Society for Sacred Sexuality

Gary Joseph · Posted: January 8, 2005

Sacred sex happens -- often without trying or even knowing about it...and maybe when you least expect it.

Share sacred sex experiences you've had without doing any special practice and that weren't evoked by a special lover or circumstance, or ones you had even before you learned sacred sex.

Indicate what your experience was, whether it happened one time, several times, or happens every time, and any other relevant details.

luv

To give an example of such experience, I will relate one described by Margot Anand in her book, The Art of Everyday Ecstasy. It came to her in the context of a relationship with her artist boyfriend, whom she described as a passionate lover; the sex between them, she said, was "raw, primal, and wild." She enjoyed their lovemaking, but began to wonder how it fit in with the inner joy & peace she discovered in her new found practice of Yoga. She was 18 at the time, and credits the experience with opening her to the path of sacred sex:

"I spoke about my feelings one evening during our lovemaking. We were having sex in the usual energetic way, when I said, 'Robert, please slow down; let's try something new.' We stopped and simply relaxed, staying bonded together with Robert still inside me. I was lying on top. I felt excited because I had initiated something new, removing his responsibility for making something happen. There was a subtle switch of roles and I felt him shift into a more feminine, receptive attitude. We remained like that for many minutes, relaxed while at the same time feeling the excitement of sexual arousal in our bodies. I soon felt a kind of warm, glowing energy beginning to diffuse itself through my whole pelvic area.

"We wanted to maintain sexual arousal, so when the excitement began to fade, we returned to our usual style of active lovemaking. Then, just before the peak of orgasmic release, we stopped, relaxed, and became still once more. We repeated this pattern several times, and then something totally unexpected happened. Suddenly we both seemed to be floating in an unbounded space filled with warmth and light. The boundaries between our bodies dissolved and, along with them, the distinctions between man and woman. We were one. The experience became timeless, and we seemed to remain like this forever. There was no need to have an orgasm. There was no need even to 'make love.' There was nothing to do, nothing to achieve. We were in ecstasy."

Red

The practice that Margot & Robert spontaneously fell into - active lovemaking to the brink of orgasm alternating with relaxed stillness - is described in our Lesson entitled The Secret of Sacred Sex. We call it "Surfing the Gap."

One more comment: Margot said, "There was no need to have an orgasm." To be clear about this, she and her lover WERE in orgasm; they were in Sacred Union, that boundless, timeless ecstasy that is momentarily glimpsed in conventional orgasm. In that extended, expanded sacred orgasm, there is naturally no need to have a common orgasm. But it's important for sacred sex practitioners to note that this IS orgasm, so they don't fall into the mistaken intellectual belief that they are not having orgasm in sacred sex.

CreativeFem · New Contributor Joined: 03 May 2006 Posts: 5

I have no experience with sacred sex and have only recently become interested. After reading through the wonderful information on this website, I think I've has a few spontaneous experiences that I would like to share - also with the question attached, if my experiences were sacred sex experiences? Eye Roll

Two experiences are related to my deep love of nature and affinity with the wind. On both occasions (many years apart) I was lying outside in my garden enjoying the day and listening to the wind and feeling the soft, cool touch on my skin. It was most enjoyable and as the feeling intensified, became sensual.
The wind was caressing my arms and my face! I felt connected, almost as if I became part of the sounds of the wind and the feeling evoked in me - much like the riding the waves described in the lessons I have just read - a natural coming and going of sound and touch. At some stage, I lost all feeling of time and space, all that existed was the wind and my skin. It became more and more sensual and I finally became sexually aroused.
I did not touch myself in any way, was just lying passivly on my back with my eyes closed. As my arousal grew, the feeling became more and more genital and the wind was caressing my genitals through my clothes. In fact, I did not feel my clothes. I followed the moment in my imagination - I don't think I was moving my body. It was as if the wind began to penetrate me in soft, flowing thrusts, becomming deeper and deeper. The feeling that grew was definately very similar to what I know when I am sexually aroused with a partner or on my own. I don't know how long this went on, it was a long time.
The thrusting feeling remained soft and slow throughout but the feeling in my vagina intensified slowly and became totally sexual. It remained slow right up to the end whan I finally reached a orgasmic climax and my body moved spontaneously towards the thrusts. My orgasam was not as intense as with normal sex, but it was a whole lot deeper and fuller and seemed to fill me, not only genitally.

Both experiences were beautiful and until now, I did not know where to place this.

