Just as you control the itching sensation in the leg or the hand, you must control the itching from lust by Viveka, Inquiry, Soul Awareness, light Sattvic diet, fasting, Pranayama, Yogic Practices, Prayers, etc. Then only can you enjoy spiritual bliss.
Inquiry and Soul Awareness
It is through constant inquiry and soul awareness that the mind has to be weaned from lustful thoughts and tendencies. You must remove not only the sexual craving and the sexual impulses, but also sex-attraction. Think of the miseries that you get from attachments with its various entanglements and bondage. Make the mind understand by repeated auto-suggestions and hammering that sexual pleasure is false, worthless, illusory and full of pain. Place before the mind the advantages, bliss, power and knowledge of a spiritual life. Make it understand that the exalted, eternal life is in the immortal Soul. When it hears constantly these useful suggestions, it will slowly leave off its old habits. The attraction for the sex will slowly die. Then only real sex-sublimation will take place. Soul is sexless. There is no sex in the five elements. It is the mind that creates the sex idea. Consider that a human is a combination of five elements, a mass of electrons or atoms. The sex idea will slowly vanish.
Pure Reason
There are two kinds of force in the mind, viz., hostile or antagonistic force and friendly or favourable force. Passion is hostile force that drags you down. Pure reason is a favourable force that elevates you and transmutes you into Divinity. Develop, therefore, my child, pure reason to get unalloyed bliss and supreme Soul knowledge. The passion will die itself.
Sattvic Food
Take light Sattvic food, such as milk, fruits, etc. You can control passions in this way. The wise say that purity of food leads to purity of mind.
Fasting
Fasting weakens the sex senses. It destroys sexual excitement. Passionate young men and ladies should take recourse to occasional fasting. It will prove highly beneficial.
Pranayama
By Pranayama, the mind gradually proceeds from the gross to the subtle. It, therefore, exercises a wholesome check upon the sexual irritation. When some evil thought disturbs your mind, at once take to Padmasana and practise Pranayama. The thought will leave you immediately.
Keep the Mind Ever Engaged
Keep the mind fully occupied. You can be established in mental and physical celibacy. Have routine of work: six hours for sleep, remaining time for meditation, study; work, service of the poor, service of the sick, etc., few time for walking or indoor exercise. This will keep the mind ever engaged. A true celibate in thought, word and deed has wonderful thought-power. He can move the world.
Reference
Mind – Its Mysteries and Control by Sri Swami Sivananda
Known is a drop, Unknown is an Ocean 
Good food for thought! Now my question is this: Since sexuality can also go hand in hand with spirituality, where is the line drawn?
Also, what is your opinion on polygamy? I’ve read some articles and have seen some videos on the topic, and I can completely understand the reasoning as it then doesn’t influence co-dependency and a person to repress their desire that “we’re not made to just be with one person”. Though it makes sense, a part of me still says “Yeah but is living that way actually rooted with love or just lust?”
I’d really be interested in your thoughts.
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Actually, if you would be interested in possibly being a “Guest Blogger” on my blog for the topic that’d be fantastic. If you want to discuss it more you can contact me at: http://lotustarotblossom.com/about/contact-me/
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Thank you very much for you invite. I am just a learner. It’s my pleasure to learn and share the true knowledge with all! 🙂
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Thank you! To begin with, we are just a Soul, neither the mind nor the body. Nature of our true Self is Purity, Consciousness and Ecstasy. We are infinite potential energy without any limits. All the limits, pain and pleasure are only in our mind. All the finite things can never satisfy the Infinite within us, that the changing and perishable cannot satisfy the changeless and eternal nature of ours.
The one thing common between Self Quest (Spirituality) and Lust is that both are intense. Spirituality is the intense quest to know our true Self, whereas Lust is the most intense passion followed by anger, greed, delusion, pride and jealousy. The mind is the cause of attachment to delusive objects. It is the mind which is the germ of all Karma’s (past actions). It daily agitates this body of ours to work and secure for its enjoyment various pleasurable objects. The mind always wants to be doing something and, when it attached itself with the objects it cherishes, feels amused and happy. A play at cards has nothing in it; but, the attachment and attention produce pleasure.
