Containment of personal energy begins within the self, in turning thoughts away from that which is happening outside of the self, in turning inward with the breath so that calmness may begin to take its natural place like the calmness that comes after a thunderstorm. In containment, and in the natural state of breathing, let calmness anchor, let thoughts reduce to no more than the sound of leaves gently rustling, let mind go still as a moonless night, let body relax like a day with no breeze, let inner self, spirit, be present in every breath, naturally contained within. As it should be. Calm.
Sun, moon and stars in the sky above. Earth, trees and plants below. And in between walk the creatures of the earth, the animals, among them the human animal. All was pristine once, in balance, and yet now the sky suffers, the earth suffers, the creatures suffer. And yet suffering is life and life is suffering, the eternal misfortune of life on earth, the way of all things. And yet it does not have to end this way, for choices can be made to alleviate suffering, to change habits, to correct wrongs, to make well that which is ill and to carry out good works so that sky above, earth below, and all creatures that walk between the two may live in peace and harmony with as little suffering as possible.
The time has come for serious attention, awareness, and conscious action in all that is perpetrated, within and without, by the only creature who can actually do something, the human animal, for no other creature thinks or acts with intellect. No other creature has the capacity to act on a broad scale with love, compassion or kindness. And these are the things that matter. Walk a path of heart at all times. Between the sky above and the earth below blaze trails of healing and new life. It’s imperative, now more than ever.
Learn how your body speaks to you, how it says yes and it says no, how if you pay attention you will discover that it knows more than you think. This is your ancient self, your long-evolving self, now your spirit’s residence upon the earth. Do not doubt that it knows more than you think, for it functions largely without your awareness, but if you put your awareness on what it is saying to you you can learn a lot, how your gut has its own mind, for instance, and how your heart has its own knowledge. Begin there. Let these two physical aspects of you, gut and heart, show you what they know. Think from them. It can’t hurt! And in the process you will begin to pay more attention to your awareness, your spirit inside you who longs to get to know you too!
At its animal core, sex is an instinct, a biological urgency that comes and goes at nature’s prompting, on nature’s time, toward nature’s end. Most sex in nature appears particularly fast and violent and rarely results in a lasting relationship, in fact, for most animals it results in no postcoital connection.
Create sacred time… consciously… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
In contrast, the human animal, freed from its purely instinctual promptings can choose to engage in sex at will. Consciousness, what we refer to as spirit, introduces the possibility of choice as to when one might engage in sex. For instance we might say, “I love you all the time, but sex is sacred. It needs its own time and space, sacred time.” Animals never have this choice.
Additionally, consciousness, when applied to sexual energy, enables it to be elaborated into a union within the self in the merging of physical and energy bodies—the two distinct human components: matter and spirit—as well as the possibility of a profound union with another human being, as well as a complete merger into the experience of cosmic oneness.
The word sacred means to set apart, to make holy, to consecrate. The decision to set apart, to regulate the sexual instinct for the holy purpose of consecration, that is, a transformation into a numinous experience of oneness with self or with self and another being, is the intent of sacred sex.
To set aside a definite time for sexual union separates sex from its biological dominance, raising it to an honored, holy status. Hormones have their own timetables, but deciding the day of union is completely spirit based. Spirit says to body, “I invite you to be fully present, fully engaged, at this time and place. I am fully prepared to receive and join with you, this is my solemn commitment.”
Much of life can be dominated by the biological pressure and mental preoccupation with sex. That pressure in an individual may encourage frequent masturbation, in couples an ever-present expectation or burden. Setting aside a definite day within which sacred sex will occur relieves, ultimately, the individual or couple of this animal dominance of being.
At first, of course, the animal will resist. What horse or dog willingly allows itself to be tamed and trained? However, once the instinct sees that this is how it is, that it must wait, patiently, but that ultimately it will be rewarded with deep union and release, it will get on board.
Getting on board means accepting the set-apart time as the time, the only time, the sacred time of sex. All other time is not the time, hence, sexual thoughts, feelings and sensations must be stored to allow for mastery and refinement of formerly unbridled instinct.
And then, when it is time, it is time, sacred time. The commitment is to show up at the agreed upon, set-apart time, body and spirit. Just as the body had to submit to waiting, the spirit must submit to fully showing up, regardless of inner resistance. In the case of partner sex this is not about fulfilling an obligation to another, this is about honoring a sacred commitment to self. Marital duty, for instance, has no place in sacred sex.
Of course, the quality of each meeting is unique. Each partner must be extremely sensitive to the being it seeks to join with. Body has its definite needs, wants and desires, but spirit has its own intentions. To bring the two together in deep union requires a genuine meeting of both these bodies, physical and spiritual. The depth of each meeting depends upon how deeply each of these bodies is connected with, within and without. True connection requires deep knowing of self and other.
The practice of sacred sex is always unique, the growing closeness cumulative. The utter freedom and playfulness, in its sacred, set-apart time and space, allows for a merging with the divine that lives completely outside of time and space.
The rules are simple: deep respect, no coercion, plan with sincerity and openness, show up, see what happens. Obviously, sex needn’t be sacred sex to be right, but sacred sex is offered as a potential mature practice. Have fun with the planning too, make it special, allow no interferences in your sacred time and sacred space; keep it holy.
Even Reni Murez, a direct apprentice of Carlos Castaneda, Carol Tiggs, Florinda Donner-Grau, and Taisha Abelar, acknowledges that although shamans store and use their sexual energy for conscious dreaming and out-of-body travel they also must balance their humanness. After all, they are currently here in human animal form just like the rest of us. Reni agrees that setting apart a special time for sex, be it once weekly, monthly, yearly, or once a decade, provides a sacred opportunity for human union, but also allows for sexual energy to be used at other times for other spiritual work.
No partner? No problem! Either save sexual energy for future union, with the intention that the right relationship will come to pass and that the stored energy will not be taken or squandered but used as planned, or engage in sacred sexual union with self alone, merging spirit and physical body in love.
Physical limitations? With spirit involved nothing is impossible! Perhaps the playing field might move over into dreaming where energy body and physical body can experience the deepest sexual union. Here sacred sex asks the dreaming intent to take over and arrange the magical, sacred meeting outside of time and space.
To get back to the question with which we opened this blog—why is sex so unsatisfying?—we propose the following: it simply isn’t sacred enough! We offer the path of sacred sex as a path of heart.
Of course, if one is in the midst of traumatic recapitulation or a spiritual practice that requires sexual abstinence, the practice of sacred sex is one of sacrifice and abstinence, as the energy of union is deployed toward healing and spiritual transformation instead. Nonetheless, such deployment can be understood as sacred sex employed to the needs and intent of self for the highest good. Indeed a path of heart!
Let the generosity of your spirit find its natural place in your life. Be generous where you can though not to excess. Stay within your means and yet find a natural measure of giving in some meaningful way. Generosity of spirit may not come to you as naturally as it does to others, but it is a habit worth cultivating, for it will open the doors of your heart so that you may experience the true nature of love and a giving heart, for there is no true love without a giving heart.
