Introduction Brahmacharya or celibacy, according to Swami Sivananda Saraswati, is “self-restraint, particularly mastery of perfect control over the sexual organ or freedom from lust in thought, word and deed.” He calls for a conversion of sexual desire to spiritual energy, also known as ojas, through meditation, yoga and prayer. He also uses Freud’s term ‘sublimation’ and claims it “is not a matter of suppression or repression, but a positive, dynamic, conversion process. It is the process of controlling the sex energy, conserving it, then diverting it into higher channels, and finally, converting it into spiritual energy or ojas sakti.” Ojas, according to Swami Saraswati, is “spiritual energy that is stored up in the brain.” The ultimate spiritual ideal is to be free of sexual desire and Swami Saraswati claims that only total sublimation can make this happen. He argues that if an individual is able to attain perfect sublimation, “there will be purity in thought, word and deed. No sexual thought will enter the mind at any time.” Sigmund Freud, who introduced the concept of sublimation in modern psychology, defined it as “a process that concerns object-libido and consists in the instinct directing itself towards an aim other than, and remote from, that of sexual satisfaction; in this process the accent falls upon deflection from sexuality.” Freud argues that sublimation originates in suppression, which he describes as the “progenitor of the period of sexual latency” and then leads to redirection. Individuals pursue another activity as a substitute to confronting their sexual desires. Roger Balducelli, from The Catholic University of America, argues “it is not the man who chooses his own celibacy; it is rather celibacy tha... ... middle of paper ... ...nces. Howard, V. R. (2013) Rethinking Gandhi's Celibacy: Ascetic Power and Women's Empowerment. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 81.1 Gandhi, M. (2012). Autobiography: The story of my experiments with truth. Courier Dover Publications. Khandelwal, M. (2009). Research on Hindu Women’s Renunciation Today: State of the Field Brooke, T. (1999). Avatar of Night. End Run Pub Balducelli, Roger. The decision for celibacy. Theological Studies 36.2 (1975): 219-242. Donnelly, D., Burgess, E.et al (2001). Involuntary Celibacy: A Life Course Analysis Tyagananda. Why Celibacy? A Hindu Perspective http://www.eng.vedanta.ru/library/vedanta_kesari/why_celibacy_a_hindu_perspective.php Potterie, I. The Biblical Foundation of Priestly Celibacy. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_cclergy_doc_01011993_bfoun_en.html
Ever since the defense mechanism of sublimation was coined by Freud in “Three Essays” (1905), the psychological community has been particularly interested further investigating the validity of this concept and reforming new theories around it. Sublimation today is described as a mature defense mechanism at which socially unacceptable impulses are transformed into socially acceptable aims. Freud referred to sublimation as a necessary component for a healthy psychological condition and as the most complete drive density. Being such a critical element of Freudian psychoanalysis, the concept has received a substantial amount of attention by the psychological community. The concept of sublimation is, at its surface, generally convincing and logical.
Love can sometimes be seen as a counterintuitive and unconventional sense of life. The irony in it all is love could either be as warm as the Sunday morning sun or as cold as a New England winter when touched by the heart or the skin. As we grow up, if we believe we are cherished by the most respectful and admirable person, we give up the most vulnerable parts of ourselves: the body. However, throughout modern society, people tend to use sexual intercourse as a form of personal pleasure and gain without the obligations of emotions. Henceforth, stated in Sharon Olds’ “Sex Without Love”, premarital sex may be against God’s intentions to be pure but at the same time people love the priest more the teachings and are willing to go against the Lord
Most religions of the world address moral issues that arise from people's sexuality within the human interactions. “Sex and religion- two of the most powerful, passionate, and poetic aspects of human existence”( “Manning and Zuckerman pg. 1“). There are many distinct religious beliefs about the complexion of sexuality and the appropriateness of various sexual behaviors. “Some religious (or aspects within them) can be described as comparatively “sex positive”. By “sex positive“, we mean that sensual, erotic activity involving the consensual pursuit and / or actualization of gratifying bodily pleasure is understood as natural and acceptable , even holy. Conversely, some religions (or aspects within them) can be described as “sex negative”, that is, sensual, erotic activity involving the consensual pursuit and / or actualization of gratifying bodily pleasure is understood as unnatural and unacceptable, even sinful” ( “Manning and Zuckerman pg. 2“).
In the discourse of family relations, views of women, and sex, it is necessary to begin with the standing that Catholicism held on the issues. The nuclear family model was the ideal of the Catholic Church; for this model provided protection, stability, and business connections. Ozment describes the nuclear family as the “total subjection of the wife to home and husband, of the home to the production of children, and of the children to the will of their parents” (Ozment, pg. 2). This view provides that a woman’s only purpose in life was to marry and bear children; if this was not viable she could enter the convent as not to be a finical burden upon her family. The Catholic Church also had strict views on the topic of sex, which was no sex outside of marriage and only in marriage to procreate. This view was held for the Church believed that “an upright person took pleasure only in God and used the things of the world to God’s glory, fallen men and women were enslaved to their lust and passions, no longer masters of their wills, and eager to worship the world in place of its creator” (Ozment, pg....
