PHYSICAL: Body as Temple

Body as Temple

All the great religions of the world agree that our very substance, the body -- the psychophysical self -- is holy ground.  God has made us in his image, and for that reason our bodies are living spiritual Temples of the Spirit.  The body is indissoluably welded to and embedded in Universe.  We are a living part of the Cosmos, and that Cosmos is reflected on a smaller scale within everyone of us.  The qabalists reflect this notion in the axiom: "As above; so below."

We are linked to the environment only through the filters of our natural senses.  Our apertures are portals or doorways to the entire influx of nourishment and phenomenal existence.  Only with the body can we see, hear, touch, taste, smell and feel.  We can regain the perspective that each of these acts is holy, that each connects us with the Whole, the Source, the Divine.  It is through our actions with the bodymind that we create good or bad karmas with their  natural consequences.  Our course matter is merely the "fallout" or precipitate of forces operating beyond the material dimension.  These have been called the astral, causal, and spiritual worlds.

Our body is a realm of pain and sorrow, for ultimately we all die, but it can also be the means of a spiritual redemption, and that is the philosophy of Tantra.  Tantra also stresses that we are more than our body, more than our emotions, more than our thoughts.  We are spiritual beings having a human experience, rather than the other way around.  And the body is our sacred altar, where we make or sacrifices and directly experience our epiphanies.

“The (Meditation) experience is so exhilarating that it surpasses any thrill
available in this world. It puts us in a state in which we become oblivious to the
difficulties of this world. Our problems no longer have the same effect on us
because we are in a state of so much enjoyment. We do not even want to be
bothered by our problems. They disappear like waves in the sea. We are lifted
high above the storm clouds and float in the sunny skies full of radiant inner
Light.”  --Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj

Sexual Anatomy

I have seen women trying to find in young men
The durable qualities which grace the man of full power,
The beauty, the enjoyment, the reserve, the strength,
The full-formed member, providing a lengthened coition,
A heavy cruppe, a slowly coming emission,
A lightsome chest, as it were floating upon them;
The spermal ejaculation slow to arrive, so as
To furnish forth a long drawn-out enjoyment.
His member soon to be prone again for erection,
To ply the plane again and again and again on their vulvas,
Such is the man whose cult gives pleasure to women,
And who will ever stand high in their esteem.

                                               --The Perfumed Garden, Chapter 1

I prefer a young man for coition, and him only;
He is full of courage--he is my sole ambition,
His member is strong to deflower the virgin,
And richly proportioned in all its dimensions;
It has a head like to a brazier.
Enormous, and none like it in creation;
Strong it is and hard, with the head rounded off.
It is always ready for action and does not die down;
It never sleeps owing to the violence of its love.
It sighs to enter my vulva, and shed tears on my belly;
It asks not for help, not being in want of any;
It has no need of an ally, and stands alone the great fatigues,
And nobody can be sure of what will result from its efforts.
Full vigour and life, it bores into my vagina,
And it works about there in action constant and splendid.
From the front to the back, and then from the right to the left;
Now it is crammed hard in by vigorous pressure,
Now it rubs its head on the orifice of my vagina.
And he strokes my back, my stomach, my sides,
Kisses my cheeks, and anon begins to suck at my lips.
He embraces me close, and makes me roll on the bed,
And between his arms I am like a corpse without life.
Every part of my body receives in turn his love-bites,
And he covers me with kisses of fire;
When he sees me in heat he quickly comes to me,
Then he opens my thighs and kisses my belly,
And puts his tool in my hand to make it knock at my door.
Soon he is in the cave, and I feel pleasure approaching.

                                                 --The Perfumed Garden, Chapter 2

For God!  What of buffoonery I've got,
Should it be be that
No other member is like mine?  Here! see it, measure it!
What woman tastes it falls in love with me,
In violent love.  It is a well known fact
That you from may see it like a column.
If it erects itself it lifts my robe and shames me.
Now take it kindly, put it in your tent,
Which is between the well known mountains placed.
It will be quite at home there, you will find it
Not softening while inside, but sticking like a nail;
Take it to form a handle to your vase.
Come and examine it, and notice well
How vigorous it is and long in its erection!
If you want a proper medeleuk,
A medeleuk to use between your thighs,
Take this to stir the center of your kettle.
It will do good to you, O mistress mine!
Your ketttle be it plated will be satisfied!

                                   -- The Perfumed Garden, Chapter 9

Diet and Exercise; Aging

In India, foods are considered in three categories regarding their spiritual value.  Tamasic foods are the grossest and tend to be toxic and weigh down ones spiritual nature with lethargy and sloth.  Rajasic foods are those which are invigorating, stimulating, spicey, and yang. Sattvic foods are the purest class of sustenance, and includes the vegetarian and vegan lifestyle, which allegedly creates the least karmic burden.  Nothing is eaten which is considered a potential vehicle of life, including eggs.  Tantric rituals traditionally included the symbolic consumption of meat, but lovers who are vegetarian can substitute the delicacies of oral sex for this literal consumption.

