Kama as Means To Moksha

[Guest guest]

Believe it or not, this rather serious exposition recently appeared

as a newspaper column in the Times of India! Still, it is a pretty

clear and accurate discussion, for any who may be interested:

 

KAMA AS A MEANS TO MOKSHA

 

In Indian philosophy, kama or sexual desire has been accorded an

important place. There are four kinds of purushartha (ends of life),

and one of them is kama. This is because the world was born out of

kama. We know that all beings are born out of kama. What we don't

know is that the cosmos itself is a product of kama. How was the

world born?

 

In the very beginning, according to the Upanishads, was sah

akamayata. There was the "worldstuff" or sad vastu in the beginning,

and it was seized with kama. It agitated in kama and desired

expansion. At the height of this agitation, there was bindu

visphota.

 

The word bindu means both a point and semen. When the guru advises

his disciples to keep to celibacy, he says: "Falling of bindu is

death; keeping of bindu is life." Visphota means bursting out.

Therefore bindu visphota denotes the orgasm. The world was born out

of bindu visphota. One can think of this bindu visphota as what

modern scientists speak of as the "big bang" that generated the

universe. The big bang is the orgasm of kama in the worldstuff.

 

Bindu is also known variously as teja, prana, kam and vaishwanara.

It is the bindu's kam (energy) that becomes kham (space). From this

energy was born matter in the form of panchabhutas. The panchabhutas

are mostly misunderstood. As Vedanta explains it, the panchabhutas

include the solid prithivi, the liquid apa, the gaseous vayu, the

energy within matter, agni, and the amount of space an object takes

up for its shape, called akasha. This way, the world was born out of

kama.

 

Since energy is kama, the universe is imbued with kama. Matter in

all its states and diversity is kama , and the space that houses

matter is also an expanse of kama. Kama is the substance of the

universe. That is why kama is such an indomitable force in the life

of beings. There is no beating it.

 

In the Mahabharata, Kamadeva, the god of kama and love, brags: "If

anyone tries to beat me, I grow manifold over his beating." The

attempt to subdue or win kama only makes it burst out with greater

force.

 

Since kama is the origin and quiddity of existence, it has to be

accorded its rightful place. Therefore kama has been included as one

of the purusharthas. The ultimate purushartha is moksha — liberation

of the soul from the clutches of finite existence.

 

 

Generally, kama is regarded as an obstacle to moksha and

brahmacharya while celibacy is seen as an essential prerequisite on

the road to moksha. The guru commands, keep the bindu, don't let it

fall. The reason given as to why kama has to be overcome for the

attainment of moksha is that kama is the opening up of cosmic energy

while moksha is its opposite — which is shutting energy in all its

diversity up in its primordial cause, the worldstuff or sad vastu.

So they are deemed natural contraries.

 

However, anything that belongs to this world can be turned into an

instrument for moksha and kama is no exception. Kama also can be a

means to moksha. But actually doing this needs extraordinary skill.

Some sects of tantra use kama as an instrument of moksha. For these,

kama is more spiritual and less carnal. Genuine practitioners of

tantra achieve an experience of oneness with the Divine at the

height of the physical orgasm. For them, kama is a great magnetic

pull towards the divine and the orgasm is a perfect communion.

 

Kama as a means for moksha is extremely individualistic, slippery,

esoteric and unreliable as far as lay practitioners are concerned,

and therefore its use is not advisable for the general public. An

example is Osho, who took this extremely individualistic practice

to the public domain and became controversial.

 

Source: The Times of India, SPEAKING TREE: Kama as Means To Moksha,

by K M GUPTA [MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2003 12:01:44 AM]

URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/34881427.cms