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From: nagasiva@yronwode.com (nagasiva)
Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick.tantra
Subject: DHughes: Origin of SM (Was Re: Where Does S&M Come From?)
Date: 21 Dec 1995 13:18:09 -0800
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[from alt.magick.sex: davidh@atl.mindspring.com (David B. Hughes)]

Where does S&M come from? Well, that’s a very interesting question,
one I have devoted the majority of my lifetime and energy to
investigating. Certainly the popular idea that S&M originated with the
Marquis de Sade is completely bogus. Actually S&M is much, much older
than that, not to mention much more useful and profound if approached
with the proper understanding.

When I was in the Orient I studied, among other things, Iron Shirt Chi
Kung. Most martial arts students do not know the actual history or
origin of the famous Shaolin Monastery teachings. But the Shaolin Chi 
Kung teachings are the basis of Kung Fu, Tai Chi and strongly
influenced the development of Jujitsu, Karate and even Zen. Nor are
many people aware of the S&M-related secret side of these teachings.

The Secret Heaven Iron Shirt Chi Kung lineage, of which I am a Master
Teacher, is based on the manuscripts of Da Mo or Bodhidharma, the
original Chi Kung teacher at the Shaolin Temple. These manuscripts
were properly translated into English by a genuine Chi Kung initiate
for the first time only in 1986, and so are not yet well known. They
contain, among other things, directions for using bondage, 
stretching of the body and the regular use of various instruments, up
to and including swords and wire whips, to stimulate the body along
the acupuncture meridians. This technique was used along with 
special exercises, massage, herbs, acupuncture and breathing
techniques to produce military men of enormous strength and will. 

Secret Heaven Iron Shirt Chi Kung applies traditional Chi Kung
exercises, bodywork and S&M-like techniques combined with powerful
subtle energy meditations to provide radiant health, physical 
invulnerability, peace of mind and ultimate spiritual enlightenment. I
believe it was largely because of such training that China remained
unconquered throughout the European colonial period.

However, Chi Kung did not originate in China. Chi Kung was brought to
China by the monk Bodhidharma, who learned it in childhood when he was
a prince in South India. The Indian royalty were taught special
military techniques of a magical nature (secret Raja- or Tantra-yoga),
based on subtle erotic energy and using many boys and/or concubines in
elaborate erotic rituals. Many of these techniques and rituals are
excellently described in the Kama Sutra and classical Vedic poetry on
the pastimes of Krsna and other Indian gods and goddesses. 

I had a rare opportunity to live in an Indian Tantric community for
many years and study these techniques first-hand. The concept behind
Tantric magic is that we all have a certain amount of godlike creative
energy. This creative energy can be awakened and directed by one who
knows special techniques. Tantric techniques include, among many
others, creative fantasy, erotic visualization, fantasy enactment,
prolonged erotic stimulation and the exploration of intense
sensations.

The Indian princes used elaborate and prolonged erotic rituals, often
including bondage in yoga positions with specially trained
priestesses, to awaken the Kundalini or third-eye energy coiled at the
base of the spine. This Yoga-bandhana technique was kept as a military
secret for centuries since India, like China, had its own special
breed of warriors and methods of training. However, recently a few of
these techniques have been released to a broader audience, and some
innovative hatha-yoga teachers have begun using suspension 
devices and other mechanical aids. That’s a start, I suppose.

The ultimate attainment of Tantra is to create one’s own universe and
enjoy it eternally as a God or Goddess. In the process of this
attainment, one gets to experience many parallel universes, and learns
the arts of interdimensional consciousness translation, world-creation
and world-maintenance. Lots of fun!

There are still other sources of S&M techniques in ancient spiritual
cultures. The Qidoshka SunDance teaching is a Native American
mystical-erotic tradition of travel to alternate worlds and dimensions
very 
similar to Tantra. SunDance uses intensive techniques of ritual erotic
stimulation, physical pain and trials of endurance to take people
beyond their limits and empower them to experience the spiritual
world. Many people are familiar with images of the SunDance from the
movie "A Man Named Horse." What most people don’t know is that in the
SunDance tradition, the supplicant would envision his or her personal
ordeal in a sweat lodge before the ceremony, then enact the vision in
the SunDance. The main feature of the SunDance is hanging from
piercings, some of which may go quite deep into the skin or even the
muscle. Contrary to popular belief, only rarely are the piercings
actually pulled out during the SunDance, which may last from 6 to 48
hours. And before and after the SunDance, the erotic Qidoshka rituals
are performed to raise the performers’ pain threshold. Qidoshka is
almost exactly similar to Vedic Tantra, combining elements of
prolonged Kama Sutra-like sex of various orientations with 
extreme forms of S&M. 

