In tantra, we often talk about duality…of oppositions in harmony, and the tension existing between the two, which can bring pleasure and passion. We talk of the tension of yin and yang. Male and Female. Giving and Receiving.
Let us peer at tantra in your own body, contrasting the inside and the outside. Have you ever pondered that edge of life?
Between the inside of you, and the outside of you, is something very concrete…your skin. Your skin is the largest sense organ in your body. It is what surrounds you, and what separates you from the outside world you perceive.
In spiritual development, this is one of the most important realizations…yourself, as a human being, in a body, on earth. It is also wise to realize that everyone else is also a human being, in a body, on Earth. Common spiritual beliefs speak to the body being animated by what we label “Life”. We all deserve a certain minimum, core-level of respect just for showing up here, in life.
I have spoken with Christians and with atheists. Some believe we host an eternal soul. Some don’t. Some believe in God. Some don’t. But everyone concurs that there is a spark that exists when we are alive, and that is gone when we are dead. The spark of life may or may not reincarnate with a personality. It may or may not receive judgment in an afterlife. It may or may not be anything more than a spark…but we can all agree that it exists. A spark of life exists.
From this, there is an extension into almost every religion and philosophy…that we are somehow brought to life through the spark, which many people attribute to facets and qualities like God…that God breathed life into the clay container of our body. We can agree that there is life and it is inside of us. People also call that spark the light.
When you are capable of focusing your attention on that light and stepping back to look at your body from an outside perspective, it is often referred to as “Higher Self” or “Higher View”…the witness…as if you are standing in a chair above yourself, looking down. This view permits you the gift of seeing yourself more objectively in the world.
There are volumes of practices regarding witness consciousness…even part Buddhism’s foundation. I only point this out, to give contrast and awareness surrounding duality…between the inside and the outside of your body. Between the two of them is your skin. And your skin is wonderful.
Your skin loves to be touched, and touches mine with love and kindness. It is inherently soft…our sense organ of pleasure and joy. We are designed in such a way that, between our inner world and our outer world, we are covered in a layer of pleasure receptors. For the most part, there exists a realm of good sensations. Our skin also alerts us to uncomfortable temperature changes, to moisture shifts, even to bad vibes and our own emotions. We “feel” with our skin, when it starts to crawl or tense, prickle or itch. When we make love, we touch each other in ways that feel like melting into one…as if in a luxurious bath or our mother’s womb. Sigmund Freud called is the “oceanic feeling”. Other spiritual teachers refer to it as “bliss” or “nirvana”. It is that which we all seek… a relaxed, flowing awareness and clarity in life. Feeling healthy, capable, strong, well. This, is as good as it gets.
This article is a celebration of the skin! How important it is, and how you may have taken it for granted. I hope to have assisted your further realization, that your skin is a key tool for exploring life, and for finding divine pleasure. Moreover it’s YOUR tool – you are covered in it – so enjoy your skin and be thankful for you skin.
May you be successful.
May you recognize and appreciate that this spacesuit of skin contains your awareness, your “spark of life”. May you celebrate the skin, the wrapper, the pleasure sensory organ.