Tibetan Arts of Love: Sex, Orgasm, and Spiritual Healing

I am new to the study of eastern religions, and I enjoyed this book. About a third of it is devoted to a literal translation of a handbook on Vajrayan Buddhism which was published in the 1930s - pretty spicy stuff in those days, a veritable how-to list. But there is not much new in that part if you have read " The Joy of Sex" or any amount of other erotic literature. There are no pictures and if that is what you are interested in, you would do better by going to your local big-box bookstore. The strength of this book would seem to be in two areas. First, there is a detailed analysis by Jeffrey Hopkins, who evidently is a professor of Eastern Religions in London. Replete with footnotes. In a scholarly way, he re-interprets the imagery of the original author so that a modern reader would understand the references. Also, Hopkins has added a chapter 5 is titled "Sexual PLeasure and Spiritual Insight" and I thought it was the most illuminating section of the book. The chapter links the practice of yoga & meditation, the theory of spirituality, and the chakra system to the path of enlightenment, and also describes the nature of the link between sexuality in Tibetan Vajrayan ( also known as Tantric) practice with all these. I confess that maybe I should have known all this, and maybe there will be those who take it for granted....but it did not come together in a cohesive whole before this.

Everything you ever wanted to know... and more. Unflinching details, well written, and thorough. Somehow more accessible than the Kama Sutra.

we wonder if the feelings we have are too bounded & we learn that the tendency is -- yes -- we do restrict ourselves. something, aweful. & this text assures us that our inclinations to be children in bed, as well as in our hearts, is a key to the liberation & empowerment we seek & can find in a partner; like iron sharpening iron . . .