One other occasion, I was in a therapeutic workshop doing a body work exercise with a partner. The exercise took place on the floor and consisted of a movement whereby I assisted my partner to slowly role from one side to the other in the embryo position. The exercise went on for almost an hour and was very intense. I was totally absorbed with the movement and my partner's breathing. When we were told to end the exercise, I covered my partner with a blanket and moved away to rest, sitting with my back against a wall. While I was moving there, I already felt my body shivering, convoluting slightly and after sitting down, my whole body went into spasms similar to the way it does in an orgasam. Only this was not sexual at all and was my whole body. At the time, I thought, this is like a total body and heart orgasim! luv

I've had a couple of similar experiences in addition to these - but that would make this far to long to write them down now.

I would really love to have a feed back on what I have written.

CreativeFem Smile

Gary Joseph · Posted: May 4, 2006

Hi, thanks very much for sharing these.

The first two are DEFINITELY sacred sex experiences. In fact, they're a beautiful example of one of the most important things I teach people -- that desire is sacred, and plays an intimate role in sacred experience.

CreativeFem · New Contributor Joined: 03 May 2006 Posts: 5

Thank you so much for that feed back! Smile

It is wonderful to understand better what happened. This is making me even more interested in following the lessons and taking this further. May I add that I am 54 years old and I didn't think that at this time in my life I would have such a desire to learn more, experience more deeply and venture into a new, beautiful experience of growing. I feel uplifted and also that God has led me to this. Sometimes we need more time to mature into these things - I know I was not ready earlier in my life to actually persue sacred sex although the experiences I mentioned occured many years ago - I think my mind was not ready.

Thank you so much for a wonderful website - I would like to encourage all older people to take on this journey! Boo hoo!

CreativeFem

Gary Joseph · Posted: May 4, 2006

russ · Posted: May 9, 2006

CreativeFem · New Contributor Joined: 03 May 2006 Posts: 5

Thank you so much Russ Very Happy

You are so right, I've been thinking about this too. "All of a sudden" I have found a teacher here in South Africa and we will be meeting for the first time later this week. I feel ready and excited to start this journey, which has actually started already. During the last weeks, since reading everything about Tantra and sacred Sex that I could find on the web, including this wonderful website, so much has already changed within me, I feel different, vibrant within and it also seems to be in the air around me. I feel a new kind of love - it is not towards a person or a thing or an activity...it is just there!

luv

CreativeFem

russ · Posted: May 18, 2006

What we put our attention on is nurtured, grows , and becomes our experience! Cool

LOVE IS ALL THERE IS. Very Happy

uki · New Contributor Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Posts: 4

hello everyone

I am Lukasz, 30 y.o. , married, Iam from Europe -Poland.
2 years ago, during some yoga seminar, before some initiation, I had sth like a spontaneous Kundalini awakening
I call it sth like -cause I had many of the signs (like spontaneous mudras, energy rushes, feeling connected, spontaneous orgasms etc) but some call them just prana moves or sth

Lets get back to sacred sex... after this I finnaly get to marijuana Smile

So thanks to to this kinda Kundalini experience my sex life has changed.
1.
I can have sth like "regular orgasm" (the same feeling but no ejaculation and can last forever) almost whenever I want
2.
when I make love with a woman -I can feel her orgasm going into me and spreading in my body (?), when I am relaxed (viva la massage Very Happy

) I can have an rgazm that "squeezes" my whole body

these are some incredible and beautiful things but wait till u hear what I had after marijuana

I am not a smoker but I personally think that once in a blue moon it's nice to experiment, so -after marijuana we had sth that I cannot describe -it wasnt an exstasy- it was sth far beyond that

pls bear in mind what I experienced before -and that was nothing in comparison to this..

I could call it a mistical experience -I can only think of an echo of this experience cause the experience itself cannot be described. Moreover -my wife had it too -it was like a spark from me had fired her that day

that was just sth to share
although the sacred sex come to me naturally I used some exercises of Mantak to gain more controle over my reactions
I think your page and exercises are also great

regards,

lukasz

Gary Joseph · Posted: July 26, 2006

These are great experiences, Lukasz. I'd like to comment:

uki · New Contributor Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Posts: 4

Dear Gary,

thank you for your comments -so I am a lucky guy Smile

Sometimes I think -do I really desrve what I got?

A few words about marijuana - my first time was when I was 20 y.o. since that time I smoked maybe 15-20 times...

Regarding marijuana - after smoking I feel that my organism is somehow clouded -not that demons want to attack me or sth Smile

just being tired.
Anyway these sympotms are much "delicate" than feeling after alcohol (let's say some wine with wife and friends) -after alcohol I sometimes recover for 3-5 days...

Regarding the sex experience I didnt describe Smile

...

