What is "Lust": Is Lusting for a Woman Bad for a Man

The Bhagwad Gita which is the word of the Lord Krishna says "One who is able to withstand the impulse of lust and anger before death is a yogi”. Thus the Gita accepts Lust as a normal human failing and says that if one has to become a Yogi, then one must withstand the temptation of Lust. The Gita further adds in verse 21 of chapter 16 that the three kinds of doorways to hell are lust, anger and greed. Most religions including the Christian religion look on lust as something to be avoided to reach God. What is lust? Lust is an emotional force that is directly associated with the thinking or fantasizing of a mans mind. To kill this phantasizing is not easy. Perhaps if you are a yogi it may be possible but for a normal man this phantasizing is an essential part of everyday life. There is chemistry involved and no scientist has yet been able to decipher this code. Why should man lust for one particular woman and not for another?

What happens to a man who lusts for the girl next door? It is desire and is something that cannot be suppressed. It is a human failing, but this chemistry is also created by god, yet god cautions against Lusting. In this connection it is worth looking into what Acharya Rajneesh says. As per Rajneesh the root cause of the misery of man is desire and lust is at the top. In case a man can somehow reach what he lust for he may very well realize that this lusting is like mythical chimera and happiness does not flow automatically. But it makes the man realize that lusting is not the end all and be all of life.

The Acharya also cautions against the ‘guilt complex’ which may come to haunt a man who has lusted for a particular woman. This is more harmful than lust and could shatter the psyche of a man. It must be understood that what the scriptures write is for a man who is aspiring to become a superman. Sometimes this is not possible as in all cases a vast majority of human beings are people who live a mundane life. For such people a fantasy is an important crunch in life. I do feel that lusting is a normal human failing and perhaps once you have gratified your lust, you will be the wiser for it and then what the Gita says will be properly understood.