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Date Posted: 08:12
Author: anonymous = 16 Feb 2002
Subject: post from WAlrus-Sex and Spirituality - Any Comments?

Reading over the thread on Tara Mata as well as some of the other threads on this board, I am stunned
by how sterile we all are regarding sex. Sex is enjoyable and profound. As a celibate, I was very
ungrounded. Sex helped me put my feet on the ground. Together with Kriya, it is sublime.

You may think I am advocating lots of sex plus kriya. Not necessarily. That's your call. What I'm
advocating is that, if you do have an opportunity to have a lover -- whether in marriage or not -- you
really enjoy the fullness of the experience and allow it to heal you and appease your desire for human
connection and intimacy. Let sex instruct you on how to feel pleasure from within. Then perhaps those
individuals who have practiced kriya for ages without much results might begin to melt some of their
frozen energies and learn to transfer that experience to the search for finer states of self pleasure in
kriya.

Many people quoting Sri Yukteswar -- such as on the Tara thread -- although well-intentioned and
seemingly open to the value of healthy sexual experience tend to state their ideas about it in clinical
terms, as if the last vestiges of the so-called "fig leaf" consciousness Guruji talks about have not
completely abdicated their minds.

Sri Yukteswar reveals a natural and unaffected attitude towards sex. Regarding its indulgence, this is
what he has to say:

Quote:

The sexual desire in its normal state makes man quite free from all disturbing lusts, and
operates on the organism (awakening a wish for appeasement) only infrequently. Here again
experiment shows that this desire, like all other desires is always normal in individuals who
lead a natural life as mentioned.

Have your ever really sat down and reflected upon what Sri Yuketeswar meant when he wrote
"awakening a wish for appeasement only infrequently"? My interpretation is that, at least
once-in-a-while, an individual will want to experience sex. And, in the absence of a partner, may want to
masturbate. He doesn't mention anything about enjoying the experience, but it is obvious that one
does not become "appeased" unless one enjoys.

We no longer live in Victorian times. The canon of literature and research in the field of human sexuality
is growing immensely. It is commonly accepted that orgasm can be explained physiologically as a release
of tensions in the muscles around the pelvic base plus the regulation and balance of the sympathetic
and parasympathetic nervous systems (the former associated with self-assertive activity and the latter,
with the recuperative function of the body).

There is a disappointing tendency among spiritual seekers to hyper-associate sexuality with immoral
behavior and license. Perhaps it is true that what most people experience in sexuality is its dysfunction.
Looked at rationally, there is little difference between sexually abberant behavior and any other abberant
behavior than can be done with food, money, power, or influence, and so on. Its just that sex ranks
second in prominence to the self-preservation instinct, so issues associated with it effortlessly get top
billing.

I encourage members of this board and all sincere spiritual seekers to reevaluate their attitudes towards
sexuality. Perhaps we may find that we are not very mature about it. Certainly most of us can't claim to
have a natural, non-antagonistic relationship to it as Sri Yukteswar would no doubt counsel us to have.

The problem has been monasticism. To my knowledge, no one has proven that extreme celibacy as
practiced in monasticism has led anyone quicker to God than one who practices embraces their sexuality
in a friendly way. Take a look at the leaders of SRF and then decide.

I have chosen the latter and still have the same excellent quality of concentration in my meditations. In
fact, having completely abandoned the entire SRF monastic framework, I've come in contact with that
simple easy-going, and playful self I used to be when I was a child.

A coworker gave me a copy of Margot Anand's classic "The Art of Sexual Ecstacy: The Path of Sacred
Sexuality for Wester Lovers." If you are are a Kriyaban, you are already practicing the interior form of
Tantra. And if you are one of the many devotees of the SRF path who have grown tired of the
emotionally stifling influence of the monastic way of thinking on your personal life and yearn for a way
which embraces creativity and groundedness, check out Margot's book. It is a great place to start to
challenge all those sexual myths you've been burdened with.

Describing the ultimate goal of Tantra she writes:

Quote:

The Tantra vision is one of wholeness, of embracing everything, because every situation,
whether pleasant or unpleasant, is an opportunity to become more aware about who you are
and how you can expand your capacities. And this provides a greater opportunity for
integrating all aspects of yourself, including those parts that you may normally reject or
hide. This vision also recognizes that within each adult human being there is a natural ,
unspoiled, childlike spirit who can openly and innocently explore unfamiliar territory. The
innocence of this spirit remains intact and represents our natural capacity to enjoy life, to
love, to play, and to be ecstatic.

On the Tantra tradition she writes:

Quote:

Tantra originally developed as a rebellion against the repressive, moralistic codes of
organized religions and the ascetic practices of the Brahmins -- the Hindu priesthood --
particularly against the widespread belief that sexuality had to be denied in order to attain
enlightenment. Tantra means "weaving," in the sense of unifying the many and often
contradictory aspects of the self into one harmonious whole. Tantra also means "expansion"
in the sense that once our own energies are understood and unifled, we grow and expand
into joy. Always a rebellious and noncomformist approach that challenged taboos and belief
systems, Tantra branched out and influenced not only the Hindu but also the Taoist and
Buddhist traditions. Tantra influenced western history through the ecstatic cult of the Greek
god Dionysus around 2000 B.C.

Sex is not what ultimately lures me to the Tantric vision. What does is its idea of embracing one's self
totally and fearlessly. Because of the many years of harm I experienced under the repressive and overly
conformist attitudes promulgated in SRF, I must say that I am very attracted to its rebellious spirit. This
may not be an attitude which goes over well amongst the most fundamentalist members of SRF, but
then I am not of their tribe anyhow.

Lahiri Mahasaya never counseled Kriyabans to make radical changes in their lifestyles. Yet SRF does. No
wonder so many well-intentioned SRF-ers feel as if they are going schizoid. It's time to go back to
basics, to return to the authentic you. Begin from that basis and climb the spinal stairway naturally.
Your body is a system which entirely exists in the present. That is why so many therapists counsel their
clients to become aware of what's going on in the body. To listen to the body is to listen to ancient
wisdom.

I am looking forward to finding a spiritual partner with whom I can share this journey. I have no desire
to wear the ochre cloth -- my only desire would be to wrap myself in the embrace of my lover and wear
her scent.

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Replies:

Re: post from WAlrus-Sex and Spirituality - Any Comments? -- Mike Carris - 16 Feb 2002, 08:13
Re: post from WAlrus-Sex and Spirituality - Any Comments? -- anonymous - 13 Mar 2002, 08:14