Monday, October 9, 2017

Buddhist SEX: Moderation, Tantra, Freedom!

Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Wiki; MBG; Maurice O'Connell Walshe (Wheel 225, BPS); Andrew Olendzki (accesstoinsight.org)
What secret ingredient is a must for my post-flow yoga refuel? Great sex? Thank you.
The future Buddha's beautiful mother, Maya Devi, was -- it is said -- a kind of "virgin" or "pure person" in one sense: She was free of sexual misconduct going back seven generations.
Our sexy-spiritual, Los Angeles yoga teacher Psalm Isadora (RIP) loved tantric sex.
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Chakras light up during intimacy with partner
This is an age in which sexual matters are discussed with great openness.
 
There are many who are puzzled to know what the Buddhist attitude towards sex is, and it is therefore to be hoped that the following guidelines may be found helpful towards an understanding.

It is, of course, true to say that Buddhism, in keeping with the principle of the Middle Way, would advocate neither extreme puritanism nor extreme permissiveness.

You are sacred. Act like it: Five Precepts
But this, as a general guiding principle without further explanation, is not sufficiently helpful for most.

In the first place, we have to distinguish between training rules adopted by different kinds of Buddhists:
Celibacy for deeper meditation
for their path toward enlightenment in this very life. If one does not reach enlightenment in this life, the practice will at least produce a very advantageous rebirth.
 
Guiding principles for lay Buddhist practitioners are easy and quite freeing: avoid violating the Five Precepts and enjoy sex with appropriate partners even if you're unmarried.

Or go celibate. Or be a serial-monogamist. Or secure consent and do whatever you want. As a Buddhist you're free. More

Speaking of Buddhist-Sex, what is tantra?
Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
Do you think I'm sexy? Yes, well, don't stare too much. I died earlier this year. - P. Isadora
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Use birth control. I may not want to be born!
Tantra (Sanskrit तन्त्र, literally "loom, weave") denotes the esoteric traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism that co-developed most likely about the middle of first millennium CE.
  • VIDEO: Tantrika talks about her childhood sexual abuse (below)
In Indian traditions the term tantra also means any systematic broadly applicable "text, theory, system, method, instrument, technique, or practice." This may be thought of as a stratagem or modus operandi to achieving some end.
 
In Buddhism, the Vajrayana tradition is known for its extensive tantra ideas and practices.


Various tantric symbols (Sarah Welch)
In Hinduism, the tantra tradition is most often associated with its goddess tradition called Shaktism (worship of the Goddess Shakti), followed by Shaivism (Lord Shiva) and Vaishnavism (Lord Vishnu).

Tantric Buddhist and Hindu traditions have influenced other religious traditions such as Jainism (a surviving wandering ascetic tradition like Buddhism), Sikhism, the Tibetan Bön (pre-Buddhist shamanic) tradition, Taoism, and the Japanese Shintō (pre-Buddhist animistic kami worship) tradition.

Tantra as genre of literature in Hinduism (upholding as best it can the far more Ancient Vedic tradition) have been influential to its arts, icons, and temple building practices.
 
Mas amor por favor ("More love, please") Sexual trauma and breast cancer link?
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Wait, sex can be empowering?
Hindu rituals (pujas), temples, and iconography are tantric in nature. The Hindu texts that describe these topics are called Tantras, Āgamas, or Samhitās

In Buddhism, its tantra-genre literature has influenced the artworks in Tibet, historic cave temples of India, and imagery in Theravadan Southeast Asia. More

Like a Lotus: Why Tantra?
Andrew Olendzki, (Thag 15.2) "Udayin Thera: The Blooming Lotus" (excerpt) edited by Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly


Tantric Buddhists of Californian, Bhutanese, Nepalese, Mongolian, Tibetan Vajrayana were drawn to the contrast in the imagery of the lotus flower.

The contrast is between the ordinary, defiling mud rooting the plant in the water and the sublime beauty of the blossom rising above it.

Relentless in their non-attachment to dichotomies (polemics, polarities, extremes) and their demolition of opposites, the tantric approach is to be capable of embracing both sides or opposites without clinging to either.

Although the emphasis changes, we can see that the essential teaching of non-clinging or non-attachment (nopalippati="is not stained") -- to objects of sensual-perception, to a particular mode of teaching, or to conventional dualities -- remains carried through the ages by this simple image of a white lotus growing out of muddy water:

As the flower of a lotus,
Arisen in water, blossoms,
Pure-scented, pleasing the mind,
Yet is not drenched by the soiled water,
In the same way, born in the world,
The Buddha abides in the world,
Yet like the lotus by water, is not
Drenched by the sullied world.
Buddhist Sexual Yoga: Yab-Yum
Don't have sex yet. Wait till you're home. Even then...are you a long-time practitioner?
4 types of sugar addicts: Which are you?
 
Why we all need sexual healing
in memory of Psalm Isadora (edited by Wisdom Quarterly)
We all lost a great member and friend of the mbg community (mindbodygreen.com), Psalm Isadora. According to her Facebook page, she passed away.

Psalm became a contributor for mindbodygreen.com and made an immediate impression. That was the thing about her: she always made an impression. To those who knew her, she was an unapologetic force of nature!

Whenever she walked into a room, she wanted you to know it. She oozed confidence, rarely compromised, and always said exactly what was on her mind. She was fierce. She was a warrior princess. And she was also a mother to a son.

Canadian pop star Shania Twain
She survived what many people cannot -- extreme sexual trauma in a sinful, hypocritical Christian cult that lasted much of her childhood. She channeled those horrific experiences into a message of female empowerment through sexuality and tantric principles.

She shared this message of empowerment with the world through her articles, classes, and workshops.

She even shared her deeply personal and emotional story about overcoming sexual trauma in a powerful talk at our last Revitalize event, which received a standing ovation. Watch the talk
  • Kazuo Ishiguro wins Nobel Prize in Literature!
  • Buddhism and Sexuality: An Exploration Among Buddhists there is a wide diversity of opinion about homosexuality. Buddhism teaches that sensual pleasure and craving in general, sexual obsession in particular, are hindrances to enlightenment, far inferior to the kinds of metaphysical "spiritual pleasure" (pīti, bliss, joy, "rapture") integral to the practice of meditative absorptions or jhānas. The Five Precepts avoids "sexual misconduct" -- 10 persons to avoid having sex with, which is often also interpreted according to local social norms. Still, some Asian Buddhists hold prejudices against gay, lesbian, and transgender persons.

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