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.
