sex and spirituality

[VELLY]

I am a new member on this forum.Sex has always been a confusing matter to me.Sometimes it makes me feel ecstatic and sometimes it makes me feel low.So, i decided to find answers to my questions regarding sex and how it influences my attitude towards life. During my search i came to know about left hand path of tantra which talks about achieving the highest goal of life by using some techniques and methods.These methods also involve sex as a important part to reach the highest goal of life that is kundalini awakening.

However the path of tantra is very hard and not easy to follow. I think following tantric practises without a guru can cause much harm to the body and also it is very diffficult to find true and authentic gurus under whom these practises can be followed. I would really love to share the knowledge on this forum and meet people who also want to reveal the secrets of life and sex.

I also read mantak chia book-  the multi orgasmic man. i found that both tantra and tao talk about conserving the same thing and moving it upwards. In tantra it is called bindu and in tao it is called chi.Moving this energy gives tremendous power to  a human being. I would really love to meet the people interested in both tantra and tao and i want to become more aware about these topics. However, i also believe that only one path should be used to reach a certain goal and that path must be choosen with utmost care and responsibility.

Hope i will get to know which path should i choose in life using valuable advices of people on this forum.

[Marblehead]

Hello VELLY, and welcome.

 

Your membership is approved and we're happy you found your way to us. We look forward to accompanying you on some of the way that you still have to go.

 

Please take the time to read the post pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started.

 

For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day.

 

Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you,

 

Marblehead and the TDB team

 

 

Hi VELLY, 

 

Agree, finding the path that is "right" for "us", personally, is a challenge.  Fortunately we can change paths if we find we are travelling a path that is not good for "us".  

 

You are welcome to jump right in ongoing discussions, revive an older thread, start a new thread of your own, or start a discussion in the "Newcomer Corner" sub-forms to expand on your introduction or ask general questions to help you get started.

 

May you enjoy your time here.

 

Marblehead

[Daeluin]

Hi VELLY, welcome to the community.

 

Just last night I was reading an article on Tantra from Damo Mitchell's Daoist Reflections from Scholar Sage. Here's an excerpt:

 

Confusion has arisen in modern times, as we have now been widely exposed to the teachings of both Yoga and the Daoist arts. Both of these systems present different views of how we as humans function beyond the level of physical form. This is due to the systems' individual aims and focuses. The Daoist internal arts initially focus heavily upon the energetic realm, whilst Yoga seems to discuss the spiritual/consciousness realm to a far higher degree. There is a very good reason for this. This reason is Tantra.

 

In modern times the term Tantra is often equated with sexual practices. The alternative community has turned what was originally the study of the energy body into a way to heighten sexual pleasure under the illusion that this will lead to spiritual elevation. Tantra was not originally majorly concerned with sexual practices, as only a very small part of its teachings concerned dual-cultivation methods of this sort. The term Tantra can be translated as meaning 'gaining understanding through expansion of the awareness'; it was originally the study of expanding the frequencies of our comprehension in order to study the more subtle energy realms that sat beyond the physical body. Being a Sanskrit term it was originally a branch of the Yogic school's practice and could basically be equated with Qi Gong. Any form of energy work including Qi Gong, Dao Yin or even internal alchemy would fall under the bracket of Tantric practices. Tantra was Yoga's way of studying the energy body.

 

It is rare to find a Tantric Yoga school these days. Many may well say that they are practising Tantra when they are not. If you have the chance to witness an authentic Yogic Tantric school practising you will see that many of their exercises essentially look like Qi Gong. After the performance of Asanas, which are the physical exercises most modern people would equate with Yoga, Tantric Yoga practitioners often sit and breathe whilst making particular hand postures, chanting and moving their fingers and arms around in time with their breath to shift Qi, which we can equate with Prana along the length of the meridians, which we can equate with Nadi. Tantric Yogis often work with three key energy centres in their body, which correspond to the location of the Dan Tien, and refine frequencies inside of their bodies to lift Jing into Qi an then into Shen; in short they are practising their own form of Qi Gong. Many of these Tantric practices were passed on to the Buddhists of Tibet, and now there are also Tantric schools of Buddhist Yoga coming from this tradition as well.

