Taoist Secrets of Love: Cultivating Male Sexual Energy by Mantak Chia (with Michael Winn) was my first introduction to the wisdom of making love without striving for orgasm. This book made a big impression on me and I am very grateful to its authors. Chia, a neo-Taoist master, teaches men another way to manage their sexual energy, as well as the weakness in humanity's current habits. His book greatly expanded my understanding of my role as a lover, helping me to become a safer lover.

However, even before I stumbled upon the ancient account of Taoist lovemaking in the work ascribed to the famous Taoist sage, Lao Tzu, I realized that there was an inherent inconsistency in Chia’s teachings.

Carl Jung recounted the following story, told to him by Richard Wilhelm, who lived in China for many years:1

There was a great drought where Wilhelm lived; for months there had not been a drop of rain and the situation became catastrophic. The Catholics made processions, the Protestants made prayers, and the Chinese burned joss-sticks and shot off guns to frighten away the demons of the drought, but with no result.
Finally the Chinese said, 'We will fetch the rain-maker.' And from another province a dried up old man appeared. The only thing he asked for was a quiet little house somewhere, and there he locked himself in for three days.
On the fourth day the clouds gathered and there was a great snow-storm at the time of the year when no snow was expected, an unusual amount, and the town was so full of rumours about the wonderful rain-maker that Wilhelm went to ask the man how he did it.
In true European fashion he said: 'They call you the rain-maker; will you tell me how you made the snow?'
And the little Chinese said: 'I did not make the snow; I am not responsible.'
'But what have you done these three days?'
'Oh, I can explain that. I come from another country where things are in order. Here they are out of order; they are not as they should be by the ordinance of heaven. Therefore the whole country is not in Tao, and I also am not in the natural order of things because I am in a disordered country. So I had to wait three days until I was back in Tao and then naturally the rain came.'”

1. 1. p. 419-20 Mysterium Coniunctionis: an Inquiry into the Separation and Synthesis of Psychic Opposites in Alchemy, vol 14 Bollingen Series XX: The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, 2d edition, trans by R.F.C. Hull, Princeton University Press 1976

Daoist and Tantric Sexual Cultivation in the West

by Michael Winn

Sexual love can be one of the most powerful human experiences. Over the past two thousand years, certain Daoist and Tantric cultures sought to tap the power of sexuality to cultivate elevated spiritual states of awareness and achieve immortality. These practices appear to have originated in China and India and later spread to Tibet and elsewhere in Asia. Daoism and Tantrism are both experiential approaches to life, and share similar microcosmic-macrocosmic theories of the human body as an inner mirror of outer Nature. The body-centered cosmology of each has led to a spectrum of sexual practices that range from ritualized physical sexual intercourse to celibacy accompanied by conscious subtle-body love making. (Bokemkamp, 1997, 43; Wile 1992, 25, White, 2000, 15).

Over 2000 years ago, Daoist Master Laozi is said to have advised that a person's approach to sex is a sign of his level of spiritual evolution.1 For those who aspire to the higher realms of living, there is "angelic dual cultivation," which allows every portion of the body, mind and spirit to meet its yearning for the integration of yin and yang.

1. 1. Hua Hu Ching: Unknown Teachings of Lao Tzu , trans. Brian Walker, Harper SanFrancisco (1995), sections 63-70.

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]

Taoist Secrets of Love

by Mantak Chia[1]

Summary of the Principles of Taoist Cultivation of Sexual Energy

Excerpt:

3. Conservation of sexual energy is the first principle of cultivation. Ejaculation of the male seed for purposes other than having children is a wasteful loss of an extremely precious treasure. The energy loss over long periods of time weakens the physical health of the male, can lead to unconscious emotional anger towards women and gradually robs the male higher mind/spirit of its power to rejuvenate itself. For this reason many traditional spiritual orders in the world require male celibacy. Taoists accept sexual love as natural and healthy, but know the momentary pleasure of genital orgasm with ejaculation is superficial compared to the profound ecstasy possible when love is enjoyed without the loss of the powerful male seed. It's every man's birthright to have full control over his bodily functions and prevent this loss. The secret Taoist methods of sealing the penis in order to conserve "ching" are given in Chapters 5 thru 8.

Hua Hu Ching

by Lao Tzu[1]

Section 65

Although most people spend their entire lives following the biological impulse, it is only a tiny portion of our beings. If we remain obsessed with seeds and eggs, we are married to the fertile reproductive valley of the Mysterious Mother but not to her immeasurable heart and all-knowing mind.

"Seizing Immortality from the Jaws of Impermanence"

"Into the Realm of Bliss and Wholeness"