What is the energy behind sex?

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Acharya Prashant: The fundamental energy of sex is man himself, mind himself. There is the source, the core, then there is the ‘I’ tendency and then there are the various forms that the ‘I’ tendency takes. Whatever be the form that the ‘I’ tendency takes, the form is utilized for the fundamental purpose of the ‘I’ tendency.

The ‘I’, the Ego has just one purpose — to satiate itself, to come to a completion. The ‘I’ is like a burning mass. It’s a thirsty unit. It wants to somehow quench itself. That is one thing. Second thing is, the ‘I’ knows only one way of satiating itself, that is through association with objects. The ego tendency, the ‘I’ believes that the route to fulfillment passes through the world, through objects.

So, it keeps on getting associated with one object after the other to get fulfilled. The objects keep varying, the tendency does not vary. The objects keep varying, the intention of the Ego does not vary. The intention is the same. The intention is to gain total fulfillment through the object. The intention is to use the object as a means to come to the ultimate, to come to a closure.

That which you see, appearing as sex after a particular age, and till a particular age, is nothing but the fundamental drive of the Ego expressing itself. The human being, the Ego is very closely associated with the body. When the child is small, the chief concern of the body is just nourishment and security. So, the body seeks the mother. And when the body is seeking the mother, the ‘I’ tendency attached to the body — which is actually the real seeker, is just trying to gain total fulfillment through the mother. The hope is not answered. The hope that the mother will prove to be the one who brings total contentment proves futile.

Intimacy with the mother brings deep joy to the kid but only for a while. The kid also discovers that intimacy is not unconditional. The kid discovers that the mother may sometimes ignore him, or another baby may come and the affection may get a little divided. The kid also discovers that the relationship really does not have a perfect understanding. There is still distance. There is still confusion, conflict. Even if of a small magnitude, yet it is still there.