-magnetic circuit is completed and consequently the reader's energy is consumed. That is why they who observe self- restraint should abstain from reading very sexual novels or literature.
For observance of celibacy, very oily, nutritive and stimulative food should be abstained from. For every living organism, food is an important source of energy, which is necessary for life. Generally, a monk should not take milk, curds, ghee, jaggery, oil and sweets for his food. The Jain scripturists call all these six substances to be infatuating food items because they can produce infatuation in the body. But if a monk is constantly engaged in study, thinking, meditation and specially learning and teaching and if he is physically weak, scripturists allow him to take all the six kinds of infatuating food items with his guru's permission. Food should be eaten only to get necessary strength of the body. Infatuation is also caused by getting more than neces
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