"Taoist" Tales
Clarity of mind brought about by dependence upon what is right can transform the world and perfect it….When pressures mount, don’t become explosive. Instead, work quietly and diligently to alleviate them. At times of high energy, don’t throw yourself away in undisciplined euphoria. Work toward making the best use of the energy to enact new ideas and further your goals. When energies subside, use the time to rest and gather your strength instead of exhausting yourself with useless struggling. ...Synergetic interactions will provide ideas and inspirations, generate surplus energy for continued growth, and refine communications and perceptions. Hexagram 30, I Ching [trans. R.L. Wing]
This passage from the
I Ching, an ancient Chinese oracle, reveals the essence of Taoist wisdom on the subject of lovemaking. Make love, but do it carefully, without throwing yourself away in undisciplined euphoria. In so doing, you make the world a better place. This hexagram also highlights the value of synergy, of aligning yourself with another for the benefit of both.
I was therefore astonished by Chia and Abrams’ recent book
The Multi-Orgasmic Woman. Although it claims to be a Taoist handbook, it casually dismisses the concepts of careful lovemaking and synergy. Abrams assures her readers that the benefits of orgasm are so great that one should disregard the Taoist wisdom that orgasm causes feelings of depletion and relationship disharmony. Indeed, she asserts that female ejaculation gives women energy, and alleges, without solid evidence, that the Taoists recognized female ejaculate as one of the three waters that flow from women.
Abrams does admit that Taoist wisdom advised that orgasm should not be the focus of lovemaking. She also acknowledges that it is possible to benefit greatly from Taoist sexual practice by channeling one’s sexual energy without ever having an orgasm. However, she then dismisses such notions. "Orgasm," she improvises, "should not be the
only focus of lovemaking." Next she completely turns the purest Taoist wisdom on its head. Instead of addressing how one can move sexual energy through the body in lieu of conventional orgasm, she focuses on how "enhancing your sexual energy and being able to move that energy through the body is vital to
experiencing orgasm." [emphasis added] Most of her book, in fact, focuses on how to have more orgasms - of any and all types....
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