In the second article in the Svadhisthana Chakra series, we noted that the Svadhisthana chakra controls the sex act. Over the past few weeks, I’ve briefly touched upon some aspects of this. Let us now explore it in detail.
We must first understand that most people are sexually suppressed. That is, they have a damaged sex center. Such a person must work on the blockages in his sex center. As long as there is suppression, the positive qualities of the Svadhisthana chakra will not be able to express themselves.
Let us look at some of the negative manifestations of blocked or suppressed sex energy. The first and most important is obstinacy. People can be very inflexible. Another characteristic is stiff muscles. Building muscles beyond a point makes them lose their suppleness, creating blockages in the sex center.
Another negative emotion connected to blockages in the sex center is extreme jealousy and possessiveness. The most extreme is sexual perversion. Sex can be a very reverential and prayerful act, but a blocked sex center leads to wild sex and perversion.
At the same time, as noted previously, this chakra gives us the capacity to enjoy sex in a very beautiful way - free of aggression and with great softness - while also awakening the higher aspects of the Svadhisthana chakra.
In Indian history, the 500-year period from the 12th to the 17th century is known as the Bhakti Movement. Many saints composed and sang the glories of God during this time. Narsi, Meera and Kabir were some of the prominent ones. They held that the presence of God could be realized through love, devotion, song, and dance.
Among them was Biharilal Chaube, a devotional poet in the late 16th century. Biharilal’s dohas are quite famous. In one of his devotional songs, Biharilal sings of a setting where Krishna and Radha are together and the Gopis have gathered outside the room. The Gopis start to wonder in what position must they be having sex. One Gopi says that the sound of the bells (ghugri) coming from the room are from Radha’s waistbelt, not her anklets, so they must be having sex in the position of Viparit Rati. Viparit meaning opposite or upside down, and rati meaning sex. Reverse copulation. In modern day language, this is called the ‘woman on top’ position.
Let us understand the concept of Rati. The word comes from the Sanskrit root ‘ram’ to play, to enjoy. But the connotation here is to enjoy sensual pleasure.
Rati is the wife of Kamadeva, the God of love. Another name for Kamadeva is Raman, and Raman’s consort is Ramani. In a previous article, we saw that Ramani was another name for the shakti of the Svadhisthana chakra called Rakini. Thus, the power or shakti of the Svadhisthana chakra is the capacity to extract pleasure from sensual life. But if we turn the movement of energy upside down, as in the Viparit Rati position, then it becomes the capacity to take pleasure in the higher aspects of life, those that are beyond the senses, the capacity to enjoy and experience the divine.
Indulgences of the senses is the downward flow of energy. The Viparit Rati is the key to reverse this downward flow and send it upwards to enjoy the higher. This technique of reverse sex can open the higher qualities of the Svadhisthana chakra. Thus, in ordinary living, Rati aids in the continuation of life through the sex act. In spirituality, Rati becomes a means to control the flow of energy and reverse its direction.
Many of us like to look for auspicious moments (chowghadiya) to start an enterprise, open up a new shop or leave for a trip. When we build a house, we go by auspicious arrangements called vastu or feng shui. In normal life, those who enter into sex in Viparit Rati or woman on top position, can reverse all inauspicious moments. They do not have to look for auspicious entries to perform any acts. They will also remain unaffected by black magic or other acts of witchcraft. The scriptures go so far as to say that those who have deeply awakened the benefits of Viparit Rati will be able to digest poisonous food too. Here I remember Mr. Tavaria saying that even if one put stones in his stomach, they would be digested.
When modern-day sexologists talk about sex, they take the poetry and aesthetic beauty out of the act and reduce it to some dry physical exercise.
Let us examine the posture of Viparit Rati. Female on top represents the female dominance over male. She is in total control of the sex act, from beginning to end. Now the male goes into a total state of deep relaxation, nothing remains but the rhythm of his breathing with small inhalations and very prolonged exhalations. This builds up the carbon dioxide in his system, leading to an even deeper trance and relaxation. In the initial stages, he controls his erection by holding a little bit of excitement. In the advanced stages, he does not even hold that and dissolves into the void completely.
The female partner has to have practiced vajroli mudra for a very long period of time. She must have total control of her vaginal movements, to that extent that she can move different parts of the vagina at will and also tighten it to such an extent that the male could not remove his penis even if he wanted to. The Taoist jade egg exercise is very good to develop these vaginal muscles.
Initially, the male achieves an erection and enters the vagina. But in the advanced stages, he just floats away into deep meditation and the female puts his flaccid penis inside her vagina, which she then arouses through vaginal massage and contractions. Except for his physical body being present, the male dissolves into a deep emptiness.
Because the female is on top in this position, she can move forward, backward, sideways, lie down on the male—there is much room for flexibility.
Today's sexologists talk of three kinds of female orgasm. The clitoral orgasm, the G spot or vaginal orgasm and the cervix orgasm. In Taoism these are called the three gates to heaven. Sexologists refer to the orgasm as a momentary trance which cuts you off from reality. The Indian tantrics defined orgasm as an expansion of consciousness. In that moment of consciousness, all hindrances that limit our being dissolve momentarily. That is, in that moment of orgasm, all memory patterns or samskaras dissolve and the soul experiences truth or freedom. As the orgasm peaks, the subject is thrown for a moment into a deep abyss of emptiness in which nothing is, except for consciousness or presence. In that moment, there is total dissolution of the ego - there is no time, there is no space, all opposites dissolve and there is a perception where everything is in a complementary state. That is why the experience of truth is also called a cosmic orgasm.
In ancient times, the orgasm was not perceived as something done for bodily pleasure. As our understanding of the sex act transforms, we will begin to see that the male is in a state of emptiness, that he is in a valley, and the female is in orgasm, she is on the peak. And in this sexual co-joining, the valley and the peak meet. The two aspects of truth or samadhi join into one.
Before we can go further, we will have to talk about male and female thresholds, which we will do next week.