I have been uncomfortable with the dominator-model of the takeover of the patriarchy because I don’t find men to have any more ill will or to be any more power-mad than women, and I don’t feel that an era where women were in charge would...
It appears that when Chinese Taoism and its sexual yoga practices made their appearance in the seventh through third centuries BCE, sex was seen as important not only for superior health but also for pleasure – as basic necessities of life as food and air...
At least two of the traditions that consider sex a valid path of spiritual development have been in the process of reinventing themselves for the kinds of people who live today. Western tantra reinterpreted by Osho and spread by teachers influenced by his lineage such...
The modern western sacred sexuality tradition appears to be developing as a valid spiritual path. The ancient traditions were designed for people who were very different than those today and need to be updated. Monasteries and convents are closing because few people define spirituality that...
The philosophy and teachings of Kūkai are another tradition that has been identified as sex-positive, although it cannot be said that it was. Kūkai lived in the 9th Century and was a Japanese Buddhist monk. Yuasa (1987) stated that while there was no theoretical analysis...
Karmamudra refers to the Tantric Buddhist practice of engaging in cultivated forms of sexual arousal and intercourse as part of spiritual practice. It has been called “the yoga of bliss,” “the path of skillful means,” and “the path of the great bliss of the lower...
Tibetan BuddhismIn Tibet, with the entry of Buddhism brought by Padmasambhava, a similar melding of the indigenous Bon tradition and the inner, interior, monastic philosophy occurred. Much of Tibetan Buddhism was similarly patriarchal and used sex only as a transgressive act, except for strains that...
One of the lesser-known sects of the Kaula tradition that has been ignored by scholars and art historians are the yogini cults (Dehejia,1986). These cults appear to have survived untouched by the influence of the patriarchal (or Buddhist) invasion. A series of circular temples honoring...
The Kaula sect retained its loyalty to the goddess, sexuality, the role of women, and the love of sensuality and the earth. Kaula divinized passion and sexual desire and taught the primacy of the body. The world was seen with what might be termed a...
Tantra began in northern India around the same time as the introduction of Buddhism in 500-600 AD. Countless numbers of texts, or tantras, many of which have not yet been translated, were written expounding on the theory and practice of tantra, so it is not...