This topic has been split from here.
In my experience, sex only disturbs the body and depletes Ojas when we reach orgasm. This being said, one can and even should actually have sex almost every day of the year, because if we withdraw from intercourse before reaching orgasm, we actually build a lot of Ojas regardless of the season (although perhaps we build more Ojas in Autumn and Winter; as the Gnostics say, IAO enters more into activity in Autumn).
According to Swami Sivananda, the orgasm anytime at all really jars the nerves, and in my own experience this true. It may seem like the orgasm releases tension (and according to Buddhism we do experience the Clear Light for a few brief seconds at the moment of orgasm) and it does, temporarily; however when the pendulum swings the other way, tension comes back with even more force leaving us with the choice of either continuing with orgasm in order to alleviate the tension that will keep coming back; or we can start to transmute our sexual energy without ever reaching orgasm, and in this way we can begin to alleviate sexual and physical tension for good through the Middle Way of sexuality, as opposed to the two extremes of fornication (orgasm) and repression (holding the sexual energy in but without transmuting it). By retaining Ojas via the Middle Way of sexuality, is is taught that we can experience the Clear Light permanently rather than for a few brief fleeting seconds during the orgasm.
Here are some views on Ojas from a Vedanta and Gnostic perspective:
http://sacred-sex.org/search.html?q=Ojas" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
When Tibetan medical treatises say that it's okay to have orgasms, they're obviously addressing lay-people and not Initiates; because in the Higher Tantras and such it written that we should never let out the sexual energy:
The Dalai Lama on Sexuality in the context of Tantra
And:
Although of course transmutation is not merely sex without orgasm. Our ability to effectively transmute the sexual energy and build Ojas is also very dependent on our Meditative abilities, related to Shamatha, Vipassana, Dhyana, Samadhi, etc.; and would also be enhanced by Yantra Yoga, Pranayama, Vase Breathing, Tsa-Lung, etc.[i]Sky Dancer[/i] by Keith Dowman wrote:"Joy is created by the ascent of the blended red and white bodhicittas up the medial nerve from the sexual centre through the gut, heart, throat and head centres in turn (although the most intense feeling of joy is in the gut and the least intense in the head). The rising bodhicitta is kundalini....
"Refined semen is stored in the heart centre as "radiance," which produces long-life and gives a shine to the complexion. Unrefined semen is excreted during sexual intercourse and is, of course, procreative seed. The refined semen in the heart centre permeates the body as Awareness; "heart centre" is here a metaphor for the all-pervasive sphere of essential being (dharmakaya). Loss of semen, by any means, causes the life-span to be shortened and causes a pallid complexion....Loss of semen is equated with killing a Buddha. Semen, seed-essence and bodhicitta are synonymous. After initiation, intensity of desire is essential to force the bodhicitta up the medial nerve; not only is desire vitiated by orgasm, but the will to enlightenment itself is temporarily lost...."
Interesting. Are mdangs and gdangs different?Namdrol wrote: The whole point of Ayurveda and Tibetan Medicine is to refine and purify ojas in the body for longevity etc. In Tibetan the term ojas is translated as "mdangs".
And how are they related to Thugs-rJe, gDangs, rGyan, Rolpa, and rTsal (Tsel or Tsal) in the context of Dzogchen? With Ngo-bo (Ngowo) and Rang-bZhin (Rangzhin) already in mind of course.
Sarva Mangalam