Celibacy and marriage

Devotee: Is not brahmacharya (celibacy) necessary for realisation of the Self?

Sri Ramana: Brahmacharya is ‘living in Brahman’. It has no connection with celibacy as commonly understood. A real brahmachari, that is one who lives in Brahman, finds bliss in the Brahman which is the same as the Self. Why then should you look for other sources of happiness? In fact the emergence from the Self has been the cause of all the misery.

Devotee: Celibacy is a sine qua non for Yoga?

Sri Ramana: So it is. Celibacy is certainly an aid to realisation among so many other aids.

Devotee: Is it then not indispensable? Can a married man realise the Self?

Sri Ramana: Certainly, it is a matter of fitness of mind. Married or unmarried, a man can realise the Self, because that is here and now. If it were not so, but attainable by some efforts at some other time, and if it were new and something to be acquired, it would not be worthy of pursuit. Because what is not natural cannot be permanent either. But what I say is that the Self is here and now and alone.

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