For overall health and sexual tone, the well-known exercises of Hatha Yoga are ideal.  They help keep us flexible and the slow, stretching pace does virtually no harm to the body at any age or fitness level.  There are a plethora of great yoga books and videos to help introduce you to the postures and help you get started with proper form and techniqe.  Yoga classes are available in most towns.

Sex and Aging:  For a period of about 10 years leading to menopause, women experience a gradual decline of certain hormones which can cause everything from a few missed periods to deep feelings of depression.  Peripause is often mistaken for stress, anxiety or heart disease (palpitations). Often simple change in diet and exercise can stop symptoms cold.

Menopause is associated with a drop in estrogen; perimenopause however, is brought on by a decline in progesterone.  Estrogen-dominance can be responsible for loss of sex drive, or libido.  It manifests in sudden bloating, missed periods, insomnia, and decreased sex drive.  Many simple changes in diet can clear up symptoms immediately.  Adding soy to the diet, cutting back on sugar, salt, caffeine and carbohydrates, while taking flax seed oil, calcium, and vitamins are basic.

Higher levels of progesterone counteract the libido-diminishing effects of estrogen.  Progesterone cream balances estrogen dominance symptoms, such as decreased sex-drive, depression, abnormal blood sugar levels, fatigue, fuzzy thinking, irritability, throid dysfunction, water retention, bone loss, fat gain, and low adrenal function.

Massage a high-quality, lab-processed progesterone cream into the soft, capillary-rich skin of your face, neck, upper chest, breasts, inner arms, palms, and back of hands, and soles.  Rotate skin areas daily so you don't saturate the subdermal receptors.  Apply from the twelfth to twenty-sixth day of your cycle.  Use a total of 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon daily to start, in one or two applications a day. After a week or more use up to 1/2 tsp. daily as symptoms require.

Natural diosgenin from yams is NON-assimilable, so use lab-processed sources containing about 2-3% by volume.  Try Pro-Gest, angel Care, Bio Balance, Equilibrium, Femme Naturale, NatraGest, OstaDerm, PhytoGesst, Pro-Alo, ProBalance, Pro-G, Pro-Gest, Progonal.  Most health food stores carry some progesterone creams.

For more on diet and exercise in women's aging, see Before the Change: Taking Charge of Your Perimenopause by Gittleman, San Francisco: Harper, 1998.

Kegels

Kegels are exercises to restore and maintain the tone of the PC muscle, which is highly implicated in sexual pleasure.  It consists of sets of  rhythmic contractions of the PC muscle, which can be done virtually any time, anywhere without anyone noticing.

Kegels --http://sexuality.about.com/library/weekly/aa022801.htm
Female -- http://www.kegelmaster2000.com/guide.htm
Male -- http://equis.ya.com/penis-enlarge/kegels-penis-exercise.htm
"The Jelq" -- http://www.altpenis.com/news/10000315330406data_trunc_sys.shtml

Hormones

Hormones are chemical messengers that regulate the endocrine system and link the body to the brain.  The gonads produce the hormones involved in sex and reproduction.  The pituitary and adrenals also contribute.  Most of the sex hormones are in the steroid group, though not all steroids are sex hormones.

Their three categories are androgens, estrogens, and progestins.  Androgens are the male or yang hormone, but women also produce it. (testosterone and adrosterone).  Testosterone is valuable in overcoming sexual impotence of aging.  Estrogen and progestins are female or yin hormones. Estrogen is derived from the Greek word for frenzy.  In women the primary source of androgens is the adrenal cortex, and ovaries.  Similarly, in men, the testes produce estrogens and progestins as well as androgens.  Like in the Tao symbol, there is a little bit of the complementary opposite within each half.

Sexual activity and orgasm can raise the amounts of brain hormones or endorphins, our natural painkillers, in the blood by as much as 200 percent.  Orgasm releases our own natural pleasure chemicals.  The same chemistry produces pleasure and relieves pain.  Even simple exercise raises endorphin levels -- the so-called "runner's high."

Menopause is associated with a drop in estrogen; perimenopause however, is brought on by a decline in progesterone.  Estrogen-dominance can be responsible for loss of sex drive, or libido.  It manifests in sudden bloating, missed periods, insomnia, and decreased sex drive.

Too much serotonin in the brain can diminish sexual interest.  Psychological stress can induce this biochemical imbalance.  The modern antidepressant SSRIs, suppress this overreaction, but their side-effects often diminish libido also.  Among the worst are Zoloft and Prozac. Paxil and Serzone have less sexual side-effects.

Pheromones

Sexual Magnetism: Pheromones - The Scent of Sex

by Al Link and Pala Copeland
Urban Male Magazine, Winter 2001

All this time you thought it was sculpted muscles, dazzling smiles and fast cars that were surefire babe magnets. Well have we got news for you. What really drives women wild are naturally occurring body chemicals called pheromones.

