--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I realized that my friends in the ashram…" description: "\"I realized that my friends in the ashram needed to be celibate because, for them, sexuality was a very tacky issue.\" — Frederick Lenz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/frederick-lenz-8_celibate_i-realized-that-my-friends-in-the-ashram_2472606.jpg" --- # I realized that my friends in the ashram needed to be… ![“I realized that my friends in the ashram needed to be celibate because, for them, sexuality was a very tacky issue.” quote by Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/frederick-lenz-8_celibate_i-realized-that-my-friends-in-the-ashram_2472606.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/frederick-lenz-8_celibate_i-realized-that-my-friends-in-the-ashram_2472606.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/frederick-lenz-8_celibate_i-realized-that-my-friends-in-the-ashram_2472606.jpg) > “I realized that my friends in the ashram needed to be celibate because, for them, sexuality was a very tacky issue.” [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker observes that within a spiritual community, sexual activity is viewed as undesirable, leading members to adopt celibacy. **In simple terms:** Friends in a spiritual group were seen as needing celibacy because sexuality seemed inappropriate. Key Takeaway Respect community norms while reflecting on personal values. Themes spirituality sexuality community norms personal values Mood reflective critical Type observational cultural When to use this quote - ashram life - personal relationships - spiritual retreats Key Concepts celibacy social conformity identity formation Questions to Reflect On - How do community standards shape personal behavior? - Is celibacy a genuine choice or a social pressure? A Different Perspective Cultural expectations may conflict with individual desires. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Celibate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/celibate/) [Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/issues/) [Rama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rama/) [Sexuality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexuality/) ## Related quotes > [You're thinking that you shouldn't have sex because you're celibate. So you just keep thinking about sex instead of enlightenment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-re-thinking-that-you-shouldn-t-have-sex-because-you-re-celibate/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Fasting is as sensual as eating. Being celibate is as sensual as having sex. They're just different choices, different videos that you've selected to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/fasting-is-as-sensual-as-eating-being-celibate-is-as-sensual-as/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Jesus Christ never preached there should be celibate priests. The only reason the church has this is because it's a mechanism of power and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-gibney/jesus-christ-never-preached-there-should-be-celibate-priests-the-only/) [Alex Gibney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-gibney/) > [“The idea of celibate vampires is ridiculous. To me, vampires are sex. I don't get a vampire story about abstinence. I don't care about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ball/the-idea-of-celibate-vampires-is-ridiculous-to-me-vampires-are-sex-i/) [Alan Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ball/) > [“Who better than a bunch of celibate male octogenarians to tell the world how to have sex? - Robert Langdon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/who-better-than-a-bunch-of-celibate-male-octogenarians-to-tell-the-2/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/a-celibate-clergy-is-an-especially-good-idea-because-it-tends-to/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The man who never in his life Has washed the dishes with his wife Or polished up the silver plate - He still is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/the-man-who-never-in-his-life-has-washed-the-dishes-with-his-wife-or/) [Christopher Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-morley/) > [I've never been with women, because I'm celibate, as ordered by God, as if I were in a monastery. For me, the church is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justo-gallego/i-ve-never-been-with-women-because-i-m-celibate-as-ordered-by-god-as/) [Justo Gallego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justo-gallego/) > [“Who better than a bunch of celibate male octogenarians to tell the world how to have sex?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/who-better-than-a-bunch-of-celibate-male-octogenarians-to-tell-the/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [I know that people can live celibate lives. I did it myself for many years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamza-yusuf/i-know-that-people-can-live-celibate-lives-i-did-it-myself-for-many/) [Hamza Yusuf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamza-yusuf/) > [“It is better to lock up your heart with a merciless padlock, than to fall in love with someone who doesn't know what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/it-is-better-to-lock-up-your-heart-with-a-merciless-padlock-than-to/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [I have never been a celibate. If people believe so, that is their foolishness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/i-have-never-been-a-celibate-if-people-believe-so-that-is-their/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“Do I really look so pathetic to all of you? Like I couldn't possibly meet someone on my own? Half the people in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/do-i-really-look-so-pathetic-to-all-of-you-like-i-couldn-t-possibly/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [I'm religiously celibate except in LA, NOLA, FLA, because there is certainly no God in any of those places. So unless you live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessicka/i-m-religiously-celibate-except-in-la-nola-fla-because-there-is/) Jessicka > [“The common mistake of the religious celibate has been to suppose that the highest spiritual life absolutely demands the renunciation of sexuality, as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/the-common-mistake-of-the-religious-celibate-has-been-to-suppose-that/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) ## More by Frederick Lenz > [There are places that are very draining. There are places where there is another dimensional crossover but to a dimension that is not powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-places-that-are-very-draining-there-are-places-where-there/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You can draw power from everything in your life. In order to do that, everything has to be set up in a proper way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-can-draw-power-from-everything-in-your-life-in-order-to-do-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. Then you get to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-think-the-most-miraculous-thing-is-learning-i-get-out-of-the-way/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The