Sex and Motivation
Looking at the Chakras as a perspective as a static map of the human personality or being, you get one view. Viewed as a dynamic map of personal evolution, you get another. And viewed as a map of the SOCIAL body, it points toward the evolution of societies.
Map this over with Maslow's hierarchy and you'll see enough correspondence to fascinate. Map with comments from other cultures about the qualities of relative importance in life, and you see more.
Do this.
If the single most important and universal human/animal drive is survival (powerful enough that heroes who sacrifice life or champions who endure pain to achieve worthy goals are worthy of song and story) the second most powerful motivation is sex. Genetic survival. The most powerful jolt of pleasure most human beings can experience.
In the tenth chapter of THINK AND GROW RICH, Napoleon Hill describes the notorious "Mystery of Sex Transmutation." That chapter is often edited out, or highly edited. It had to have hit like a bombshell when originally published before 1930!
Basically, he makes a couple of claims:
That the men (mostly) that he studied had high sex drives
That their greatest work was often motivated by an urge to impress a woman.
That their greatest period of productivity came AFTER they learned to "channel" their sex drive into productivity.
"Sex transmutation is simple and easily explained. It means the switching of the mind from thoughts of physical expression, to thoughts of some other nature."--Napoleon Hill.
You can find hints about this in lots of cultures and disciplines. Some systems like "The Secret" seem to say that if you want something enough, the universe will bring it to you. If I were to take this seriously, I'd ask the next question: "when do you know you want something enough?"
And my answer would be: "when you get your ass off the couch and work for it." When you are willing to do Whatever It Takes to reach your goal. Yes, it would be wise to encorporate the Three Gates here. Obviously.
Here is one way, just one, that sex can be very useful. If holding your breath until your forebrain starts shutting down is a way to get in touch with your animal self. Fasting until "ordinary hunger" falls away and you feel the REAL hunger of your body starting to consider digesting its own tissues, remembering the last time you were SERIOUSLY horny can help you understand what real motivation is. As is considering the driving desire to achieve orgasm once the momentum is in play.
That hunger, drive, need…well, let's just say that champions and achievers feel that about their chosen discipline. They have "switched" a basic animal drive to a time-bound projection in the future. "If I do THIS I will have great joy in the future. It will outweigh the pain of discipline until that point."
Most people will do more to avoid pain than gain pleasure. Makes sense--one tiger will ruin your whole day, but there is always time tomorrow to watch a sunset.
By associating with the PAIN of asphyxiation or hunger, you can touch that Third Rail. But by associating with the PLEASURE of sex, and realizing that you already "understand" the level of motivation that driving need brings to the average person, you can simply compare the current motivation to accomplish goals to THAT.
When Arnold said that "the pump feels better than coming" and you know he was one of the great horn-dogs of the 20th century, does that not give you some insight into the level of pleasure he associated with working out? Can you see how that helps explain Champions in that discipline? If you can make the leap to artists, writers, inventors, entrepreneurs and the like…men and women of HIGH sex drive who would actually rather be painting, writing, inventing, or building their business?
To me, it suggests something about the nature of high accomplishment: SOMEHOW, you find the way to focus your attention on a thing until you have accomplished it. IMO, this is the closest to a quality of "genius" I can see in all achievers: they focus on one thing until they have it. ADHD types might well focus on multiple projects, for the sake of variety. But the number of projects must be finite, and their "executive function" has to operate sufficiently to get them to finish projects on time.
How many times have we heard that managers, agents, or spouses had to RIP a project out of a writer's hands, or force them to focus or finish, when said artist is getting lost in the "Flow"…or is suffering Writer's Block or the like, and need help getting through their fear and aversion.
As a very simple example, if you believed, and I mean BELIEVED that you were gonna have the best sex of your life if and when you finish and submit a story…that's enough motivation to overcome all but the greatest emotional obstacles.
By BOTH increasing motivation to avoid pain AND increasing your belief in the pleasure to come, even on a relatively mundane cost-benefit basis, you can see how powerful this is. And there is a vast, deep, profound ocean of knowledge.
Take this into animal terms: when you want to create the nest, and safety, to protect offspring more than you want to simply perform the reproductive act, you are touching ONE OF the "third rails" of high-level accomplishment.
Here's one of the things about understanding the different levels of the human being: each of the seven chakras can be examined on its own, and you can find ways to increase your energy in life by more fully associating with your drive for personal survival, genetic survival, tribal survival. By clarifying love and fear in your heart. By asking yourself what you can learn or teach. By connecting this action with your highest, ultimate goals in life or spirit.
When someone asks: "how do I motivate myself" I KNOW that they have very weak connections to these automatic drives. All you'd have to do to increase motivation is write out EXACTLY how doing this thing will enhance survival, decrease pain and increase pleasure, benefit family and tribe, and so on. CLARITY.
Some of your motivations are programmed genetically. Connect to THOSE. And start by asking: if you wanted to lose weight, or gain fitness, or increase income, as badly as you wanted to orgasm the last time you were really turned on…think it would be easier to get off the couch?
I'm guessing that for 99% of humans, the answer is a resounding "yes."
Namaste
Steve
