Sex & Spirituality Part 2: Love & Lust
There's the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalane... and then there's Mary Carey.
Just an addendum to yesterday's post. I've had some people email me asking how sex with my boyfriend can possibly be as hot as the random sex with strangers I used to encounter on a weekly basis and how doesn't it grow old.
I don't think it's a secret to anyone who has followed my scribblings and doo dads over the years that I have led a rather wild sex life. So here's food for thought: Monogamy is only a continuation of that wild sex life, as our sex becomes the wildest I've ever experienced.
I'm not talking metaphysically here, folks. I'm not filling the space with allegories and subtext. I mean literally, physically: IT'S WILD. Our sex life often resembles something out of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith." (We're suckers for feigned violence!) Why? For me, the answer lies in what I mentioned yesterday about the ultimate "nakedness" being vulnerability. The more experimental I become, the more I find myself in a vulnerable state. I could never be this experimental/vulnerable with a random stranger! Well, I could, but it would be half-assed. I wouldn't lose myself in the moment of it all like I can knowing that I am with someone who will catch me if I fall. I can completely submerse myself in new things (I'm versatile for the first time in my life!) and try things even I have never tried before.
One thing I love about Kabbalah's view on sexuality is that Love and Lust are not specifically divided within its text. Religious groups have so long hammered home the division between the two, the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalane, that it has become part of our social climate and is taught subconsciously to us even if we do not grow up in a religious household or go to church. The idea that the two can not be married is appalling to me, especially when you look at what this "rule" has done to women in many cultures over the centuries. Men are brought up believing that they were damned from the beginning by Woman (Eve) and yet their only salvation is through Woman (the Virgin Mary) -- but that salvation must come through a sexless woman.
First of all, I don't believe this is what the Bible was ever saying, but after self-professed hardcore misogynists like King James got ahold of the text, it became interpreted in an entirely different way. But it is because of this ridiculous concept of women only being at their most holy when sexless (the Virgin Mary, nuns, etc.) that you have cultures that force women to wear outfits that hide their entire bodies and tribes that ritualistically chop off girls' clitorises as soon as they're old enough to get themselves wet. Whether its physically or mentally or spiritually, they are all saying the same thing: Cut it out! Cut our your passion. Cut out your Lust. Only then can you know Love. Only then can you be holy.
So much of The Bible never made sense to me until Kabbalah. Why would we worship The Virgin Mary for the ever purity of her womb? She had children after Christ! She was not forever pure. Why did Jesus lay down with Mary Magdalane if She was Sin incarnate? Was it because he believed She should not be judged? He could have not judged the bitch without laying down with Her!
Kabbalah sees Biblical text as a code. It is a story, the greatest ever told. It is a metaphor and within its metaphors are the secrets to everlasting fulfillment and happiness by looking beyond the text's surface to its hidden meanings. (And when you think about it, of course it is a metaphor, from chapter one! Have you ever known a snake to speak?)
Why did Jesus lay down with Mary? He must have felt a kinship and a closeness to Her that he had not felt for anyone else. Why? What bond did they share? What did they have in common?
Mary believed in claiming and expressing all parts of herself, not just some -- she went within herself to find those parts and not to an outside source. I don't believe it is coincidence that this is what Jesus was saying all along. Maybe all He ever was saying really is that God is within everything and is within ourselves. To look within! You are born in His "image" (not just physically, look beyond the physical) and therefore have the tools and abilities He has blessed you with to solve all of your problems.
Look within and you will find your strength. Look within and you will find God.
Mary was already looking within, like Jesus.
But so many are so afraid to look within themselves. So scared of what they will find or that they will find nothing at all, that the strength will not be there. So they put their faith into something external. They spend all day sometimes praying, instead of spending all day doing something proactive to solve their problems or helping their fellow man -- and then they then wonder why their prayers are not answered. Perhaps it is because they didn't answer the prayers themselves. When you don't recognize the beauty of God's strength that is within you, you lessen that strength. When you don't claim and express all parts of yourself, those neglected parts lose their strength too.
