Is it correct to say Vaishnavism is a sex religion?

From Keshava P

There is a strand of spirituality that believes itself incompatible with sex, but this does not subsume all of spirituality (consider Tantra, Osho’s teachings, Vaishnavism, Sufism).

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Suppose you want me, it is like a dream. Pray Krishna. Question from Keshav Prabhu.
Can Vaishnavism be said to be a sex religion? And there is a strand of spirituality that believes itself incompatible with sex. But this does not subsume all of spirituality. Consider Tantra, Osho’s teaching, Vaishnavism, Sufism, etc.
And there is an article which is given as a link referring to a report in the Times of India about this. Answer, the word sex has some connotations which are almost instantaneous and universal in the minds of people. And those connotations are entirely based on the body platform.
So, the Vedantic path primarily focuses on differentiating between the body and the soul. And the life at the level of the body is a life of bondage and illusion for the soul. And the life at the level of the soul is the actual reality.
So, among the various things that bind us to bodily consciousness, sex is among the greatest sources of bondage. And that’s why the scriptures do talk about, repeatedly about being cautious about getting entangled in sex. So, that is the basic philosophical understanding that is important for any spiritualist.
Now, in some religions in this world, the differentiation between the body and the soul is not very clear. And therefore, they don’t have a very clear understanding of why certain things are considered bad or certain things are considered good. So, they may have some prohibitions against sex and that may be because they consider sex itself to be evil.
So, the Vedic understanding is not that sex itself is evil, but that it is the bodily platform that is a cause of forgetfulness. And we have to rise away from the bodily platform. And sex binds us to the bodily platform.
That is the sex as we know it. Now, the male-female attraction, which is the underlying principle of sex, Pumsastriya Mithuni Bhavanetam, the Bhagavad Guru Shabdev’s Teachings 5th Canto describes. So, Canto 5th Chapter.
So, actually, that male-female attraction, the Vedic scriptures explain, is present in the spiritual realm also. That is between God and His devotee. That is pure and pristine.
And what is present here is perverted. So, the goal of a devotee is not just to become free from sexual desire. It is to become filled with spiritual desire.
Now, as long as we are on the bodily platform, the sexual desire and the spiritual desire are opposed to each other. And that’s why we do have to become free from the sexual desire. But that doesn’t mean that we have to hate our body or torture our body as some religions believe.
We can use our body in Krishna’s service. And the more we use our body in Krishna’s service, the more it enables us to go closer to Krishna. Now, I have answered about Tantra elaborately elsewhere.
So, generally in Vaishnavism, it is understood that matter can be very binding. And that’s why some forms of matter can be used in God’s service, but not all forms of matter. And not all forms of material engagement.
So, Krishna says, dharmaviruddho bhuteshu kamosu nirdarsabham. I am sexless. That is not contrary to religious principles.
So, in that sense, sex itself is not taboo. But the important point is that actually sexes can be integrated with the spiritual quest as long as it is in the presence of dharma. But the important point is the spiritual quest for us is becoming free from the bodily conception.
And that for that sex can be the greatest distraction and entanglement. Now, beyond that, there are some other schools of thought, like say Tantra, which have the idea that everything material can be used as a means for spiritual realization. So, even they engage in sexual activities and they imagine that by engaging in ritual sex, one can get spiritual realization.
And often, this kind of ritualization of sex becomes a license for degradation. And people forget everything about spirituality and just engage in indiscriminate sexuality. So, that is not the recommended way within the devotional path.
So, the recommended way is that we regulate the sexual desires within the presence of dharma and focus on practicing various forms of devotional service, which will gradually free us from bodily consciousness and elevate us to spiritual consciousness. For that to happen, the focus has to be on Krishna. So, is Vaishnavism a sex religion? No, it is a God-centered, Krishna-centered religion of love.
And that love has got very little to do with what people think of as sex. But that love for Krishna involves, in their original pure and pristine forms, the various principle relationships that are there in this world. So, that includes the five rasas.
And ultimately, there is also the Madhura rasa, which is considered to be the highest. But generally, it is because it is very easy to confuse the bodily, the body-based sexuality of this world with the Krishna-centered male-female interaction in the spiritual world. That’s why the acharyas generally tell us to be cautious and not mix up the two, to focus first on purifying ourselves of the sexual contamination and gradually elevate ourselves to the spiritual level.
So, we are not antithetical to… the Vaishnav path is not antithetical, opposed to sex intrinsically. But bodily consciousness, which makes us forgetful of Krishna, that is what is to be given up. And because sex roots us to bodily consciousness, that’s why we have to become free from sex desire.
Then only, eventually, we can understand the pure male-female interaction in the spiritual world and understand what is actually the Madhurya rasa at the spiritual level.