A house that has been experienced

A house that has been experienced is not an inert box.  Inhabited space transcends geometrical space.

-Gaston Bachelard from The Poetics of Space

Hungry

Hungry to feel the fingertips brushing upon my skin.

Touch me, and the body electric melts under it’s own heat.

Penetrate me, slowly.

Awaken all of the delicious tingling that initiates our journey,

And when we arrive, our sacred destination, a moment of enlightenment.

Hungry to taste desire, dripping wet on my tongue,

I will fill my mouth with your mouth, your tongue, your fingers.

This sweet treat, your soul.

Call my name.

No, whisper,

Breathe it,

As if it has just filled you,

And having touched deep inside, you breathe out,

Again to reach out to me.

I hear your voice.

I hear this whisper of my name,

And my heart forgets to take it’s next beat.

I smell you, too.

My bedsheets betray the lusty longing,

Of one embodied soul for another.

Your shirt, worn before lying me down,

Beckons me back to the sweetest moments,

Those that live as desire, not yet fulfilled.

I don’t see you.

My eyes search in the faces of the men passing by.

I watch their bodies move, and I remain unmoved.

But I have appetite…

Radiance Sutras Conclusion

Bhairava said,

Beloved power-permeated one,
When the elements of your being –
the creative mind,
the one who divides things up,
the identification with your limited self –

When all these dissolve into essence,
and are experienced as delightful
manifestations of the true Self,
then that Self is known.

Being established in even one
of these hundred and twelve practices,
you can know from inside
the one who permeates all.

You will have the power to say a word, and
it will be done, the power to bless and unbless.
The one who goes deeply into any of these,
becomes friends with the life-force itself.




The goddess then asked,

If this is the nature of the universal self,
then who is to be worshipped?
To whom do I offer oblations,
To whom do I sacrifice?
If everything is divine,
and consciousness merges with that divine essence,
then what happens to the distinction between worshipper and worshipped?

Bhairava replied,

Oh goddess, the practices you are speaking of
refer only to the externals.
When you enter into the great Self,
then all prayers go on inside you spontaneously
without ceasing.
In reality all songs of gratitude
and ecstatic lovemaking are resonating in
every particle of creation at every moment.
When you are established in mindfulness
you are listening, and you hear them.

Plunging without reservation
into the ocean of being is meditation.
No image, no thoughts, no prop.

Concentrating on the image of a god
with a body, eyes, and a mouth,
is not meditation.


Worship does not mean offering flowers.
It means offering your heart to the vast mystery
of the universe. It means to let your heart pulse with the life
of the universe, without thought and without reservation.
It means being so in love that you are
willing to dissolve and be recreated in every moment.

Being transformed by even one of these practices,
fullness of experience develops day by day.
One day the desire of the self for the great Self
is consummated. Come ready for that day!

To dissolve in the fire of the great void,
senses dissolve, mind dissolves,
the objects of sense dissolve,
even the void is dissolved -
that is worship.

Sacrifice is to let your sins be destroyed
by the vast power of the universe;
It is to live in radiant bliss,
having sacrificed your shame before infinity.


The real purification with water
is to bathe in the essence of eternity.
Stunning autonomy, radiant bliss,
invisible consciousness permeating you
always and in every direction.

The flowers, the candles, the honey
that are offered in worship are
made out of the same divine stuff as you.
Who then is worshipped?

As the breath flows in, and as it flows out,
it travels always the curving path of the goddess.

Breath flows in and out spontaneously of its own will,
thus all breathing beings continually worship the goddess.
Be conscious of this unconscious prayer,
for she is the most holy place of pilgrimage.

The breath flows out with the sound sa,
The breath flows in with the sound ha.
Thus thousands of times a day,
Everyone who breathes is adoring the goddess.

Know this, and be in great joy.
Listen to the ongoing prayer that is breath.
Life shall dance in you
a dance of ever-renewing delight.

Devi said,

Beloved Revealer,
I am suffused with satisfaction.
My questions have led to fullness.

You have sung to me of the ways of union
of the god and the goddess,
space and time, personal and impersonal,
energy and form, infinite and finite.
You have sung the song of being at home in the universe.

