The Dead-end Up Here

You must have heard the sexual escapades at many monasteries, churches, yogashram, temples, gurus, and more. You would think that spiritual process which in most cases refrains from all desires including lust of sex. In fact many call all desires lust and are the first post to control no matter which path you follow. Yet it defies us. I believe the reason is the same as for any habit. And that is repeated action programs our brain to want it more even if it is unsuitable or even incapable for the body. It is no longer a body need like nutrition, hydration and calories but an entirely mental program running the show.  To make the experience even more pleasurable, the mind is able to enhance the qualities of the object desired by adding quite unrealistic filters. A good example may be a well done steak on your dinner plate. You know you are about to eat a slightly branded piece of and animal which on the sidewalk or in a crematorium will disgust you. The mind filters such thoughts c...

We’ve all been there: staring at a screen or a fantasy that feels more vital than oxygen. It’s a "glamour," a veil that makes the mundane feel divine. In the East, they call it Maya . In the lab, we’re starting to call it Kisspeptin . ​If you want to understand why sexual text or imagery is more "effective" than a beach vacation or a high-end dessert, you need to meet the Kisspeptin Critter —the master switch of the human illusion. ​1. The "Raw Chicken" Problem ​If you look at human anatomy with the cold, detached eyes of a biologist (or a Zen monk), it’s not inherently "sexy." It’s wet, bumpy, translucent, and fleshy. Objectively, it has the textural qualities of raw poultry . ​Normally, your brain’s Insular Cortex (the disgust center) would see this and say, "Stay away." But when you are in the grip of a sexual driver, that response vanishes. ​2. The Kisspeptin Hack ​Enter Kisspeptin . Named after the Hershey’s Kiss by scientis...

In the world of " spiritual seeking ," we are often sold a map to a treasure. In Sankhya or Advaita Vedanta , that treasure is the Darshan (vision) of Purusha or Brahman . We are told to look for the Absolute, to realize our divinity, and to find the "Up" in the human experience. But from the perspective of neurochemistry , this pursuit is a biological absurdity. By telling a practitioner to "seek" the Absolute, these systems inadvertently trigger the very engine of suffering they claim to extinguish. 1. Cortisol : The Biological Proxy for Dukkha We often treat Dukkha (suffering or unsatisfactoriness) as a philosophical concept. In reality, it has a chemical signature: Cortisol. Cortisol is the "friction" of the nervous system. It is the evolutionary alarm bell that tells you the current moment is "not enough." This biological unease is the "prompt" that forces the mind to seek relief. In traditional seeking, this cortisol-...

For centuries, we’ve been told that Prakriti (Nature) is a dancer trying to enchant and entrap the silent spectator, Purusha (the Witness). We’re told the body is a "bag of skin," a series of chemical chains— Dopamine , Cortisol , Oxytocin —designed to keep us tethered to the floor of existence. ​But what if we flipped the script? What if the Witness isn't a victim of biology, but its Architect? ​The Architecture of " The Other " ​Pure Consciousness (Purusha) is, by definition, solitary. It is Sat-Chit-Ananda —Truth, Awareness, and a self-contained Bliss. But self-contained bliss lacks one thing: Relationship. To experience Love, the Witness needed a mirror. It needed "The Other." And so, it evolved Prakriti into the most sophisticated sensory technology in the known universe: the human nervous system . ​The "UI" of Human Emotion ​If the Witness built the body to experience connection, then our "distracting" neurochemistry isn...