Yoga and Sex Scandals: No Surprise Here
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: February 27, 2012

Now here's an excellent article that simply points out the roots of yoga in the Tantric tradition, one we might indeed look upon as a 'sex cult.' A tradition that got a bit white washed through the ages, so that the roots of the Hatha based yoga we all do is politely skirted.

Well, let's face it. At least to an extent, and of course there's more to it, but religion and spirituality is about sexual ecstasy. Take for instance the candles you see of the Virgin of Guadalupe, proof of a living god, the image imposed as it were on a beautiful pink vagina accented by green lips and golden labia, a crowned clitoris, and even maybe, if you're into that sort of thing, a little anus below. I'm sorry, I know this is a ribald interpretation. But, with all this talk of virginity (which then leads us off on tangents about reproductive right do's and don'ts), it's kind of the same thing as what Congressman Dale Bumpers said to the defense of Bill Clinton, alluding to a saying of Menken's, "if they say it's not about the money, guess what, it's about the money," as a houseful of Republicans rose and preached, "this is not about the sex." The holy holy holy talk is, well, about sex, great and glorious. Just as the energy released, or gotten in touch with, in yoga poses, has a strong sexual element. And so it may come as no surprise when scholars, like Robert Graves and Alan Watts, can trace elements of Christianity back to earthy goddess worship.

Implicit in its energy, this basic element, perhaps it is no wonder the vast sex scandal in a Church, like the Catholic Church, on the one hand preaching healthy 'spirituality,' on the other practicing some weird denial as priests must be celibate to serve their flock (out of some apparent precedent Jesus is supposed to have set, an issue instantly complicated by property rights and probably many other things, not that I am any expert.) And so, quite horribly, there are many innocent victims because of the great hypocrisy.

Of course one could go on, exploring the spiritual practices and images. And on the other, one could temperately rise to the defense and reaffirm the wholesomeness of the healthy institutions a church supports like healthy matrimony. (Now Jesus himself, who preached amongst despised tax collectors, sinners and prostitutes, as if he were like the modern day bartender, strikes one as a guy pretty realistic about human nature.) The world will continue to practice yoga and benefit from it in many ways.