Материал: Snote

Snakes conjoined and preparing to mate.

The red and white materialityproducing forces become the unitary creative potentiality. Physically the organism becomes a transfigured body, composed of mentally - spiritually radiant Light, Bliss, and Potent Voidness.

NAROPA

sperm. If a man continues to have sex to excess, without eating sufficiently, at a certain point he will ejaculate blood.

The R e d and the White of Tantric and Taoist teachings are referred to as material- ity-producing forces. In the outer world, the red force is the male solar principle, the fire element, whereas on an inner level, it is the female inner sun, the Shakti. Likewise, the white force of the outer world is the female lunar principle, the water element, whereas on the inner level, it is the male inner moon, the Shiva. This subtle play between external and internal is the key to many practices of Tantric Yoga that lead to the understanding of the relationship of macrocosm to microcosm.

The symbolism of red and white pervades Eastern art and iconography. It is a color coding that indicates the active and passive principles, the "plus" and "minus" of each situation. For example, a Japanese Tachikawa text of sexual mysticism includes a colored picture of the sexual cosmogram known as the Double Mandala of the Two Worlds, which depicts a man and woman, naked but for their ritual headdress, lying in sexual embrace on an eight-petaled lotus flower. He has his head between the woman's feet and is on top of her, while her head is between

his feet. Their legs and arms are stretched out to coincide with the eight petals of the lotus. The man's body is white and the woman is colored crimson. The spot where they join is marked with the magic syllable "AH," which in Tantra is the first vowel sound, the "beginning of all things."

Many similar red and white diagrams exist in Tantra and Taoism. Sometimes they are figurative, at other times they are abstract. Western alchemical treatises employ the same color symbolism with the identical meaning found in the Oriental texts. For example, texts that refer to the "Blood of the Red Lion and the Tears of the White Eagle," which is said to be the "treasure of the whole earth," are veiled accounts of the making of pure spirituality (the alchemical "gold") by the correct balancing of the red and white forces of woman and man through mystical lovemaking. A helpful meditation is for a couple to lie together in close sexual embrace, visualizing the man as white and the woman as red. This practice is a powerful tool for awakening and channeling sexual energy. When linked to the more detailed visualization of the inner sun blazing red, and the inner moon cooling white, and to the right and left vital nerves of the Subtle Body, it has the effect of totally transforming sexual union.

By visualizing themselves as red and white, the couple can more easily evoke the inner sun and moon of their conjoined psyches. The right and left vital nerves of the Subtle Body are brought into harmony through this Tantric meditation.

should imagine this essence as dividing itself into a sun and moon that move around in that region and then ascend to a point at the base of his brain, where the two halves are united again. Meanwhile he should let his sex organ be still, deep inside the woman, while above he sucks in the woman's saliva and below he absorbs her sexual secretions. As soon as he senses that his semen is moving and he is about to ejaculate, he should quickly withdraw his sexual organ.

Only practiced adepts can achieve this. His Cinnabar Field is located just below his navel and his head center is opposite the two eyes, at the back. He should imagine it as having the form of sun and moon, about three inches in diameter, and joined like one shape. This is what is known as Sun and Moon in Close Conjunction. It is very good to concentrate on this image when making love.

FANG-NEI-PU-I

harmonization of mood

Both Taoist and Tantric sexological texts stress the importance of complete harmonization of mood between the partners. Any forced love-making is potentially damaging to health. An ancient Taoist text emphasizes this: "Yin and Yang, the female and male essential principles, undergo each other's influence. When Yang does not obtain Yin, it is sad, and if Yin does not obtain Yang, then it will not become active. If the man wants to make love but the woman does not feel like it, then it means that their hearts are not yet in harmony and their vital essence is not yet aroused."

The Taoist master Tung gives the following instructions for harmonizing the mood between the lovers:

He should seize her delicate waist and fondle her jade-like body. Talking of being bound together, with one heart and

The Four Joys are known as Joy of

Emotions, Perfect Joy, Absolute Joy, and the Joy Innate. Their manifestation is known as the smile, the gaze, the embrace, and full union. They are also known as Variety, Development, Consummation, and Transcendence.