Love is within each of us. Lust is within each of us. It is in the mental separating of the two that sex becomes tainted. It causes spouses to cheat on each other. It creates disease. Lust should always be combined with Love (hell, everything should be combined with Love!), even in the case of a one-night stand. If we are all truly One, then we intrinsically have Love already for everyOne, especially during that physical connection. It's not doing anything other than changing your own consciousness, really.
Understand and claim what it is you are really doing during sexual encounters, on a physical and spiritual plane, and it will change your sex life forever.
P.S.: This is just my interpretation of the Jesus and Mary story! It doesn't have to be anyone else's! There is no "right" interpretation of the Bible according to Kabbalah. We are not God so who are we to say what the text actually means? We can only say what it means to us and like any book, it will affect every reader in a different way and they will take whatever they are meant to take from it.
L,
J.
JASON'S OTHER SITES:
JasonCurious.com
JasonSechrest.com
DV8Entertainment.com
RELATED SITES:
Kabbalah.com
72.com - Technology for the Soul
The Zohar - Weekly Studies
SpiritualityforKids.com
* KabbalahCurious.com is not endorsed or sponsored by The Kabbalah Centre. Though we would love to be!
Have questions? Need advice? Want to share? EMAIL Jason at jason@jasonsechrest.com
I don't think it's a secret to anyone who has followed my scribblings and doo dads over the years that I have led a rather wild sex life. So here's food for thought: Monogamy is only a continuation of that wild sex life, as our sex becomes the wildest I've ever experienced.
I'm not talking metaphysically here, folks. I'm not filling the space with allegories and subtext. I mean literally, physically: IT'S WILD. Our sex life often resembles something out of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith." (We're suckers for feigned violence!) Why? For me, the answer lies in what I mentioned yesterday about the ultimate "nakedness" being vulnerability. The more experimental I become, the more I find myself in a vulnerable state. I could never be this experimental/vulnerable with a random stranger! Well, I could, but it would be half-assed. I wouldn't lose myself in the moment of it all like I can knowing that I am with someone who will catch me if I fall. I can completely submerse myself in new things (I'm versatile for the first time in my life!) and try things even I have never tried before.
One thing I love about Kabbalah's view on sexuality is that Love and Lust are not specifically divided within its text. Religious groups have so long hammered home the division between the two, the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalane, that it has become part of our social climate and is taught subconsciously to us even if we do not grow up in a religious household or go to church. The idea that the two can not be married is appalling to me, especially when you look at what this "rule" has done to women in many cultures over the centuries. Men are brought up believing that they were damned from the beginning by Woman (Eve) and yet their only salvation is through Woman (the Virgin Mary) -- but that salvation must come through a sexless woman.
First of all, I don't believe this is what the Bible was ever saying, but after self-professed hardcore misogynists like King James got ahold of the text, it became interpreted in an entirely different way. But it is because of this ridiculous concept of women only being at their most holy when sexless (the Virgin Mary, nuns, etc.) that you have cultures that force women to wear outfits that hide their entire bodies and tribes that ritualistically chop off girls' clitorises as soon as they're old enough to get themselves wet. Whether its physically or mentally or spiritually, they are all saying the same thing: Cut it out! Cut our your passion. Cut out your Lust. Only then can you know Love. Only then can you be holy.
So much of The Bible never made sense to me until Kabbalah. Why would we worship The Virgin Mary for the ever purity of her womb? She had children after Christ! She was not forever pure. Why did Jesus lay down with Mary Magdalane if She was Sin incarnate? Was it because he believed She should not be judged? He could have not judged the bitch without laying down with Her!
Kabbalah sees Biblical text as a code. It is a story, the greatest ever told. It is a metaphor and within its metaphors are the secrets to everlasting fulfillment and happiness by looking beyond the text's surface to its hidden meanings. (And when you think about it, of course it is a metaphor, from chapter one! Have you ever known a snake to speak?)