It will be much easier to say what was before and afterwards.
So we made love and I started to feel my "usual" orgasm - first some dry regular orgasm then i felt that energy/pleasure goes to my head -very nice and relaxing -and when I was thinking how beautiful it is I dissapeared.. just like this -I didnt hear the music from the stereo -actually I had no ears since I had no body... I dont know how long it lasted -I cant describe what was going on while I had no body Smile

anyway - I "woke up" in my love - and heard" what have you done to me ?"
I said I doubt it was me Very Happy

After some moments she told me that if she had this kinda experience everyday she could drop her work and in general nothing would be important. I know what she means... and it wasnt about sex experience - it was about feeling complete.

The funny thing is that at that time I looked at sex in a very different way -I think for the first time there was nothing bad about sex - no matter who makes love with who - and every kind of "regular sex" -from delicate to bdsm was ok, but it was like a childlish play.

Thats it. well maybe one more thing -after some time my wife got up and went to the kitchen -we were like 4 meters from each other. I started playing with the energy - I did microcosmic orbit and in general let it flow. Then my palms come together - after some seconds my scared wife run to me and told me "STOP!". What happened ? -she suddenly felt like sth climbed from her feet to the head - it moved her spine. I asked -she was scared because she felt unusual although the experience was nice, and she felt it was because of me...
Well it scared me a little cause I didnt do any harm to her (like accidently open her or sth)and the party was over Smile

J when I read what I wrote -Its hard to belive Smile

even for me Very Happy

P.S.
I am sorry for my english but I hope it s enugh to share the experience:)

luv

to all

Gary Joseph · Posted: July 27, 2006

uki · New Contributor Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Posts: 4

first of all, let me assure that these are only glimpses - like I can "hear" only an echo of this experience not the experience itself

hmm disapearing was not only about my body - there was no ME at all, and at the same time I was sth big. The only thing that comes to my mind was -complete Smile

regarding my wife - she even didnt try to explain to me what she had felt -she said - its no use:)
but trust me I know it was the same for both of us

Gary Joseph · Posted: July 27, 2006

uki · New Contributor Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Posts: 4

regarding the flashes - hmm I think they are much easier to bare - 100% awakening in a split of a sec can be hard to accept - too many things change Smile

thank you once againg for your support Smile

MountainSong · New Contributor Joined: 30 Jan 2012 Posts: 6

Recently an unexplainable event happened between me and a gentleman Iâ€™ve never met yet. The result of it is dramatically affecting our lives and weâ€™ve no basis in which to explain what happened to us or how to stop/control it. Itâ€™s now 45+ days later and we are nearly ravaged by the energy exchange that happens between us. We are both over 40 years old and professionals living in what we once thought of as a concrete world, but which we now arenâ€™t at all sure about.

In short something happened though we were on separate sides of the world and we seem to be linked or embedded in each other now. We can tastes each otherâ€™s food, medication taken by one works on the other, weâ€™ve developed each otherâ€™s allergies, we can feel each otherâ€™s emotions and sense each otherâ€™s thoughts, our third eyes often stay open for hours upon hours resulting in headaches (we didnâ€™t even believe in 3rd eyes before) and worst of all we have an energy connection between us which keeps us in a continual state of desire and arousal for the other.

Frustration and utter distraction are minor words to describe where we are at this stage. Neither of us could be with another person as the other would feel every second of it. It complicates our lives immensely as there are a great many social and professional circumstances in which it is not acceptable to be in a heightened state of arousal.

We are not in love with one another and often times donâ€™t even like each other very much. We once were developing a friendship but that has fallen into disuse as we wreath in ecstasy at the mere mental touch of the other, which we have no control over activating. We feel thrust together by the Universe and there is no option but to meet and join our lives together as man and wife as we are utterly and uncontrolably consumed by each other. It as if the Powers That Be have Bethrothed us to one another whether we like it or not.

In the beginning the energy wasnâ€™t sexual, it was a full body energetic rush, best described as rolling in ecstasy in warm buoyant waves of pleasure and bliss. After the second time it rolled us though our bodies began to describe it as the sexual act, it would be so much easier to cope with if we could get it back to what it was the first two times after the event happened.

During research weâ€™ve found very little to explain what happened to us or what to do about it. The continual state of arousal is beginning to cause phycical damage to us and itâ€™s going to be extremely uncomfortable when doctors must be visited due to the complications this is causing.

Iâ€™m hoping by posting here someone will have an idea what happened to us and how we can control this energy which ravages us. Weâ€™re not sure we want to be separated as being connected to someone in this way is rather remarkable, like having a telephathic twin, but we need help controlling it and weâ€™d really like to know what and why this happened.

A Sincere Thank You in advance to anyone with any knowledge based advice.

