At least that was the general consensus at a recent social gathering. My female friends were all in agreement.
The professor thing was interesting enough, being a poet certainly added a touch of the romantic, but the Buddhist thing, well the Buddhist thing was just hot.
I was baffled. This way of life, this philosophy, this practice that had engaged my everyday living for fifteen-plus years, this was sexy? Sitting still for hours and simply breathing, trying to undermine attachment and craving, letting go of my expectations moment to moment to moment, this was…hot? It seemed odd that a religion that had inspired so many to take vows of celibacy was now being equated with sex. Some investigation was definitely called for.
“It’s just the lure of the exotic!” My Buddhist friends screamed after hearing this revelation.
“Only someone who doesn’t know anything about the practice could possibly think that,” said a female Buddhist who has never been able to stoke a sexual fire with a Buddhist male.
Yet, my spiritual colleagues valid objections aside, I think I have to agree with my more western-minded buddies, and not just because I like having another notch of sexy on my bedpost, no way. Buddhism, on further reflection, does make you sexy.
How so? By training you to appreciate the moment for what it is, it trains you to appreciate your lover for who he or she truly is. The Hollywood expectations and media yardsticks that infiltrate our sheets, Buddhism could purge those, in time. Those four other people – your mom and dad, your sweetheart’s mom and dad – that Sigmund Freud claimed symbolically turned your sex life orgiastic, Buddhism could send them packing, too.
Push all the mantras and scriptures and confusing Asian symbols aside, and Buddha’s message is simple. Life is happening here. Life is happening now. Wake up from your dreams of the past and the future. Stay here. Be in the now. Sexualize that and you get, “We are here. Our time is now. Stay with me here. Take me now!”So find a comfortable place to sit, remember to keep your spine straight, follow your breathing, or focus on your favorite word or phrase or prayer. Let go of past grievances and future expectations a little at a time. And when you develop some of that razor-sharp focus and an ability to commit completely to this very moment, unleash that on your lover.
Yeah, that’s hot.
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