JUSTINPATRICKPIERCE

By Justin Patrick Pierce Originally published October 2020 · Updated February 2026 "The making conscious of repressed sexual desires in analysis makes it possible to obtain a mastery over them. It can be said that analysis sets the neurotic free from the chains of his sexuality." — Sigmund Freud This is the final article in a five-part series on the traditions that have shaped Western sacred sexuality. In the first four, I covered Taoist Sexual Kung Fu , Hindu Tantric Shaivis

In the first three articles of this series, I covered the Eastern traditions that have shaped Western sacred sexuality — Taoist Sexual Kung Fu, Hindu Tantric Shaivism, and Tantric Buddhism. Those traditions are ancient, rooted in centuries of lineage and scripture, and each addresses a fundamental problem of human existence — whether it's the draining of vital force, the cycle of samsara, or the suffering of dukkha.

In the first article in this series, I explored how esoteric Taoism approached sacred sexuality through the conservation and transformation of sexual energy. In the second, I covered how Hindu Tantric Shaivism took it further — insisting that the body, the senses, and desire are not obstacles to the divine but gateways to it. Now we arrive at the third major influence on Western sacred sexuality: Tantric Buddhism.

By Justin Patrick Pierce Originally published October 2020 · Updated February 2026 "This path, of incomparable depth and subtlety, has nothing to do with the product that the West has commercialized under the name Tantra. It is a path whereby a person evolves through sensorality and consciousness. It stands in opposition to both the hedonistic sexual quest and the ascetic spiritual quest because it reunites the totality of the person." — Daniel Odier, Desire: The Tantric Path

“The Taoist Sexual Kung Fu was and is today a method of increasing longevity and health, harmonizing the relationship between the sexes..."