The Truth About Desire and The Erotic

I’m going to share with you the truth about desire and the erotic, because it's not what you've been taught it is.

There’s a lot of conflicting information out there about desire and eroticism, especially in the spiritual community. Anytime we have a contradiction in our belief system it keeps us locked in an internal battle that drains our energy and focus. Once you clear up your belief system and get to the root this conflict you instantly feel the shift. Sinking into more peace, feels freeing.

So let’s untangle this mess - that has been intentionally blurred for you.

First of all, who do you think benefits from you believing desire is wrong?

There are two theories.

(1) anything that is taboo we want it more, so we end up actually desiring more (drives consumerism) or (2) we stay small, satisfied with what we have and we’re most easily controlled by our fear, guilt and shame.

We’ve been taught that humans are either driven by one of two things.

Gaining material wealth OR evolving spiritually and being connected to God.

You’ve heard about Monks who give up earthly desires for the sake of enlightenment, because desire is at the root of all suffering. You’ve seen Priests go celibate. Every religion has this in some form and you were told this was aspirational if you wanted to be close to God. Shave your head and give up your dreams of material luxuries. Or in spirituality be happy with patchwork pants and living off just enough. People who make a lot of money are sell-outs.

It’s been positioned as this choice between one or the other - as if desire is either placed on the side of material wealth or on the side of spiritual enlightenment and you have to choose which team you’re on.

It’s a back forth. A feeling of guilt of for wanting more, when you’ve been told you should be okay with what you have.

But as we know - the universal Law of 3 means there is always a third perspective.

This perspective is hidden knowledge that has been taught in many esoteric schools. It’s the concept that there are 3 fundamental forces driving human existence. And what do we know about the law of 3? It’s always represented by the triangle, because a triangle holds the correct tension for balance.

We’re meant to balance these 3 forces or drives that create tension and dynamism in our lives.

Take out one and you have conflict. You are no longer in balance. You’re confused, between wanting, not wanting.

• Spiritual desire represents our yearning for transcendence, meaning, and connection to something greater than ourselves. This might manifest as religious devotion, mystical experiences, or the pursuit of higher consciousness. It pulls us "upward" toward union with divine or cosmic principles. In Hermetic philosophy, spiritual desire is represented by the principle of "ascension" or the upward movement toward divine unity.
• Material desire encompasses our earthly needs and wants - survival, comfort, wealth, status, and physical security. This force keeps us grounded in the physical world and ensures our continued existence within it. The Hermetic principle "as above, so below" suggests that the material world is a reflection of the divine. Material desire isn't inherently negative but becomes problematic when it becomes attachment or greed.
• Erotic desire extends beyond mere sexuality to include creative passion, life force energy (often called "libido" by Jung or similar to concepts like "kundalini" in Eastern traditions), and the drive for connection with others. It's a transformative power that bridges the material and spiritual realms. In Tantric traditions, this is represented by the kundalini energy that rises through the chakras, transforming consciousness as it moves upward.

Gurdjieff's Fourth Way teaching frames this as the "magnetic center" that draws us toward higher consciousness. It's what allows humans to resist the mechanical nature of everyday existence and seek self-development.

Erotic got mixed messaging with being associated with just sex, or kinks, but erotic energy is a creative, transformative force that extends far beyond just sexuality.

If the erotic is dead in other areas of your life < your sex life is probably also dead. 

We need desire in our lives.

Desire is waking up in the morning with excitement, it's life force energy that also means enjoying the pleasures of life.

We’re meant to want more. It’s the life force moving humanity forward. Imagine if Elon Musk was satisfied with Paypal money and retired. He’d be depressed sitting at home all day. His desires for more keep him young and full of life force energy.

It’s our soul’s desire to experience more.

You should always have something you’re moving towards. Once you hit it - you set the next one. 10x it.

The occult perspective suggests that these forces are not meant to be in conflict. When properly understood and integrated, material desire provides the necessary grounding, erotic desire provides the transformative energy, and spiritual desire provides the direction for personal evolution.

The "truth" about desire in this framework is that it's not something to be transcended or eliminated but rather understood as the dynamic tension that drives spiritual evolution. The goal is not to escape desire but to transform and integrate it into a harmonious whole.