Sex & spirituality

Ancient practitioners who perfected the Tantric systems of knowledge acknowledged the power of sexual impulse. They created ways to work with it so it would become an aid on the spiritual path, and not a hindrance. Numerous instances of sexual misconduct amongst both celibate and non-celibate spiritual sects certainly point to the unpredictable and slippery nature of human sexuality. The major pitfall on the spiritual path represented by sexual impulse is its close relationship with grasping and desire. We grasp at what we desire and at what gives us pleasure. When we begin on the spiritual path, we realise that the twin impulses of grasping and revulsion perpetually have us in their grip. We are either running towards something we want, or running away from something we do not like. Both impulses keep us enmeshed in the play of emotionality and reactivity and that’s what makes up our everyday experience of reality. Of course, in the purest definition of reality as Brahman, we are neither one nor the other, neither desire nor the object of desire, neither revulsion nor the source of it. The Vedantic technique of neti neti — arriving at the truth by negating all that it is not — is described as one of the genuine paths towards knowledge of the self. Like everything else related to the “small self”, or the ego personality, sexuality too is not who we truly are when pared down to our deepest core. Thus, on the spiritual path, it must be negated and cast away, like all other accouterments of the ego self. In the celibate monastic traditions, sexuality acquired a demonic presence, all the more powerful because of its slippery and difficult-to-pin down nature. As a monk, it was the one thing to watch out for that could destroy your composure and drag you back into the shackles of samsara, away from the supreme goal of nirvana. Often, because most monastics were heterosexual men, the wariness towards sexuality got translated as wariness towards women and a consequent denial and suppression of femininity. This was sidestepped in Tantra, largely because of an emphasis on working with the diverse energies that create reality. Energy was comprehended as a building block of creation, which in its purest form was supreme, undifferentiated consciousness. It came together in diverse ways, creating a leela, an interplay of causes and effects, resulting in what we experience as reality. In this worldview, human sexuality was another form of energy that could be modulated with awareness, as per the motivation of the practitioner. For those seeking transcendence, it became a vehicle towards union with supreme consciousness, through focused and directed practices. Ultimately, whatever a wisdom tradition might dictate, the onus of creating and following an authentic and honest practice rests with the seeker. As does the decision whether to work with one’s sexuality, negate it, or try and transcend it, provided one does not indulge in misconduct, wrongdoing or exploitation.

Swati Chopra writes on spirituality and mindful living. Her most recent book is Women Awakened: Stories of Contemporary Spirituality in India. Website: www.swatichopra.com