The name pheromone comes from two Greek words pheran (to transfer) and horman (to excite). According to Dr. Winnifred Cutler, pheromones are “substances excreted by an animal that affect the reproductive behavior of another same-species animal acting at a distance.” Since 1870 when the French naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre discovered male moths flying from miles away to visit a female moth caged in his lab, scientists have known about and documented the effects of pheromones on mating in insect and animal species. For example male cockroaches go wild when exposed to a glass rod covered with female cockroach pheromones, and attempt to mate with it! A randy boar opens his mouth and puffs out a breath laden with pheromones that freeze a sow in heat. It wasn’t until 1986, however that Dr. Cutler, director of Pennsylvania’s Athena Intstitute, proved the existence of human pheromones and began to document their effects.

In humans, pheromones are activated at puberty. Both men and women produce varying amounts of “male” pheromones: androstenone and androstenol, only women secrete the “female” pheromone copulins. Produced by the apocrine glands in the armpit and around the genitals pheromones send signals that are picked up by the vemeronasal organ (VNO), just inside the nose. The VNO passes these messages on to the limbic part of the brain which governs the most basic human sensations, like joy, anger, love, hate and sexual arousal.

While we aren’t consciously aware of another person’s pheromones, we can’t “smell” them in the traditional sense, they do have a major impact on us. They ignite the sex drive, increase fertility and help regulate women’s menstrual cycles.

For her early studies Dr. Cutler gathered sweat from the armpits of healthy women and men in their 20s, removed the bacteria and odour and used the extract. Because it’s much too costly to collect and process human pheromones for sale, she and her team have produced laboratory equivalents. Since then controlled studies by Dr. Cutler and other organizations around the world have shown some amazing results.

In a double blind experiment with young women 36 percent of those exposed to pheromones had sex weekly during the first three weeks of the study. Of those receiving a placebo only 11 percent had weekly sex. By the end of the study, 14 weeks, 73 percent of the pheromone users were having sex every week, while those on the placebo stayed at 11 percent.

In another of Dr. Cutler’s control groups 38 men were given either a pheromone-alcohol solution to add to their regular cologne or a straight alcohol solution. None knew which they had been given. After 8 weeks of wearing the cologne 47% of the pheromone users reported that they had more sexual intercourse, compared with only 9.5% of those with the placebo.

There have been a few unusual tests illustrating the effects of the male pheromone androstenone on women. For one study, a single chair in a dentist's reception area was sprayed with androstenone, all the others were left untouched. It was observed that women most often sat in the chair treated with the pheromone. Another test involved three attached pay telephone booths. Again one of the three phones was sprayed with Androstenone and more women used the treated phone than the other two.

The Australian organization, Bennett Research, conducted a survey of 306 men using pheromones. Ninety percent of them claimed that the product had increased their attractiveness to women. Increased response from women was measured by:

• Making conversation - 61%
• Starting up a conversation - 52%
• Expressing an interest in the man - 43%
• Being responsive to him - 40%
• Paying unsolicited compliments - 36%
• Overt flirting - 34%

A significant measure was a big increase in physical response by women - brushing against the pheromone wearers (31%), touching them (30%), becoming sexually excited (18%), expressing a desire for sex (17%), and actually having sex with them (16%).

One survey participant described his experience: “One night in a bar a womean walked past me and looked at me. The second time she walked past she came straight to me, said hello, started talking to me and I was very surprised when she grabbed hold of my hands and gave me a kiss on the lips…”

It’s not just sexual attraction that appears to be boosted by wearing pheromones. Users of pheromone products report that people generally pay more attention to them, listen more when they speak, and are friendlier in social situations. Pheromones seem to affect people’s general impressions and assessments. In one clinical study participants wearing surgical masks were shown photographs of buildings, tress, animals, women and men. Their task was to assess each according to impressions of friendly/unfriendly, aggressive/passive, attractive/unattractive and so on. The purpose of the test, they were told, was to examine how stress related to wearing a surgical mask affected decisionmaking. Participants were tested twice, with a two week interval between sessions. For one of the tests small quantities of pheromones were sprayed on the mask, without the participant’s knowledge. With the added pheromone there was no noticeable difference in the study group’s impressions of trees and buildings. Animals were considered slightly more aggressive. Most stunning however was the dfference in assessments of people, both women and men were considered to be more friendly, sensitive, intelligent, attractive, confident and good.

By now you may be wondering how you can get your hands on some of this liquid sexual magnet. As you can well imagine a whole crop of pheromone products has hit the market with differing formulas for both men and women. Most are made of laboratory synthesized versions of male and female hormones, and as is the case with most anything you get what you pay for. It appears that the more pheromones contained in the product the more money you’ll pay. Some of the top selling brands are more than $100 for a sixth of an ounce, but the concentration of pheromones is such that that sixth of an ounce will last you a long time.

There are scented and unscented versions. Unscented can be added to your regular cologne or aftershave. You may want to experiment with applying pheromones to your clothes as well as to your skin. Both methods have different effects. Due to body heat pheromones sprayed on skin evaporate quickly putting them into action right away, the “instant attractor”. The downside is that the active ingredients are used up just as fast. Sweat and surface bacteria also tend to break down and wash away pheromones on the skin. Spraying unscented products on clothing gives a slower acting but much longer lasting effect. It may in fact last longer than you want, requiring dry cleaning or several launderings to remove, and some delicate fabrics may not take kindly to a spray-on product at all. Some folks go for the double whammy with a combo of scented pheromone on the skin and unscented on the clothes.

