Maithuna, Kurlanava, Maha Kaula and - the conscious practice of the five rites forbidden to the Yogi.

Hello everyone, Namaste,

Several Blogs ago, I promised to write about Maithuna and, to be honest, then forgot about it. Those of you who are interested in this aspect of Tantra have since sent messages, requesting information on this ancient and frequently misunderstood rite. Since my expertise is nothing like as great as his, I am copying (with his permission) what the modern and widely respected Yoga master, Saul Martinez, says of this practise in his book with the same title as this Blog: Tantra Kriya Yoga, the Dance of Lightning. I hope you find it interesting - and please take careful note of the warnings contained in this!  According to Saul's truly exceptional book:

"When we approach a vision of spirituality from the inheritance left to us by Western religions, the world in general, and our own lives, it seems impossible to make these elements compatible with the inner search. But if we study it from a Tantric viewpoint, this dichotomy can cease to exist. The Kurlanava shows that many paths demand intense work in order to achieve the promised ends, but this is not so in the case of Kaula. In this path, the result is rapid and direct. From the viewpoint of other traditions, the Yogi must renounce the world to enjoy the fruits of spirituality; otherwise he or she will be a bhogui, which can be translated as “he who delights in the external.” However, the Maha Kaula is characterized by the union of the two aspects, yogi and bogui, that consist of the realization of spirituality without renouncing the physical manifestation of the divine, which is the world and all its possibilities. Samsara becomes a useful way of achieving the ultimate realisation that, as has been said, brings with it the experience of no differentiation between Nirvana and Samsara. But we should not deceive ourselves; this is not an easy route. Very few can walk this path, and even they are in danger of falling into the nets of illusion.

Nonetheless, there are elements that, due to their transgressive nature, can be very useful to those who are prepared to accede to these teachings. This is not an invitation to walk the path of Kaula to those Occidental students who, far from the support of an authentic master and an appropriate place, might encounter great problems. It is about knowing how to include in our Tantric sadhana those aspects that, when applied with common sense, can help us to penetrate the essence of our inner reality.

Kurlanava is the conscious practise of the five rites forbidden to the Yogi. This rite employs elements that, in Sanskrit, start with the letter “m,” and for this reason, it is also known as the “rite of the five m’s.” These are the ingredients used in the worship of the great mother, and they include madya (wine), mansa (meat), matsya (fish), mudra (grain), and maithuna (sexual union).

 It is perfectly obvious that no one can achieve illumination as a result of eating meat and fish, or drinking wine or having sex. The great secret resides in the attitude and knowledge of the rites of the practitioner, as well as having previously undergone the relevant initiations. Having said this, the advanced practitioner of Hatha Yoga, capable of easily practising the Kriyas described in Chapter 12 (of his book), as well as having a reasonably good command of the practices of meditation, can start to consider the possibility of using the rite of the five m’s, with the practise of maithuna as a means of entering more profoundly into the search for realisation. Without previously having realised Sadhana, the whole practise would be improper and a sacred and mystical rite converted—as is unfortunately happening recently—into a more or less sophisticated sexual act, totally lacking in any kind of initiatory value.

In the practise of maithuna, the man becomes Shiva and the woman Shakti. That is to say that they themselves become the deities, and they worship these by means of sexual ecstasy. It is not, therefore, a sophisticated sexual technique, but an authentic liturgy of transcendent energy that activates and propels the Kundalini of the participants until these fuse as one and dissolve in space.

Shiva lives in muladhara chakra and Shakti in sahasrara. Genuine maithuna, or the alchemical wedding, consists of the union of these two principles in the most profound depths of the human mind.

THE SACRED RITE OF MAITHUNA.

A spiritual fire gives life to man, a sexual fire reproduces this. These two fires are one in origin. Man can employ this fire purely for pleasure or can sublimate it in a divine force.

