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SEX AND SPIRITUALITY in strict individual practice; both methods entail semen Sexuality is closely related to spirituality in several ways. In retention. As a reward, there may be a brain orgasm and its negative aspects of lust, sexual excess, degradation and rape, various states of blissful conditions. Traditionally, tantra was it appears as the antithe f spirituality, and in this light it has seen and used as a method to enable men to achieve been seen in the Christian tradition. However, in its positive enlightenment while women were only used as tools, even if aspects our sexuality can open our heart to love and enable us to they were ritually worshipped as goddesses. This has changed have experiences similar to meditative states and mystical bliss in modern Western practices where women are now the during or instead of an orgasm and its afterglow. In a less complete equals of men. obvious way, sexual energies can be channelled upward to I see the main problem with these methods as being a one- develop our energy centres or chakra system and higher energy way street of energy flow from the base of the spine to the top. bodies. According to esoteric and yogic teachings, this is all This tends to lead to unbalanced development by part of our spiritual evolution. overstimulating the head centres at the expense of the heart The idea of celibacy for priests, nuns and monks is to centre. Furthermore, drawing up too much sexual energy may spiritualise sexual energy through meditation, rituals and other in time deplete overall vitality. Also, I am not impressed with devotional practices. While this generally involves conscious the abilities of practitioners of these systems to rejuvenate. exercises, as in yoga, Christian mystics commonly transformed There is probably no problem with these methods for beginners, their energies without conscious awareness through intense but various reports indicate problems may result from continued devotion. If religious celibates fight to overstimulation of the brain. This seems to suppress their sexuality, they misunderstand be increasingly acknowledged by modern the deeper reason for the practice of tantra and kundalini practitioners who now celibacy and block their spiritual evolution If religious celibates have added the microcosmic orbit to their on that level. If devotional practices do not . practices. For an interesting overview of the lead to the transmutation of sexual energies, fight to suppress modern tantra, kundalini and Tao scene, see then it is much better to find a natural outlet. their sexuality, The Quest for Spiritual Orgasm by Michael Suppression always leads to problems. . Winn or visit the website http://www. There are hundreds of different tantric, they misunderstand healingtaobritain.com. Taoist, yogic and meditational techniques to transform sexual energy into kundalini or the deeper reason "Enlightenment is in the Vagina" spiritual energy. Fexual energy isa denser for the practice of You may think [im uying to be cheeky or art of our general life-force energy, whic . rovocative — wit the statement ean be liberated as kundalini energy and led celibacy and block "Enlightenment is in the vagina", but this is upwards. Its ultimate purpose is to their spiritual one of the authenticated sayings of the facilitate spiritual growth by evolution on Buddha. The actual phrase in Sanskrit that level. developing our chakra system and is Buddhatvam yosityonisamasritam . higher energy bodies. This leaves us with the problem of how to understand or interpret this saying. It seems to turn our usual understanding of enlightenment on its head. This same view is expressed in various sacred tantric texts. There appears to be much hidden sexual activity involving female consorts in some Tibetan Buddhist sects. Western What is Spirituality? In this context, "spirituality" means to me an effort to speed up the evolution of our consciousness, which then becomes manifest in the functions of our energy bodies and the formation of higher energy bodies. I see the next stage in the spiritual evolution of Buddhists, on the other hand, humanity as forming a society based on apparently do not know what to make co-operation, love and compassion. In some way, this is a high of this saying and therefore tend to ignore it, although I know of Suppression always leads to problems. ideal of all religions but is especially expressed in Buddhism one Western Buddhist in Thailand who took this to mean that and Christianity. Love and compassion are the expressions of lots of intoxicating orgasmic sex is the road to enlightenment. an opened heart centre. Therefore, the practice of Karezza is But there is also another Buddhist saying that refers to orgasms especially relevant at this time. as killing the inner Buddha. Tantric and yogic methods aim instead for a fast road to My understanding of the first saying is that it refers to female enlightenment, while Taoists ultimately want to develop an sexual energy which is required for a male monk to become immortal energy body, which may correspond to the light-body androgynic, meaning that male and female energies become of New Age philosophy. However, apart from achieving balanced in an individual. This may be achieved by dual various temporary states of bliss and psychic happenings, few cultivation as with tantra or having a female consort, or by seem to be really successful in this way, and also so-called single cultivation as with energy meditation. This is really the brain or spiritual orgasms may still be related to addictive same process that we also see in Taoist practices and in the dopamine activity. Gnostic Gospels. It has nothing to do with surgical or hormonal gender changes. The second saying simply means that by Tantric and Kundalini Yoga wasting our sexual energy with orgasms, we do not have Tantric and kundalini yoga originate from the Hindu enough left over for enlightenment. tradition. Both methods aim to lead sexual energy upwards: In the eighth century, a female Buddha, Lady Yeshe Tsogyel, tantra in ritualised male-female interaction, and kundalini yoga achieved enlightenment through mutual tantric practice. If religious celibates fight to suppress their sexuality, they misunderstand the deeper reason [eee ee =e celibacy and block their spiritual evolution on that level. Suppression always leads to problems. Tantric and Kundalini Yoga Tantric and kundalini yoga originate from the Hindu tradition. Both methods aim to lead sexual energy upwards: tantra in ritualised male-female interaction, and kundalini yoga 38 = NEXUS JUNE — JULY 2007 for the practice of www.nexusmagazine.com