06 Mar Tantra and the Patriarchy
The teachings call the “tantras” began in northern India in the 500s. They spread to Tibet, China, and Japan around the same time. Patriarchy took over, and suddenly Shiva, a male god, was the source of all life and was now said to precede the Goddess.
“Since ancient times, spiritual life has been associated with the capacities of men to realize an alternative experience, an “Alternative Reality,” that corresponds to their psycho-physiological orientation. For thousands of years, spiritual life on Earth has been essentially a “male club,” and esoteric spiritual philosophies and practices reflect certain habit capacities that pertain most naturally or commonly to men. The practices of Tantric and Taoist yogas, which are at the root of the yogic understanding of the purpose of sexuality, are extensions of this male orientation toward salvation through the particular physiological and psychological disposition of men.” (Da Free John, 1985, p. 289)
Another consideration about patriarchal spirituality was brought to light in Kripal’s essay My eros has been crucified (2020) in which he writes about the homoeroticism of monastic life and how in times before ours, there really was no other place for gay people to go other than the monastery or convent. Thus ideas about sexuality were distorted because gay men and women were not allowed to be themselves, were told they were sinful, and that celibacy was a virtue. Much of the revulsion against heterosexual sex and women may have come from gay, celibate men, and no one, including themselves, may have been aware of it.
© 2024 Catherine Auman
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