Gary Joseph · Posted: February 1, 2012

Hi MountainSong,

It's pretty clear that you both have had spontaneous kundalini awakenings triggered by past association (past life relations). The full body energetic rush and continuous arousal, along with the spiritual experiences (third eye opening, etc.) are classic kundalini signs. Sacred sex goes far beyond the physical, so sexual relations or even physical contact are not required to trigger it.

You don't specifically mention what did trigger it, but in such cases, virtually any contact or mere awareness of the other's existence can touch it off. The reason is that, even though you were "unknown" to each other in this life, there is a soul knowingness at an unconscious level. When reconnected in any way, it reawakens.

It also seems clear that the energy is drawing you together. I suggest you let that occur. It may or may not mean that you are meant to be together (i.e. married) in this life. You may simply have past karma to work out and that will resolve your energetic connection. The only way to know is to meet and see what happens.

As for trying to stop or control it, don't. Accept it as it is and follow where it leads. Much of the discomfort, etc. you're experiencing is due to your doubts, confusion, and resistance to it. Kundalini (i.e. Universal Energy/Intelligence) is always working for your natural evolution. It's like a river that carries you to the ocean of spiritual awakening. Enjoy the ride!

See Follow Your Heart for practical tips on doing so.

I don't recommend seeing a medical professional about general kundalini experiences, since they have no knowledge of what it is or how to deal with it (unless you find one specifically experienced in that field). However, if some specific condition results that may be helped by a doctor, then by all means seek professional help. Try to come up with as reasonable a "cause" for your condition as you can, since they are likely to ask.

In general, take it easy, get plenty of rest/sleep, eat a simple, healthy diet (look for foods that either aggravate or relieve your conditions, and adjust accordingly), get regular exercise or other physical activity to ground and stabilize your nervous system (long walks in nature are great and often very revealing in terms of experience Smile

), and get plenty of fresh air and sunshine. I'll add a specific comment about your main daily activity if you have a professional career. Pay especially close attention to your experiences at work and the direction kundalini in which kundalini is steering you. When kundalini awakens, one of its main functions is to steer you toward your life's work, which may lead away from your current (usually stressful) occupation. You must let go of old, life-damaging associations, and build new ones attuned to your new awareness. Kundalini can make things very uncomfortable for you if you don't. You might not always know where She's leading you, but as your Mother (Mother Nature, to be precise), She knows what is best.

Some books you might find helpful:

The Kundalini Experience, by Lee Sannella, MD which does a fair job of describing and advising on these conditions.

Transcendent Sex, by Jenny Wade, PhD (gives many accounts of spontaneous sacred sex experiences, though doesn't deal with them in great depth from a counseling stand-point).

The Evolving Human, by Penny Kelly (one woman's account of her own spontaneous awakening, including confusing experiences much like your own).

You can also try searching the internet for "kundalini syndrome" or "kundalini support" groups -- you'd be surprised at the number of others who have similar experiences.

MountainSong · New Contributor Joined: 30 Jan 2012 Posts: 6

Thank you so much for responding Gary, I was worried it might have gone un-noticed as Iâ€™d perhaps posted in in the wrong section.

The Kundalini opening also doesnâ€™t appear to explain why some folks are knocking on my third eye and showing me where they live or other things I donâ€™t understand and nor does the person Iâ€™m bonded too understand. Heâ€™s able to stay with these visions for nearly an hour and pick up great detail of land and buildings etc. Sometimes words are associated with this but itâ€™s as if the wind carries them away often.

Sometimes the words come in dreams however. Once I was told â€œSeparate the Energiesâ€ whatever that might mean. I sense itâ€™s important somehow though.

My Bondmate, (Iâ€™ve no idea what else to call him) and I will be meeting fairly soon when our schedules permit, we donâ€™t see we have a choice as we would feel if either of us were with another person romantically, he can feel all my emotions and I can look through his eyes and see where he is at and get a sense of what heâ€™s doing. This makes us very intimate indeed and hitherto things we all thought of as private, like our emotions and where our eyes linger are no longer private but witnessed by the other.

Weâ€™ve learned we were doing the most dramatic events of our lives at the same time but on opposite sides of the world and the event was essentially the same. Our upbringing which are both rather singular are nearly mirror images of each other. The things we donâ€™t like in each other are the same things we most donâ€™t like in ourselves. Even knowing each other is forcing emotional evolution as both of us seems far more interested in solving disagreements quickly than in â€˜getting our wayâ€ or â€œwinning the argumentâ€â€™ Ego doesnâ€™t seem much involved in this relationship thatâ€™s being forced to develop. We have a very strong feeling weâ€™ve known each other before and even more so that we were to meet in this lifetime and have been somehow waiting for the time to be right.

