BROTHERHOOD OF MAN

There is a natural feeling of brotherhood between men. Authentic commitment and love can exist between men without any need for sexual contact. Tantra tells of the need for feelings of brotherhood, as such feelings help men to share their problems and shared experiences lead to understanding. 

Nothing binds men more effectively than shared participation in dynamic, fiery types of activity. In the past, men hunted, worked, and made war together and many brotherhoods were created as part of these activities. Nowadays there is a decreasing emphasis on physical activity, though men still participate in aggressive sports and cooperate in business activities. However, it seems that there are fewer opportunities for a man to externalize or transform sexual energy on a physical level.

Freud's term libido refers to emotional cravings that prompt any specific human (and especially sexual) activity. The libido is the sex drive, the "fire coursing through the blood." Throughout history it has had the power to bind men. When the potent fire of Kundalini-energy is  untransmuted, it is externalized as aggression. Sex and aggression often manifest themselves in the formation of brotherhoods between men. Many primitive people use sexual bonds between men to establish commitment and reinforce reliability. This is done through rites of initiation, sometimes centered around group or selective homosexual activity. Among the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, for example, initiation rites revolve around masturbation of a single selected male who is held in great honor. Circumcision rites of some African tribes are closely linked to concepts of brotherhood.

The result of strenuous physical exertion is always watery; perspiration pours from all parts of the body. Love-making also produces watery secretions. The symbolism of fire and water permeates occult traditions and is an integral part of rites of initiation leading to the establishment of brotherhoods. Even war has the potential for the exchange of fire and water: fiery aggression creates sweat, blood, and, often enough, tears. Wars often evolve from the need to express aggression externally. When the libido of men is high and is not channeled through transcendental sex practices, men create excuses to go to war. Emotional cravings have to be expressed; they cannot be bottled up forever. In the past, many brotherhoods were formed around shared participation in battle, the real causes of which were often forgotten. Islam is one of the more recent cultures that revolves around the desire to externalize sexual energy. The brotherhood of Islam lost track of the original emotional, mystic craving of its principal prophet, Muhammad. Over the course of history its women came to bear the burden. Though the brotherhood created by Islam transformed the face of the globe, it is still unable to recognize the sexual basis of its own phenomenon. Islam can only cease to be a religion of force and evolve into a truly transcendental experience if it breaks away from its long-established custom of relegating women to a subservient role.

Tantric brotherhood implies shared beliefs and shared emotional longings. The desire to be liberated from the endless round of births and deaths, to be freed from suffering and the fear of death, is the germinal requirement for true Tantric brotherhood in this Dark Age of materialism. Shared participation in Hatha Yoga, Tantric meditation, and ritual can lay the ground for a Tantric brotherhood, working as an all-powerful transformative energy in the New Age.

"There is a brotherhood of Tantrics waiting to be brought to life. This brotherhood will awaken as the end of the Kali Age approaches. Recognizing the potent Female Principle of life, the Brotherhood of Tantra will transform this polluted world. Then at the ecstatic moment when one Age transforms into the next, those faithful followers of the selfless path will reach their goal."

- KAULA TANTRA