🌹 Sexuality as Worship: Reclaiming the Body as Temple

By Christopher Shaw, LCSW-S CSAT-S RYT, Founder, Merkaba Temple & Merkaba Retreats, Co-Founder, ArcherShaw

Opening the Temple

Beloved ones… welcome home. Today we turn inward to honor one of the most sacred fires within us — the fire of life itself. This teaching is not about performance, perfection, or shame. It is about remembrance — about awakening to the truth that Spirit and body were never separate.

Let us open the temple, not somewhere out there, but right here — in our bodies.

“Beloved Source of Life, Breath of Creation, Fire of Love — We invite You to dwell fully in our bodies today. Sanctify our eyes, our touch, our desire, our union. May this temple be free of shame, distortion, and fear. May we remember You are already here, breathing in our very cells. Om Namah Shivaya. Om Guru Om.”

Feel this breath as the Beloved breathing you. This body, this heartbeat, this warmth — is the same life-force that moves galaxies. You are not separate from the Holy. You are Its expression.

The Invitation

The theme of this service — Sexuality as Worship — invites us into territory many avoid: the merging of spirit and flesh, devotion and desire.

For too long, religion told us that spirit and body were enemies. But Tantra whispers a different truth: the body is the path.

Kundalini — the sacred current — is not dirty or dangerous. She is the Goddess Herself. When we suppress Her, we suppress our power. When we honor Her, we awaken as living temples.

Take a deep breath and feel the ground beneath you. You are not a sinner. You are not broken. You are an instrument of divine energy learning to play its own song.

Affirmation: “My body is holy. My desire is sacred. My love is prayer.”

The Wound of Separation

From childhood, most of us absorbed two distorted stories about sexuality: that it is dirty and must be hidden, or that it is casual — without consequence or meaning.

Both stories disconnect us from our power and create separation between the body and Spirit. And when that separation grows wide enough, pain enters.

This is how the sacred fire becomes distorted — when the world forgets its holiness. Out of that forgetting arise the shadows we know too well: abuse, exploitation, objectification, pornography, performance, addiction, and numbness. So many hearts have been wounded by unawakened desire. So many bodies have been used instead of revered. So many souls have learned to associate pleasure with danger and love with control.

But beloveds, none of this is who you truly are. These are distortions, not definitions — symptoms of a world that has forgotten reverence.

The Bhairava Tantra reminds us: “Wherever the mind delights, there the heart may worship.”

When awareness returns to desire, healing begins. When presence fills the body again, innocence is restored. The goal is not to escape desire — it is to consecrate it.

Healing the Shame Body

When you think of your sexuality, what arises — shame, neutrality, or sacredness? Do you see your body as a problem, a tool, or a temple? What parts of your sensual self have you hidden for fear of rejection?

Take a breath. There is no judgment here — only awareness. Awareness is liberation.

Pastoral Acknowledgment: For Those Healing from Violation

Beloveds, before we go further, I want to speak to something sacred and tender.

For many, sexuality has not felt like worship. It has been confusing, painful, even traumatic. Some of us have known the weight of being touched without consent, of being used instead of loved, of mistaking attention for affection, or of carrying shame for something that was never our fault.

To those who have known abuse, assault, or exploitation: You did not cause it. You did not deserve it. And it did not take away your holiness.

Your body is still sacred. Your soul is still radiant. Your light is still whole.

Healing takes time, and it’s okay to take that time. You do not have to rush toward forgiveness or pleasure. The spiritual path is not about bypassing pain — it is walking with presence through it.

If you are in a season of healing, you are not alone. The Merkaba Tempe and the wider body of healers, counselors, and guides in this community exist to hold safe space for your journey.

“No wound can destroy what God made whole.” — Guru

Place your hand on your heart and whisper softly:“I am safe. I am sacred. I am home.”

And so we breathe, knowing that even what was once wounded can become holy again. The same energy that has been misused can be reclaimed as pure devotion.

The Body as Temple

If the soul is a flame, the body is its lamp. And if the body is temple, then sexuality is its inner sanctum —the holy of holies within the human form.

Guru Muktananda said: “When Kundalini awakens, the entire body becomes an instrument of worship.”

Every breath is mantra. Every pulse is God whispering, “I am here.”

But look at how the world has taught us to treat this temple: We starve it, numb it, criticize it, sell it, and compare it. We use it to chase validation rather than revelation. We touch without presence and scroll through strangers as if their bodies were disposable.

And yet… even through all this forgetfulness, the temple has not closed its doors. The Spirit still lives here, waiting for us to remember that this flesh is the very fabric of the stars.