Okay thatâ€™s all rather esoterical and you can dismiss that last bit as nothing is provable in it. The only thing I can find to explain all this is something called Twin Flames. No idea if its valid or not, but we both have a very strong sense we were brought together for service work for humanity or Earth and this has little to do with romance or even the energies between us, as those energies are larger than the sum total of us, so therefore must be used for something greater.

What sparked the Awakening in the first palce was a simple question:
â€œWhat is your favorite constellationâ€
His answer ripped a whole in my kitchen and I feel into a Rift, something like falling between worlds and I fell and fell, there was no bottom, top or sides, there was only falling. I was on the phone with him at the time and I think screamed, he told me to put my hand out and take his, I started to but hesitated and he grabbed my arm. It pulled us back into our respective countries. The Kitchen was once again stable and 'normal'.

For about 2 weeks afterwards I was exhausted and could barely move to get food and water (I craved water and yet have never liked it much) and for him the lassitude and exhaustion lasted nearly 4 weeks.

Over the next few days as he laid in bed weak and I on my couch in a similar state we discovered we were intimately aware of each other, each otherâ€™s health and body functioning, emotions, and that we had two types of connection, one through the 3rd Eye, which resulted in Empathy, and the other direct energy which results in Bliss or near bliss, the sound of each otherâ€™s voice pretty much sets this one off.

We also learned we could make a shield around us that made us feel safe, this was very important in the first few weeks as people had become â€œawareâ€ of us and were trying to influence/contact us, it felt like to gain control over our energies or manipulate it somehow or us in their ancient but questionable ways.
Now it feels like people are more contacting us to help us, but in the first 3 weeks or so it didnâ€™t feel like contact for our Higher Good was the intent.

We will be going on a journey together at some point to meet some of these people who have contacted us through vision invitations and seem to have knowledge for us.

I will get a few of those books, they sound very helpful in all this. Thank you Gary =)

Gary Joseph · Posted: February 2, 2012

The psychic experiences you're having are very common with kundalini awakening, and it's vital to understand them for what they are so that you can continue to make spiritual progress and not be overshadowed by them. It's very common, especially when such experiences first begin, to get completely absorbed and lost in them. Don't do it. The aim of evolution is to awaken to the Universal Consciousness that you truly are. All these powers are simply the powers of that. But if you chase after them, you will lose yourself in the powers and forget yourself (Universal Consciousness within you) as the source. You can literally waste lifetimes chasing after the never-ending psychic powers that may come to you.

Accept what comes to you, neither chasing after it nor running away from it. Go about your natural daily activity; if such experiences come, let them come, but don't invite them or chase them, and don't get involved with 'beings' who come to you. The only being you need concern yourself with is Being, capital 'B' -- yourself as Universal Being or Consciousness. Rest in your own awareness. Lesser beings can and will lead you astray. There may be true guides that come to help you along, but they will give you what you need unasked. Follow your inner knowingness about what is true and untrue.

Below is a caution about this given by Sri Aurobindo, a highly respected seer from India. It is somewhat long & dense (he lived in the first half of the 1900's, when intellect & language was a more formal than now), but it's worth reading to understand what is true and not. He called this stage the 'Intermediate Zone'; the term 'sadhak' below means practitioner or seeker, and 'siddhi' means supernormal or psychic power:

The Intermediate Zone

All these experiences are of the same nature and what applies to one applies to another. Apart from some experiences of a personal character, the rest are either idea-truths, such as pour down into the consciousness from above when one gets into touch with certain planes of being, or strong formations from the larger mental and vital worlds which, when one is directly open to these worlds, rush in and want to use the sadhak for their fulfilment.

These things, when they pour down or come in, present themselves with a great force, a vivid sense of inspiration or illumination, much sensation of light and joy, an impression of widening and power. The sadhak feels himself freed from the normal limits, projected into a wonderful new world of experience, filled and enlarged and exalted;what comes associates itself, besides, with his aspirations, ambitions, notions of spiritual fulfilment and yogic siddhi; it is represented even as itself that realisation and fulfilment. Very easily he is carried away by the splendour and the rush, and thinks that he has realised more than he has truly done, something final or at least something sovereignly true. At this stage the necessary knowledge and experience are usually lacking which would tell him that this is only a very uncertain and mixed beginning; he may not realise at once that he is still in the cosmic Ignorance, not in the cosmic Truth, much less in the Transcendental Truth, and that whatever formative or dynamic idea-truths may have come down into him are partial only and yet further diminished by their presentation to him by a still mixed consciousness. He may fail to realise also that if he rushes to apply what he is realising or receiving as if it were something definitive, he may either fall into confusion and error or else get shut up in some partial formation in which there may be an element of spiritual Truth but it is likely to be outweighted by more dubious mental and vital accretions that deform it altogether.

