Sex, of course, is the most powerful desire most people have, and therefore the richest source of personal energy. Brahmacharya, self-control in thought and action, was a prerequisite in these forest academies. But this was not suppression or repression. Sexual desire, like everything else in the Upanishads, is only partly physical. Essentially it is a spiritual force – pure, high-octane creative energy – and brahmacharya means its transformation. Tapas, the sages say, becomes tejas: the radiant splendor of personality that shows itself in love, compassion, creative action, and a melting
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