Is all sex an expression of lust or can it be an expression of love?

Transcript

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sex any other questions Hare Krishna is sex always an expression of lust or can it also be an expression of love answer definitely sex can be an expression of love the Bhagavad Gita talks about sex as an expression of the divine dharmaviruddho bhuteshu kamasmi bharatakshabha Krishna says that I am sex life that is not contrary to the principles of religion and then Krishna further says prajanas chasmi kandarpah in the Bhagavad Gita when he is talking about bhuti yoga in the 10th chapter he says prajanas chasmi kandarpah so kandarpah is the attraction is cupid or kamdev which brings about the attraction between male and female prajanas means that which leads to procreation so Krishna doesn’t say that any and every kind of male-female attraction is he no he says that male-female attraction which leads to prajanas which leads to the begetting of krojani that is the manifestation of him and Krishna is the embodiment of supreme love so when in a dharmic situation when man and woman unite together and then they beget a child that is an act of love and the child that is born the parents naturally feel love and the parents sacrifice for the child to help the child grow up that is all an act of love so sex within a dharmic framework is definitely an expression of love however most of the sex that is depicted and glamorized in today’s culture is largely divorced from the procreational aspect of sex so here male-female become attracted to each other often without any without any dharmic union without any marriage and then there that sort of sex is pure is entirely based on physical attraction and that is nothing but lust so most of the sex in today’s culture is an expression of lust and because we are continuously exposed to that culture so even when we as devotee practitioners get involved after say a dharmic marriage in sex it is quite likely that it can become an expression of lust far more than it is an expression of love but in principle activities like embracing, kissing they can be expressions of affection and they can be expressions of love so sex can be an expression of love definitely but largely it is an expression of lust and if we look at things from a more philosophical perspective Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami in the Chaitanya Charita Amrit offers us a different definition of lust and love he says krishnendriya piti vancha atmendriya piti itcha dhare atmendriya piti itcha dhare bole kam krishnendriya piti itcha dhare premanam so he says that the desire to gratify one’s senses that is lust and the desire to satisfy Krishna’s senses that is love so this definition is quite radical in the sense that there is very important point made over here that Krishna also has senses and satisfying his senses is an expression of love so this is a devotional understanding of what is lust and love in a material sense you can say lust and love means when two people are attracted to each other just for physical things but then that is lust when two people are attracted to each other for not just the physical aspect but for the overall being well being of each other where people care for each other beyond the physical aspect that is love that is true but at a spiritual level we see that Krishna is the center of all loving exchanges in the spiritual world and everybody loves Krishna and that mutual love is centered in their love for Krishna and everybody wants to satisfy Krishna so our bodily conception which makes us believe that we are males or females is a major obstacle in relishing our eternal life of love with Krishna because due to the bodily conception we forget that we are parts of Krishna and that we can get the highest happiness in loving and serving Krishna so in that sense any activity that we do in the bodily conception is largely going to be an obstacle towards awakening our love for Krishna and so that’s why as devotees who want to develop love for Krishna we focus on minimizing sexual indulgence and focusing on maximizing our devotional activities in relationship with Krishna so from this perspective when you want to gratify Krishna’s senses that is love and other activities which we do for our own sensual pleasure that is lust so from this perspective when say devotees unite for the sake of bringing another devotional soul in this world who will also please Krishna and help in spreading Krishna’s mission that who will relish Krishna’s love and share that love with others that is also an expression of love so therefore to conclude sex can be an expression of love but due to the media’s incessant glamorization of the physical aspect of the male female relationship most of what goes on in the name of sex today is lust thank you