It is only when he is able to draw back (whether at once or after a time) from his experiences, stand above them with the dispassionate witness consciousness, observe their real nature, limitations, composition, mixture that he can proceed on his way towards a real freedom and a higher, larger and truer siddhi. At each step this has to be done. For whatever comes in this way to the sadhak of this yoga, whether it be from overmind or Intuition or Illumined Mind or some exalted Life Plane or from all these together, it is not definitive and final; it is not the supreme Truth in which he can rest, but only a stage. And yet these stages have to be passed through, for the supramental or the Supreme Truth cannot be reached in one bound or even in many bounds; one has to pursue a calm patient steady progress through many intervening stages without getting bound or attached to their lesser Truth or Light or Power or Ananda.

This is in fact an intermediary state, a zone of transition between the ordinary consciousness in mind and the true yoga knowledge. One may cross without hurt through it, perceiving at once or at an early stage its real nature and refusing to be detained by its half-lights and tempting but imperfect and often mixed and misleading experiences; one may go astray in it, follow false voices and mendacious guidance, and that ends in a spiritual disaster; or one may take up one's abode in this intermediate zone, care to go no farther and build there some half-truth which one takes for the whole truth or become the instrument of the powers of these transitional planes, - that is what happens to many sadhaks and yogis.

Overwhelmed by the first rush and sense of power of a supernormal condition, they get dazzled with a little light which seems to them a tremendous illumination or a touch of force which they mistake for the full Divine Force or at least a very great yoga Shakti; or they accept some intermediate Power (not always a Power of the Divine) as the Supreme and an intermediate consciousness as the supreme realisation. Very readily they come to think that they are in the full cosmic consciousness when it is only some front or small part of it or some larger Mind, Life-Power or subtle physical ranges with which they have entered into dynamic connection. Or they feel themselves to be in an entirely illumined consciousness, while in reality they are receiving imperfectly things from above through a partial illumination of some mental or vital plane; for what comes is diminished and often deformed in the course of transmission through these planes; the receiving mind and vital of the sadhak also often understands or transcribes ill what has been received or throws up to mix with it its own ideas, feelings, desires, which it yet takes to be not its own but part of the Truth it is receiving because they are mixed with it, imitate its form, are lit up by its illumination and get from this association and borrowed light an exaggerated value.

There are worse dangers in this intermediate zone of experience. For the planes to which the sadhak has now opened his consciousness, - not as before getting glimpses of them and some influences, but directly, receiving their full impact, - send a host of ideas, impulses, suggestions, formations of all kinds, often the most opposite to each other, inconsistent or incompatible, but presented in such a way as to slur over their insufficiencies and differences, with great force, plausibility and wealth of argument or a convincing sense of certitude. Overpowered by this sense of certitude, vividness, appearance of profusion and richness, the mind of the sadhak enters into a great confusion which it takes for some larger organisation and order; or else it whirls about in incessant shiftings and changes which it takes for a rapid progress but which lead nowhere. Or there is the opposite danger that he may become the instrument of some apparently brilliant but ignorant formation; for these intermediate planes are full of little Gods or strong Daityas or smaller beings who want to create, to materialise something or to enforce a mental and vital formation in the earth life and are eager to use or influence or even possess the thought and will of the sadhak and make him their instrument for the purpose. This is quite apart from the well-known danger of actually hostile beings whose sole purpose is to create confusion, falsehood, corruption of the sadhana and disastrous unspiritual error. Anyone allowing himself to be taken hold of by one of these beings, who often take a divine Name, will lose his way in the yoga. On the other hand, it is quite possible that the sadhak may be met at his entrance into this zone by a Power of the Divine which helps and leads him till he is ready for greater things; but still that itself is no surety against the errors and stumblings of this zone; for nothing is easier than for the powers of these zones or hostile powers to imitate the guiding Voice or Image and deceive and mislead the sadhak or for himself to attribute the creations and formations of his own mind, vital or ego to the Divine.