Having said that, the goddess,
radiant with delight, embraced her lover.
-excerpt from The Radiance Sutras by Lorin Roche

All fades, into the darkness...

If memories of me enter your mind in my absence, where does this take your thoughts?

When your eyes long to see me, where do they set their gaze?

When my voice escapes your ears, what else fills the silence?

When we are apart,

where do you put your mouth when you want to kiss me?

And your hands, where do they go when you want to touch me?

As your body longs for the warmth of mine pressed tightly against you, what else fills the chill that begins to set in?

I reach out,

and there is only void.

My fingers caress my mouth,

and no lover reciprocates my longing.

How can one forget the lines of the face traced upon one's soul?

Trace these beautiful lines for me,

intent to allow not one detail to escape.

Then softly brush your fingers upon your lips,

and as they feel the wetness of your mouth,

breathe me in,

deeply.

deeper.

My tongue will be awaiting,

the stirrings evoked.

My teeth, biting fingers,

want you deeper.

And i can feel you,

and i breathe you in,

I smell the heat that is my longing,

my love.

Your voice,

it comes to me now.

And i see you,

for a moment,

until,

all fades,

into the darkness...

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra

The Vijnana Bhairava Tantra is believed to date back to the second millennium B.C. , and in its earliest form, it was purely in the oral tradition, meaning that it was chanted and memorized.  As such, it is one of the earliest teachings on yoga and meditation.  The name, loosely translated, means “The terror and joy of realizing oneness with the Soul.” 

My favorite translation of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra is offered by Lorin Roche in his version entitled The Radiance Sutras.  In his preface to this edition he describes his topic:

A tantra is a manual of practices. This one is a book of meditation instructions, set as a conversation between lovers. The focus is on full body spirituality, being at home in the universe, and how to accept every breath, sensual experience, and emotion as a doorway into deep and intimate contact with the energies of life.

The text feels as though it was composed by a couple, a man and a woman who sang the verses to each other as they co-composed. They lived this teaching. The techniques that are described here occurred to them naturally, as an evolution of the questions they were asking of life, and their explorations of the body of love. As was the convention of the time, they frame the conversation as the Goddess and the God in them speaking. The conversation is about how to enter into the vibrant essence of the world with the dual balance of passion and detachment.

I love this teaching because it is offered in a language of love.  It is believed that the offering of deep knowledge cannot be effectively received without love; the trust of the student to receive the lesson and the love of the teacher to offer genuine instruction.  After all, isn't a true act of "making love" an act toward enlightenment?  Roche explains  the form:

The conversation begins with the Goddess asking, “Beloved, tell me, how do I enter more deeply into the reality of the universe?” In reply Bhairava describes one hundred and twelve techniques for awakening into reality through everyday life experience. Each of these is a way of attending to the rhythms, pulsations and sensuousness of the divine energy flowing through us always - and out of which we are made.

Through these techniques, we are alerted to the presence of the sacred that is always permeating our bodies. All of these methods involve savoring the incredible intensity underlying the most common experiences and they work by activating the senses, extending their range further into the inner and the outer world. The basic dynamics of life such as breathing, falling asleep, waking up, walking, loving, all of these are used as gateways into alignment and enlightenment.

Each meditation is a dive deeper into life, into the underlying reality of what life is. Balance is there at every step: the unshakable serenity of the depths is used as a foundation so that we can tolerate the electrifying vastness of the universe. We are invited to cross the threshold, walk through the guardians of the gateway, face the terrors and make our way into the immense and timeless depths that are always calling us.

When we open the doors of perception, take in this vast universe, fill ourselves with it and it's immensity, and then send it out again, we are truly becoming one with this vastness.  Herein lies intimacy, that powerfully alive feeling of grounded connectedness.

I would say that this is, in essence, the mission of the Gallery of the Senses. The Sensuist loves the intense stimulation of the senses, not out of a sort of indulgence or gluttony; rather, the Sensuist refuses to numb oneself, thus refusing to deprive oneself of the faculties which enable us to feel alive and connected with the vastness of this universe.  One of my favorite sutras as translated in the Radiance Sutras, directs in this way so beautifully:

Embrace each of your senses in turn,

Seeing as being touched by light.
Hearing as immersion in an ocean of sound.
Tasting as enlightening.
Smelling as knowing.
Touching as electrifying.

