Naked Before Eternity
An Esoteric Meditation on Sex
(Adapted from When the Stars Align)
Whether we contemplate the erotically spiritual writings of twelfth century mystic Bernard of Clairvaux, or the poetry of the Middle Eastern mystic Rumi, or gaze at Tibetan yab-yum imagery depicting a man and woman seated in naked embrace, it's clear that the world’s mystics have long regarded sexuality as a potent symbol for spiritual awakening.
What is it about the merging of two beings in sex that implies a deep mystical truth for so many? I'd like to suggest a few possibilities.
The Marriage of the Sun and Moon
On one level, the joining of lover and beloved echoes what yogis refer to as samadhi—that mystical state in which boundaries dis- solve, and where “outer” and “inner,” objective and subjective, are realized as one. Though we ordinarily see ourselves as sepa- rate from the surrounding world, the mystic recognizes that it's all part of a single reality, two aspects of the same consciousness.
That's led some to suggest that the closest most people come to that mystic realization is during sex. Why? This is because when engaged in a deep sense of communion with the partner, that sense of a division between self and world dissolves, and there awakens—however dimly—a realization of one's true nature.
Consider the example of Tom, a young man I knew in my childhood. At age eighteen he went off to college in a neighboring state, where his turbo-charged libido led him into a string of one-night-stands with various young women around the campus. Eventually Tom came to Jesus and changed his ways, expressing sincere regret over his history of past excesses.
Of all the sexual encounters he had throughout that period, however, there was one hook-up where something quite extraordinary happened. While in the midst of sex, he said, he was staring into the young woman's eyes and had a life-changing epiphany. “I'm not sure how to say this,” he nearly stammered trying to explain it to me, “but I became her,” shaking his head as if still mystified all those years later by what happened that night.
In that moment, the boundaries between self and other completely evaporated, as he and the young woman became one. Yogically speaking, what he experienced was a basic form of samadhi, or heightened consciousness. (I say “basic” because tangible phenomena were still involved—what some yogis call “samadhi within form”—so he was not yet at the level of what some mystics call “mind and body dropped.”)
Not only did Tom harbor no lingering regrets over that particular affair, he seemed genuinely grateful for having had the chance to glimpse something as profound and life-changing as that, in which his separate ego-self disappeared and he realized— however momentarily—a far greater truth.
Secrets Encoded in the Human Anatomy
Profound secrets about the significance of sex are also concealed within the human body itself, specifically in the male and female genitalia.
Consider the shape of the male and female organs. Whereas the penis is akin to a spear which comes forward into a point, the vagina is more of a receptacle, with these two constituting the proverbial "blade" and the "chalice" mentioned by some writers. That difference in actual form and shape says a great deal about the "male" and "female" states of consciousness—and by that I'm referring not so much to specific physical genders as to archetypal principles of consciousness, as experienced by either men or women.
In a "masculine" state of consciousness, for instance, the mind is pointed forward, actively moving towards its subject and directed sharply beyond itself; whereas in the "feminine" state of consciousness, the mind shifts into a more receptive mode, absorbing and integrating diverse impressions in a more holistic way. Again, while these may conventionally be more dominant in one sex than the other, both of these states can be experienced by either sex.
A simple illustration of that difference would be what happens during an ordinary conversation between two individuals. The one who is talking focuses awareness outwards toward “getting their point" across. The person listening is conventionally more receptive and focused on absorbing, on receiving the incoming data and processing before replying with a more active response.
In enlightenment, those two modes of consciousness come into equilibrium, where there is neither grasping outward nor a drawing inward, but rather a balancing of those polarities.
Sexuality is one expression of that merging of opposites, with the ecstasy and bliss associated with sex reflecting the bliss associated with samadhi itself.
Going Deeper
Yet there are still other insights concealed within the sexual organs of the two sexes, but to explain that we need to first look briefly at the spiritual phenomenon referred to as kundalini.
Yogic mysticism says there are three primary channels or “nadis” of energy in the subtle body, called ida, pingala, and sushumna. These are generally associated with the left side of the spine, the right side of the spine, and the center of the spine, respectively.
Each of these channels relates to a different mode of consciousness. The center channel of the spine, sushumna, is considered to be the path of balanced consciousness and spiritual freedom—the proverbial "straight and narrow path,” or what Yogananda called the “highway to the infinite.” (In Jewish Kaballistic mysticism, this central channel has its analogy in the “Tree of Life” as the fittingly titled Pillar of Equilibrium.) When the energies of ida (feminine) and pingala (masculine) on the sides of the spine collapse into that central channel, consciousness rises up through that middle in the form of kundalini, and is experienced as blissful, heightened awareness.
Different mystical traditions offer various techniques designed to help balance those energies and move them upward. These include visualizations, postures, or mantras aimed at drawing consciousness into the center and gently coaxing it upwards. (The classic image of a street fakir in India causing a snake to rise out of a basket using music naturally comes to mind here.) We might even say the repetitious nature of some of these techniques serves to gently pump the energies of consciousness upwards into higher and higher levels, culminating eventually in their escape out through the top of one’s head in a fountain of spray.
How does all this relate to sexuality, and to the human genitalia?
Simply put, the erect penis is a microcosm of the spine in a state of heightened awareness. The upward flow of semen through the central channel mirrors the clear, whitish essence of spiritual consciousness associated with rising kundalini. Just as sperm flows up and out of the top of the penis at the moment of orgasm, so with a true awakening of kundalini—spiritual "orgasm," so to speak—there is a corresponding flow of blissful consciousness out of the head.
Ejaculation thus becomes what some might call a "lower-level" reflection of that higher-level transformation of consciousness, along with its corresponding end result, enlightenment.
A New Birth
“The birth of a child is a sacred phenomenon.”
—Lailah Gifty Akita, Pearls of Wisdom: Great Mind
What about the feminine principle in all of this? The male anatomy and its symbolism are obviously just one-half of the overall process in play here. That's because the sex act is not simply about ejaculation. In conventional biology, sex between a man and a woman culminates in the journey of the sperm toward the female egg, which in turn results in pregnancy, and childbirth.
What does that signify, esoterically?
The female egg represents the cosmic feminine, the cosmic divine beyond one's personal spark of divinity. The journey of the sperm towards the egg mirrors the journey of the personal divine towards the cosmic divine—the proverbial drop of water uniting with the ocean, the microcosm making contact with the macrocosm. Just as the sperm seeks to pierce the egg, and as the man seeks to "pierce" the woman, so the personal consciousness seeks to pierce the mystery of the divine feminine, the macrocosmic Self. As Goethe wrote in the closing lines of Faust, "The eternal feminine draws us on high."
As the spermatozoa is transformed by its encounter with the egg, so the personal self is forever transformed by its encounter with the cosmic feminine. Physical sex results in the birth of a child, which shares in the characteristics of both father and mother.
Similarly, from enlightenment emerges a new being that is neither entirely human nor entirely divine, but a combination of the two.
The enlightened personality is thereafter a dweller in two worlds, personal and transpersonal, worldly and transcendental, living a dramatically different life from anything before, naked now before all eternity. In the words of the thirteenth-century German mystic, Mechtild of Magdeburg,
Lord, now I am a naked soul
And you in yourself All-Glorious God. Our mutual intercourse
Is eternal life without end.
*******
Adapted from When the Stars Align: Reflections on Astrology, Life, Death, and Other Mysteries (Inner Eye Press, 2023).
Ray Grasse is an author, astrologer, and photographer living in the American Midwest. His website is www.raygrasse.com.