Some people ask, “Sex is a natural bodily function; why is spiritual life against sex?”

Spiritual life is not against the natural bodily function of sex, but rather it is against the unnatural aggravation of that bodily function in a hyper-sexualised mind and a hyper-sexualised culture.

The Bhagavad-gita (07.10) acknowledges the importance of sex, even its divinity, when declaring that sex according to the principles of dharma is an experience of Krishna. Through sex, we become co-creators with God, helping source new life into this world by facilitating a soul to get a physical body.

This natural bodily function becomes stripped of its essence when fuelled by the unrelenting sensual imagery promoted in today’s media-driven materialistic culture. Because of such unceasing exposure to sensual imagery, sex distorts from a bodily function to a mental obsession.

When our mind becomes obsessed with sex, we start seeing people as objects of alluring shapes and colours, meant for our titillation. Such an objectified view of people damages our capacity for deep relationships even in material life. And it destroys our spiritual prospects. We just can’t focus on realities beyond the material, especially the supreme spiritual reality, Krishna, when we are constantly fantasising about and searching for the next chance for sensual pleasure.

The Gita (10.41) explains that everything attractive manifests a spark of Krishna’s all-attractiveness. So, whatever pleasure we might get by enjoying the good-looking objects of this world, we can get far more by connecting with Krishna. The Gita (05.23) stresses that tolerating sensual desire helps us stay on the path of spiritual progress and attain lasting happiness. By regulating our sensuality according to Gita wisdom, we open ourselves to the sublime, supreme enrichment available through loving absorption in Krishna.

Thus, Gita wisdom is not against sex; it is against the obsession with sex that deprives us of lasting spiritual happiness.

Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is well situated and is happy in this world – Bhagavad Gita 5.23