{"id":187566,"date":"2025-02-09T19:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-02-09T19:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/?p=187566"},"modified":"2025-02-15T20:03:48","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T20:03:48","slug":"shetoo-the-experience-of-misa-women-3-erotic-continence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/shetoo-the-experience-of-misa-women-3-erotic-continence\/","title":{"rendered":"#SheToo: The Experience of MISA Women. 3. Erotic Continence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Women describe the most controversial practices of MISA, those related to sacred eroticism.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Article 3 of 6. Read article 1<\/a> and article 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMagic Love,\u201d a representation of erotic continence by MISA student and painter Ines Honfi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The most controversial aspect of Bivolaru\u2019s yoga activities has always been his teachings on eroticism. Besides teaching the traditional asana<\/em>-s, pranayama<\/em>, meditation, etc., there is a special emphasis on the process of mastering esoteric techniques of heterosexual lovemaking called \u201camorous erotic continence<\/em>\u201d (AEC). This practice requires that the man should \u201ccontain\u201d (retain or preserve) his semen inside his body. According to ancient Tantric yoga traditions discussed by the famous Romanian scholar, Mircea Eliade, this practice sets in motion the kundalini<\/em> (the feminine energy residing in the muladhara chakra<\/em> at the base of the spine). This upward motion was believed to facilitate spiritual enlightenment.<\/p>\n

In MISA, heterosexual lovemaking is a sacred action, and invariably takes place within a ritual context which denotes a re-enactment of the erotic union of Shiva and Shakti in the \u201cmaithuna<\/em>,\u201d a ubiquitous icon in ancient Hindu art, where the god and goddess are portrayed as a couple in sexual embrace. The late Swedish scholar Liselotte Frisk points out that Eliade conceived of Tantra as appropriate for modern times, \u201cas humans have to set out from the basic experiences of their fallen condition, and sexuality in modern times may serve as a vehicle for attaining transcendence<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2018, Grieg held a conference called \u201cErotic Revolution<\/em>,\u201d in which he introduced the notion of \u201cPure Eros\u201d and explained the difference between \u201csexual energy\u201d and \u201cerotic energy.\u201d C. noted that, since the 2016 conference, Grieg\u2019s teachings were more explicitly focusing on Eros: \u201cThe teaching got more profound. He was no longer speaking about \u2018sexuality\u2019 (which is connected to instinct). But we learned about Eros, which brings intimacy, transfiguration, and adoration. And Eros is a sacred orientation where the lovers adore each other in an idealistic way. The man sees in the woman the goddess Shakti, and the woman sees in the man the god Shiva, so that he becomes an incarnation of the masculine force<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is probably safe to say that every MISA yoga student is familiar with Bivolaru\u2019s teachings on AEC. It is an integral part of his general course on yoga, introduced in the 8th<\/sup> week in the classes called \u201cEthical Guidelines<\/em>.\u201d It is also a component in the classes on Tantra. However, since the practice of AEC is voluntary and private, it is not known how many couples in MISA actually practice it and, if they do, how strictly they follow the guidelines of this demanding discipline.<\/p>\n

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Women of MISA. From womenofspirituality.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One woman (H.) described her initiation into AEC and its impact on her life: \u201cI was very blessed. My first lover was from the yoga course. I was 19 years old. He was in an advanced yoga course, he practiced erotic continence, and he initiated me. He taught me to open myself erotically, to discover myself as a woman. He transfigured me and gave me trust in myself. He often asked me to dance for him. I started to move my energies and to become aware of my feminine side<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several women were convinced that intimate relationships were much more fulfilling in MISA than in the larger society. One woman commented: \u201cI was lucky, I think. I can\u2019t even imagine to be with a man who makes love only for ten minutes!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

In a similar vein, M. noted: \u201cI realize that what we learn at school when we are students, we are not taught how to make love. They just come and teach us how to use the condom and how to do sex and make a child. But not how to love, how to express your heart\u2026 because your heart is full of mysteries, full of love and poetry. But nobody cares about that. Society is teaching us this mechanical way of having sex. They don\u2019t teach us how to love. They don\u2019t teach us how to make love and express the poetry in our hearts. And I discovered what the church is doing to consider a sin, making love, because yes, what it has become today is very perverted. Yes, today [it] is a sin. But nobody is teaching us that\u2026 you can pray while you make love. I think this is a great discovery<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

