When it comes to spirituality, many people search for methods to align their physical and emotional lives with a sense of higher purpose. At times, people have sought to use any number of ways to enhance their spirituality, including sex. But can sexuality serve as a pathway to the divine? Is sexuality always a distraction from or a hindrance to the spiritual path, or is there another way to view it? In the video below, Sadhguru addresses a question on this topic, challenging conventional notions of sexuality and discussing the complex relationship between human biology, societal expectations, and spiritual aspirations:
Sadhguru: “Is sexuality a route to the divine? If you want to look at it that way, everything can be a route to the divine. Everything in the existence, every atom in the existence can be a doorway to the divine, if you all know how to open it. In that sense, yes, sexuality also is a door to the divine. The reason why somebody might have talked about it is, because in many ways it is… a certain amount of your life energy is dedicated to your sexuality unless you transform it. Naturally, to ensure that the reproductive activity happens and the human race is preserved, a certain amount of your energy is naturally dedicated to the sexual process. In terms of survival, procreation is an important part of survival, because survival is not just about your body, survival is about survival of the species. So, when the survival instinct is about the species, naturally sexuality has a certain dedicated energy towards it. Unless you consciously transform it, it is on in the system. You cannot deny it. Maybe it is on to different extents in different people, maybe not to the same extent. In some people it may be very strong, in some people it may be just a passing phase.”
“So, can we use sexuality as a way to the divine? I would advise that you handle sexuality as sexuality, rather than trying to make it into a spiritual process because that involves extreme discipline which you are not capable of. I would say most of you… almost all of you are incapable of that kind of discipline which is needed, where a natural survival instinct is involved. To bring the necessary awareness to that and take that natural instinct which is trying to fulfill one kind of purpose and to make it into an ultimate possibility, it takes much more than you think.”
“Now, if you have no guilt problems about the basic biology of your body, you conduct it to the extent it is necessary for you as a person. You don’t have to meet the social standards nor do you have to compete with the stud farms around you. Yes? As a person to what extent is your need, you please see that. Don’t set social standards to it. If you go by this, if you do not get involved with what’s happening in the social standards, you will see most of you need very little sexuality, actually. People are egged on by what’s happening around. They think if they are not like how everybody else claims to be, then maybe they are not living a normal life. Because of this idea, they are trying to do things which are not essentially them. If you go by your own natural process, you will see, most people need very little, only few people are hyped-sexuality. Rest of them, it is not such a strong thing. It is there, but it is not such a strong thing.”
“Once it happened, a 92-year-old man went to the doctor. The doctor gaving a … gave him a clinical check up and he said, “Your blood pressure is little on the high.” So immediately this 92 year old man asked, “Does it… Does it mean I have to give up my sex life?” The doctor asked “Well, which one? Thinking about it or talking about it?” The world is thinking too much about it.”
“Sexuality is just a small part of you. Even in this physical body, sexuality is just a small part of your body, isn’t it? Why has it become so big? Simply because of wrong ideas. First of all, you have not accepted the simple biology of a man or woman the way it is. You are trying to make it something other than what it is, isn’t it? If you just look at the human body just the way it is, there isn’t much… too much sexuality to it. But now it’s all gotten twisted out in people’s minds because of ideas of right and wrong, guilt and punishment, and whatever nonsense. It’s become so big. If you simply accept it as a part of your life, it would be a very small part of your life. Then you wouldn’t be thinking, how to use your sexuality to reach the divine.”
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