Contemporary SunDancers combine elements from many native traditions,
or revealed in ecstatic visions, to create their own unique personal
rituals. Rainbow Tribe SunDance rituals may eclectically combine
drumming, sweat lodges, dancing, piercing, cutting and branding of the
body along with spiritual, erotic and fetish activities of one’s own
choosing. 

I have studied S&M-related practices by living for extended periods of
time under the direction of spiritual teachers of high attainment in
traditional spiritual cultures all over the world. As a result I am
convinced of their historical authenticity, lasting value and
importance. And as I continue learning from each new experience, I
find the power and depth of these practices increases. 

During the 1960s I performed extensive research into subtle energies,
including Reichian Orgone techniques and the power of musical
vibrations. Later I studied Chi Kung and martial arts with traditional

Chinese teachers in Guam, Taiwan, Hong Kong and California. I was
inducted into the Secret Heaven Chi Kung Society and teaching in Guam
in 1991.

I married a 36-year-old Navaho shaman woman when I was 20. She trained
me in the Qidoshka erotic teachings and the SunDance practices and
tradition during long camping trips and Indian dance festivals in the
New Mexico desert. I also have studied Tantra seriously since 1962. I
earned the titles of Fakir, Swami and many others during several long
journeys to India, traveling extensively and receiving teachings from
many ancient Vedic and Buddhist Tantric lineages. 

I read Latin, ancient Greek and Sanskrit, am expert in Indian music,
and play many exotic instruments. I am a very successful multimedia
artist for a project-management consulting firm in Atlanta, and am
currently working on the first multimedia opera to be written
expressly for virtual reality. It combines eastern and western musical
styles, and portrays the wonderful erotic pastimes of the spiritual
world more vividly than they have ever been revealed before. 

I have enjoyed erotic S&M play as a lifestyle since adolescence. I
discovered the joys of bondage, suspension, piercing and electricity
quite independently during my teens. Later I was delighted to find 
that others shared my tastes. All my relationships have had an S&M
side and a spiritual side to them. However, I have not yet discovered
an individual talented enough to absorb, or even adequately 
comprehend, the entire body of knowledge and techniques I have
learned. 

My special contribution to the world is revealing the ancient cultural
origins of S&M techniques and the esoteric connections between S&M and
various traditional spiritual paths. I welcome sincere inquiries 
from S&M practitioners and students of world spirituality. I offer all
the knowledge and techniques I have learned in a lifetime of
challenging fieldwork all over the world, to anyone who is courageous
and intelligent enough to really want to learn them. There is no
charge. 

My principal condition to passing on this knowledge is that a student
must make a personal commitment of a significant length of time, as I
had to do in order to be accepted by my teachers. I pass on everything
I was taught plus the benefits of my experience and interdisciplinary
integration. Students who meet my somewhat strict and admittedly
old-fashioned requirements will, however, be in a position to receive
some very valuable training and life experience. 

I am working with senior members of the leather community here in
Atlanta to create an academy situation where all these topics can be
properly presented to the public. There is a tremendous need for
competent, responsible instruction in S&M practices. We have a very
large, complete playroom facility at our disposal with fully-equipped
areas for every major fetish. My students will get lots of dungeon 
time! They will also be in a position to become fully-qualified
instructors themselves. We also have access to large public venues
where demonstrations of S&M and other erotic practices are a regular
thing.

This post is not a wet-dream net-fantasy. Everything I’ve written
herein is absolutely true. I am 100% real and ethical. UB2. I do not
have time to waste answering the idle questions of curiosity seekers
or penetrating the misdirection of game players. Therefore anyone who
wishes to get an answer to a personal question via email or seriously
look into studying Iron Shirt Chi Kung, Tantra or SunDance with me
must first establish their sincerity by addressing the following
questions to my satisfaction. All others will be ignored. After all,
someone who isn’t sincere, motivated and self-aware enough to answer a
few simple questions honestly can’t really expect to succeed at
learning anything as complex and subtle as Chi Kung, advanced S&M or
Tantra.

- What is your real name? (Note: Prospective students should expect to
provide a working, verifiable phone number fairly soon in the
relationship. This is not so important for questions, but would help 
to establish your credibility.)

- What is your main goal in life? How do you intend to achieve it?

- What is your biggest life problem? How do you intend to solve it?

- Are you in a relationship? If yes, does your relationship adequately
meet your emotional, sexual and spiritual needs? Why or why not?

- What is your idea of happiness, and what would it take to make you
happy?

- Please briefly describe your experience with advanced alternative
erotic practices. 

- Please briefly describe your spiritual orientation and realization.

And now, what was that question...? You’ll probably find, if you
answered the questions above totally honestly, that the answer is
revealed there already. If so, great. If not, go ahead and email me
and we’ll sort it out together. 

Love to All,
David Hughes