Then leave all these behind,
and be intimate with the unknowable.

Contact me to learn more about the Gallery of the Senses and my Sensuist Intimacy Coaching.  I can be reached at lcharpontier@gmail.com or 408.320.2954.  Or visit my website at www.galleryofthesenses.net

Where is the intimacy in the Akward Trap of Skewed Expectations?

It is not men in general that I take objection with.  On the contrary, I enjoy the intimacy of the connection of a man and a woman.  I do, however, object to the roles that our society is so adept at corralling us into.  “You are a man, you go over there with the other men.  And you, a woman, okay, you’re over there in that other direction.  Oh, and you’re an attractive woman, so you move on over there.”  So then we are expected to make a connection, reach intimacy with another, a man and a woman as we predominantly choose.  Yet how can I make a connection with him, when he is way over on the other side of the farm fenced up with all of the bulls?  And what if I do not want a bull?  Or if I do not want to commiserate with a cage full of cows?  How do I reach that other individual soul, which in an instant affected me, stripped of all superficial trappings? 

So I try hard, he and I try hard, but everything else is still there, all around us, also trying to shape us--chop us up into so many pieces that we no longer recognize our own self.  And then they want to mix these pieces of us up with others that they deem “our kind” until we are all one, lost in this grand mixture of broken pieces.

I still demand that we fight it, but I am only one against the many, fighting this battle alongside my partner in arms who is inclined to agree with me, but doesn’t quite fully understand.  But what are we to do when we must go out and interact in this other demanding world that never stops chattering, endlessly chatters, and chatters, and chatters this very same message?

So we tire, and we watch the very last threads of our connection disintegrate, and we secretly long to be severed while we play heartbroken.  And then it ends, and so foolish are we that in time we go right back and try to break out of the corral again, as if we have not learned that upon every attempt we shall eventually feel the sting of that whip upon our hides.
          The night he returned, the kiss was of the obligatory type—a sort of pressing of the lips together—a man and a woman engaged in a ritual that guided them as puppets through the motions already acted out by so many others long before them.  She always felt this way about those first few kisses, the first few touches.  It was almost painful the awkwardness of it all, for they were expected to reconnect in an instant to achieve intimacy with a stranger.  But how could she consider him a stranger?  Surely after seven years of living together, sharing the same bed, the same meals, the same friends, they could never again be strangers.  But in those few initial moments, they were.  Hadn’t they been living two very different, very separate lives the past month?  And their obligatory phone calls were strained, searching for something, wanting a connection of spirit in lieu of the presence of body.  There were exceptions, of course, when she feared for his life after hearing of the escalation of violence in the far away place to which he traveled.  There were even occasions when the brief phone calls brought heated yearnings for the physical connection of the two lovers.  But now, at this moment, he was a stranger.

          It would have been fine, but they could not break free of the expectations.  She would have liked to enjoy his strangeness, and approach him as the stranger for whom one has so much curiosity.  But he would never have that.  In the past it was fine that she had met him at the airport in her long coat which betrayed the lace and silk beneath when her stockinged leg remained uninterrupted by the line of a skirt.  But now, she should be too “mature” for such games, and besides, she was too tired anyway.  And so they remained, caught in this sort of awkward trap of skewed expectations.

-a work in progress by Lisa

Flow

This Saturday I attended the sixth annual Flow Show in San Francisco.  From their website:

Celebrating its sixth year in San Francisco, The Flow Show SF is an innovative showcase of object manipulation that will change your idea of movement. Sometimes known as “spinning”, this group of movement disciplines all share one common trait: the manipulation of a “prop” or object.  This year’s cast includes flow artists exploring artistic themes with poi, hoop, staff, buugeng, ball, and other props, all in the intimacy of a dance theater setting.  Combining elements of dance, circus, and theater, with mind-blowing dexterity, timing, and expression, this groundbreaking show will take you on a creative journey through flow.