sound man, immune as to a sacrifice of straw dogs, faces the passing human generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-sound-man-immune-as-to-a-sacrifice-of-straw-dogs-faces-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Karma means changing planes of reality or changing fields of attention. There will be perhaps a resulting physical action stemming from the change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/karma-means-changing-planes-of-reality-or-changing-fields-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Why waste your time being around people who drag you down? You don't live forever, at least in this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/why-waste-your-time-being-around-people-who-drag-you-down-you-don-t/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everybody here is so caught up in the game of life they don't see death. They don't see beyond their deaths. They are on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everybody-here-is-so-caught-up-in-the-game-of-life-they-don-t-see/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) [Explore all 4,399 Frederick Lenz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More Celibate quotes > [“The common mistake of the religious celibate has been to suppose that the highest spiritual life absolutely demands the renunciation of sexuality, as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-wilson-watts/the-common-mistake-of-the-religious-celibate-has-been-to-suppose-that/) [Alan Wilson Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-wilson-watts/) > [I'm religiously celibate except in LA, NOLA, FLA, because there is certainly no God in any of those places. So unless you live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessicka/i-m-religiously-celibate-except-in-la-nola-fla-because-there-is/) Jessicka > [“Do I really look so pathetic to all of you? Like I couldn't possibly meet someone on my own? Half the people in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/do-i-really-look-so-pathetic-to-all-of-you-like-i-couldn-t-possibly/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [I have never been a celibate. If people believe so, that is their foolishness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/i-have-never-been-a-celibate-if-people-believe-so-that-is-their/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“It is better to lock up your heart with a merciless padlock, than to fall in love with someone who doesn't know what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/it-is-better-to-lock-up-your-heart-with-a-merciless-padlock-than-to/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [I know that people can live celibate lives. I did it myself for many years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamza-yusuf/i-know-that-people-can-live-celibate-lives-i-did-it-myself-for-many/) [Hamza Yusuf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamza-yusuf/) > [“Who better than a bunch of celibate male octogenarians to tell the world how to have sex?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/who-better-than-a-bunch-of-celibate-male-octogenarians-to-tell-the/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [I've never been with women, because I'm celibate, as ordered by God, as if I were in a monastery. For me, the church is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justo-gallego/i-ve-never-been-with-women-because-i-m-celibate-as-ordered-by-god-as/) [Justo Gallego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justo-gallego/) > [The man who never in his life Has washed the dishes with his wife Or polished up the silver plate - He still is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/the-man-who-never-in-his-life-has-washed-the-dishes-with-his-wife-or/) [Christopher Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-morley/) > [A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/a-celibate-clergy-is-an-especially-good-idea-because-it-tends-to/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Who better than a bunch of celibate male octogenarians to tell the world how to have sex? - Robert Langdon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/who-better-than-a-bunch-of-celibate-male-octogenarians-to-tell-the-2/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [“The idea of celibate vampires is ridiculous. To me, vampires are sex. I don't get a vampire story about abstinence. I don't care about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ball/the-idea-of-celibate-vampires-is-ridiculous-to-me-vampires-are-sex-i/) [Alan Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ball/) > [Fasting is as sensual as eating. Being celibate is as sensual as having sex. They're just different choices, different videos that you've selected to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/fasting-is-as-sensual-as-eating-being-celibate-is-as-sensual-as/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Jesus Christ never preached there should be celibate priests. The only reason the church has this is because it's a mechanism of power and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-gibney/jesus-christ-never-preached-there-should-be-celibate-priests-the-only/) [Alex Gibney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-gibney/) > [She say that she celibate, I penetrate her mentally So if its meant to be, then its meant to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wale/she-say-that-she-celibate-i-penetrate-her-mentally-so-if-its-meant-to/) [Wale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wale/) [Browse all 67 Celibate quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/celibate/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I realized that my friends in the ashram needed to be celibate because, for them, sexuality was a very tacky issue.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frederick Lenz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-realized-that-my-friends-in-the-ashram-needed-to-be-celibate/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Celibate" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-realized-that-my-friends-in-the-ashram-needed-to-be-celibate/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/frederick-lenz-8_celibate_i-realized-that-my-friends-in-the-ashram_2472606.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/frederick-lenz-8_celibate_i-realized-that-my-friends-in-the-ashram_2472606.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/frederick-lenz-8_celibate_i-realized-that-my-friends-in-the-ashram_2472606.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I realized that my friends in the ashram needed to be celibate because, for them, sexuality was a very tacky…” — Frederick Lenz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Frederick Lenz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I realized that my friends in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-realized-that-my-friends-in-the-ashram-needed-to-be-celibate/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-realized-that-my-friends-in-the-ashram-needed-to-be-celibate/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```