M. spoke of how she reconciled her Christian Orthodox background with MISA\u2019s Hindu-based, sacred approach to sexuality. \u201cI realize that I had, from childhood, from my parents, for generations perhaps, many regular habits. For example, it was very hard for me to put together praying to God and making love. I had periods in my life when I wanted to go to a monastery, because\u2026 I like to feel God in my heart and in solitude. It took me years to understand it\u2019s like a prayer, making love. And it was very hard for me to open my consciousness and my heart and fully understand that this is possible and there\u2019s nothing wrong with it. I read a lot about saints. I watched movies about saints. I wanted to see how saints feel\u2026 their ecstatic states, their communion with God. And I can tell you that I discovered in their descriptions of ecstatic states\u2026 some of my ecstatic states when I was praying or even when I was making love. How can I say it? I have this knowledge. My life is full of this truth: that making love can be very pure and a spiritual action and not otherwise<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The aim of achieving \u201candrogyny\u201d though the practice of AEC was explained by one of MISA\u2019s Tantra instructors: \u201cThe idea is eventually for the feminine and the masculine energy to be united\u2026 The man needs to build up his own masculinity, and the woman\u2026 her femininity\u2026 the idea eventually is for each of them to become complete with the other one\u2019s way of being\u2026 If the man is not\u2026 very attentive to what is going on, he will lose very quickly the control on his potential, while the woman is not built in the same way. The woman can experience a lot of pleasure and it\u2019s very easy for her to control the energy, she just needs to know that there is something to be controlled there\u2026 The man, once he manages to control his urge to\u2026 eliminate the tension, is able to experience a lot of pleasure and intensity in the lovemaking. The woman, while letting herself experience the pleasure fully, becomes more aware of the underlying elements that are triggered in the lovemaking. Eventually they will both reach the same place where the man and the woman are united in this androgynous state<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

MISA\u2019s concept of the male-female relationship conforms to the \u201csex complementarity\u201d view of gender in Sister Prudence Allen\u2019s tripartite model of sex identity. Allen\u2019s two variables for her typology are: sameness\/difference and equality\/inequality. In her first \u201csex polarity\u201d type, men and women are viewed as unequal and different\u2014intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. Men and women in sex polarity groups are often encouraged to maintain a distance, so as not to distract, hamper, or contaminate the \u201cpurer\u201d sex. Not surprisingly, the \u201cpurer\u201d sex is usually male, but in some NRMs, such as the Brahma Kumaris and the Osho Commune, women are regarded as spiritually more advanced than men.<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s third \u201csex unity\u201d type regards the sexes as equal and similar, in terms of qualities and abilities. In sex unity groups, men and women are viewed as independent, even interchangeable. \u201cSex complementarity\u201d groups perceive the two sexes as equal but quite distinct in terms of their emotional, intellectual and spiritual qualities. However, they are seen as mutually dependent; for each can only be complete as part of a couple. Together they have the potential to achieve enlightenment or salvation, as fellow travelers on the spiritual path.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Garden of Eden\u201d by Ines Honfi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In many respects, MISA\u2019s concept of the male-female relationship resembles the sex complementarity view of gender commonly held by the post-1970s American \u201ccultural feminists.\u201d Notably, Starhawk\u2019s Wiccans were encouraged to cultivate feminine spiritual qualities and to revere the creative relationship between the Goddess and her God lover. But, unlike most other sex complementarity NRMs (e.g. the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, the Twelve Tribes, the Children of God\/The Family, the Latter-day Saints, the Seventh-day Adventists, the Nation of Islam), in MISA there is no pressure to marry, procreate, and raise a family. Rather than building up a \u201cNation,\u201d or attaining Salvation, or creating \u201cHeaven on Earth\u201d through devotion to spouse, family, and household, women and men in MISA each pursue a solitary \u201csadhana<\/em>\u201d towards personal enlightenment, as outlined by the ancient philosophers of India and Mircea Eliade\u2014but it is essential for adepts on this path to find a cooperative partner, a lover trained in the techniques of AEC.<\/p>\n

Read Article 4<\/a><\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

About the author<\/strong><\/p>\n

Susan J. Palmer is an Affiliate Professor in the Religions and Cultures Department at Concordia University in Montreal. She is also directing the Children on Sectarian Religions and State Control<\/em> project at McGill University, supported by the Social Sciences and the Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). She is the author of twelve books, notably The New Heretics of France<\/em> (Oxford University Press, 2012).<\/p>\n

Source: bitterwinter.org<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

yogaesoteric
\nFebruary 9, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gregorian Bivolaru introduced the notion of \u201cPure Eros\u201d and explained the difference between \u201csexual energy\u201d and \u201cerotic energy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":187270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1309],"tags":[1512],"class_list":["post-187566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-studies-and-reports-on-misa-1602-en","tag-bivolaru_case"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187566"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188317,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187566\/revisions\/188317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}