Richard Rose’s Psychology of the Observer The Path to Reality Through the Self

174 Richard Rose’s Psychology of the Observer: The Path to Reality Through the Self
Chapter 11
Sexuality and the
Transmutation of Energy
The Psychology of Moral Sexuality
Rose strongly recommends celibacy as an essential aspect of the spiritual path, especially for
younger men. There are a number of reasons for this: the conservation and transmutation of energy,
the development of intuition, protection from psychic contamination, psychological honesty with
oneself, lessening of projection onto life, less susceptibility to the hypnosis of Nature, the redirection
of desire, the maintenance of one clear state-of-mind, freedom from the carnal ego, and to allow one
to walk through the jungle of maya in a state of innocence and Grace. This message is a difficult one
to accept and harder to heed. We have been so heavily programmed by a degenerate and spiritually
impoverished civilization in regards to our fundamental assumptions about sexuality that it requires
a radical shift in perspective to be able to confront one’s massive, deep-rooted errors about sex and a
courageous integrity to be willing to realign oneself with the truth.
The issue is not prudery vs. licentiousness. Sin and piety are on a lower level of spiritual
maturity. On the Fourth Way, there is only foolishness and the rejection of foolishness. As Rose
describes this posture of betweenness: “...greater still is he that is both pious and impious, and is
neither” (Rose, 1975, p. 68). The question for the seeker of truth is simply: What is the truth about sex?
What is sex for? What is life on Earth for? What is our role in the system of Nature? Is there an
objective standard of correct sexuality according to the laws of Nature and Spirit, totally irrespective
of social mores and personal desires (of suspect origin)? What actually occurs during sex? What are
its consequences or price? How does sexuality relate to spirituality?
Obviously, sex is a major concern in most people’s lives. It is frequently a source of problems,
as any practicing psychotherapist can attest. That the very mention of sex, in all its variety, so readily
prompts us to laugh, suggests the nervous discomfort underneath the “joy” that reveals our innate
awareness of something about our sexual nature being frightfully, tragically wrong. Through rigorous
analysis in looking for the common, underlying theme beneath all outer manifestations of suffering
and its compensations, it is seen that most problems for the human being, both individually and
collectively, can be directly or indirectly traced back to some violation of healthy, moral sexuality.
Some examples: