A necessary pre-requisite for peaceful protest

(Mods:- This may initially seem like it is in the wrong forum. However, I humbly request that you give me the benefit of the doubt, and read through the entire post, before moving it, because it is intended to be relevant to Civil Unrest. Thank you)

I have been reading in other places that Americans are becoming "pre-revolutionary," and that it is getting more and more difficult for some (not everyone) to resist the idea of violently opposing the police. I want to share with people here, what I think Gandhi's secret was, as far as his ability to engage in sustained peaceful protest is concerned. He said that peaceful protest actually required much more inner strength than violence, and it was therefore much harder to do.

From what I have read, I am inclined to believe that his secret was something which, in Sanskrit is called brahmacharya. The definition of this term is celibacy; however it is not merely the act of physically restraining from sex, but also being mentally celibate as well. The purpose of this is that the aetheric energy which is usually make physical semen, gets retained for energetic use by the body. This allows a person to be much more intelligent, and also to have much greater strength of will than normal.

The reason why this is so important, is because without it, many of us will find it very difficult to resist the urge to charge violently at police if we are in protests, and we see them being violent towards others. This is exactly what they want us to do. The people behind the police want us to be violent towards them, so they will have justification for introducing more and more repressive laws; so we must not give them said justification.

I am not claiming to have a particularly strong grasp on this myself yet, as it is very difficult to do. I am, however, starting to read about both brahmacharya and Raja Yoga. Raja Yoga is a system which involves total control of the mind and energetic processes of the body, and brahmacharya is considered a prerequisite of that.

en.wikisource.org... - This is a link to Swami Vivekananda's book on Raja Yoga, as well as his commentary on the Aphorisms of Patanjali, which is considered an important book on the subject.

www.dlshq.org... - Sivananda's writing on brahmacharya, including advice on how to cultivate it.

I know that there will likely be a lot of people here who will scoff at this, and who will consider it rubbish. However, I figure that if even a single person is willing to look at these links, then it will be worth my having put them up. If we are going to take part in things like Occupy, but also resist the temptation to retaliate against police, we need to learn how to fortify ourselves mentally and spiritually.

reply to post by petrus4


"A necessary prerequisite", celibacy? Seriously?

The one thing that pretty much all religions share is that they try to make people believe that anything that brings pleasure is evil. I love how Buddhism took Hinduism and removed all of the ridiculous crap like is espoused in your OP and kept the teachings that had value. Speaking of Buddhism, not even monks are required to be celibate and they have absolutely no problem being pacifists. Your idea has just been debunked.

By the way, Gandhi disowned his own son because he got married instead of being celibate. Can you see the hypocrisy there? Sigh, these outdated principals need to be done away with, as they only lead to negativity.

interesting theory.. but from experience all celebacy did was make the urge to flatten the idiots that encountered in the world stronger...
much more relaxed have sex often.. got 2 wives who barely keep up with me.. need another..

by far people who have sex frequently much more laid back than those who dont...

if charging exposes more of theor nazi side for the world to see then i believe that is what needs done. exposing them in any and all means possible. it just so happens violence sells and demands a bigger audience. or at least it is what draws the average sheeples attention.

reply to post by petrus4


i dont think ill be the only person to read the links, or agree with this thread, but ill be the first lol. I havent started to read the links yet, a little to tied up at work to read an article or two, but i def plan on it as soon as i can. I very much agree with the need for non-violent protest. as you stated, the powers behind the mask of "to serve and protect" will be looking FOR violent reactions at protests and rallys, because like you said, more violence= more repression. i very much hope more people will read and enlighten themselves. the more minds producing possitve, peaceful energy, the better change we have of saving our species. S & F for sure. very solid

i dont know whom missed the point at the heart of this debate. it seams everyone is caught up on "sex". forget the sex aspect and dig deeper. its not about not having sex, at least to me, its about the mind set and state of being. to harnest ones energy and produce peace and love. i agree people are meant to have sex (i dont think anyone would debate that lol), but to allow sex to consume ones mind and thought process is to sever links to other brain functions. specific feelings are tied to specific nerves in the brain. when a feeling is consistently invoked, the ties grow strong; while the feelings which are put on the back burner, these ties are distanced and not as easily called upon. i could be wrong, but i didnt take from this that it was only about not having sex...and i believe an immediate jump to that conclusion shows this thread was mearly looked over, and i think the point was missed.

Originally posted by Q:1984A:1776
By the way, Gandhi disowned his own son because he got married instead of being celibate. Can you see the hypocrisy there? Sigh, these outdated principals need to be done away with, as they only lead to negativity.

Really? Which son were you referring to? All the 4 sons were married and had children and none were disowned by Mohandas Gandhi.

Probabaly you are referring to Harilal Gandhi who went to London to become a barrister, a decision opposed by his parents. He severed links with the family, he wasn't disowned by them. You could call that hypocritical since Mohandas Gandhi, the father, was himself a London educated barrister until you realise that decision to go to London to study in the case of Mohandas Gandhi, was his father's, not his own.