Throughout the years, there has been constant debate to whether priests should remain celibate or should have the option to marry during priesthood. In Catholicism, the Church holds that celibacy is a gift of the Holy Spirit for the Church; therefore, it is not something negotiable. Many devoted Catholics view the idea of ending celibacy as an absolutely ridiculous thought, but there are many devoted Catholics who have the opinion that ending celibacy in priesthood could have a positive impact in Catholicism. The questions remain: Which is the proper choice? Do Catholics have authority to change tradition? As a raised Catholic and from a personal standpoint, I believe that celibacy in priesthood is beneficial and that its tradition is quite beautiful. Not only should Catholicism continue with its tradition because it is his...
Freud has multiple known theories all describing the unconsciousness, the human defense mechanism, the clinical conversation between patients and psychoanalyst, and most prominently he discussed about sexual desire. He explained sexual desire as the key motivating energy for humans, and he discussed about its magnitude. On the same topic of sexual desire, Freud also discussed about homosexuality and how it’s acquired (Freud’s View of Homosexuality, 2013). Sigmund Freud discussed the concept of homosexuality as deterministic. According to Feud, human beings are born with unfocused sexual libidinal d...
The application of morality begins at a young age for many people. Many children take on the morality of their parents through the daily events that influence their development. In many ways, parental sexuality means fidelity, and the ability to stay monogamous in order to properly raise a child in a complete family unit. This in turn expresses sexual fidelity as a form of morality, and without sexual fidelity, there will be painfully undesirable consequences. Along with the family unit being an influential aspect of sexuality, religion, particularly Catholicism, claim that sexual activity is solely justified by the reason of procreation. Freud also perceived sexuality as the dark and evil part of the human being, when allowed to freely express sexuality, the person i...
This essay can be broken up in to two distinct parts: first I attempt to define the role of christian sexual ethics into two main objectives: (1) primarily, it should be concerned with orienting sexual desires towards God and checking all desires against a desire for God above all. (2) And secondarily, sexual ethics should be concerned with the formation of a sexual character of commitment, loyalty and faithfulness.
For example, Carlisle (1993) understood, “Dissociation, fantasy, and compartmentalization enhance personality and behavioral differences” (p. 25). Moreover, in “Extreme cases of childhood trauma psychological issues can emerge” (p. 26), soliciting memories hidden in the subconscious later resting in the concepts of self and identity. Whereby, the relationship between dissociation, repression, and self could be due to libido suppression. Porter (2013) explained, Jung deduced, individual choices are subjective and suggestive residing at the “Core of the spiritual self” (p. 249). When there is a lack of libido, depression may arise, and the unconscious will attempt to direct the conscious energy in a rational direction. For example, if a person is hungry, sleepy, or desires sex, the libido energy force tries to fulfill those needs through objects. Each object holds distinct values for one’s subjective judgments and tendencies,...
Advocates of celibacy worry that if priests marry, the congregation will be majorly neglected. However, that point is easily refuted because of the available examples of the leaders of uncelibate churches.
Freud's proposed theory indicates that the psychosexual stages are known as oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages, which profoundly make up a person’s personality. “These are called psychosexual stages because each stage represents the fixation of libido (roughly translated as sexual drives or instincts) on a different area of the body.” (Saul McLeod, 2008) Concerning the oral, anal, phallic, and genital stages it is believed that if there is an overindulgence or lack of indulgence, people’s psychological development is influenced. The conflicts presented in each psychosexual stage must first be satisfied before a character can move to the next stage, and too much stimulation in one stage or not enough stimulation can define one’s
From a Freudian perspective, human development is based on psychosexual theory (Wedding & Corsini, 2014). Psychosexual theory indicates that maturation of the sex drives underlies stages of personality development (Shaffer et al., 2010). It was Freud’s perspective that there are three components of personality (the id, ego, and superego) that become integrated into his five stage theoretical model. The id was the biological or drive component that is innate from birth. The sole purpose of the Id is satiate an individual’s internal drives (Wedding & Corsini, 2014). The ego is the conscious portion of our personality that mediates between our id and superego. Throughout development the ego reflects the child’s emerging ability to...
The Argument for Celibacy How could someone explain America’s loosening view of sexual intercourse over recent decades? Have our moral standards changed so much that they now accept or even encourage sexuality? Is it just a method of rebellion as people attempt to fight conservative societal views? Perhaps we just wish to fight those who instill inhibitive ideas in us, and our forms of freedom – in this case, that of our bodies.
Kalpana Wilson "Arundhati Roy and Patriarchy - a rejoinder", originally an article appearing in Indian newspaper "Liberation" in January 1998, available at : http://angelfire.com/in/SASG/aroy.html (accessed 22/09/2004)
Sex has been a taboo subject for many generations in nearly every culture present in the world. Many seem to rely on the traditional idea that one should abstain from sex until marriage, while others evolved and began to exercise the idea of sexual freedom and are not held down by any certain beliefs or traditions. Leslie Bell takes an in-depth look into this complex situation by taking into account various psychoanalytical theories and first-hand experiences in order to make sense of this complicated subject. One can argue that sex becomes a much more complicated rather than a pleasurable experience for women due to the confusing standards that society has put in place, their upbringing from childhood to adulthood, and their overwhelming desire