HEVAJRA TANTRA

of earth, water, fire, and air, which are resolved through the psychic centers of the sex to navel region, heart region, and throat region (see chart of Fourfold Evolution of Ecstasy according to the Tantric tradition), relate to preservation of physical existence, whereas the element of space and the head center relate to transcendence and to non-physical existence.

Each of the four stages of ecstasy is linked to a type of consciousness and to a particular kind of mystical experience, and is understood in the Tantric tradition as a separate initiation. Mantras, especially those that are given in the chart, and visualizations can be helpful in blending the shared experience of ecstasy.

The Four Moments and Four Joys cannot be adequately written about or described. They are to be experienced consciously and joyously by the dedicated couple. By meditating on the fourfold mystery of eroticism, the heart becomes better able to reach out to others.

The Tantras distinguish four types of woman and advise a man to be well versed in the Four Techniques, which operate on both the physical and the psychological level: Downward Motion, Retention, Backward Motion, and Saturation. These, too, are linked to the production of the Four Joys. A Tibetan text explains them thus:

D O W N W A R D M O T I O N

This is like a smith hammering a metal mirror, making the Four Types of Delight descend slowly, like a tortoise, from the head to the sexual region, to realize the delights in their natural order.

R E T E N T I O N

To hold the delight as one would a lamp in a storm.

A Hindu maharaja practicing a Tantric love-posture with his consort and two female attendants. This type of posture symbolizes the unity of the three principal subtle channels of Tantra. From a Rajasthani miniature painting of the eighteenth century.

The Bliss-wave of Tantric ecstasy. When sexual energy is controlled and channeled consciously, there is no limit to the human capacity for transcendence.

B A C K W A R D M O T I O N

This is like an elephant drinking water, making the Four Joyous Delights ascend to the head region and keeping them stable.

S A T U R A T I O N

This is like a farmer watering his crops,

very carefully, to ensure that every pore of the skin is fully saturated with the consummation of love.

By bearing in mind the visual imagery of the Four Techniques, the couple can learn to generate wave upon wave of love and truly channel the Four Moments into Four Joys.

In the Orient kissing is considered an erotic art form. From a woodblock print of the seventeenth century.

Kissing is of four kinds: moderate,

contracted, pressed, and soft.

Different kisses are appropriate for

different moods.

KAMA SUTRA

the kiss

The kiss can express

texts of Taoism em - phasize the importance of deep erotic kissing, placing it second only

to the act of love itself. In the East, kissing has always b e e n

viewed as a deeply intimate part of love-making. It is still rare to see Chinese or Indian couples kissing in public, and until recently the kiss was banned in Indian movies.

Most cultures make use of mouth contact to express sentiments ranging from casual greeting to erotic exchange. In certain primitive tribes, however, the kiss is practically unknown. Eskimos greet each other by rubbing noses, concentrating on the mutual exchange of breath and the subtle scents of the skin. W h e n a couple exchanges passionate kisses, all barriers dissolve, and by gazing into

each other's eyes, their spirits become harmonized. The mouth - to - mouth kiss—or "contact of the upper gates," as it is called in Tantra—can be skillfully and pleasurably employed to blend sentiments and harmonize emotions.

The kiss is a powerful aspect of foreplay, being the closest approximation to the union of Lingam and Yoni. It is said that the shape and size of a woman's Yoni can be determined from the form of her mouth, and a man's Lingam from the size of his nose. Tantra teaches that the mouth combines the characteristics of both Lingam (the tongue) and Yoni (the mouth and lips). Erotic kissing offers the opportunity to explore both male and female qualities. Active and passive roles are readily exchanged as each tongue enters the mouth of the other. Thus the kiss can be used to experiment and develop actions and rhythms that can be extended to the Lingam and Yoni.

Kissing is explored in the Hindu love treatises, which list the parts of the body especially suitable for kissing. The Kama Sutra specifies that the forehead, eyes, cheeks, throat, breasts, lips, and mouth are the main places for kissing, along with the thighs, arms, navel, and Yoni. The placing of a kiss with conscious intent effectively confers psychic protection and stimulates the psychic centers and channels. Placing the mouth over a sequence of points on the body can bring the Subtle Body to life and awaken the sentiments.

The Kama Sutra lists three kinds of kisses particularly suited to a young woman, refer-