This newspaper’s Oct. 27 issue carried a front-page story about a recently opened exhibit in Paris of the classic Indian book “Kama Sutra,” which depicts different positions of sexual intercourse in full detail.
The exhibit runs until January 2015.
The book—attributed to a priest and member of the highest religious class, Vatsyayana—consists of seven parts; only one portion of it has become world famous due to the illustrated sex positions.
Visitors to the exhibit had varied reactions. Some were astonished by the very graphic illustrations of what actually is a natural and personal act.
Others stormed out in disgust and found the exhibit embarrassing and scandalous.
Such a daring exhibit could take place only in a country like France, where people are more open to and tolerant of amorous behavior. It could never be permitted in a conservatively Catholic country like the Philippines.
If we think about this subject of sex more objectively and unemotionally, we will not find the depiction or illustration of a perfectly natural human activity to be embarrassing, immoral or indecent. What could be more welcome and pleasurable to our senses than seeing a man and a woman making love?
Experiment
Yet, by some twisted form of logic, such a natural activity, when publicly shown, is considered repugnant and indecent.
We seem to have developed a perverted sense of values. We do not consider illustrations of people killing or shooting each other indecent or immoral, but we deem seeing a couple having sex morally reprehensible.
I have often thought of conducting an experiment to prove this point. If permitted, I want to place a big poster of a completely naked man and a woman having sex in a mall, where a lot of people can see it.
And next to it, I will put another big poster, that of two men shooting each other and blowing their brains out with powerful guns.
Which of these two posters would the public and the religious groups consider immoral and indecent, and demand its immediate removal? The answer is quite obvious, isn’t it?
Culture, not religion
It seems to me that how we regard sex is a matter of culture, and not necessarily of religion.
The reason I say this is because of what I have observed and witnessed in Poland, a country which is 90 percent Catholic, as compared to the Philippines, which is 80 percent Catholic.
I was walking on the sidewalk of a very busy and commercial street in Warsaw, accompanied by a very beautiful, blond 26-year-old woman who was working with the organization that invited me to give seminars in Poland. Suddenly, two big store signs on the other side of the street caught my attention.
In bold English words the signs read: “SEX SHOP.”
Surprised to see such a shop openly selling sex items, I asked my young lady companion, “Are those shops allowed to operate in your country?”
She looked at the signs on the other side of the street and replied, nonchalantly: “Yes, why?”
“Well,” I told her, “in the Philippines, that kind of shop will not be allowed to operate openly.”
Then she looked at me and asked, “Why not?”
I didn’t know how to answer that question, and felt embarrassed.
Contraceptives
I also found out that in Catholic Poland, contraceptives of every type are legal and openly sold to the public.
In Poznan, my male host was driving me in his car to go to the office. There were billboards along the way. I noticed one big billboard with photos of three bare-breasted women. I kept quiet so as not to appear stupid or ignorant again.
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I went to two famous beaches, the Copacabana and Ipanema, where one can see at any time of day and night beautiful Brazilian women wearing nothing but the very tiny “tanga” to cover their lower parts.
Some were playing volleyball and others sunbathing.
I have also seen similar scenes of nearly naked woman in the French Riviera in Southern France and also in Bali, Indonesia.
France, Brazil and Poland are Catholic countries. Indonesia is mainly a Muslim country. Both religions supposedly prohibit indecent exposure. But what is considered indecent and immoral in one country may be considered normal and natural in other countries.
It all depends then on the culture and attitude of the people. Unfortunately, we live in a country that considers the public display of private parts or sexual acts indecent and immoral. And nothing can change this in the next hundred years.
Incidentally, when I was in India, I bought at least six copies of the Kama Sutra and gave them to some female friends for their continuing education.
Now, I realize I should have given the books to my friends in the clergy for their enlightenment.
My next seminar on Basic ESP and Intuition Development runs on Nov. 29-30, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Topics include telepathy, remote viewing, psychic diagnosis, psychic reading, chakras, human aura, use of pendulum, psychometry and telekinesis.
Our seminar on Hypnosis, Healing and Joyful Living by Dan McKee, American spiritual seeker and teacher, is on Dec. 6-7, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Tel. nos. 8107245 or 0908-3537885; e-mail jaimetlicauco@yahoo.com.