Our task is to bring devotion into the flesh — to feel the sacred in sweat, in breath, in the tremble of aliveness. To reclaim this body not as an object, but as an oracle.

Reflection:

“How often do I pause to feel my body’s aliveness?”

“Do I touch with awareness or perform out of habit?”

“Where in my body am I ready to come home?”

Sexuality Transfigured

When sexuality is worship, everything changes. Union is no longer about validation or escape — it becomes a mirror of God’s own ecstasy.

We live in a culture that swipes and scrolls, chasing sensation but fearing intimacy. We confuse attention for affection, performance for presence. But sacred sexuality asks something radical of us: to slow down enough to feel.

Real-world sacred sexuality looks like consent that is clear, communication that is kind, and connection that is conscious. It looks like self-pleasure that begins with gratitude instead of guilt,and lovers who breathe before they touch.

“What was said to the rose that made it openwas said to me here in my chest.” — Rumi

Sacred sexuality is not about technique or performance — it is about presence. It is the shift from seeking pleasure to becoming pleasure embodied. When we touch this way, we are not just making love — we are making wholeness.

The Practice of Sacred Sexuality

Tantra is the art of remembering that everything is God, and therefore, everything can be worship. It is how we bring the sacred into our speech, our touch, our presence, and our relationships.

1. Intention — “May this be holy.” Before intimacy, pause and set intention: “May this be love. May this be healing. May this be sacred.”

2. Presence — “Stay with the breath.” Phones down. Eyes open. Breath in sync. Awareness is the pleasure.

3. Devotion — “Touch as prayer.” See the Beloved in the one before you. Whether it’s your partner or your own reflection, whisper silently: “I see you as sacred.”

4. Union — “Let pleasure open into stillness.” The goal is not release but remembrance — the merging of the finite and the infinite in one breath.

Sacred sexuality is not reserved for moments of passion; it is a way of life. It is the integration of heaven and earth within your own body — the remembering that you are the bridge.

Personal Witness

I share this not as a saint, but as a student.

There was a time I separated sexuality from Spirit — one hidden, the other holy. But the moment I began to see them as one, everything shifted.

In sacred union with my beloved, intimacy became devotion. Our bodies became instruments of prayer; our lovemaking became liturgy. It healed what religion and culture had divided.

And it’s not just for lovers — this realization belongs to all of us. Each time a man touches with tenderness instead of conquest, the old paradigm loses power. Each time a woman says “yes” from wholeness or “no” from sovereignty, the world heals. Each time a queer or trans being stands fully in their truth, Heaven expands to make room for more light.

When we touch with awareness, we don’t just make love — we make wholeness. And in that union, we remember: God was never far away. God was here all along, in the pulse of our own aliveness.

Living Sexuality as Worship

This teaching becomes real only when it enters our lives.

If you are single:

Honor your own body as altar. Treat solitude as sacred space. Self-love is not indulgence — it’s initiation.

If you are partnered:

Make intimacy a ceremony. Speak intention aloud. Touch as offering, not transaction.

If you are healing:

Go gently. Safety is sacred. The temple was never destroyed — it only needed the light turned back on.

If you are a leader:

Model embodied integrity. Let transparency be your tantra. Lead with wholeness.

For all of us — let’s reclaim sexuality as a force of creation, not consumption. Every act of love can become a hymn of gratitude.

When you wake tomorrow, whisper: “My body is a temple. My breath is worship.”

Carry that awareness into everything you do.

Invitation to Continue the Journey

If you’d like to explore this more deeply, take our reflection:✨ “What Archetype of Sacred Sexuality Are You?”at archershaw.guru/sacredsexquiz.

Discover which aspect of your divine nature is awakening — the Healer, the Explorer, the Devotee, or the Sovereign. Take it as a mirror of devotion, not a test — and let it guide your integration of love, presence, and power.

Closing Prayer

Beloved Flame of Creation, Infinite Presence moving through breath, body, and being — we thank You. Thank You for the remembrance that this flesh is not a sin to escape, but a sanctuary to inhabit. That our desire is not something to conquer, but a current of love returning home to its Source.

May every being remember that their body is holy, their pleasure innocent, and their heart vast enough to hold the universe.

May we walk in the world as living temples — touching with reverence, speaking with truth, creating with joy.

We bless the Mother, Shakti — radiant power of life. We bless the Father, Shiva — pure consciousness and peace. We bless the union of both within us — the eternal dance of love that never ends.

As we go forth, may our every breath be worship, our every step be prayer, our every act be remembrance.

Om Namah Shivaya.

Om Guru Om.

Om Shakti Om.

Amen. Aho. Ase. And so it is.