2 Views of Sex Spirituality Link + Osho
A Hindu friend — who also admires philosophies of the controversial teacher of Tantra Osho, formerly known as Rajneesh — asked me recently exactly what I saw as the connection between sex and spiritual experience.
Pleased to have a succinct answer (my sound byte) to that question, I said that I see both as a way to break out of the narrow confines of one’s self.
His view? That in spiritual experience and at climax, the mind stops its thinking. It drops away.
Now I’m asking myself are these the same thing? Or are both metaphors for something else?
What do you think?
“…Osho has said that he is helping to create the conditions for the birth of a new kind of human being. He often characterizes this new human being as “Zorba the Buddha” – capable both of enjoying the earthy pleasures of a Zorba the Greek and the silent serenity of a Gautama the Buddha.”
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Tags: break out, Buddha, climax, connection, earthy, Hindu tantra, metaphors, mind, pleasures, Rajneesh, self, sex, sex spirituality, spiritual experience, spirituality, Zorba, Zorba the Buddha
Comments
I trust Rajneesh is Not the guy some years back in the US with a lotta cadillacs and mortal lovers amongst his followers, is he? He sure has a good manicure. I think going beyond the usual , habitual boundaries of our personal creation of a subjective, internal reality is a good definition of altered states of consciousness, including sex ,spirituality, meditation and hypnosis. Dr Bob
Same Rajneesh, Dr. Bob. And it was Rolls Royces. The guy was definitely a mixed bag; was deported from the U.S in ’85 for immigration violations.
Good point about other ways to go beyond the boundaries. The biography of Colette I was reading last night quoted her as saying that acting could serve the same purpose. I have an idea that’s also the appeal of drugs.
I fear that my sex life and my spiritual life has been too tame. (Singular verb deliberately used.) But I am among those who don’t like to lose control of myself, and I think both orgasms require total vulnerability and letting go. Scary stuff.
Probably most of us feel like others are far more adventurous, Jane.
I remember once I knew I was losing my nerve — in meditation. I had the sensation of falling backward inside my head, swoopy lights and a feel of dropping. And I stopped myself. Don’t know exactly what I stopped, but I regret it. I think my totally irrational fear was that I’d float off somewhere and not come back. Haven’t managed to have that moment again….
The description of each of these states as breaking out of the narrow confines of one’s self captures well the subjective experience of each of the “altered” states mentioned , as well as others-one of my more intense such experiences happened when i had a super high fever with mumps. They FEEL alike. But to me , a more interesting question is how do you go beyond the subjective experience and convert it to transformation, enlightenment, growth, joy. Not to get stuck at the experience., how not to get “hooked” on getting high, having orgasm ( drug abuse/sex addiction) or on that level of spiritual development where one settles for the warm and boundary-less feeling but it goes nowhere else –it does not inform one’s life. In psychotherapy, it’s very easy to learn trance,; much more difficult to lean and employ the specific communications and techniques for change that one hopes the trance will enhance . Many religious mystics (St. John of the Cross comes to mind, pardon the namedropping) have cautioned against becoming too attached to mystical experience itself as it can often lead nowhere, or the wrong where. Or, more specific to your interest, how does one meld and transform oneself and one’ s relationships by the power of tapping into the spiritual aspects of the sexual. I guess I’m going to have to read Cobalt Blue and see where you went with that before I dig this hole of a paragraph any deeper!
Crucial point you’re making here, Lee! The high is not the point, though it sure can seem as if it is. I’m going to hang on to this question of yours: “How does one meld and transform oneself and one’ s relationships by the power of tapping into the spiritual aspects of the sexual?” I welcome thoughts on this from you and others. Wish I had a ready answer myself.