Really, there is no pleasure in objects. Soul gives a push to the mind and sets it in motion. A thought-wave arises in the mind on account of the force of a subtle desire. The mind is agitated and runs towards the particular object. The agitation will not subside till the mind gets the desired object. It will constantly think of the object. It will scheme and plan various methods to achieve the desired object. It will be ever restless. It will be ever assuming the shape of the object.
As soon as the object is obtained and enjoyed, the particular thought-wave that was causing agitation in the mind gets dissolved. When thoughts are dissolved, you get peace and bliss from the Soul within only and not from the object outside. Ignorant persons attribute their pleasures to external objects. That is a serious blunder, indeed.
No true, lasting satisfaction comes from the enjoyment of worldly objects. Yet, people rush headlong towards objects even when they know that the objects are unreal and the world is full of miseries. That is Maya (Delusion). When the mind rests on Soul, then only eternal satisfaction will come; because, Soul is complete, you get everything there. It is self-contained. All desires are gratified by realization of Soul.
Soul has no pleasure and pain. Soul is genderless. Freedom from the body and mind is the real nature of the Soul and, consequently, there being no possibility of virtue and vice, very much less is the chance for any effects of these on the Soul, hence, pleasure and pain do not touch Soul. Soul is unattached. It is Witnesser of the two modifications, pleasure and pain that arise in the mind. Mind enjoys. Mind suffers. Soul is a silent witness. It has nothing to do with pleasure and pain.
It is difficult to divert the mind which, from infancy, has fallen into the pernicious habit of seeking external pleasure and it shall ever persist in doing so, unless you give it something superior to be amused with, a greater form of pleasure to delight in. Intellectual pleasure is far superior to sensual pleasure. Joy from meditation is far superior to intellectual pleasure. Spiritual bliss from Self-realization is infinite, immeasurable and unbounded!!! 🙂
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The above answer is very good – you can put in a separate blog under a suitable name or as an Q & A.
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Thank you! Sure. 🙂
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Reblogged this on Lotus Tarot Blossom.
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Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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Dear Ganesh, thank you for the accompanying answer in the comment section which I thought deserved to be a stand alone post. Thank you once again for your thought-provoking insights. Sharon
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Thanks Sharon for feedback! I will make a stand alone post. 🙂
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For me, lust comes from objectifying a person and coveting sexual relations with that person. People are not objects, but they are sexual beings. It is part of who we are, and I believe it is part of what we’re here to experience.
Lust can be debilitating. It can be unhealthy. It can become an obsession, it can create connections in your heart and mind that do not exist in the physical realm. Sex can be empowering. It is quite healthy. It can be a spiritual expression. It can enhance connections that already exist.
Sometimes I hear people argue that if lust is bad then sex is bad. This just isn’t the case. It also does not follow that there is a narrowly defined scope within which sex is healthy. Whenever consenting adults conect with each other and offer each other pleasure without guilt, regret, or other baggage it is an expression of love, a valid part of human experience. No one has the right to tell them they are wrong to enjoy this experience.
Of course, many of us collect so much sexual baggage by the time we are consenting adults that we have trouble connecting with others. Lust can be the expression of frustrated sexual desire due to lack of connection. What we really want is the connection, the warmth of a loving embrace.
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Thanks David for sharing your valuable thoughts and experience! 🙂
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It is all part of Maya. As the reply pointed out, our Real Nature the soul, is sexless, uncreated. When it descends to the realm of creation (going out): the mind and body; then these mayic challenges begin. Why? It is a Divine Sport,Lila, a Cosmic Reality Show, a Cosmic Dream, which when we awaken from it, we will realize our true nature as souls and laugh at the unreality of all the comedy and tragedy we experienced in the dream. These strong mayic desires are important to keep the “show” going. Once we transcend them, the show is over for us, we are out of the maze and are Home. Just like a nightmare in a sleep dream cannot continue once we awaken. We are truly grateful to Vedic teachings for deciphering this Cosmic conundrum. Otherwise, it is not fun when you want to get out of the maze and have no clue how to. Maya charms us with wine, sex and money, but the sure result is death to discernment.
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Very nice and true! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
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