I have a question regarding spiritual advancement and celibacy. Over the past few years, I have been doing a lot of work trying to advance myself spiritually – reading, meditating, etc. During this time, my views on love, relationships, and sexuality have changed considerably. I have come to the conclusion that celibacy is most likely necessary for full spiritual advancement(speaking for myself only). I used to have an intense desire for love and companionship from the opposite sex that has withered as my relationship with God and my true Self has grown stronger. There is a palpable difference in the way I think about the opposite sex now. My intuition is that love and a family are not in my future. Reading masters such as Sivananda and Aurobindo reinforces this opinion. My problem is that I have found myself unable to restrain my sexual impulses and find myself still succumbing to these cravings. I don’t have the same urges for love and companionship now, so what remains is only the physical/animalistic craving aspect of sexuality. I don’t feel “guilty” about this – I feel it is neither moral nor immoral. My problem is that I am currently neither here nor there – unable to use my sexuality with true love and commitment and also unable to suppress it and channel it upwards to God. I do believe that this will resolve itself in time, but I’m interested to hear if you have any thoughts on the matter. Thank you!
