This is just a quick sidenote to something I witnessed on Friday night. I was watching Jay Leno interview Oprah Winfrey on the Friday night show, and they were talking about O Magazine. Jay was intrigued by an article in the latest issue on tantric sex, and wanted to know more from Oprah. This is not the time and place to get into what tantric sex is. That is for a different blog!
But what was fascinating to me, since we are coming to the end of our four week series on sex, was what both Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey were saying on this issue. For Oprah, tantric sex provides an opportunity for two people to connect spiritually through sexual intercourse. And she goes on to explain how in tantric sex, two people become one. And as she explained this, like someone who has a closely guarded, and secret information, the audience ooohh’d and aaahh’d because of this concept. Two people becoming one in the act of sexual union. That is not new.
We are taught from the very beginning of the Bible in Genesis 1-2, that when a man and woman come together in the sexual act, their two fleshes become one. It is something that God has ordained. This is not new. But to the rest of the world, this is some new and fascinating finding that will enlighten and bring more pleasure to their sexual experience.
The renowned French sociologist and theologian Jacques Ellul saw our modern fascination with sex as a breakdown in intimacy in society. That when there is a breakdown in intimacy, and it is severed from relationship, all there is, is technique. Hence the abundance of books and videos and manuals on sex. Oprah and Jay’s fascination with tantric sex is really an attempt to capture by technique, what only God has ordained. It is interesting that someone like Oprah has been dating the same guy for over 20 years, but has never entered into a marriage relationship. Maybe her fascination with this topic is her attempt to capture what she has been unable to experience in a committed, mongamous, marriage relationship.
I just find it fascinating when those in our culture believe they have found the way to something that has always been.
