Brian Hewlett, social scientist and edutainer

The last week has brought an incredible experience that has contributed greatly to my transformation and to affirming my understanding of true love and the tantric experience.

On the 27th of April, I witnessed a transmission/teaching by Guru Sri Kumaré at a Sound Garden Healing Workshop offered by my friend Darrell Hicks. After a wonderful guided meditation he led us through, I opened my eyes and, to my amazement, I had a distinct vision of Shiva in all his/her glory. Shiva is one of the most complex gods of India, embodying seemingly contradictory qualities as the destroyer and the restorer, the great ascetic and the symbol of sensuality, the benevolent herdsman of souls and the wrathful avenger. Shiva is also known as the Sacred Androgynous One who takes the form of Ardhanari, the apparent synthesis of male (animus) and female (anima).

Upon revealing this vision to Sri Kumaré he offered me a Puja ceremony that he has only offered two others who saw Shiva in him. He expressed that this was a special power of individuals to see the Gods in others and when Shiva is seen, it usually is associated with transcending form. This was extremely powerful to me since I have been constantly struggling with form and the balance of transcending it while honoring it in developing my understanding of love as a concept that transcends all form allowing us to express our true divine nature in anyway to anyone.

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During my silent fast the last few days, I did a quick read of a pamphlet book written by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The pamphlet reconfirmed my understanding of the relationship between me and the divine, known in the Sanskrit language as bhakti.

Bhakti Yoga is seen as the process of awakening that supreme or highest form of love. With the capacity to love being inherent to our human form, most, if not all, human beings are seeking the highest form of love they can achieve, which means they are, knowingly or unknowingly, engaged this form of yoga. Unfortunately, I have to agree with Swami Prabhupāda that many of us fall short of the goal of higher love due to the many pitfalls of seeing love as a physical or mental process.

According to the ancient Sanskrit teachings upon which Prabhupāda’s writings are based, the supreme highest form of love is devotion, which involves the lover, the beloved, and the loving relationship, all of which are eternal. In this understanding each individual soul is the lover, the beloved is the divine personality of the universe or GOD for some, and bhakti is the spiritual loving relationship between the two.

In reading this refresher, my thoughts brought me to the understanding that regardless of one’s belief in the eternal state of the individual soul that inhabits the being, one can surely utilize this understanding in executing their relationships and sexuality, by which I mean expressing their love physically with another.

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Welcome to BrianHewlett.com. One of the ethnographic topics we are concerned with here is also one of the most taboo and controversial topics in the U.S. and throughout much of the world. Sexuality denotes the behavior that is performed in relation to objectifying one’s sexual orientation and the labels assigned it by society relative to whether or not it is consistent with normative expectations. I also teach about about sexuality at one of the local community colleges. A friend of mine, known as Gigi, who was featured on a segment of HBO’s Real Sex Episode 32 as a part of a fire fetish troupe, visited the class to talk about sexuality as a part of relationships. Here is a bit of that guest lecture.

Tell me what you think about her disclosures by leaving a comment, sending me a tweet or leaving a message for me at Facebook or MySpace.

One of the major challenges President Obama’s Adminstration is trying to salvage a faltering U.S. economy. A major issue associated with that challenge is trying to overcome it while not trashing the country’s relationship with the capitalist model. Capitalism has been the cornerstone of the U.S. economy for at least since the time before World War I and many Americans go berzerk if any other type of economic model is suggested. Despite this uneasiness U.S. citizens have with change, the current situation warrants some type of alteration and the President himself has actually put out the call for the American people to come up with alternatives.

Much of the negative reaction that people have to alternatives to capitalism is based on the perception that any other model, will not allow individuals to dictate their own success in a free-market system. Unfortunately, this is a false perception that must be put to rest if another model is going to have a chance.

The key to individual success that people are concerned with is not based solely on individual production even in the capitalist system but in the opportunity provided by the market structure in which that individual is producing. In other words, I could produce all day long in a capitalist economy but if the economy does not give me the opportunity to trade what I produce, then I will not be successful.

The key to individual success is also not based on the fact that the system offers a free market in which individuals offer their products. A system where I am free to trade and others have freedom to trade with me means nothing if there is no benefit or incentive to trade and no value in what is being traded.

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Recently the life of golfing professional Tiger Woods has been under intense scrutiny by the media due to his confessed infidelity. Since he made the announcement that he would be taking a leave of absence from the game to work on being a better father and husband, a number of companies have also withdrawn their sponsorship. Although there is a level of sexual behavior that I personally find appropriate and a level that I personally find a inappropriate, the question that comes to mind is why is it such a big news story?

Unfortunately, the answer is clear. Although we have advanced in terms of freedom in many ways as a society, when it comes to sexuality and freedoms associated with sexual behavior, there is a still a significant level of socialized oppression. This is rather unfortunate considering the plethora of evidence, which suggests that we have digressed in this area in relation to our ancestors.

Civilizations of the Eastern World that we know to include peoples of Asia, the Pacific Islands, and those that inhabit the island nations of the Indian Ocean all have histories that embraced the sexuality of humanity as a healthy part of our connection with the planet and the cosmos. In these ancient societies, as in the indigenous societies of Africa and the Americas too, sexual behavior was seen as much more than a utility for procreation but as a path of ritual expression or an avenue to the divine nature as well.

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I met Erv, an established Resort Restaurant Manager by trade, through my friend Dylan a couple years ago and we have remained acquainted since then. In this interview, Erv offers some very interesting insight into the properties of utility and activation of spirituality. He mainly argues that “spirituality is about how you live your life and about what you do” rather than the journey to determine who you are as many others see it. He contends that spirituality is living the life and it doesn’t matter what it is that you do or how you embody life as a person. To him, spirituality is a “tool for solice” while simultaneously being a “con act for your beliefs,” which in other words is an activity that serves as a platform for your ideology.

I met Dylan several years ago while I was a Ph.D. student and he was studying to obtain his Bachelor’s Degree at the same institution. He has remained a good friend of mine as he has traveled to Mexico around the globe to teach English.

J.E.W. answered one of my Craigslist ads that offered a ride to Phoenix from Tucson. He was traveling across the country and I was lucky enough to have him agree to offer a few of his understandings relative to spirituality along the way.