Down through the ages, emphasis has been on sexuality. Now the role has been reversed. Now the emphasis very definitely is on spirituality.

Many people with a strong sex drive step onto the path of spirituality and then begin to believe that they are automatic celibates, but this is not true. As a person grows into spirituality they also grow out of sexuality. This is not an overnight process, just the same as one does not grow into spirituality overnight. Surprisingly, there are some that think that they do; they do not. They become spiritual as a result of the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation. Yet, this takes quite some time, because one becomes spiritual degree by degree and not by one grand leap.

Those who start to practice celibacy by force, in many cases, bring physical problems down upon themselves that are totally unnecessary. Also, when one partner in a marriage denies the other partner a natural release of sexual pressure this becomes a practice in cruelty, and the path of spirituality is not the path of cruelty. It is the path of love and consideration, a path of selflessness and not a path of selfishness. One should exercise prudence in relation to sexuality and slowly grow into being a celibate. We in the West are householders; which means to live a normal life and not to create any peculiar habits.

Age after age the emphasis was on keeping the human race from becoming extinct, so sexual activity was greatly encouraged and honored. The object was to keep reproducing the human being. Now, pretty much the opposite is true. Reproduction is still a necessity, only under entirely different circumstances. Now the objective is to produce higher and higher souls. So to do this there is a family structure and organized society. Also there is great emphasis on gaining a higher and higher mental capacity and a much higher state of consciousness. Also, the emphasis is on considerably lessening our physical status and to gain a spiritual status. One represents a state of low vibrations and little or no self-control, and the other is the gaining of mastery over oneself.

The initiate usually has physical desires along with spiritual objectives. Taoism says that enigma can be solved by having the sexual instincts serve a spiritual purpose; by sharing true love, giving true love and receiving true love and thereby the couple will learn to understand the nature of God. It can be said that pure sexual motivation and activity can be a healing process for both concerned, as there is a heart to heart, soul to soul contact and that both partners stimulate each other and their two bodies become one.

The Tantric path also does not advocate sexual repression that is found in most Western religions and some Eastern yogic paths. The sex drive is very powerful and almost impossible to overcome by external discipline. Spirituality is not gained by someone under great strain. It is gained by the one who is relaxed and not under strain. Sex under the proper circumstances of love can be a great source of energy, whereas lust greatly depletes energy. Sex should never be an isolated physical experience; rather it should be connected to the most basic and intimate nature of oneself, such as true love, union, energy and vitality.

This is a far cry from lust. Lust is simply physical debauchery with no real benefit to either party, only a desire to keep intensifying the activity in a fruitless search for fulfillment that can never be found.

In its true essence there is not that great a difference between pure sexuality and spirituality because both are of God. So, sex is not really evil. It is the misuse of sex that makes it evil. Sex is something that is needed in the human in order to carry on the race and that is its prime purpose. The secondary purpose is as an extension of love that measurably helps to keep a couple bound together in an exchange of energy and love.

Again, one who is on the spiritual path and regularly practicing Transcendental Meditation will degree by degree slowly move into becoming a celibate. One moves away from the physical and into the field of the absolute. When this occurs there is the constant lessening of the physical nature and a greater and greater infusion of the Being, which is the absolute nature slowly taking over. And when the seven centers of light are finally opened then the sex desire is gone and one is then a true celibate and all strain or desire for sex is gone and no problem exists.

Again, one does not jump into celibacy. One grows into becoming a celibate. The truth is that bliss starts where sex pleasure leaves off. As a result one outgrows physical pleasures no matter what they may be and one becomes self-contained in the expression of the inner, overshadowing the outer completely. For most people of low consciousness or heavy density, and that takes in several billion people on earth, sex is the only pleasure that they know. It is the highest expression of joy available to them. So to them it becomes a vital necessity of life.

Also, to the highly evolved, sex has lost most of its meaning or attraction and certainly is no longer a need in life. But, until the need is replaced by the infusion of bliss it has to be reckoned with in a sane and controlled manner, namely through love. The East has its way and the householder of the West has his and her way, and it still applies that the man pursues the female until she has caught him, and that is how it works.