Vital Life Force — also called Vital Force, Vital Energy, or Vital Life Energy — is a notion in the theory of Vitalism that involves the idea that some kind of universal “force” or “energy” drives, rules, and/or creates all life forms (and all inanimate phenomena).
eBook | Click for details
Many traditional philosophical, religious, and healing systems embrace Vital Life Force as a core concept, and aim at promoting the free flow of Life Energy through the body, which is considered of primary importance to attain or keep one’s physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health.
In view of the above, think, for instance, of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Yoga, Thai Traditional Medicine, Tantra, and Taoism. In these systems Life Energy or Life Force often has specific names, such as Qi (Chi), Prana, or Lom Pran.
Nevertheless, you often also find references to other types of important energies, notably Sexual Energy, which in Tantra is called Kundalini Energy or Shakti Energy and in Taoism called Jing Energy, which, depending on the context in which they are used, are considered equally important for our health as Vital Life Energy.
In fact, it’s sometimes confusing and difficult to understand how Life Force Energy relates to Sexual Energy. Yet, it’s actually rather straightforward; in the simplest explanation one could say that Life Force Energy equals Sexual Energy. That is, it’s Creative Energy, energy that gives and sustains life.
It’s easy to see that sexuality and life are two closely related phenomena. Without sexuality, having sex, and procreation there would be no life, and without life no sexuality, that is, they depend on one another. One of the core characteristics and drives of life is that it reproduces; life wants to live and life sustains life.
eBook | Click for details
Sexual Energy could thus be seen as a specific form of Vital Life Force. We could also say — a transformation or aspect of Vital Force, a specialized type of energy, just as we have Physical Energy or Mental Energy.
When we consume Life Force — from the food we eat, the air we breath, through barefoot contact with the Earth, or through sunlight that penetrates the skin — it gets transformed and distributed in our bodies and receives special qualities depending on where and how it’s needed in our system. In the Tantric traditions it’s thought that this happens through the Chakras and Nadi Energy Channels, and in Taoism it’s said that the Dantian and Energy Meridians play a crucial role in energy transformation and distribution in our bodies.
It’s interesting to note here that the concept of Libido (sex drive) — which became well-known through the works of the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud — was extended by the psychotherapist Wilhelm Reich to become Vital Life Force, which he called Orgone Energy. In Reich’s later theories and work, he didn’t make a difference between Sexual Energy (Libido) and Life Force, that is, to him Sexual Energy was equal to Life Energy.
Nevertheless, Sexual Energy is often considered the most powerful expression or form of Life Force Energy, one that has “dense, physical qualities” and which is already given to us by birth. In several traditional systems this more physical Sexual Energy is thought to be stored in the genitals or in genital fluids, such as in the ovaries or in semen.
eBook | Click for details
In any case, it’s thought to be concentrated somewhere in the lower pelvic region, corresponding for instance with the idea of “dormant Kundalini Energy” in the Root Chakra, or Jing Energy stored in the kidneys and in semen according to the concepts formulated in the Taoist Sexual Practices. In Western concepts that revolve around Libido (sex drive), we can obviously see that Sexual Energy gets “awakened” through sexual arousal — notably involving the erogenous zones — and then starts to “circulate” through the body.
On a physical level, aroused Sexual Energy in people can lead to an orgasm and ejaculation, and can result in joining or union of the sexual fluids (or essence) of a man and woman (sperm and egg cells), which can then result in the creation of new life. Hence, Sexual Energy is Creative Energy is Life Force Energy.
Nevertheless, it’s also thought that people can transform Sexual Energy to another form of energy — Spiritual Energy — instead of being expulsed physically to create a new physical life form. In fact, by circulating and keeping Sexual Energy in the body it’s said that it can become Spiritual Energy, which gives us means for another type of union — a spiritual union — one that is often equated with spiritual awakening, spiritual enlightenment, personal or spiritual growth, or even “creating a new life within ourselves.”
eBook | Click for details
The above is clearly found in the Tantric idea of Kundalini Energy that rises from the Root Chakra to the Crown Chakra and the final Divine Union of Shiva and Shakti. In Taoism, it’s represented as transformation of Jing Energy into Qi Energy into Shen Energy, and circulating that energy through the Dantian Energy centers.
An important idea here is that the during the physical rise of energy through our body it transforms when passing certain energy centers (Chakras or Dantian), and when that energy reaches the crown of our body it subsequently again descends in our body to nourish it entirely with resulting Divine Spiritual Energy.
In addition, both in the West and in the East, it’s thought that blocked, suppressed or repressed Sexual Energy (or Libido, if you wish) leads to neuroses, to physical, emotional and mental illness and sadness, and the inability to live life to one’s full creative potential. Hence, attaining health is often focused on liberating our stuck Sexual Energy (or Life Force Energy) to let it flow freely (circulate) through our bodies.
