By Yogi Tom/Silver Dawn Media
I found that once I had sat out the immediate crisis of desire that inevitably arises with the practice of celibacy if one has previously enjoyed active sex life, that I had to master the very esoteric art of “inner sex”.
Even among knowledgeable Western Tantric and kundalini yogis celibacy can sometimes be under-rated or undersold when traditionally it has always been a useful, even essential, means of spiritual development that can have quite dramatic effects – usually positive, but potentially negative and dangerous, if one doesn’t understand the esoteric nature of sexo-yogic techniques and the Pandora’s Box of the mind they can open up.
Furthermore, given its association with repression and “unnaturalness” in Western popular culture, celibacy, in general, has a bad image.
When kundalini awakens one often enjoys very intense, fulfilling and powerful sexual union in a conventional manner, and, even if one knew how to practice celibacy in a positive and spiritually creative manner, it might seem too ambitious a goal given the – often urgent – need to find an outlet for this extraordinary energy that often has a very powerful will of its own.
Thus it is, that, if one is thinking about possibly practicing celibacy as a positive spiritual move to harness the energy of awakened kundalini, it is best to do so holistically, slowly and from a firm foundation of deep spiritual commitment and study of the relevant scriptures.
The sexual energy and fluids are the purest energy source on the planet and transform the mind, body, and spirit in very subtle and profound ways.
They are the lifeblood of real Tantric meditation and transmutation of mundane consciousness into pure consciousness. Have no illusions about what Tantra really involves – on a truly cosmic level – once the consciousness begins to be nourished, invigorated, and purified by one’s very life force.
Once one has started to go upwards as well as outwards in one’s focus of energy then there can be no going back as a transformed and purified nervous system, for instance, cannot be de-sensitized, and spiritual revelations flowing from the opening of the head and throat chakras cannot be forgotten or ignored.
Given these factors one needs a certain healthy caution as well as, in some ways, recognizing what an opportunity for enlightenment kundalini awakening offers and just how rapidly and effectively celibacy can transform a kundalini experience into a truly extraordinary expansion and deepening of understanding and spiritual consciousness…there is, as ever, a dramatic tension within, between the urge for conventional outer union and the more intuitive sense that perhaps a deeper, more permanent and more profound inner divine union is possible through the esoteric art of sublimating the sexuality.
To sublimate one’s sexuality one needs to know all the esoteric theory of the chakras and nadis, prana and chi/ki, the meridians, and the significance of the spinal column as a channel for the sublimated sexual energy and fluids.
One needs to have mastered the fundamentals of hatha yoga, in particular the three major body locks – mulabandha, uddiyana and jalandhara – that are like natural fuses on an electric circuit board carrying high voltage current.
To gain this knowledge one must create a deep and safe foundation by drawing on the basic ideas of the Hindu, Taoist, and Tibetan traditions at the very least.
To get an idea of what’s involved one could start with three classics: Swami Radha’s Kundalini Yoga for the West, Richard Wilhelm’s translation of The Secret of the Golden Flower, and Lama Govinda‘s Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism.
The spine feeds sublimated sexual and spiritual energy upwards into the brain and so one must be prepared to experience “spiritual and psychic brain surgery” in the long run if one is going to become celibate after the kundalini has awakened.
If one is interested in further researching into the psychic and spiritual effects of celibacy, one could read Gopi Krishna’s personal account which describes how, in the male, the sublimated semen feeds the nervous system and brain and subtle body round the clock once this esoteric evolutionary mechanism has been activated.
Krishna also notes how his semen was refined in nature and produced in greater quantities than usual to meet the needs of the evolving nervous system and subtle body.
Given this intense and extraordinary effect of celibacy one has to prepare carefully – no high-pressure job – and preferably a highly flexible one in case things move faster than expected, a pure diet, a happy partner who won’t try to tempt you away from your monastic vows, friendships based on an understanding of the subtle and profound nature of what you are doing, a peaceful environment in which to nurture the subtle experience unfolding within as the chakras are purified and flower so revealing your true spiritual nature, no dire financial pressure and, ideally, some kind of guru or spiritual tradition that understands the principles involved in this hidden path that is, in effect, the fast track to enlightenment.
I actually used both the Hindu Tantra and the Tibetan Tantra and found different scriptures and different gurus met different needs as things progressed.
I was not shopping around for influences, I simply used what was appropriate at the time and let it go when that influence seemed to have run its course.
One has to travel light with kundalini and there is no way one can ever know what approaches will be appropriate once one has passed the point of no return with the full flowering of the throat chakra. Theories and fixed concepts become redundant as one travels from world to world of the mind and universe.
However, it can be a very lonely universe without a guru one trusts totally….and there may come a time when even he or she cannot help you.
So have no illusions about what the Tantra involves – it’s like a crucible of fire at times, a cruel cosmic vice sometimes, a still golden pool at other times…..you learn to co-operate with the forces involved as there is literally no alternative. Once started it can seem as if there is a conspiracy to make you become enlightened or burn in hell for the rest of time!
As one goes beyond the heart chakra into the world of the throat chakra, this opens up the world of pure sound in the form of mantra which, in some ways, is an introduction to pure symbolic forms such as yantras, yidams, and mandalas.
While one cannot predict which forms will be useful for yourself, it is worth reading up on the significance of these in some depth in advance as you won’t have much time once they begin to get a grip on the development of your consciousness as it is purified by sexo-yogic techniques and the spontaneous natural processes that come with creative celibacy.
