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This is Daka's Message: Why the New Curriculum of Mascul-IN-Touch℠?
Daka's Message:
Over the next couple of days I will be announcing and describing changes I am making to the Homoerotic Tantra℠:Mascul-IN-Touch℠ program and learning materials. The changes are based on recent experience and on what I have learned over the past couple of years about how homoerotic men learn, and about how I teach. It’s all positive and all beneficial.“Take the Best and Leave the Rest!”
I created that slogan to guide myself and also to serve as a reminder to my disciples. Like a Zen koan, it means much more than the sum of its parts, and will reveal its meaning in all three aspects of a man as well as in his personal and social life. I has also some application to the Homoerotic Tantra℠:Mascul-IN-Touch℠ program and to some seeker’s responses. Here’s why:
As far as the program is concerned, its former organization sent mixed messages to some seekers. First of all, they misinterpreted homoerotic to mean gay sex. Homoerotic is not gay sex. A second mistake made by the ignorant and misguided is their mistaken understanding of what Tantra (तन्त्र) is.
It is not sacred sex or some ignorant fantasy of some fake guru (गुरु) who thinks he can teach spirituality, provide workshops, organize tāntric love fests, and offer diplomas! It is none of that. It is a very unique and rewarding holistic approach to spirituality and to lifestyle. I’ve decided to reorganize the learning materials and the curriculum of Homoerotic Tantra℠:Mascul-IN-Touch℠ for other important reasons, which I will describe in another post.
This reorganization has been made necessary by the experience that some seekers accessed learning modules and teaching for which they were poorly prepared or totally unprepared. I accept the blame for some of their problems because I overlooked the fact that some seekers simply do not have order in their lives and cherry-pick whatever will provide them with immediate satisfaction of whatever mood or passion they are experiencing in a given moment. I overlooked my own experience that such subtle, esoteric, and powerful practices must be carefully administered, sometimes exercising great control over who has access to it.
Just relax. You're only becoming aware of your awareness.[/caption] Here’s an anecdote to illustrate this point: At least one seeker regularly following my writings and attempted to cope with the depth of the teaching but was not at a developmental stage where he could process concepts and symbols beyond the superficial and the literal meaning. He was desperately trying to digest things that his system just couldn’t handle and he was getting a real case of indigestion. I must give him credit, though, because he expressed his dyspepsia is some rather confused emails and comments, which signaled to me that intervention was going to be required. The problem was that if I attempted to guide him, he resisted; if I attempted to explain to him, he didn’t listen or understand; if I blocked him, I might cause him harm. What to do? I chose to reduce things to an almost infantile level, avoiding abstract concepts and even the most obvious symbols, and addressed things in very earthy terms.
He caught on. But he was still plagued by awareness, not realizing he was becoming aware of his true self, and that his ego was desperately fighting to survive the onslaught of awareness! I have tended to keep the more philosophical and psychological topics reserved for more advanced disicples. It’s a tough decision because some of the topics, like conventional theories of human development and stage theory are very important in understanding how a disciple progresses from a very early to a mature stage of spirituality. Here’s an example: I frequently use the tāntric terms vīra (वीर), kṣatriya (क्षत्रिय), and paśu (पशु) or puruṣapaśu (पुरुषपशु), the tāntric Hero, Warrior, and Animal-man, respectively, pretty frequently when I describe spiritual transformation. They are used as metaphors and are not to be understood literally, because they have very specific meanings as I use them in Homoerotic Tantra℠:Mascul-IN-Touch℠.
HOW DARE YOU...!
One seeker and an avid follower of Tantra (तन्त्र) responded to a particular post in a message characterized by all CAPs. He was shouting at me. “HOW DARE YOU CALL ME AN ANIMAL!!! YOU’RE THE F***ING ANIMAL!!!, and the insults went on until he was finished. I read the message for what it was and was going to respond with a parable but rethought that approach, because it may have backfired in his state of mind. I chose to go a different path, a diagnostic path. You see, he was miffed because he perceived he was being called an animal, and in his mind an animal is something very derogatory. That was a first problem. Animals are not inferiors. Even the Catholic saint, Francis of Assisi, referred to animals as “brothers” and “sisters,” and in fact he felt a sibling relationship to all of creation. My enraged seeker needed to understand that an animal is a very fine teacher of relationship, trust, innocence, love, and nearness to God.
The second point was that he identified himself with a very early stage in spiritual development and in spiritual intelligence. He was not processing the metaphor or realizing the symbolism of the term paśu (पशु) or puruṣapaśu (पुरुषपशु), meaning a man who is at the very early stages of intellectual and spiritual development, one who is driven by survival instincts and whose fundamental motivations are seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. He was above that level but nor very far.
The third and main point was that his response informing me of his reaction was very positive. Yes, I did write “positive.” You see, his response indicated to me that he was on the path to self-awareness. He did intuitively understand what I meant by paśu (पशु) or puruṣapaśu (पुरुषपशु) and was becoming aware that he had to identify with that description. This was very important because becoming aware and becoming aware that he was aware was a threat to status quo and to the ego, which came out kicking, cursing, and clawing, in its defense.
The awareness monkey
My task was to attempt to persuade him that his attempt at insult was in fact a statement of validation. His message and all of the insults was not actually his Self responding but his ego; his self was OK with the lesson and his mind was processing the meaning of paśu (पशु); he was becoming aware of certain of his traits that made up his personality and that they matched up will with what we refer to as animal-man. This was a positive development. Another positive development was the fact that his ego rejected what he was considering, and the ego decided to react, and did so in the only way it could: irrationally. His ego was being threatened by the fact that he was awakening and becoming aware, self-aware, and that awareness challenged the old self, which meant that the ego was in for a rough ride. The short and the long of this anecdote is that that seeker has become a devout and dedicated practitioner. It wasn’t easy but he had the right stuff. He is blessed and lives his joy.
These two anecdotes serve as examples of the mutuality of the dāka (दाक)/guru (गुरु) — śiṣya (शिष्य) relationship: both evolve, both teach, both learn but in different ways. I hope that this message serves you well.
It would be very helpful and generous if you were to leave a comment about your insights and thoughts inspired by today's text. Please use the Comment feature below to leave your comment/remarks for us to read and reflect on.
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः
॥ Oṃ śānti, śānti, śāntiḥ ||
Peace to you in body, heart-mind, and spirit!
Dāka Karuṇā T.
दाक करुणा
(William)
Of course, if you have any questions or need personal guidance, please contact me.
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