Here’s a look at a few of the pheromone products available:

• Athena 10X for men and Athena 10:13 for women - by none other than Dr. Cutler herself. The formula is a closely guarded secret
• Realm, men’s and women’s formulas. Scented. Contains .05% androstenone by volume.
• Xcite wipes, foil wrapped moist towlettes impregnanted with pheromones, easy to carry and quick to spread on the body. Scented.
• Primal Instinct for men only, contains 5 mg of androstenone per 10 ml bottle. This baby will last you a long time! Scented.
• DateMate 2000 for men with androstenone and androstenol. DateMate FM for women with androstenone, androstenol and copulins. Unscented 15 ml. spray.
• Androstenone Pheromone Concentrate, for men an androstenone only oil-based formula. Scented.

Everyday new “pheromone” products are being touted on the market. How do you know you’re going to get the real thing and not just an ineffective cologne with a lot of hype and no results ? Well, when buying a pheromone product you should ask yourself these questions:

1. Is there a money back guarantee? Most of the reputable brands offer this.
2. Does the product information clearly indicate that pheromones are present, what type they are and in what quantity? There are different mixtures, but generally look for androstenone, androstenol, and for women - copulins
3. Do the results promised sound absolutely too good to be true? They probably are.

There is one similarity with regular perfume: it seems that various pheromone formulas can react differently with each individual. So you may want to experiement with a few types. You can find out more about pheromone products -- brands, what they do, and how to get them at:

Scent

It has been said that is only with scent and silk and artifices that we raise love from an instinct to a passion.

No matter how much we clean ourselves, we all emit a unique odor that is individual.  We all affect one another with the chemical codes which we emit.  We communicate through a silent, invisible, virtually subliminal smell language whether at work, in the dining room, or in the bedroom.  Smell is mediated by oflactory receptors which are directly connected to a portion of the brain called the olfactory bulb.

This "nose brain" is an exposed portion of the brain that samples the external world. This nose-brain deals with the regulation of motor activities and the primary drives of sex, hunger, and thirst.  Stimulation of the olfactory bulb also shoots electrical signals to an almond-shaped area of the limbic system, called the amygdala, the emotional part of the brain, concerned with visceral, sensory and behavioral mechanisms.  This is why odors produce such strong emotional reactions and bring up memories.  The alchemy of scent deals with the ability of aromas to evoke psychological and sensory responses.

From time immemorial perfumes and sweet-smelling herbs have played an important part in both religion and sex magic.  Exotic scents have charmed and lured both men and women and are part of the borader aspect known as the alchemy of scent.  Perfumes are actually love potions.  A truly "magical" scent works on the subconscious mind, as well as the conscious, to elicit a specific predetermined response.  Scents can also be used to stimulate the sexual centers directly, and to help us "anchor" positive feelings, thoughts, and states.  Then by smelling the scent alone, we can re-evoke the gestalt of those peak experiences.  To excite is to set in motion.

Certain scents are so uplifting in their divine essence they seems to carry us to transcendent realms, to a momentary state of rapture.  Specific formulae not only to enhance desirability and call forth predictable responses, they can also condition our consciousness through association.  They can be stimulating, soothing, activate our psychic qualities, or be healing.  They stimulate us at all levels -- physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.  Tapping this potential, we can use scents as a language for communicating with and evoking our sub- and superconscious energies, our creativity.

Early cultures recognized the mysterious effects exerted over them y fragrant substances -- their trade promoted the formation of regular trade routes.  The ancients extended their delight at these scents and supposed that their gods likewise enjoyed them.  They burned fabulous incense to the gods regularly.  They deduced that heaven must surely be filled with luxurious olfactory delights.

Today's commercial perfumes come in three main classes: "asexual or virginal scents" found mostly in soaps and household products which imply cleanliness and purity --citrons, mints, lavender, raspberry, strawberry, and cinnamon; "masculine scents" which rely on spicey and woodsy combinations of clove, coumarin, pine, civet, bitter orange, and patchouli; "feminine scents" include sensual, powerful exotic oils and florals such as rose and jasmine, and the favorities of history's courtesans, such as musk, ambergris, and sandalwood.  If a woman wears musk or ambergris, she generally means business.  Likewise a man who wears cologne with civet, patchouli, or vetivert.

The ancients had astrological correspondences for each planet and the herbal, resinous and floral fragrances.  This dictrine of signatures had its own emotional logic for the attributes.  We can still experiment with them for fun and to increase our aesthetic enjoyment of their properties.  We can enhance our bedrooms with sachets, potpourris, incense and perfume extracts.