—Rene Schwaller de Lubicz

As in the case of Yoga, all the great cultures arguably have at the heart of their practises some kind of sexual rite. Undoubtedly, this is the most sacred practise that you carry out in the company of others. However, I should add that it can also be performed by the solitary practitioner, insofar as the partner—or non-partner in this case—need not necessarily be physical, and on occasion, the rite can be performed by visualization alone. Here, it is described as being practised by two people, although in some traditions it is described as taking place with a divinity. The whole practise can be performed on either a physical or a mental plane.

The ritual can be an initiatory rite, whether symbolic or practical, that starts with the physical sexual union, continuing at an energetic level and finalising in spiritual union. At this point, the participants have become an androgynous entity, in which he has been possessed by feminine energy and she by masculine energy. After this, the two minds become one and this is dissolved in the authentic and final characteristic of the mind, emptiness or (to quote The Dalai Lama) “the true nature of things and events.”

The “dream” in which we are immersed causes us to accept as reality that which it is not. We confuse our authentic nature with this passage through the world of the senses, full of pain and impermanence. We reduce the true dimension of our minds to the minuscule space of the ego, we believe ourselves separate from the All, and we live only to pay cult to the mental fabrication we call “me.” We create time, and from the perception of the senses, we are perpetuated in the physical form. And the great support of this fantasy that we call reality is desire.

Tantra, paradoxically, proposes transcending desire by means of desire itself. Maithuna is one of the ways of doing this. To go beyond oneself and the ego, to become another, is the first of the experiences to be achieved for Tantric love: the death of the one, to be reborn as two; the union of two to become a reality that transcends the insignificance of individuality and immerses us in an All.

CREATING THE RIGHT SETTING

In order for the rite to have an appropriate air of dignity and respect, it should be performed in our own temple. This can be the place where we daily practise Yoga, or anywhere suitable for the occasion. The bed upon which you normally sleep is not suitable.

The construction of a small altar towards which we can feel that we are projecting our spiritual longing is a good way of sanctifying the place. This should contain a candle, sandalwood, a bowl containing rice, an object (no matter how small) made of gold, and another of silver. There should also be a bowl of water into which a little saffron has been dissolved, and finally, an image, or figure, or any object that leads us, depending upon our beliefs, to a state of introspection. The altar may be as complicated or as simple as you wish. The idea is that it should be representative enough to make us focus on the practise of the rite correctly. There should also be cushions, to provide a degree of comfort, and carpets, or tapestries, which help to keep the temperature of the room constant.

THE RITE OF THE FIVE “M’s”

This rite consists simply in arranging the previously described articles beginning with an “m” in Sanskrit. On a tray, easily accessible from where you will sit, place small plates containing small quantities of meat, fish, grain (for example, cardamom), two glasses of red wine, and the bowl of water infused with saffron.

PHYSICAL PREPARATION

Before anything else, physical preparation must be preceded by the practise of the Kriyas described earlier as a part of sadhana, for at least six months.

Upon starting the rite, you should wash, if possible together, first with hot water and then with cold. Following this, you should massage one another and apply a little perfumed oil or essence. Tantric tradition has it that the perfume most pleasing to Kundalini is hina, although this should not be confused with henna powders. This perfume is expensive and can be difficult to obtain in the West. In this case, it may be substituted with musk for men and patchouli for women.

In some parts of India, the female removes her pubic hair, subsequently coloring the area with turmeric.

The clothes should be a kind of tunic, made of natural fiber, red for her and white for him. If this proves excessively complicated, then both may wear white tunics.

Equally, in some parts of India, it is considered important to wear jewels during the rite. These have a double function: that of raising the wearers to the level of maharajah and maharini, and the magical symbolism attributed to gold and silver, sun and moon, masculine and feminine, wet and dry, and so on. Copper represents the earth, so ideally you should wear jewels of all three metals. If not, this can be excluded, but in all cases, the woman should wear a small ring, of any material, on the little toe.

