Ep119: Sex and Enlightenment - Shinzen Young, Chelsey Fasano, Dr Jay Sanguinetti

Oct 29, 2021

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In this episode we consider the effect of meditation practice and classical enlightenment on sexuality, as we continue the ongoing conversation between:   - Shinzen Young, meditation teacher and neuroscience research consultant  - Chelsey Fasano, a Columbia University neuroscience student  - Dr Jay Sanguinetti, Assistant Director for the Center for Consciousness Studies and Research Professor at the University of New Mexico We recall Leigh Brasington’s statements in episode 115 that many of his students experience states of meditative absorption as erotic in nature, and we consider Chelsey’s observation that Leigh’s brain scans in these absorption states resemble images of the brain during orgasm. I contrast early Buddhist scriptural statements which state that it is impossible for enlightened people to have sexual intercourse with later, highly sexual accounts of enlightened masters such as ‘The Saint of 5000 Women’, Drukpa Kunley, and Rinzai saint and erotic poet Ikkyū Sōjun, and pose the question, ‘What does the data say?’. In the face of this apparent disagreement within the wisdom traditions about the effect of realisation on sexuality, what trends have the panel observed in the sexuality of their meditation students, and in their ultra-sound subjects, and what might that tell us about the real world consequences of deep meditation practice and/or brain stimulation aimed at classical enlightenment. … Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/ep119-sex-and-enlightenment-shinzen-young-chelsey-fasano-dr-jay-sanguinetti/   Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.  … Topics include:   00:00 - Intro 01:29 - Jhana and orgasm 04:31 - Buddha vs Durkpa Kunley 11:07 - Shinzen on the sutras 15:12 - Who was Drukpa Kunley? 17:13 - Ikkyu and Zen 18:52 - Are arhats impotent? 22:37 - Jay on relationship to drives 24:33 - Screwing up on the job 26:43 - Different practices, different results? 31:12 - Being enlightened vs acting enlightened 36:07 - The single most important factor 39:22 - What is integration? 44:47 - Ethical guidelines vs commandments 50:53 - What does the data say? 56:33 - Neuroscience interventions in sexuality 01:01:58 - A logical conundrum 01:03:08 - Shinzen’s experience from the field 01:06:23 - Can any human being be free of sin? 01:08:13 - Benchmarks vs complete liberation as an end point 01:10:58 - What does it mean to be a certified a teacher 01:13:36 - Jay analyses the logic 01:16:25 - Chelsey’s dimensional analysis 01:18:53 - A job for applied category theory 01:24:00 - Shinzen’s advice to mathematicians and category theorists 01:26:30 - Aversion and the system 01:28:39 - Compassion cascading 01:32:57 - Complex systems … Previous episodes in this series: - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlkzlKFgdknxjhwG5wmXRVfrkeGczVPVI  … To find out more about Shinzen, visit: - https://www.guruviking.com/ep37-shinzen-young-pandemic-edition-guru-viking-podcast/ - www.shinzen.org To find out more about Chelsey, visit: - www.chelseyfasano.com To find our more about Dr Sanguinetti, visit: - https://www.guruviking.com/ep102-dr-jay-sanguinetti-cults-science-the-dalai-lama/ - https://www.jaysanguinetti.com/ For more interviews, videos, and more visit: - www.guruviking.com Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James