Royal Essence is one of the most deliciously fragrant of all homemade perfume blends.  To combine as a perfume oil mix 25 parts ambergris oil or tincture (now only synthetic is available as whales were the original source), 12 parts musk oil or tincture, 5 parts civer, 2 parts rose oil, 3 parts cinnamon oil, 2 parts rhodium, 2 parts neroli oil.  Cut with alcohol for cologne, or distilled water for toilet water.

Resins and gums such as frankincense, myrrh, galbanum and storax were blended with other exotic ingredients for temple incense, and can still be employed with good effect.  The ancient Egyptian Kyphi was welcomed by all the gods.  An acient papyrus lists its ingredients as resin, wine, galangal root, juniper berries, aromatic rush root, broom, mastic gum, myrrh gum, grapes and honey.  It was also considered a medicine and sometimes added to food.

A lovely Tibetan incense is made of 2 parts white sandalwood, 2 parts gound cinnamon, 3 parts powdered cypress, juniper or cedar leaves and wood, 1 part gum benzoin, 1/2 part saltpeter to keep it burning, a few drops of musk oil, and gum arabic, diluted as required.

Find more recipes in *Virtual Tantra,* under Perfumes on the main menu.

Read more in Miller, Richard A., THE MAGICAL AND RITUAL USE OF APHRODISIACS, Destiny Books, New York, 1985.
Miller, Richard and Iona, THE MAGICAL AND RITUAL USE OF PERFUMES, Destiny Books, New York, 1990.

Good sex and good foods have always paired well together, whether a sumptuous banquet, or merely a delicious tray of fresh fruits and nuts.  The art of kissing probably stems from outh-to---mouth feeding.  Even in current studies, sexual responsiveness in women is possitively and significantly correlated with their general positive attitude toward food and eating.  Like sex, you should take time together when eat, slowly, relaxing and not rushing things.  It takes a full 20 minutes after a meal is through for the body to realize it is full.

To ritualize a meal is to lend grace and style to the action of eating.  It is a way of organizing the experience for the greatest satisfaction of all the senses; presentation of the food is important to the eyes as well as palate.  Soft music will help slow us down and fill our auditory sense.  Of course, too much food can make us feel bloated and we need to digest before rushing into sexual activity.  Some people prefer fasting for a time before ritual sex.

Emotional symptoms that affect our attitudes and energy in bed may be part of a metabolic problem and may be curable through simple dietary measures.  The anxiety reaction, most common of the "bedroom problems," occurs when the medulla part of the adrenal glands responds to emotional stress by pumping out adrenaline, which in turn raises blood sugar to get the body ready for action -- but sometimes it overdoes it, increasing blood pressure and heart rate.  The body releases adrenaline to help you cope.  An outpouring of adrenaline is the body's corrective mechanism for falling blood sugar.  Many people get panic attacks for no apparent reasons, and this may be cause by low blood sugar.  You may get cranky before you get panic attacks.  Such a reaction is hypoglycemic.

Due to our "civilized" diet and lifelong consumption of junk food, we now have a hyper-responsive insulin mechanism. After we indulge in refined carbohydrates, this hyper-responsive insulin mechanism responds by dropping the blood sugar to a point below where it started.  The body must then call upon the same adrenaline mechanism to raise it to normal.

Since the levels of insuline and adrenaline are major biochemical correlates with anxiety symptoms and respond to blood sugar changes, the controlling of blood sugar correlates with controlling anxiety.  An increase of serotonergic activity in the brain accompanies the pancreatic secretions of insulin during the assimilation of a meal, especially one rich in carbohydrates.  This increase is directly related to the subjective experience of frowsiness, which commonly follows a meal.

Ingestion of dietary fats, or the metabolism of stored body fats during a fast, is known to cause an excess of brain serotonin as the result of increased availability of free tryptophan.  The trophotropic function is said to be responsible for the accumulation of tension, while the ergotropic mediates the release of these energies.

General health influences sexual health.  The condition of our nerves, blood, arteries, heart, muscle tone, and digestion can greatly determine our abilities in bod.  Sexuality is not just in the gonads.  It permeates every cell in our bodies.  A pronounced lack of one of the vitamin or mineral groups is often the cause of reduced sexual desire and performance.

Aphrodisiacs can either increase sexual appetite or ability in the user.  They affect the organs and the sex glands.  Some may act as placebos, since the the primary erotic organ is the brain.  Whatever increases pleasure is an aphrodisiac, including nerve stimulants.  They have been used by priests, priestesses, and sorcerers since antiquity to instill love and stir up lust, along with traditional love potions.  Some real aphrodisiacs and tonics include yohimbe, kava kava root, saw palmetto, ginseng, fo-ti-tieng, black American willow bark, cactus flowers, damiana, and guarana seeds.

Read more in Miller, Richard A., THE MAGICAL AND RITUAL USE OF APHRODISIACS, Destiny Books, New York, 1985.

