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tantra sex and yoga.

To: alt.magick.tantra,alt.religion.hindu,alt.religion.tantra,alt.religion.vaisnava,alt.magick.tyagi
From: catherine yronwode 
Subject: Re: tantra sex and yoga.
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 17:45:30 GMT

ajomojo@my-deja.com wrote:
> 
> Sex is a purely human activity. Animals do not have a "sex life." When
> taking about animals, the correct term is mating, or procreation. 

You sound like a person who has not lived around very many animals! I
mean, your thoery does not explain why female goats hump each other
lesbian style, why male goats masturbate (and try to get their keeprs to
masturbate them), why dogs have sex with their "owners," and why cats
just LOVE to have their lower backs stroked so they can arch themselves
into a sexual glow.

> While some highly intelligent animals possess the rudiments of 
> sexuality, only for humans the pursuance of pleasure becomes a goal in 
> itself. 

I presume your phrase "highly intellegeint animals" refers to primates
-- but have you actually read about or seen documentaries on their
behaviour? If so, how can you say that for humans -- but NOT for bonobos
-- "the pursuance of pleasure becomes a goal in itself."

> Most animals do not even act ësexually,' unless they are 
> experiencing the rut. A dog may occasionally hump a leg as if it was a 
> mate, but only humans are able to create activities that are purely 
> sexual. 

Excuse me? What is the dog doing? And you say it is "occasionally"?
Hahahah. I've known one neutered female dog who will ONLY hump her
bonded owner, ignoring all others -- and only when the owner is barefoot
or bare-legged and in a receptive mood. Are you are claiming that this
is NOT "purely sexual" behaviour? 

> Precisely, religious objections to the sophistication and 
> acculturation (the process of assimilating new ideas into an existing 
> cognitive structure) of sex, are mostly based on the fact that such 
> activities are not "natural." Meaning their goal is not socially 
> productive -as in procreating- but purely hedonistic, self satisfying.

Hedonistic, self-satisfying buck goats and tribadistic pet dogs
everywhere will join the gathering throng of self-liberating humans who
seek sex for the sake of pleasure alone. 

> A bear, or a dog, can never experience impotence, or
> anorgasmia, for example.

You need to go talk to a few veterinarians. Bears and dogs -- and other
species as well -- can and do experience impotence, erectile
dysfunction, and anorgasmia. Among livestock keepers, the polite term
for an impotent male animal is "a shy breeder." I personally have seen
shy breeders (impotent males) among rabbits, cattle, and roosters. 

As for females who refuse to mate with males, that is not uncommon among
rabbits, for some reason. These are what in humans would be called
"celibate" females, who simply refuse to mate. 

Then there is the subject of non-procreative sex among same-gender
animals. I have known lesbian rabbits, bisexual goats (many of them!),
and homosexual sheep, parrots, and pigeons who seemed to be having a
"normal sex life" albeit with same-sex partners. The same is true among
horses, i am told, but i have not personally known any.  

Obviously if procreation were the entire reason for animals to have sex,
such variations would not exist. Therefore your premise is wrong -- and
sex among animals is more multi-faceted than mere procreation whould
allow. 

> When humans engage in sex, a whole personality is involved. 

Ditto for animals. 

> So sex becomes an activity that it is part reproduction, part play, 
> part self-validation, part religious enlightenment. 

I'm not sure that animals have religious interests, but many of them
engage in sex for playful reasons, it seems to me. Obviously there is no
way for a spayed, non-estrous dog to have puppies by rubbing her clit on
her beloved owner's foot -- so she must be doing it because "it feels
good."  

> An animal cannot decide to be
> abstinent. When a female animal experiences the rut, it becomes - in
> human terms - a slut, mating repeatedly and "unabashedly" with as many
> partners as possible. The animal female just does not have any options
> about its behavior.

Wrong again! Remember the example i gave about the spayed female dog?
Note that: 
   (1) She does not go into heat (she is non-estraous). (By 
      the way, the word "rut" usually only refers to male
      seasons of sexual excitement.)
   (2) She does not seek out random dogs or humans for sex 
      -- only her bonded "owner," so by your terms, she 
      is not a "slut." (By the way, there are good biological
      reasons for a dog to mate with several partners -- and
      any book on behavioural genetics will explain the biological 
      strategies that lead some species toward monogamy and 
      others toward polygamy.) 
   (3) She knows that he will rarely indulge her when he is 
      formally dressed or there is company around, so she 
      waits to approach him for sex until he is barefooted 
      and seated or laying down in a comfortable position. 
      In fact, this results in her having "weekend" sex with 
      him, kinda like an old married couple :-) In any case,
      she certainly knows her "options" and takes full 
      advantage of them.
  
> Tantra, rather than rejecting the nature and essence of our sexuality,
> teaches us to embrace it and even make it into a religious path of
> enlightenment. Something to bring us closer to the deity instead of
> separating us from "the Godhead."

That's the only statement in your entire post which i do not think was
ill-informed. 

Cordially,

cat yronwode 

Karezza and Sacred Sex ------ http://www.luckymojo.com/sacredsex.html

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