Jasjit I thought you couldn't top your reflection in the looking glass series but I have to say that these pieces you are doing on memory and desire are just brilliant. You are gifted with the ability to go to the center of an issue without talking here and there.

I have always found it interesting that so many male masters are accussed of sexual misconduct but you never hear these accusation about women masters. What is it about men that makes it so hard for them to move beyond sex even on spiritual path?

Thank you for this great topic for discussion.

Dear Jasjit,

Wonderfully put. I guess many people take up the spiritual path as an escape route. But what they do not realise is that the cause of their anxiety lies within them and no matter which route they take it will always remain with them unless they deal with it first from within.

Thank You Shagufta & Annie

Shagufta firstly I think in numbers there are too few women 'Gurus' compared to men and that too are only more visible in the recent decade than at any other time in history. Secondly perhaps two things are happening. One I think a sexual scandal against man is the easiest thing to do to discredit a well-known Master/Guru so some of it could just be motivated.

Truly 'liberated' beings are beyond all 'games' and that is why they are rare.
However yes there are many who are at some level of 'trasncendence' and yet have unresolved sexual selves and are definitely using their new found status and 'power' to engage in sexual games. Like I said in the post, the sexual is a big one because it contains the entire emotional spectrum of our being. At its most intense level the spectrum looks sexual, at its deeper level its all our emotional needs/ insecurities/fears/validation needs/comfort zones and self-esteem. So frankly on the road to transcendence this is the last chakra which transforms. Only after all the vestiges of 'neediness' have gone does the mirror reflect emptiness. Then there are no sordid tales left.

But up until that point only the most astute awareness practices can ensure dropping the mind which resides at the Swadisthana. Since for men the sexual is wedded to their most basic 'emotional depth they feel its urge most powerfully. Women experience the emotional at so many levels, also through socially garnered and sanctioned spaces, and hence nurturing, cooking, caring as mothers, sisters daughters and wives, caring for other emotionally disturbed people etc give them a great and natural 'sadhna' to pour the transforming energy of the sexual.

That is not to say that women, especially those who have lived sexually incomplete or 'unfulfilled' selves, are in dulled marriages and partnerships do not experience a great sexual surge on the Path. They too find the same beyond sacred/profane key unlocking an unfettered sexual self. However what is fascinating is that women who walk a 'spiritual' Path from the 'mind' practices get restless and face a whole new sexual challenge. Those who practice from a sadhna/bhakti angle are able to more easily transfer it to emotional purging through bhakti.

Altogether the transformation/purification of this chakra is a fascinating art. It is where finally the most 'manipulative/power-hungy' mind resides and eventually empties out. And without it transcendence at many levels, celestial experiences and great wisdom can still leave someone faltering in the face of this powerful centre. Perhaps that is why there are so many scandals too.

Hope this helps:)
love

"At its most intense level the spectrum looks sexual, at its deeper level its all our emotional needs/ insecurities/fears/validation needs/comfort zones and self-esteem. So frankly on the road to transcendence this is the last chakra which transforms. Only after all the vestiges of 'neediness' have gone does the mirror reflect emptiness. Then there are no sordid tales left."

Dear Jasjit I simply love what u have said here. It sounds alien and totally new to me but somehow fascinating and like I just feel its right. But when u talk about the mind at the sexual chakra-what do u mean? That has confused me.

Also remember you had given a meditation in another post on the sexual chakra. So I tried it many times and I felt this heat there which began to increase everyday and felt like increased sexual desire so I stopped doing it. It was quite an experience becuase one day I saw an image of a goddess like figure, not very clear but had many arms and a bright light around her, standing in the middle of that centre. It was freaky but like I said the energy was so strong I got scared and stopped. is that what u mean when you say the sexual desire increases?

Dear Shagufta

The heat that you experienced at that chakra comes from the release of energy that is usually blocked by many thoughts and emotions. You feel it as heat and initially experience it as heightened sexual desire. In effect it lets you know as 'proof' that sexual energy indeed is located in a specific centre in its rawest form. Continued practice will again take you to another level of experience both emotionally and at an energy level. There is nothing to fear really, even if you are feeling aroused experience it and allow yourself to 'feel' it without guilt or deflection. Just as long as you do not allow negative fantasizing or negative sexual spaces to tap this energy it will transform to a new level of freedom and fullness. Perhaps some important dreams and emotional events are also happening around you at this time. You can always write me an e-mail and talk about it if you like.

The mind is not a linear space. It is a cognition field and hence weaves the illusory self through cognition of the world it perecieves/experiences. The sexual is in effect a front for the emotional intensity we seek which in essence is a front for the intrinsic desire to couple with the eternal Self and experience the non-dual states. Since the sexual is the most peripheral emotional self it engages the world readily, en masse and largely makes most of us feel like we are chasing our tails. The cognitive mind created by all the thoughts/ideas/messages that 'we' have experienced as our sexual self (including sexual experiences)is fed directly by the our emotional mind as well with all its warts and depths.

So we can judge violent, abusive, aggressive,sexual spaces easily as 'wrong' but unfortunately many, many people carry them at the level of fantsy and inner desire. Why? Because they are not able to find the source of the mind which has created them. And of course we agree that all is created and nothing is born a pedophile or sado-masochist etc. When you step into the second rung or your emotional realm its even more confusing to figure out the source of the suppressed/insecure/manipulative selves which we carry. Adn they too have all been seeded by specific life events and perceptions etc.

The mind which then carries these seeds as memory and the mind which has flowered the memory into a desire is the mind I refer to here. And yes it thrives in a virtual forest of emotional/sexual undergrowth which needs attention and clear battling courage.

:D

Thank You Jasjit

Its an interesting insight into the mind and I remember that I had read these two books some time ago called 'the dance of deception' and the 'dance of anger' by the same author. She too referred to the mind patterns of our emotions. And what you say has made a lot of sense to me on how that pattern of emotion is also the mind. because after all we hear our mind first telling us how angry or hurt or guilty we are. Thank you for sharing your wisdom so generously with all.

I have decided to continue my meditation :)