Our natural bodies function like a biological drug store when we are in love, creating a variety of mood altering, behavior altering chemistries.  To some extent our love relationships are "addictive" behavior patterns with a build in reqard which drives the process forward.  The love chemicals resemble amphetamine-like compounds and the opiate-types make us bond, while another creates the cuddle response.  They lure us together, arouse sexual desire, and keep us in pair bonds long after the "flames of passion" cool.  The naturally occuring narcotics are known as endorphins, or molecules of emotion.  The natural "speeds" include phenylethylamine (PEA), norepinephine, and dopamine.  They increase happy moods.  The chemistry of chocolate mimics that of these love drugs.

When love is new, the amphetamine-like high prevails.  We barely sleep or eat without suffering ill effects.  Eventually there is a shift to the opiate-like chemistry of the bonding chemicals when attraction turns to attachment.  Attachment is essentially an addictive phenomenon involving the brain's own opioids.  They also foster the ties between mother and child (oxytocin).  So, the 'uppers' or stimulants bring us together, and the 'downers' keep us together.  This why and how some people in addictive relationships use one another as mood regulators.  When relationships don't work out, it is why we experience painful withdrawl symptoms.

The whole spectrum of drugs have been used historically for sex and mating.  Among the obvious are alcohol, cocaine, cannabis, and opium, and empathogens such as ecstasy and psychedelics.  Now, we have pharmaceutical aphrodisiacs such as Viagra.  Now, the female equivalents are also being prescribed.  While these are not for everyone, and you should consult your doctor, they are widely available.

Women & Stress:  The Power of Friendships.  Women respond to stress differently than men by bonding and unstressing with other women, filling in their emotional gaps.  A landmark UCLA study, by Dr. Klein and Taylor, suggests that women respond to stress with a cascade of brain chemicals that show women have a larger behavior repertoire than "fight or flight" response.

When oxytocin is released, it buffers the fight/flight response and encourages her to tend children and gather with other women.  This engagement, tending and befriending releases even more oxytocin hormone which further counters stress and produces a calming effect that does not occur in men.  Estrogen seems to enhance it.  When stressed, women bond and men hole up or isolate.  This has health implications and may reduce risk of disease by lowering blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol.  Friends help us live longer and better, more joyfully.

Declare an "in home spa day" and pamper yourself and your partner with long luxurious baths and massage and scented oils.  When we are clean we feel more open, desirable, and sexy.  This "clean canvas" allows us to paint ourselves with a variety of aesthetic-enhancing products for our delight and that of our lover.  Kama Sutra products have made a specialty of serving this market of lovers with mutually enjoyable delicacies.  The joys of a fragrant bubble-bath, or bath oil are known to most men and women alike.  Some of the planetary scents attributed to Venus can be added to the bath water or massage oil.  They include sandalwood, rose, vanilla, verbena, camellia, benzoin, labdanum, peppermint, galbanum, and cardamom oils.

Natural sponges are good for ridding the body of old, dead skin and bringing a rosy blush back to the complexion.  Shea butter, a natural nut butter from Africa, is a great antioxidant and skin rejuvinator and is available relatively inexpensively in bulk so it can used on the entire body.  Scrubs of various types also help the body slough off old dead skin, as do lotions and creams with alpha and beta hydroxy.  Vitamins are also good for your skin, especially Vitamins A and E.  Don't forget the daily protection of sunblock and moisturizers, including body washes, jellies, and glaces.  Body wraps using herbs and salts are also another way to improve the texture of your skin, reduce weight and cellulite, and pamper yourself and your loved one.

Those so inclined can also cleanse themselves internally, using psilium, Chinese herbal preparations or other products, or through colonics.

Using pranayama breathing exercises, the Kundalini is release or awakened from its dormant state in the bottom chakras.  It lies near the sacral plaxus and is associated with the function of reproduction.  It is the creative center in man.  This kundalini is said to be a great power.

When awakened by the proper exercises, this force rises through the central canal of the psinal cord know to anatomists as the sixth ventricle, but to occultists it is the Sushumna path with two smaller canals -- one called Ida, on the left, and the other Pingala, on the right.  When the kundalini rises to the brain, fully aflame, there is a series of important changes which take place in consciousness, especially in the feelings and emotions.  It produces attunement of body, mind and spirit.

When kundalini activates, the individual is "on fire" so to speak.  It also greatly increases the powers --- powers over the forces of nature and over other poeple.  If, however, the person has not been properly prepared for these changes by a rigorous process of training in self-control and mind purification, the results may be disastrous -- a spiritual emergency, instead of emergence.

One should not eject this "camphor" [semen} casually.  It is from this substance that the Yoginis have their origin.  Its nature is that of the Supreme Joy.  It is indestructible and luscious, as pervasive as the sky. --Havajra Tantra

Breath, thought, and semen are the three constituents of the Enlightenment Potential.  They should be harmonized and consciously controlled.  The Yogi who brings together breath, thought, and semen becomes the Indestructible One, endowed with transcendental spontaneity. --Kalachakra Tantra

So long as the breath is in motion, the semen moves also.  When the breath ceases to move then the semen remains at rest. --Goraska Samhita

In all forms of sacred sexuality, both physiological and psychological techniques to retain semen are employed.  Yoginis know how to create a vacuum using their diaphragm to enhance their pneumatics, while men can use the technique to hold off ejaculation.  Tantric teachings agree with Taoist techniques for ejaculation control.  Most of the traditional texts talk about regulation of rhythm, control of breathing and a great gnashing of teeth during the crucial moments.  Breathe, thought and semen are closely related.  Tantra teaches the male anal sphincter control (mula Bandha) or root lock, because constricting the muscles around the anus draws up the downward-moving energies.