 

At some point Tantra was largely removed from Yoga, leaving many schools with a bridge that could not be crossed. Students were now trying to jump from Asanas (physical body work) to meditation on the Chakra (spiritual body work), which cannot easily be done. You cannot simply move from physical body work to the spirit body - it is too big a jump. There must be some kind of energetic practice that bridges to two.

 

He continues to describe some of the reasons these energetic body practices may have faded from the system over time as well as describing the fruits of this true and full form of Tantra in greater detail, over the next several pages.

 

In daoism, there are what are known as the chamber arts, which also have a misconstrued idea in the west of sexual practices. This is because often these arts related to different types of practices for men and women to balance and harmonize their somewhat different energetic body functions. There is a lengthy chapter on this in Opening the Dragon Gate, translated by Thomas Cleary.

 

For example, at night as one becomes still, the jing (lower vibrational energy) moves through the body. This energy is not sexual at all, it is simply the more dense form of celestial energy that replenishes what the body is missing. It is responsible for replenishing our energy reserves that keep the bodily systems function as we sleep, replenishing and balancing out what our food sources and daily practices left depleted and imbalanced. The jing that replenishes the body qi in this way turns into what is known as yuan qi. This celestial jing also tends to first go toward replenishing the needs of the reproductive systems. In men, the reproductive system is poised for ejection. This is why at night, in stillness when the jing returns to replenish the reproductive system, the penis becomes erect without arousal. In fact, if there are traces of sexual desire within the mind of the sleeper, this is often the cause of nocturnal emissions. Conversely in women, the reproductive systems are internal and receptive, and the jing also moves upward to replenish the needs of the breasts.

 

So for men, if one is very sexually active, much of one's jing is going to be going towards replenishing what is lost through sexual activity. This is what often causes men to feel low after orgasm/ejaculation. This loss of jing is similar to what happens in menstruation - the reproductve materials go away and need to draw upon the jing energetic fuel to rebuild them.

 

It is often recommended that young men be sure to get plenty of physical exercise to help metabolize all of this energy that wants to thrust outwards, otherwise it would be lost. Meanwhile it is recommended for young women to spend time with the elderly, as the jing in their breast area tends to encourage an opening of the heart and a desire to share this energy emotionally, which can be very uplifting for the elderly.

 

These chamber arts are not focused on sexuality very much, rather they are focused on the harmonious preservation of the bodies vital energies. It is when we do the opposite and cultivate excess sexual desire and desire for blissful sensation that we tend to develop extreme patterns of depleting our vital energy.

 

This is not to say that the male-female relationship cannot be used with the intent to cultivate harmony. The male can learn much from the deep receptive power of the female, and the female can learn much from the stable strength of the male. Some sexual practices (kareeza) work to avoid orgasm by moving slowly yet intentionally, focused upon the feeling of their connection while working to remain centered within. In this way, the yin and yang of each can find both expression and balance, without leading to depletion. The lack of orgasm is replaced by a more heart centered awakening that grows and matures, replacing "getting off" with deeper spiritual development.

 

I don't have much experience in this, but perhaps you can find more information about it elsewhere.

 

There is a lot of criticism regarding some of the modern books like multi orgasmic man on these boards, as this is working with a powerful and extreme type of charged energy that could easily become dangerous to one's health if one practices in an incorrect and forceful fashion. Especially if one is entering the realm of energy work from only knowing the experience of what sexual energy feels like, and unaware of what other types of energy feel like, or correctly preparing the body for various types of energetic workings, one may easily make mistakes with a practice that has few true teachers.

 

Blessings to your journey and may you find your own appropriate way to navigate the openings and closings.

 

[RiverSnake]

Kundalini Awakening is not the finish line, just the beginning. Practice this meditation 1 hr everyday for 100 days and you'll have an awakening.  The idea of there being only one path IMO is false. Karezza is a good source of sacred sexuality. Welcome to TDB. 

 

 

Edited June 16, 2017 by OldSaint