THE PROTECTING MANDALA

This protective practise involves creating a circle around the participants. The easiest way to do this is with sand from the beach, small stones, or flowers. Failing this, the mandala can simply be mentally visualised. The idea is to feel that you have created a protected space in which you can open yourself to the rite without fear. Once inside the mandala, mantras are repeated in order to purify the whole space. The technique is as follows: with the right ring finger, let fall a few drops of water from the bowl containing the saffron, repeating three times, “Om Apwitrah Pavitrorwa Sarva Wastang Gatopiwa Yeh Smaret Pundari Kaksham Sabahya Bhuantarah.” You can also burn a camphor tablet placed on a base of rice grains.

Ideally, the mandala is constructed by Shiva, the man, and he awaits the arrival of the Shakti, or female energy. Shakti enters the mandala slowly and with an attitude of respect and dignity. She sits in front of Shiva, their knees touching, and they gaze into one another’s eyes, allowing a communication that both is transparent and suggests a mutual giving up of one to the other. At this stage, the key is to genuinely identify with the divinities, transcending any conflict or worldly preoccupation.

 THE ALCHEMY OF THE FOOD

 In the ancient Hindu world, ruled as it was by the strict code of Manu, the major transgression was to eat meat and fish, drink alcohol, ingest grains that were attributed aphrodisiac properties, and finally, engage in sexual union, something highly criticized by the Brahmin priests who favored brahmacharya, or celibacy. It is perhaps not surprising that the practitioners of Tantra made of this a ritual heavy with symbolism and of conscious transgression by means of awakening the senses.

Shiva (the man) offers meat to Shakti (the woman) while simultaneously repeating the bija mantra “Pat.” The offering is of himself, his physical body and energy. For her part, the feminine principal also offers her physical body and energy by accepting the meat, which she places in her mouth and repeats the same mantra, “Pat.” Then they drink a little wine and enter into a short period of mental silence, from which they can open more intensely to the experience. The wine is relaxing and symbolizes blood, the great bearer of earthly life.

Sexual energy, or Kundalini, is represented by the fish, which also symbolizes the element water. The process is similar to that of the meat, with repetition of the mantra and a sip of wine, followed by a short period of meditation. The same happens with the cardamom grain, symbol of the earth, except that in this case, it is previously split into two parts and you meditate on these two halves, masculine and feminine. After this, each of the participants puts a whole grain into the mouth of the other, and having swallowed this, each then sips a little more wine.

THE ENERGETIC UNION

The aim is to project energy from one to the other. In the first place, this is done by breathing abdominally and swallowing saliva three times. Then, you make the Hasta mudra (hand gesture) that consists of leaving the index and middle fingers stretched and the thumb, little finger, and ring finger touching at their pads. Now, visualizing a point of intense red light, inside a circle of yellow light, the participants simultaneously project this light toward Ajna chakra, in the center of the forehead and descend, chakra by chakra, by the same means of projection, until reaching Muladhara. At this chakra, the visualization is accompanied by another mantra, “Om Shiva Hum,” repeated for approximately three minutes.

Now, the couple begins to caress one another as they wish, in a form of foreplay, so that they gradually become increasingly sexually aroused.

DANCING IN THE UNIVERSE

Traditionally, there are two postures that are most appropriate in terms of initiating the physical union. Lying down, with the women to the left of the man, placing her left leg upon his and the right leg over his hips, in a posture that could be described as “scissors.” This is recommended for those who are starting in the practise of maithuna. The other posture is more usual and that most shown in the different illustrations and drawings that have, since ancient times, represented this act. The male sits with his legs crossed and the female sits on these in such a way that her legs surround and embrace the male’s hips. In addition to these two basic postures, there are a number of others intended to activate the energy of the different chakras or encourage the circulation of the couple’s energies in a very precise and specific way.