The process of sublimation is conceived of and visualized as life energies ascending the central channel, opening up and nourishing the psychic centers, one after the other.  When the life energies reach the head center, they invigorate the whole psycho-system.  The subtle nerves, the body meridians, the psychic centers and the flow of sexual energy should all be held in the mind's eye.  Breathing in visualize life energy permeating your whole being, while holding a vision of your female partner as the Living Goddess.

QUANTUM TANTRA IS PHYSICS-ASSISTED DEEP UNION WITH NATURE.

Like the Newtonian physics it replaced, quantum physics grows out of a worldview that sees nature as separate from man, as a dangerous Other to be tamed and controlled by scientists who have decoded her (mostly mathematical) rules. Despite lip service payed to "quantum wholeness" most physicists still view the world as Us versus It, as conscious mind confronting mindless particles. Though their methods differ radically from Newton's, modern physicists regard quantum mechanics as just that, a new type of mechanics--subtle and strange, to be sure--but at base as soulless and impersonal as Newton's gravity-driven celestial machine.

Despite statements in some quantum texts that Observer and System form an inseparable whole, I know of no physicist that has ever merged with his apparatus: the relationship of the modern scientist to his quantum System is every bit as aloof as that of a pre-quantum Victorian scientist to his pendulum clocks and meter sticks. Despite their nominal belief in the "undivided wholeness" of the quantum world (described especially well by David Bohm), physicists, in the name of "scientific objectivity" hold themselves apart from the nature they are examining and practice dispassionate "observation" rather than merging. Such aloof inquiry results, predictably, in a picture of nature that, despite its quantum strangeness, is essentially dead and lifeless.

Can it be that quantum mechanics has limited itself unnecessarily by houghtlessly maintaining old mechanistic and separatist notions inherited from its Newtonian past? Feminist critics of science such as Evelyn Fox Keller and Sandra Harding see physics as blinded by "patriarchal biases" and look toward a more clear-sighted "successor science". Can we find a radically new way to approach science that is more in tune with the way the world really is, the way quantum theory hints it might actually be?

"Quantum Tantra" attempts to blaze a new pathway for science by incorporating previously discarded and marginal ways of thinking into a new synthesis. Two non-mechanistic, non-separatist traditions are of particular interest for this purpose: Western alchemy and Eastern tantra. Alchemy is based on the notion of a partially psychic chemistry in which the mind of the alchemist merges with the material cooking in his alembic. Tantra teaches that the universe is not mere motion of dead matter but the
sexual play of two divine beings and seeks techniques to directly  articipate in that holy play. The goal of "QuantumTantra:" is to initiate an entirely new direction of research by approaching quantum theory and its paradoxes as if they were incomplete fragments of a "successor science" based on tantric and alchemical principles.

For instance, what kind of science would result if we regarded the world not as a collection of dead objects but, in the manner of certain Sufi mystics (practitioners of 'ilm al-qulub or "science of hearts"), as the very body of the Beloved? What could be learned about nature and ourselves if, instead of treating her as an object to be passively observed, we begin looking for ways to "woo her", to become actively involved in natural processes? And suppose our attempts at wooing and deeper involvement
were guided, not by vague myths of pre-scientific peoples, but by powerful insights, bold hunches and inspired guesses gleaned from three centuries of math-enlightened physics? What is the deepest kind of union with nature that twentieth-century minds can envision? What is the deepest kind of union we can actually achieve?

Western religion sees the world as a job completed by a lone omnipotent being (traditionally male) long ago in the past, an event in which humans played no part. Practitioners of tantra, on the other hand, consider the world to be created anew each moment, as the love play of two divine beings, Shiva and Shakti, and believe that humans can participate to some extent in that union, in partnership with another being, performing a kind of "cosmic physics" in a soft laboratory of entangled muscle and mind. Which is the better world-myth? Is the universe more like an ancient one-man job or present-moment two-part joy?

Along with much else of deep human concern, science has tamed and sanitized sex as a mere psychobiological process, like breathing or digestion. Sex in the West has been subject to glaring scrutiny, in hundreds of books, thousands of magazine articles and millions of pornographic images, but in spite of massive scientific and media exposure, sex  continues to fascinate us with its primitive mystery. Each of us, no matter how sophisticated, senses that he or she could still be sexually surprised.

Mystics of many persuasions, using ecstatic introspection as tool have attempted to examine this world's deep reality from inside and claim, like quantum physicists, that truth at that level strains human powers of description. Most mystics are solitary, but, alongside these one-person paths, a more social way of exploring the inner world in couples and small groups has also existed, a yoga-for-two calling itself "tantra" from the Sanskrit word for "weaving".

