Question: Whenever I see a beautiful woman, sex thoughts enter my mind. I try to destroy them, but they persist.

Sri Chinmoy: There are two ways to solve this problem. As soon as you see a beautiful woman just try to lift her entire body up into the sky with your will. Look at her and concentrate and lift her up so that, like a kite, she is flying. The other way, the easiest way, is when you see a woman to look only at her feet. Indian sadhus say to look only at the feet, not at the eyes, not at the face. Look at the feet if you want immediate release from temptation. Look at the feet and then try with your whole consciousness to go deep within. This takes only a second. Either lift this woman up or look at her feet. Then immediately lower vital thoughts have to be controlled. Many have done it and have been very successful. There was a great Indian Avatar named Sri Chaitanya. He used to tell all his disciples, “Even if it is your mother, don’t look at her eyes; just look at her feet.”

But these methods are only for beginners. A day will come when you will have to look at women with your eyes open and, with your inner experiences, with your own inner realisation, go beyond the feeling of man and woman. There is only one universal Consciousness; there is no masculine, no feminine. There is only one consciousness flowing in two different forms. This feeling can be developed only with our own inner development. It is a very advanced state. Right now perhaps we don’t even feel oneness with our limbs. If I can throw a shot put farther with my right hand than with my left hand, I give more importance to my right hand and I ignore my left hand. I have seen many athletes who curse their left hand because they need the help of the left hand even though it is not as powerful as the right. If we cannot feel oneness even with our own two hands, how can we be one with another person? With aspiration and with our inner spiritual development the whole creation becomes ours. At that time there is no difficulty.