Why did Jesus lay down with Mary? He must have felt a kinship and a closeness to Her that he had not felt for anyone else. Why? What bond did they share? What did they have in common?
Mary believed in claiming and expressing all parts of herself, not just some -- she went within herself to find those parts and not to an outside source. I don't believe it is coincidence that this is what Jesus was saying all along. Maybe all He ever was saying really is that God is within everything and is within ourselves. To look within! You are born in His "image" (not just physically, look beyond the physical) and therefore have the tools and abilities He has blessed you with to solve all of your problems.
Look within and you will find your strength. Look within and you will find God.
Mary was already looking within, like Jesus.
But so many are so afraid to look within themselves. So scared of what they will find or that they will find nothing at all, that the strength will not be there. So they put their faith into something external. They spend all day sometimes praying, instead of spending all day doing something proactive to solve their problems or helping their fellow man -- and then they then wonder why their prayers are not answered. Perhaps it is because they didn't answer the prayers themselves. When you don't recognize the beauty of God's strength that is within you, you lessen that strength. When you don't claim and express all parts of yourself, those neglected parts lose their strength too.
Love is within each of us. Lust is within each of us. It is in the mental separating of the two that sex becomes tainted. It causes spouses to cheat on each other. It creates disease. Lust should always be combined with Love (hell, everything should be combined with Love!), even in the case of a one-night stand. If we are all truly One, then we intrinsically have Love already for everyOne, especially during that physical connection. It's not doing anything other than changing your own consciousness, really.
Understand and claim what it is you are really doing during sexual encounters, on a physical and spiritual plane, and it will change your sex life forever.
P.S.: This is just my interpretation of the Jesus and Mary story! It doesn't have to be anyone else's! There is no "right" interpretation of the Bible according to Kabbalah. We are not God so who are we to say what the text actually means? We can only say what it means to us and like any book, it will affect every reader in a different way and they will take whatever they are meant to take from it.
L,
J.
JASON'S OTHER SITES:
JasonCurious.com
JasonSechrest.com
DV8Entertainment.com
RELATED SITES:
Kabbalah.com
72.com - Technology for the Soul
The Zohar - Weekly Studies
SpiritualityforKids.com
* KabbalahCurious.com is not endorsed or sponsored by The Kabbalah Centre. Though we would love to be!
Have questions? Need advice? Want to share? EMAIL Jason at jason@jasonsechrest.com
posted by Jason Sechrest | 1:15 PM
6 Comments:
I LOVE IT!!!!!!!
Dear Jason,
Not wanting to start a 'religious flame-war' any more than thou, I just want to point out that the whole madonna/whore dichotomy is primarily New Testament stuff (okay, Eve and Original Sin are definitely Old Testament).
Much of the writings of the New Testament are attributable to John the Baptist, and many modern scholars are convinced he was completely asexual and more than a little misogynistic (in other words, the roots are deeper than the King James English-language translation... look to one of the original authors!)
Mind you, I'm a middle-aged queer agnostic gay-porn reviewing computer consultant, so what do I know...?
As for your conclusions on the need to meld sex and lust, I am in complete agreement...!
Charles, No you're absolutely right! Far more attributed to John. I could have appointed blame in a much more appropriate direction, it was just the first thing that came to mind. xox L, J.
...or better yet, I shouldn't have appointed any blame at all, as that really wasn't the direct point of my post or my intention. xox L, J.
Dear Jason,
Please forgive my engineering-style attention to factual detail. My comments end up sounding like I am challenging you or the validity of your writings, observations, and/or opinions, which I would never do. This is YOUR blog, after all! ;-)
Sometimes techno-nerds like me are hard to live with...
Charles, Not at all! Love is in attention to the details and I am really greatful you pointed it out. :-P xox L, J.
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