Sex and spirituality (संभोग से मोक्ष तक)-1

Sex and spirituality (संभोग से मोक्ष तक)-1

What a predicament – sex and spirituality! This is a tough nut to crack, and we wonder if anybody has really cracked it satisfactorily even after thousands of years. Of course, if we want to be free, it’s not sex itself that is the problems, but our relationship with it. The perennial question is: if we have sincere spiritual aspirations, then what is the best position to take in relationship to one of our most basic instincts? Well –and this is the fun part – it all depends who you ask!

The working of Sex Impulse- Man wishes to have children to maintain the race or line. This is the reproductive instinct. The desire to copulate proceeds from this sexual instinct. The strength of the sexual desire depends upon the sexual impulse.

According to the Gita गीता, impulse is Vegam वेगम  or force. Lord Krishna भगवान कृष्ण says, "He who is able to endure here on earth, before he is liberated from the body, the force born of desire and passion, he is harmonised, he is a happy man".

Impulse is a mighty force. It exerts influence on the mind. It is a force suddenly communicated to the mind.

Just as petrol or steam moves the engine, the instincts and impulses move this body. The instincts are the prime movers of all human activities. They give a push to the body and move the Indriyas इन्द्रियाँ to action. The instincts create habits. The instinctive impulses supply the driving power by which all mental activities are kept up. These impulses are mental forces. They operate through the mind and the intellect. They mould the life of a man. The mystery of life lies in them. The attraction towards women in men is born of Rajas रजस. That unknown attraction and happiness in their company is the seed of the sex impulse. This attraction, which is like a bubble in the beginning, later on assumes the form of a formidable, uncontrollable wave of strong passion or sexual appetite.

You must understand the psychological working of the sex impulse. When there are itches on the body, mere scratching of them is a pleasure. The sex impulse is only a nervous itching. The satisfaction of this impulse begets a delusive pleasure, but it has a positive effect on the spiritual well-being of the person.

What is the relationship of sex and spirituality? A strange combination it seems but one that evokes huge responses. Is there something called sacred sex! Or is celibacy the only path for the true seeker.

It is ultimately a personal choice that people must make, not forgetting that the spiritual practice of celibacy was and is considered to be a profound even crucial aspect of spiritual life by the Christians, Buddhist and Hindus alike.

For it is foolish to underestimate the overwhelming power that the sexual instinct possesses to create complex delusions and illusions! Understand and be aware of this powerfully before accepting or rejecting it.

The truth is, for most of us on the spiritual path, esoteric questions such as these, as intriguing as they are, are really superfluous. Why? Because the greatest challenge for most of sexuality at least, is just not to make a mess of it, or as they say, create more karma (कर्म). And if big gurus are apparently confused about the right relationship to sexuality what are we mere mortals supposed to do? Forget about the whole thing? Impossible…….

Face it directly and try to come to terms with it? Sounds good, but who has the courage and heroic spirit necessary to really look into the eye of the tiger of sexual desire without the whole world falling apart? You see, so many of us open-minded, freethinking characters really are squares when it comes to this particular mega-life issue. What does that mean? It means that we don’t want to look at the whole question too personally because, for most of us, sex is more important than God. The promise of perfect happiness and deep contentment that the sexual experience represents creates a whole universe of attachment and selfhood that is far too important to us to be questioned.

Many people tend to misinterpret whenever we speak each other or discuss about God and sexuality. This is such a loaded for most of us. And, as said earlier, it is very difficult to see clearly into this area of the human experience, especially when it relates to us. So what is needed at present…… the facts? Once again, the definition of spiritual freedom is freedom from attachment. Sex creates attachment that’s all there is to it. And this is why there is almost always an inherent conflict between the longing for inner freedom and the karmic consequences of the sexual / romantic experience. Therefore, the big question is: if enlightened freedom from attachment, then what are we all going to do about the relentless nature of sexual attraction?

I believe that if we want to be free, we can’t naively assume that there is a simple, ready-made answer to such a complex question. And if we are Sincere, we have to be willing to bear the burden of that complexity on our own shoulders and figure it out for ourselves.

In the end, if you want to be free, then all you need to know is that free means free from attachment. This simple fact transcends the relative matter of whether you are engaging in a sexual relationship or not. If you face this spiritual truth unflinchingly, then you will be looking into the heart of the matter. And this takes a lot more courage than blindly accepting someone else’s conclusion.

When you renounce the endless self-centred concerns of the separate ego and its small personal perspective then, spontaneously, you will find yourself there. This is where you will discover an absolute love, a bliss that is empty of attachment and free from the conviction that anything fundamental is missing. And it is this context that alone, which is one of inherent fullness and completing, that can make it possible for human beings to come together in personal intimacy and sexual communion in a way that is free from the pain, complexity, and unending confusion that are usually such an inherent part of this area of life.

Very few of us can really relate sex to the world of spiritual emancipation. This is because of our conditioning from the time we understand sex- that sexuality is something that needs to be hidden or something that needs to be frowned upon. Rarely do we come across anybody who knows or accepts that sex is neutral, that this can be so much a part of our spiritual experience. It is seemingly an incongruous combination. But the truth is that scared sex exists. And no, this is not a new fanged idea but it is something as old as our religion itself.

With so much focus on celibacy as the only way to enjoy spirituality people often ignore that intense sexual instinct provides a spiritual experience. In fact there are proponents of the belief that you do not necessarily have to lead a celibate life to be one with the supreme God. They say that high spiritual consciousness can actually free one from enjoying the power of sex, both physically and mentally.