Maithuna
Maithuna (Skt.). Sexual intercourse; in Indian religions, particularly Tantrism, a vehicle for and metaphor of liberation (mokṣa).
Although maithuna as a means of liberation is not found in the Upaniṣads, the cosmic symbolism of the sexual act found there anticipates the tantras.
The sexual act as a metaphor of divine union is found in the Bhakti tradition, particularly the erotic (sṛṇgāra) bhakti to Kṛṣṇa of the Gaudiya Vaiṣṇavas, in which the bhakta identifies himself with the gopīs, especially Rādhā, and their adulterous love (parākiya) for Kṛṣṇa. Sexual love is here a symbol for the soul's love of God.
Maithuna as a means of liberation is found par excellence in Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism, in the left-hand (vāmācāra) traditions of the Kaula-Kāpālika cults and the Sahajīyās. Through ritual maithuna, sexual energy is transformed into spiritual energy, and desire is destroyed by desire. Human sexuality reflects the cosmic male–female polarity, and human copulation reflects the cosmic union (yāmala, yuganaddha, yab-yum) of Śiva and Śakti, in Hindu Tantra; and Prajñā and Upāya or Śūnyatā and Karuṇa in Buddhist Tantra. The rhythmical movement of maithuna also reflects the rhythmical vibration (spanda) of the cosmos.
The Tantras give details of rituals (pūjā) involving maithuna (the strī pūjā), stressing their secrecy and the danger of hell for one who performs these rites with desire.
Although maithuna as a means of liberation is not found in the Upaniṣads, the cosmic symbolism of the sexual act found there anticipates the tantras.
The sexual act as a metaphor of divine union is found in the Bhakti tradition, particularly the erotic (sṛṇgāra) bhakti to Kṛṣṇa of the Gaudiya Vaiṣṇavas, in which the bhakta identifies himself with the gopīs, especially Rādhā, and their adulterous love (parākiya) for Kṛṣṇa. Sexual love is here a symbol for the soul's love of God.
Maithuna as a means of liberation is found par excellence in Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism, in the left-hand (vāmācāra) traditions of the Kaula-Kāpālika cults and the Sahajīyās. Through ritual maithuna, sexual energy is transformed into spiritual energy, and desire is destroyed by desire. Human sexuality reflects the cosmic male–female polarity, and human copulation reflects the cosmic union (yāmala, yuganaddha, yab-yum) of Śiva and Śakti, in Hindu Tantra; and Prajñā and Upāya or Śūnyatā and Karuṇa in Buddhist Tantra. The rhythmical movement of maithuna also reflects the rhythmical vibration (spanda) of the cosmos.
The Tantras give details of rituals (pūjā) involving maithuna (the strī pūjā), stressing their secrecy and the danger of hell for one who performs these rites with desire.
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Maithuna