The Observable Unknown

Mailbag Episode 3: Eros and the Sacred Body
Host: Dr. Juan Carlos Rey
Date: October 19, 2025

Episode Overview

In this evocative mailbag episode, Dr. Juan Carlos Rey responds to a listener’s question exploring the profound intersection between erotic performance and spirituality. Drawing on philosophy, neuroscience, anthropology, and somatic practice, Dr. Rey looks at how desire and transcendence share underlying mechanisms, ultimately arguing that “the body itself may be the oldest form of theology.” The episode weaves science with mystic wisdom and artistic perception, demonstrating that the erotic and the sacred are intimately linked—mirrors of each other across history and within the self.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener Question and Framing of the Inquiry

• [00:02] Sophia M. from San Antonio asks:
  “How do erotic performance and spirituality intersect in your view of the observable unknown?”
• Dr. Rey frames mailbag episodes as a dialogic “field of inquiry” where curiosity meets both science and wonder.

2. Historical and Philosophical Perspectives on Eros and the Sacred

• Eros is described as “the oldest sacrament,” predating temples, rooted in the “recognition of one another” through the body.
  • Quote:
    “The erotic is not merely physical; it is epistemological. It teaches us how to feel truth before we can name it.”
    [00:59] – Dr. Rey
• Across traditions:
  • Plato’s Symposium: Eros as “the daimon mediating between mortal and divine… a metaphysical ladder.”
  • Bhagavad Gita: Krishna embodies “divine longing through love.”
  • Song of Songs: Hebrew mystics perceive God in “the cadence of a lover’s breath.”
• The sacred and the sensual are not opposites but mirrors, both requiring “surrender, presence, and a reverent annihilation of the self.”

3. Neuroscientific Correlates of Desire and Transcendence

• Drawing from affective neuroscience (Panksepp, 1998), desire and the “search for meaning” use overlapping neural circuits:
  • The “seeking” and “lust” systems both activate the mesolimbic reward pathway.
    • Quote:
      “To desire is to learn. To learn is to desire. The epistemology of eros is written directly into the mesolimbic reward pathway.”
      [04:07] – Dr. Rey
• Helen Fisher’s research (Rutgers, 2004): Romantic and spiritual ecstasy activate similar brain regions (VTA, nucleus accumbens).
• Monks in prayer and individuals experiencing orgasm show the same “quieting of the parietal lobes”—momentarily dissolving boundaries of self and other.

4. Performance as Embodied Mysticism

• Artistic and erotic performance is likened to ritual:
  • Performers “engage in controlled loss of self” within a “ritual container.”
  • Richard Schechner’s “restored behavior” theory: Performance re-enacts primal, transcendent states within consciousness.
  • Quote:
    “The stage, like the altar, is a ritual container where vulnerability becomes revelation.”
    [06:40] – Dr. Rey
• The performer becomes both “subject and symbol,” translating the ineffable through gesture.

5. Jungian and Somatic Dimensions of Eros

• Jung: Libido as psychic energy, eros as “a cosmic principle of relationship.”
  • To repress eros is to “fragment the psyche; to sublimate it… is to spiritualize matter.”
• Modern somatic research (van der Kolk, Levine):
  • Trauma and healing are embodied; pleasure and safe touch repattern neural expectations.
  • Erotic awareness facilitates neuroplastic recovery and “re-education of safety.”

6. Communal Ritual, Liminality, and Social Cohesion

• Anthropologically, ritual eroticism dissolves hierarchy, creating “communitas” (Victor Turner).
  • Dionysian rites and Tantric pujas, as well as contemporary festivals (Burning Man), foster “shared embodiment” and egalitarian unity.
  • Participants often report a merging of spiritual and sensual awareness.

7. Intentionality: The Sacred Moment

• The intersection of erotic performance and spirituality is found in “intentionality”—when mere sensation becomes sacred awareness.
  • Quote:
    “The moment the body knows it is being witnessed by the infinite, it transforms.”
    [10:28] – Dr. Rey
• Neurochemically, this is a state of “acetylcholine and gamma wave coherence”—the neural signature of creative flow and spiritual unity (fana in Sufism).

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “The sacred and the sensual are not opposites but mirrors.”
  [01:10] – Dr. Rey
• “When self-other boundaries dissolve, the nervous system speaks in the language of unity.”
  [05:15] – Dr. Rey
• “Sacred sensuality becomes neuroplastic recovery. A re-education of safety.”
  [08:02] – Dr. Rey
• “Spiritually, it is what the Sufis called fana: the annihilation of self in love. The performer and the mystic meet here, not in doctrine, but in frequency.”
  [11:38] – Dr. Rey
• “The observable unknown, then, is that the body itself may be the oldest form of theology. Its languages—touch, rhythm, breath, release—are the dialects through which matter remembers its divine origin.”
  [12:12] – Dr. Rey
• “Eros, rightly understood, is the study of how consciousness moves through flesh. It is not opposed to intellect—it is intellect embodied.”
  [12:45] – Dr. Rey
• “They are the same gesture viewed from opposite sides of the veil—one moves upward as devotion, the other downward as incarnation. Both say the same thing in different tongues: I am you.”
  [13:05] – Dr. Rey

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:02] – Listener mail and thematic introduction
• [00:59-03:00] – Historical and philosophical traditions of eros
• [03:00-05:30] – Neuroscientific parallels between desire and transcendence
• [06:00-08:30] – Performance theory, Jung, and somatic insight
• [08:30-09:45] – Healing power of erotic awareness
• [09:45-11:00] – Communal ritual and shared embodiment
• [11:00-13:05] – Integration, intentionality, and the ultimate unity of eros & the sacred

Takeaway

Dr. Juan Carlos Rey offers a compelling synthesis: Erotic performance and spirituality are twin expressions of humanity’s longing for unity—neurochemical, historical, and ineffable. They are mirrors, invitations to presence and wholeness, reminding us that the sacred is not elsewhere, but right here:

“The observable unknown, then, is that the body itself may be the oldest form of theology.” ★

For more listener questions or to contribute, Dr. Rey invites emails and texts at the provided addresses.