Tantra begins with the surprising claim that sex is not only holy, but that it is in some sense a direct participation in the creation of the world, an event which Western science and religion assert to have happened in the far distant past. Tantrikas also claim that the universe results from the playful union of two divine beings and that this divine union can be directly experienced in the sexual act. Through there are many tantras (tantric scriptures) they all agree that the truth of these statements is not to be taken on faith but must be directly experienced. If tantra can be regarded as a science, it is the kind of science that values experiment more highly than words.

Tantric adepts (tantrikas) use sex neither for recreation nor procreation but for exploration of deep reality, as a kind of hands-on, wide-eyed descent into Being. In the past these intuition-inspired sexual explorations of deep inner nature were carried out within cultures that knew almost nothing about the deep structure of matter as seen from without. Likewise our math-guided understanding of outer nature has been achieved in a vacuum of spiritual knowledge. "Quantum Tantra" will for the first time weave these two methods of probing reality together by merging the insights of tantrikas with the insights of physicists. In addition "Quantum Tantra" will expore the possibility of a new style of scientific inquiry based on the strengths of both tantra and physics.

"Quantum Tantra" will explore the possibility of a sacred sexuality enriched by the metaphors of modern physics as well as the possibility of a new tantra-inspired style of doing physics. The central mystery of physics is how possibilities become actual; the central mystery of tantra is deciding what to do next.

Quantum tantrikas are particularly inspired by a wholly quantum form of connection called "phase entanglement''--the type of connection  responsible for the voodoo-like direct influence proved by John Bell to underlie the world's everywhere local phenomena. Three "physics icons" in the quantum tantra book of natural wonders include: a single quantum system entangled in its own mirror image (Drexhage experiment); Bell's much-studied quantum twosome (EPR experiment); and a recently
concocted quantum threesome (GHZ experiment) each of which illustrates important features of the peculiar quantum style of connection.

These three examples of matter quantum-entangling with other matter prepare us to think about the more unconventional and exciting possibility of human minds quantum-entangling with matter in new forms of union. These new styles of directly experiencing nature will involve our quantum parts (oscillating possibilities) rather than our computer-like Newtonian parts (actual particles), will involve giving up control, yielding to matter's way, relaxing, being moved by, being penetrated by and taking in nature, letting "nature measure us" rather than "us measuring her", will involve scientists taking turns in the "male" and "female" roles rather than staying stuck in the single pose of "objective observer" (which we can always return to with fresh insights).

Most likely these new forms of entanglement with matter will be practiced first not by conventional scientists but by ordinary people with less old-fashioned conceptual baggage to overcome. Stuck-in-the-past scientists may be the last to enjoy the benefits of this quantum-inspired, physics-assisted deep union with nature. Quantum tantra, with unique labs in every household, may be a true people's science, its wisdom passed on privately mouth-to-mouth.

             For a taste/tease of Quantum Tantra, Nick Herbert recommends "The Spell of the Sensuous"
                                by David Abram, Pantheon Books (1996)

usps://usa.ca/95006.bouldercreek/box261/nick.herbert
quanta@cruzio.com

Exploring Deeper Levels of Reality

                   Bohm has developed his concepts of sub- quantum reality further in his
                   theory of explicate order and implicate order. The implicate order is a
                   special case of the 'generative order', "a deeper and more inward order out
                   of which things can emerge creatively."

                   The implicate order leads to the 'superimplicate order', which organises it. In
                   principle, there can be an extension into even higher implicate orders,
                   organising and affected by the lower orders. Thus, according Bohm, "the
                   implicate order is a very rich and subtle generative order" and so is
                   consciousness. Thus mind and matter are two aspects of one whole.

                   John Davidson in his book "The Secret of the Creative Vacuum -- Man and
                   the Energy Dance" (1989) carries further this conclusion that mind and
                   matter, energy and consciousness are intimately intertwined. He explores the
                   simple idea that the 'vacuum' of 'empty' space "is actually a real energy field,
                   or state of subtle material substance, out of which all perceivable matter is
                   formed and levels of manifestation, the energy fields in which our thoughts
                   and instincts have their existence."

                   He cites several remarkable but little known researches to support this view,
                   based on a new 'ether' concept, together with his belief that the exploration
                   of the 'vacuum' will bring profound and fascinating technological changes,
                   including virtually unlimited supplies of safe and cheap energy. He presents a
                   unifying concept of Formative Mind as the universe's hidden creation
                   mechanism, that links energy, mind and consciousness.

                   The first scientific questioning of the concept of physical reality came with
                   Niels Bohr's 'Copenhagen' interpretation of the quantum theory, which
                   maintained that there was no deep reality, only a description of it. A BBC
                   TV programme speculated that, perhaps, some time in the future, our
                   present view of the universe would be seen as mistaken, our present
                   scientific theories as myths. Our minds and thinking shape our perception of
                   the world. The new paradigm of the future will view a universe where
                   consciousness is the primary reality, from which physical reality is derived.