The most sacred thing is not always exposed, it is hidden and at times invisible. God is invisible, It is the most sacred thing. Normally, sexual union is sacred as it is the means to procreate, but we have degraded it by not respecting it and by doing it at times in public places where we are peered at. When the Lord procreated to give birth to the Universe, nobody was there. The seed germinates in the recesses of the soil; innumerable events on the microscopic as well as the macroscopic level are hidden, invisible, thus non-profane, hence sacred.
Similarly, the sexual organ is not exposed to the eyes of one and all. However, the ugly happening is that sex has become a taboo, though it is a sacred thing. These are the reasons why it is hidden. It is the source of love, life and on the macroscopic level, it is the base of the whole existence. Such a sacred thing as sex has been turned into a taboo – why? Maybe the reason for it is that it is the power that will make man a god. Mystics say that the sexual energy can be transformed and its effect can lead man to have a very developed mind, so much so that they say that the sexual energy can contribute to lead man to attain Cosmic Consciousness. Therefore it is natural to kill this possibility that will create a free man, not a bond slave. Man can be commanded only when he is weak, and man is so weak as far as sex is concerned that he is easily manipulated.
In my opinion, the taboo around sex has been created to retain man in a stagnant state. But such a cunningness and sin cannot last for long. One day will happen that man’s understanding of sex will grow so much that he will no longer be a slave to it. This wisdom will move his energy upward and will make him an illumined being. He will have enough fuel to make his mind stay in a state of constant awakening. That will be the day of real celebration, for it is only when one is free that one can celebrate. The pouring of water on the Shiva Lingum is symbolical of transcendence of the sex energy. Observe the Shiva Lingum and you will notice a snake coiled around it. It symbolises the kundalini power or the vital energy in man and woman.
Even at the threshold of the year two thousand, sexuality is perhaps the subject of greatest taboo. Human being is the greatest miracle-maker. Every problem is created by us and the solution too rests in our hand. Man is sexual from head to toe, yet he wants to escape from it when the subject comes on the table. Every cell of our body has been made from sexual energy and sexual orgasm. Pleasure is fundamentally the same, but through the sexual contact, one touches such an intensity and subtlety of pleasure that we are irresistibly drawn towards it. The big question mark remains though we have reached considerable height in scientific researches. Mystics, however, have gone very deep into the subject to discover the secret that lies behind the appearance.
In the East, they have even invented methods so as to go deep into sex in order to have a greater understanding. They have called this method ‘Tantra.’ The mystics say that pleasure that is achieved through sexual union is basically divine. A glimpse of God is tasted when the sexual act reaches the ultimate point which is called coitus. Said in another way, through sexual intercourse, one can peep through eternity for a split second. Our sexual energy is produced from food, the intake of oxygen, sunlight and the mind. One cell from the male and one from the female form a complete human being. Their meeting at the physical level releases energy from both sides. Therefore, we meet on a gross level, then on a subtle level. The gross level is bodily embrace while the subtle level is the love which is shared. Furthermore, the vital fluid and the sperm which are the essence of the man and the ovum which is the vitality of the woman meet too – that is the subtle union.
However, the meeting is so momentary that we hardly feel the pleasure of a deep union. It is one of the most fundamental reasons why we are so obsessed by it. If we eat very little, then we will want food every now and then. It will become a habit. Nowadays sex has become a bad habit. It is done with a sense of guilt. When there is much love between the persons who have sex, then the moment of pleasure increases, and one becomes less obsessed by it. The result is that the energy starts moving upward. In fact, the purpose of the sexual energy is to procreate and to act as fuel for meditation. Actually, we procreate and waste the rest of the energy in habit and obsession. Through meditation, one can have much more joy of the same quality and that joy can be increased to such an extent so as to create an explosion of our being. Such an explosion is called samadhi in the East, which can be translated as Cosmic Consciousness.
Man is a strange being: he toils a lot to feed himself, then the energy which he has produced is thrown out as waste by a moment of excitation. An iota of the energy can produce a complete human being who could be an Einstein, a Vivekanand, a Jesus, a Krishna! What will be the outcome if the whole potential is transformed?
Both man and woman possess the male and female aspects. Their union are meant to produce the union of the inner man and woman without depending on each other on a bodily basis to attain the same orgasm as in sexual union. Both man and woman are complementary to each other. Marriage was meant to be a mutual consent between people of the same level of vibration so as to help each other to attain oneness with the Whole by uniting the inner male and female principles or by uniting the positive and negative poles. But alas! Wrong knowledge and lack of discipline has made sex a subject of taboo.
Sexuality or the sexual union is the mergence of the positive and negative but also the complementary elements of nature for the evolution of life. When the gross level is united, procreation is the result. When the meeting is subtle, illumination is the result. Darkness-light, matter-energy, male-female are the opposite but complementary aspects upon whose basis the drama of creation is being played. God is in an eternal sexual intercourse in the form of matter-energy, Satti-Shiva, darkness-light. This is the reason why the process of creation is eternal.
The sexual energy should be saved and transformed so as to attain the apex of joy which frees one from all forms of suffering. This, however, does not mean sexual repression – one has to go through it, know it deeply and then transcend it. Sexual union is the first rung in the ladder of spiritual evolution. Meditation and illumination are the ultimate rungs. Without proper sex education, no religious or spiritual evolution is possible. Gradually as the sexual fluid is transformed, the mind becomes powerful and pure. Geniuses can be produced in a greater number if the sexual energy is transformed. Meditation is the only science which can bring about this transformation and that should start at the age of puberty when the sex centre starts operating. Sexual intercourse should be for procreation and experience of bliss and thus Divinity. One should not be a slave to it. In our actual civilisation, sex has become such a problem that one feels like carrying a burden and one seeks an opportunity to unload oneself from it. Sexual relation nowadays amounts to sneezing.
Man conceals infinite possibility. By using the sexual energy, he can open a great door. The snake around the neck of Lord Shiva symbolises the sexual energy. The Shiva Lingum is often surrounded by a snake – this symbolises the energy of both the male and female, because the Shiva Lingum is both a male and female symbol. One of the significations of the sacred thread or Janev of the Hindu is to remind the young student of the importance of celibacy, which means the transformation of the vital fluid. Sex, or sexual union, is a sacred thing and should be regarded as such – only then one can be free from its obsession. My own realisation and advice is to go through it and use it as a means to attain Cosmic Consciousness.