I found that once I had sat out the immediate crisis of desire that inevitably arises with the practice of celibacy if one has previously enjoyed active sex life, that I had to master the very esoteric art of “inner sex”.
Anyone who’s seen Tibetan or Hindu Tantric art will probably already understand that erotic coupling mirrors our potential for integrating, synthesizing, and sublimating our natural dualistic nature through esoteric meditation.
In many ways, this is actually an extraordinarily natural and straightforward process if only our conditioning would not get in the way and so repress, distort or cling onto our sexual nature.
Dreams can be very useful guides to where the mind has got to as highly erotic, beautiful or dualistic themes can point to the nature of the energies emerging from the subconscious as the mind becomes purer and feeds on the new fuel or nectar you have offered it in the form one’s own sexual fluids and energy.
One has to listen very carefully to these messages and, quite literally, start to live the dream so as to integrate the waking consciousness with these emerging primal forces.
As these very pure energies emerge into the conscious realms, one will discover why it was so important to have prepared oneself through spiritual practice, study and integrating one’s lifestyle and relationships in true yogic fashion – for, like the cleansing of one’s consciousness begins in earnest, the past and the old self will begin to look very different to how one imagined them to be at the time.
Without a firm foundation and faith in the Tantra in general and the particular method or guru one is following then things can get out of control very quickly as these are forces that rarely manifest in everyday life.
Minutes and seconds can bring insights and revelations and bliss that go beyond anything anyone could dream of, even in the course of a lifetime, on a more mundane, but less hazardous, spiritual path.
In the Buddhist tradition, the sutras of the Theravada and Mahayana were specifically designed – amongst other things – to prepare one for the rigors and lightning-fast path of the Tantra.
Some teachers say 10 years of sutra practice is needed before seeking Tantric initiation, but if one already has a spontaneous kundalini awakening and one is interested in exploring celibacy, then one will have to backtrack somewhat and lay the foundation before taking the direct route to the crown chakra and beyond.
Given one is laying the foundation with the added power of kundalini, the linear time spent doing this is not important, what counts is the depth of one’s commitment and understanding of what it is to lay spiritual roots to one’s every thought, word, and deed until one’s whole simply becoming a spiritual tool that is obeying the intelligence of kundalini rather than pursuing the plans of the ego.
Thus, perhaps the most powerful technique for transforming a celibate mind is the savasana or corpse pose of hatha yoga for, done correctly, this allows the mind to become integrated in a way no conscious technique could ever hope to attain.
Perform savasana before sleeping each night and the effect can be indescribable in giving one an extraordinary sense of wholeness and healing on every level of being.
And one may well find that psychic and sexual phenomena such as the dakini – forms of mystical goddesses embodying different aspects of one’s true mind – emerge from the depths of one’s mind quite readily and lead one into the extraordinary world of inner orgasm that can, at best, permeate the whole body and mind for hours on end, creating a new holistic and indestructible consciousness capable of breaking free from and dissolving all the old attachments.
If one doesn’t like wild orgasmic psychedelic trips with crazy women – such as the dakini of the Tantric scriptures – then don’t even think about sublimating your sexuality if one is undergoing a kundalini experience. It is truly a primal experience encountering the female aspects of the psyche.
If one is serious about going all the way with kundalini, celibacy and meditation, then by this stage one obviously needs to be able to focus within all the time and so some logistical planning is needed that is flexible enough to adapt to the whims of the shakti and the dakini.
Even living in a spiritual or monastic community may not be the best bet if this involves following strict rules as these kind of primal forces are no respecters of etiquette or mundane notions of spiritual discipline and may require both long periods of intense introspection as well as periods of rest, exertion and integration of subtle forces with the physical body….explaining this kind of erratic behavior to a community working to a routine could be very difficult if they don’t know the mysteries of the Tantra.
In some ways, celibacy is the foundation stone of real Tantra, so think about it, read about it, spiritually refine your existing sexual relationship if you have one, but if you have an awakened kundalini remember the Zen saying before actually trying celibacy in earnest: “Better not to start. Once started better to finish.”
Think of it as like Himalayan mountaineering – the preparation has to be perfect, but even then one can find oneself on the receiving end of Nature in its cruelest forms in ways that no mortal could have predicted. Ignorance – even of things one would not normally be expected to know – is no defense on the upper reaches of the Tantric path. Kundalini can forgive, but even she has her limits if you push things too far.
So have a guru to bail you out should things get out of control (and to ensure this need does not arise in the first place) and create as many safety nets as possible through sincere and natural spiritual practice long before embarking on celibate Tantric meditation.
For sublimating one’s sexuality after a kundalini awakening is like putting the purest fuel in a rocket – it’ll give it the means to get airborne so long as mission control and the flight planners understand the principles of gravity and aerodynamics….and the beauty and terror of the Tantra is that the spiritual equivalent of this kind of knowledge and understanding comes from the heart, the intuition, dreams, scriptures, Mother Earth, Nature, the stars and the guru. It is a vast, limitless and ancient primordial wisdom that has no time for the arrogance of the Western ego.
The one thing you can probably leave out of the Tantric equation is one’s own conditioned intellect and the mundane self that goes with it. Lose that in deference to the rest of the universe and one may begin to learn something and become something of spiritual value. – SILVER DAWN MEDIA
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