I. VAMA MARGA Foundations Of The Left-Hand Path - staticfly.net

the universe. Diverting the physiological and spiritual life-force which is
usually expended in procreation or momentary sexual relief into prolonged
rapture is the method through which the mayin of the left-hand path effects
this god-like ability to change the seemingly unchangeable. Key to this fluid
interaction between the mind of the perceiver and that which is perceived is
an understanding of endless, cyclical time that transcends the limits of the
straight line into which mundane consciousness is locked. But the magically
charged orgasm is only one of the left-hand path techniques of opening the
door to this time outside of time in which maya can be most potently
modified.
The outside observer watching a rite of traditional left-hand path
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magic would see almost nothing to indicate the all-important internal
process of maya-alteration taking place. To be sure, the sexual union that
this theoretical voyeur would witness is carried out with far more
deliberation than the ordinary satiation of lust. The chanting of unintelligible
mantras by the sexual partners would clearly not be the usual expression of
endearments associated with sex. The systematic breathing (pranayama)
engaged in throughout the rite would not be the uncontrolled panting of the
normal couple hurtling toward orgasm. But what could not be observed is
one of the key factors of Vama Marga sorcery: the disciplined mastery of
the human image-creating function generated by the feminine maya-stuff of
mind.
Maya, imagery and magic – these three interconnected words come
together during the activation of sexual sorcery. Left-hand path magicians
perform the divine deed of recreating the world according to will through
mental image alteration empowered by enhanced sexual bliss. To call this
process "visualization" is to trivialize the absolute realism that is attained, an
inner realism which is then reflected in the outer mirror of maya. We will
return to the development and application of this integral Vama Marga
technique in Chapter Nine. For now, it suffices to say that left-hand path
magic is based on the theory that the seemingly ethereal and subjective
electrical impulses of thought brought about during heightened sexual
ecstasy form an energy that can take on mass in the objective universe.
In defiance of the religious edict that only the Gods have the right
to change the universe They created, the left-hand path magician takes on
the role of co-creator. Although only great discipline can train the bodymind
to effect magical change through the application of Eros, the sex
magician never gets very far from the idea of divine play, the lila through
which Shiva/Shakti's endless copulation creates and destroys the world of
appearances. The grim, austere magic practiced by many initiatory groups is
quite foreign to this idea. Even Kali, the most terrifying of the deities
revered by left-hand path adepts, is often portrayed in the throes of wild
laughter, as if she is infinitely amused by the cosmos. The darkest
manifestations of the Kali Yuga are only the forms of her ecstatic game of
lila, a consciousness the magician can attain in the joy of the sexual rite.
The force of controlled orgasm during the maithuna rite of sexual
union may also be used to temporarily release the subtle body from its
physical sheath, allowing the adept's consciousness a deliberate "out-of-body
experience." The subtle, or etheric, body is described as leaving the physical
body from an aperture at the crown of the skull known as the brahmarudhra,
"the gateway of Brahma". This cranial passage is sometimes thought to be
related to the opening in a newborn's skull which closes in the first three
years of life, known colloquially as the "soft spot." This notion is not unique
to left-hand path magical practice; the Sikhs also consider this area to be a
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conduit to the spiritual realm, just as the Middle Eastern custom of covering
the head in places of prayer derives from an ancient idea that demonic forces