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..."

Its origins can be traced back as far as 8,000 years ago in ancient China, says Taoist Master Mantak Chia (Taoist Secrets of Love, 1984). Its origins pre-date Taoism by a long shot (c. 500 BCE). But the Taoist Masters were the ones who sought to preserve the teachings and shepherd the sacred sexual practice of Sexual Kung Fu into the 21st century. The teachings still exist today, and make up a large part of what is often mistakenly labelled as "tantra" in the West.