Penetration must take place very slowly and with the reverential attitude that the whole ceremony demands, in awareness of the magic of the union of the two energies and the two halves that become one whole. Then, the foreheads touch, in the so-called “Tantric kiss.” The couple controls their abdominal respiration in such a way that the female inspires when the male exhales and vice-versa. After a short period of time, the abdomens appear to be joined at the height of Manipura chakra, and a sensation of extreme heat will be felt in this zone. Then, the energy must be channelled toward the forehead so that it feels as if inspiration and exhalation pass from one to another through the forehead. At this stage, the sense of union is particularly intense, and each one will experience the sensation of having dissolved mentally into the other.

Now, the couple initiate small movements of the hips, in order to maintain the sexual arousal. In this phase, it is very useful if the Shakti is skilled in the technique of the Gopis. This name comes from a story about Krishna, the Hindu divinity who is the main protagonist of the Bhagavad Gita. On one occasion, seeing a group of dairymaids, in Sanskrit called “Gopis,” swimming in a river, he hid their clothes and waited until they came out of the river to make love with them. The technique of the Gopi consists of the contraction and relaxation of the vaginal muscles in a movement similar to that of a dairymaid milking a cow, hence its name. The technique helps to maintain the male’s erection without the need for other movement. The technique is also considered to have a great energy-increasing capacity. The couple create an elliptical circle of energy from the joined foreheads and abdomens and the rhythmic breathing. This becomes a very clear sensation and allows the participants to become fully conscious of the energy they are creating. The next step is to feel one with the other and channel the energy from Manipura to Bindu. The sensation of sexual arousal experienced up until now is transformed into something radically different. It is no longer sexual energy but something else, gradually increasing in intensity.

Then, the participants must practise Kechari mudra, turning the end of the tongue toward the back of the mouth and relaxing the sphincters and the perineal muscles, while mentally repeating the mantra “Hum.” At this point, an intense sensation of inner orgasm occurs, which completely dissolves the couple in Samadhi, or altered state of consciousness, with a deep spiritual significance.

The whole rite can take between a half hour and three hours or more. The fact is that the experience is so intense that the concept of time completely disappears. It may be that you start the rite in the morning and discover, upon completing it, that night has fallen, completely unaware that so many hours have passed.

We have mentioned the importance of the Shakti dominating the technique of Sahajoli mudra, or technique of the Gopi. The male, for his part, must be able to control ejaculation. In many Western sex manuals, the male orgasm is linked to the simultaneous emission of semen. However, this is not the case! Men can experience an interior orgasm that, because they do not know of it, they ignore. This orgasm is far more intense, and there is no need for ejaculation to experience it. It occurs at an energetic level and has the virtue, so greatly appreciated in Taoism and Tantrism, of saving the seminal fluid, which is considered to have very important energetic characteristics. In fact, it is believed that the person who practises meditation floods his semen with an energy called Ojas, a form of spiritual energy that it is wise to conserve. It is a question of habit, reinforced to the extent that we experience the intensity of this form of orgasm, which has been described as the “valley orgasm.” Rather than provoke arousal to an extreme point, causing an intense, but very brief, sensation of pleasure, it immerses you in a profound, but relaxed, state of ecstasy that can be maintained for a long time.

The practise of Kechari mudra and ensuring that you breathe slowly and consciously can allow those males with less experience to gradually learn to control ejaculation and gain in self-confidence. This can be achieved relatively easily with a little practise and common sense.

The form of sexual union summarized here reduces the need for sexual relations. This is because, due to its intensity, the sensations it provokes continue with  us for a long time."

 

I hope you found that interesting and even enlightening! Although, for ethical reasons, I cannot - for obvious reasons - direct you to centres where Maithuna is practised, or discuss your personal sexual "issues", should you have any questions on this ancient rite, please feel free to contact me through the comments box and, if appropriate, I'll forward your questions to Saul Martinez.

 

Meanwhile, I wish you peace, love and joy.  Tomorrow, we'll return to the more theoretical aspects of the Blog and continue our journey into the Tibetan Tantras, together. 

Until then, Hare Om Shanti Shiva.

Your friend,

Ana.