Beyond Sex

From where do the thoughts come and from where does the consciousness emanate? There are thousands of such questions which man has not been able to answer. We can discuss and explain them very clearly in theoretical terms, but they will never be understood in this way, because this mysterious substance is not a matter of knowledge, but of experience. We may have perfected our intellectual concepts; we may comprehend the nature of the substance in perfect mathematical terms and be able to explain it in thousands of equations, but the ultimate thing that needs to be achieved is 'the experience'. – Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Sexual energy is central to our human experience.  It is the primal impulse of life and evolution.  On the most superficial level, it is how we maintain and evolve the species.  As Darwin noted, it is an ingenious way that nature has come up with to up the ante on natural selection.  Human sexuality however is obviously much more than this.  Human beings have sex for pleasure, often at odds with its procreative consequences.  Unlike our closest relatives in the animal kingdom, we are not driven by the seasonal impulse of estrus.  Instead we are potentially horny all the time.

Yoga is part of Tantra, and Tantra focuses on sexual energy as the evolutionary transformative potential residing within us.  It is the universal creative impulse working through this human form.  As Andrew Cohen writes in Evolutionary Enlightenment:

“The easiest place to locate the evolutionary impulse is at the most basic level of your being: the physical body. In the body, the desire to create form is expressed as the sexual impulse—the biological imperative to procreate. It's the most elemental expression of the First Cause, or the big bang. That's why it's so powerful! When we experience the sexual impulse, we are feeling that very same vibration that released the enormous energy of the entire cosmic process, pulsating in our own bodies and minds.”

No wonder it feels so good!

Sexual energy is an aspect of Kundalini, which is the creative energy of the universe within this human embodiment.  Although we tend to think of ourselves as separate bodies in space and time we are not really separate from the entire time space continuum.  We are expressions of a universal creative conscious/energy (SivaShakti) who have come into form in space and time.  As we awaken to this fact through direct experience we become enlightened. 

Sex has the dual capacity to help us awaken or to drive us further into unconsciousness.  If we stay fixated on the physical act of sex we run the risk of failing to awaken to our authentic Self which is beyond the body.  Tantric sadhana is about using the sexual impulse to move beyond the body.  Within the experience of orgasm itself we momentarily find ourselves beyond the body, beyond time and space, luminous, timeless and forever free.  Unfortunately for most of us, the orgasm dissipates so quickly that we barely register this experience before falling back into conditioned consciousness.  A wonderful Tantric text, Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, gives some clues for using the sexual experience to awaken.  “When you practice a sex ritual,” it states, “let thought reside in the quivering of your senses like wind in the leaves, and reach the celestial bliss of ecstatic love.” 

Another verse states, “At the start of the union, be in the fire of the energy released by intimate sensual pleasure. Merge into the divine Shakti and keep burning in space, avoiding the ashes at the end. These delights are in truth those of the Self.”  In other words, don’t rush towards orgasm but open your awareness.  Awareness is the space in which we burn.  Meditation practice is generally a prerequisite for being able to enter these states. 

     Ultimately meditation can take us beyond the need for physical sex.  Many Tantric practitioners go through periods of celibacy as a way of enhancing their meditative experience.  The same energy that goes into procreation can be channeled for the expansion of consciousness.