As promised, it was an evening of "mind-blowing dexterity, timing, and expression."  As a hoop dancer, myself, I am particularly drawn to the hooping performances, of which there were fewer than I had hoped to see, but the other acts were engaging, indeed!  The energy was inspiring and invigorating, and I was most affected when an inanimate object became animated through the talent and love of the artist.

So why "flow?"  The coined term "flow" comes from Hungarian psychology professor, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.  He explains it as such"

Imagine that you are skiing down a slope and your full attention is focused on the movements of your body, the position of the skis, the air whistling past your face, and the snow-shrouded trees running by. There is no room in your awareness for conflicts or contradictions; you know that a distracting thought or emotion might get you buried face down in the snow. The run is so perfect that you want it to last forever. 

If skiing does not mean much to you, this complete immersion in an

experience could occur while you are singing in a choir, dancing, playing

bridge, or reading a good book. If you love your job, it could happen

during a complicated surgical operation or a close business deal. It may

occur in a social interaction, when talking with a good friend, or while

playing with a baby. Moments such as these provide flashes of intense

living against the dull background of everyday life.

These exceptional moments are what I have called "flow" experiences.

The metaphor of flow is one that many people have used to describe the

sense of effortless action they feel in moments that stand out as the best

in their lives. Athletes refer to it as "being in the zone," religious mystics

as being in "ecstasy," artists and musicians as "aesthetic rapture." 

It is the full involvement of flow, rather than happiness, that makes for

excellence in life. We can be happy experiencing the passive pleasure of

a rested body, warm sunshine, or the contentment of a serene

relationship, but this kind of happiness is dependent on favorable

external circumstances. The happiness that follows flow is of our own

making, and it leads to increasing complexity and growth in

consciousness.

 Visit http://wiki.idux.com/uploads/Main/FindingFlow.pdf for Csikszentmihalyi's full article.  

This concept of flow requires attention; specifically attention to the present moment, senses engaged.  This feeling of flow makes time stop while the delicious energy of what it is to live surges through one's body.  Stress, sadness, overwhelm melt away under the heat of this intensely alive state.  When I spin with my hoop, I go to another world, and somehow I understand so much.  You go there, too, when you engage in your experiences of flow.  But if you don't go there or don't often enough, I invite you to visit my website at www.galleryofthesenses.net, send me a note at lcharpontier@gmail.com or call me at 408.320.2954, and let's talk about bringing more flow to your life!

Beautiful Faces

 

Beautiful faces look up at me each morning when I awake.

Beautiful faces smile, giggle, chatter on relentlessly, offer besos, produce tears.

I have planted seeds in my garden.

I did not know I yearned to be surrounded by these beautiful faces.

I did not know my world was incomplete.

My seeds grew and this took my breath away.

I touched the profound.

I became another.

I became myself.

Beautiful faces came and washed away all that I was.

I once saw you in my reflection, but I didn’t know it yet.

And now my garden is filled with beauty.

I must tend to it, I must tend to it endlessly.

I give you water, remove the pests and weeds, I bring you sunshine.

Beautiful faces are my sunshine.

-I wrote this inspired by my lovely, lovely children.

Embodiment

In our age of massive industrial production, surreal consumption, euphoric communication and fictitious digital environments, we continue to live in our bodies in the same way that we inhabit our houses, because we have sadly forgotten that we do not live in our bodies but are ourselves embodied constitutions.  Embodiment is not a secondary experience; the human existence is fundamentally an embodied condition.  Today, our senses and bodies are objects of ceaseless commercial manipulation and exploitation.  Physical beauty, strength, youth and virility are adored in the realms of social values, advertising and entertainment.  In case we fail to possess ideal physical qualities, our bodies are turned against us as causes of deep disappointment and guilt.  With ever-accelerating frequency, all our senses are exploited by consumer manipulation, yet at the same time these very same senses continue to be undervalued as prerequisites of our existential condition or as educational objectives.  Intellectually, we may well have philosophically rejected the Cartesian duality of body and mind, but the separation continues to rule in cultural, educational and social practices...

Human conscious is an embodied consciousness and we are connected with the world through our senses.  Our hands and entire body possess embodied skills and wisdom.

-Juhani Pallasmaa from The Thinking Hand