Yoga and sexuality

by Gregorian Bivolaru

The genuine yoga tradition unveils a completely different approach in love and sexuality, highly more positive and plenary, unlike the confused and grotesque vision proper to most of the western people, either intoxicated or improperly educated.

The ancient philosophies acknowledged that the high pleasure shared between the two lovers in continent lovemaking, if wisely refined and controlled is a powerful means of consciousness broadening, bound to enforce spiritual evolution to each of them. The ancient world’s Chinese very well knew that and used to practice it just like other eastern peoples, including the Indian Tantra followers as well.

There are countless temples adorned with erotic sculptures of exquisite beauty, in India, China, Japan, Nepal, Tibet, Thailand, etc.  There are many religious and spiritual symbols in the East bearing an erotic connotation: the famous Shiva lingam or the statues representing couples in intimate fusion, just to quote the best known.

A sexual active life, which is perfectly controlled, is not at all incompatible to YOGA practice or to the spiritual developing.

Far from dooming the YOGA practitioners to abstinence or impotence, the yoga techniques enhance the sexual power and increase the erotic feelings, which will allow complete control over the erotic energies in order to sublime them into upper energies.

The high and enriched sexuality and lovemaking, experienced in the light of the tantric secrets do not obstruct the spiritual evolution, but they speed it up and lay a serious ground for it in the depth of the being.

Many people erroneously suppose that progress in yoga is absolutely connected to rigorous abstinence, up to the complete seclusion in order to live a hermit life. This obviously is not true. Yoga provides the option between active abstinence (together with transmutation of the sexual potential and sublimation of energy by means of specific yoga techniques) and sexual continence, which implies intelligent exertion and perfect control of the sexual function.

What is Tantra yoga?

Tantra yoga is the complex philosophy of release and enlightenment by perfect control of the maximum pleasure, where yoga is the ensemble of the practical means used in order to fully attain this. The precise practice of the yoga techniques not only increases the sexual power, moreover it brings a deep, fair vision in lovemaking, given the speeded sexual evolution in this epoch.

The spiritual enlightenment and release may also be attained by or thanks to the plenary controlled experience of the life delights, which finally are transmuted and sublimed in the highest states of consciousness. 

 Against all „sexual freedom”, supported by the contemporary society, which basically is mere debauchery leading to quick emasculation, most of the women stay blocked and inhibited towards eroticism and sexuality. Rejecting this tragic situation, yoga deplores it; particularly that Tantra can secure for the intelligent and sensual women, by minimum effort, a sexual and spiritual flourishing, as the two aspects are closely related. Due to ignorance and prejudices, an incredible amount of women are still facing problems in dealing with their own sexuality. Lots of women are still paralysed with fears and keep staying a prey to the violent stifling influence of the anti-erotic education they have been given. Consciously or not, women still consider sexuality as a source of non-pleasure. Sometimes they are positive that sexuality is a due evil part of the marriage, they get to consider it a “duty” that must be fulfilled in order to make “a good wife”.

For some women, this erroneous conception destroys pleasure and in utmost cases may lead to frigidity. For other women yet, their attraction to the sexual pleasures is an alleged sin, for they have been told again and again that a decent woman is not supposed to be „sexy”.

By quite recent times women were even considered unable to experience erotic feelings. Therefore it was an acknowledged fact that women’s duty was to ensure man’s pleasure, whereas the only joy they could take was procreation. Subsequently, women known as out of any sexual longing, there was no question of sexual pleasures for them. Facts were hereby forged in the Victorian times in England and the British Empire founders, supported by the Anglo-Saxon missionaries spread this awkward vision worldwide. In the long run recent time had to be expected to acknowledge woman as a deeply sensual being and thereby the ancient traditions made an important point and stated that the intense pleasure shared by the two lovers, if intelligently refined and controlled can be a powerful means of consciousness widening, that speeds the spiritual evolution of each of them.

In the frame of the tantric tradition, the chosen woman, thanks to her gifts, is acknowledged as a counterpart, i.e. full part of the frantic sexual play, she takes part to according to her possibilities.

Considering this attitude, stress should be laid on the fact that sexuality is normal human function, which is not at all more shameful than eating or sleeping. Sexuality is a rightful source of plenary joy and pleasure as well as a quite aesthetic way to express personality. The impulse (excitation) that urges the human beings to lovemaking is an expression of the universal longing for the infinite consisting in the unity achievement of the two opposite halves. Besides, the seven wise men in the Vedic Tradition (Shapta Rishi) themselves were married and their wives were known to attain a high spiritual level. Neither in the etymological approach nor in the traditional one the word brahmacharya (continence) does not mean abstinence in yoga; it’s just because some recent erroneous interpretation that multiple misunderstandings have emerged. Brahmacharya actually means that sensuality must be perfectly controlled and sublimed.

yogaesoteric

Also available in: Română