For this intermediate zone is a region of half-truths - and that by itself would not matter, for there is no complete truth below the supermind; but the half-truth here is often so partial or else ambiguous in its application that it leaves a wide field for confusion, delusion and error. The sadhak thinks that he is no longer in the old small consciousness at all, because he feels in contact with something larger or more powerful, and yet the old consciousness is still there, not really abolished. He feels the control or influence of some Power, Being or Force greater than himself, aspires to be its instrument and thinks he has got rid of ego; but this delusion of egolessness often covers an exaggerated ego. Ideas seize upon him and drive his mind which are only partially true and by over-confident misapplication are turned into falsehoods; this vitiates the movements of the consciousness and opens the door to delusion. Suggestions are made, sometimes of a romantic character, which flatter the importance of the sadhak or are agreeable to his wishes and he accepts them without examination or discriminating control. Even what is true, is so exalted or extended beyond its true pitch and limit and measure that it becomes the parent of error. This is a zone which many sadhaks have to cross, in which many wander for a long time and out of which a great many never emerge.

Especially if their sadhana is mainly in the mental and vital, they have to meet here many difficulties and much danger; only those who follow scrupulously a strict guidance or have the psychic being prominent in their nature pass easily as if on a sure and clearly marked road across this intermediate region. A central sincerity, a fundamental humility also save from much danger and trouble. One can then pass quickly beyond into a clearer Light where if there is still much mixture, incertitude and struggle, yet the orientation is towards the cosmic Truth and not to a half-illumined prolongation of Maya and ignorance.

I have described in general terms with its main features and possibilities this state of consciousness just across the border of the normal consciousness, because it is here that these experiences seem to move. But different sadhaks comport themselves differently in it and respond sometimes to one class of possibilities, sometimes to another. In this case it seems to have been entered through an attempt to call down or force a way into the cosmic consciousness - it does not matter which way it is put or whether one is quite aware of what one is doing or aware of it in these terms, it comes to that in substance. It is not the overmind which was entered, for to go straight into the overmind is impossible. The overmind is indeed above and behind the whole action of the cosmic consciousness, but one can at first have only an indirect connection with it; things come down from it through intermediate ranges into a larger mind-plane, life-plane, subtle physical plane and come very much changed and diminished in the transmission, without anything like the full power and truth they have in the overmind itself on its native levels. Most of the movements come not from the overmind, but down from higher mind ranges. The ideas with which these experiences are penetrated and on which they seem to rest their claim to truth are not of the overmind, but of the higher Mind or sometimes of the illumined Mind; but they are mixed with suggestions from the lower mind and vital regions and badly diminished in their application or misapplied in many places. All this would not matter; it is usual and normal, and one has to pass through it and come into a clearer atmosphere where things are better organised and placed on a surer basis. But the movement was made in a spirit of excessive hurry and eagerness, of exaggerated self-esteem and self-confidence, of a premature certitude, relying on no other guidance than that of one's own mind or of the ''Divine'' as conceived or experienced in a stage of very limited knowledge. But the sadhak's conception and experience of the Divine, even if it is fundamentally genuine, is never in such a stage complete and pure; it is mixed with all sorts of mental and vital ascriptions and all sorts of things are associated with this Divine guidance and believed to be part of it which come from quite other sources. Even supposing there is any direct guidance, - most often in these conditions the Divine acts mostly from behind the veil, - it is only occasional and the rest is done through a play of forces; error and stumbling and mixture of Ignorance take place freely and these things are allowed because the sadhak has to be tested by the world-forces, to learn by experience, to grow through imperfection towards perfection - if he is capable of it, if he is willing to learn, to open his eyes to his own mistakes and errors, to learn and profit by them so as to grow towards a purer Truth, Light and Knowledge.

The result of this state of mind is that one begins to affirm everything that comes in this mixed and dubious region as if it were all the Truth and the sheer Divine Will; the ideas or the suggestions that constantly repeat themselves are expressed with a self-assertive absoluteness as if they were Truth entire and undeniable. There is an impression that one has become impersonal and free from ego, while the whole tone of the mind, its utterance and spirit are full of vehement self-assertiveness justified by the affirmation that one is thinking and acting as an instrument and under the inspiration of the Divine. Ideas are put forward very aggressively that can be valid to the mind, but are not spiritually valid; yet they are stated as if they were spiritual absolutes. For instance, equality, which in that sense - for yogic Samata is a quite different thing - is a mere mental principle, the claim to a sacred independence, the refusal to accept anyone as Guru or the opposition made between the Divine and the human Divine etc., etc. All these ideas are positions that can be taken by the mind and the vital and turned into principles which they try to enforce on the religious or even the spiritual life, but they are not and cannot be spiritual in their nature. There also begin to come in suggestions from the vital planes, a pullulation of imaginations romantic, fanciful or ingenious, hidden interpretations, pseudo-intuitions, would-be initiations into things beyond, which excite or bemuse the mind and are often so turned as to flatter and magnify ego and self-importance, but are not founded on any well-ascertained spiritual or occult realities of a true order. This region is full of elements of this kind and, if allowed, they begin to crowd on the sadhak; but if he seriously means to reach the Highest, he must simply observe them and pass on. It is not that there is never any truth in such things, but for one that is true there are nine imitative falsehoods presented and only a trained occultist with the infallible tact born of long experience can guide himself without stumbling or being caught through the maze. It is possible for the whole attitude and action and utterance to be so surcharged with the errors of this intermediate zone that to go farther on this route would be to travel far away from the Divine and from the yoga.

