Is the sun a metaphor for sacred sex practices?
In “The Creation” (Die Schöpfung), composer Joseph Haydn portrays the following statement musically: “In brightest splendor now rises the sun”. Listen, as the sun proceeds from a tiny, timid ray of light to glorious effulgence in a single moment.
The essence of spiritual practice compares with the hydrostatic equilibrium of the sun. It is through balance that it generates light and life. And it is through a similar balance that humans can generate within themselves increased life and light.
Without force (Shakti in all its manifestations: gravity, repulsion, attraction, etc.) there is no movement, no momentum, no effect, and no direction in either the universe or ourselves. Yet without balance, these forces proceed toward, and will ultimately achieve, their own dissipation, their own extinction. Ultimately they dissolve the very “why” that engendered them.
We therefore aim to play at activating/playing with forces.
Otherwise nothing will move and we will not have profited from the forces at our disposal in this universe. Ideally, we engage in this play while keeping these forces in equilibrium. Chaos is not rejected but is wisely used guided by Order. Both order and chaos play their parts in the constructive tension between them.
Of course, in the sun, forces of unimaginable power are at play. The sun balances these forces magnificently. Each strives to affect a specific aspect of the sun.
What are these forces? Gravitational collapse of the outer crust intensely compresses the sun’s heart (nucleus). At the same time billions of continuous, massive nuclear explosions occur in the heart, which resist the external compression.
The play of these forces occurs in almost total freedom. A continuing catastrophic state. Yet despite these free powers, everything remains in exquisite balance.
The force of compression towards the center and the force of expansion from the center counterbalance one another. The entire process results in the perpetual creation of photons (light), which give rise to all life on our planet. It is the essential element of life that circulates in us right now. Photons fuel our very consciousness.
Mirroring the sun
This process is known as the hydrostatic equilibrium of the sun. We can generate a similar phenomenon within ourselves. Indeed this is what many spiritual traditions say is the spiritual path.
The forces in humankind are the tensions, desires, needs, pain, sufferings, aspirations, and will, all of which seek to change a present state in oneself. If we have a toothache, we also have a wish that the pain stops. If we are hungry, we want to ease our pangs. We are like the universe, brimming with forces, impulses, tendencies, attractions, repulsions, etc.
This is the whole meaning of the word desire, and where this force joins Shakti, the universal force of momentum.
Many spiritual approaches have attempted to extinguish certain forces (like desire) by naming some good and some bad. We can understand why, and indeed for students of sacred sex, it can be advantageous to spend a period of our life striving to master senses propelled by some of these forces.
One of the most advanced practices, however, consists in knowing how to play with all the forces while keeping them in balance. In this way we generate light within ourselves. This is what sacred sex or Synergy or pariyanga yoga, or ulta sadhana (and many other traditions) is all about.
It is the way of the sun.