Here the choice is still open whether to follow the very mixed guidance one gets in the midst of these experiences or to accept the true guidance. Each man who enters the realms of yogic experience is free to follow his own way; but this yoga is not a path for anyone to follow, but only for those who accept to seek the aim, pursue the way pointed out upon which a sure guidance is indispensable. It is idle for anyone to expect that he can follow this road far, - much less go to the end by his own inner strength and knowledge without the true aid or influence. Even the ordinary long-practised yogas are hard to follow without the aid of the Guru; in this which as it advances goes through untrodden countries and unknown entangled regions, it is quite impossible. As for the work to be done it also is not a work for any sadhak of any path; it is not, either, the work of the ''Impersonal'' Divine who, for that matter, is not an active Power but supports impartially all work in the universe. It is a training ground for those who have to pass through the difficult and complex way of this yoga and none other. All work here must be done in a spirit of acceptance, discipline and surrender, not with personal demands and conditions, but with a vigilant conscious submission to control and guidance. Work done in any other spirit results in an unspiritual disorder, confusion and disturbance of the atmosphere. In it too difficulties, errors, stumblings are frequent, because in this yoga people have to be led patiently and with some field for their own effort, by experience, out of the ignorance natural to Mind and Life to a wider spirit and a luminous knowledge. But the danger of an unguided wandering in the regions across the border is that the very basis of the yoga may be contradicted and the conditions under which alone the work can be done may be lost altogether. The transition through this intermediate zone - not obligatory, for many pass by a narrower but surer way - is a crucial passage; what comes out of it is likely to be a very wide or rich creation; but when one founders there, recovery is difficult, painful, assured only after a long struggle and endeavour.

[This warning against dangers of the intermediate zone was given by Sri Aurobindo in a letter first published in 1933 in the book 'The Riddle of this World'. It can now be found in 'Letters on Yoga', Part 3, Section 3: 'Experiences of the Inner and the Cosmic Consciousness', pages 1039-1046.]

MountainSong · New Contributor Joined: 30 Jan 2012 Posts: 6

Thank you for the caution about this given by Sri Aurobindo Gary and your concise summation of the best course to follow at this stage. You have my heart felt appreciation.

I read it in its entirety, and while I did understand some of it, much, while in recognizable English, contained many idea, concepts and references to teachings Iâ€™m unfamiliar with. From what I did grasp from the reading is that this is an unusually perilous time in the Spiritual Path of a Soul desiring to merge more fully with God. As much of what one sees and experiences may not have to do with something one should know for further Enlightenment, but is a distraction which could lead one off on a tangent of research and interest which is not applicable for further growth and could in fact delay further growth for a very long time.

The overall theme for navigating this stage seems to be one of observance, inner calmness and complete acceptances of what is without labeling or defining it and avoid getting distracted by the shiny new powers which came with the awakening.
This is difficult as the new awareness of energy that has no regard for human constructs like time/space are very fascinating, but Iâ€™m aware our experiences thus far are incomplete and a partial merging or awareness of the infusion in everything of God Energy, only further Spiritual Growth will complete this Understanding and any usefulness the powers it might offer to self, loved ones or mankind or earth.

Sri Aurobindo warns that traveling the path alone can be perilous and a good Guru is advised, yet he also indicates many are not good Guruâ€™s and its easy to become attached to an incorrect one for where one is at in teh Journey.
How does one become aware of the correct Guru for where one is on that Path? Or could it be there are many and one need only have the freedom to travel around the world absorbing and taking in that which feels important at the time, in other words letting oneâ€™s Inner Guide be heard and followed?

(Iâ€™m Christian and fairly decently trained in the Scriptures but am aware also that while there are Great Truths in the Bible and in Christianity in general it is as susceptible as any other religion, discipline or cults in which great truths run through the limited filter of mankindâ€™s understanding. Therefore I intuit all Beliefs systems hold some Truths but none know THE TRUTH.)

Last question, is it common for two people to become bonded and have the kundalini awakening at the same time via a profound event as happened to us? If this is not something commonly acknowledged in your spiritual teachings Gary, do you know which of the world religions do refer to duel callings/duel awakenings?