No one likes a know-it-all. Most of us realize ther's no such thing
how could there be? The world is far too complicated for someone
to understand everything there is to know. So when you come across
a know-it-all, you smile to yourself as they ramble on because you
know better.
You understand that the quest for knowledge is a neverending one,
and youre okay with that. You have no desire to know everything, just
the next thing. You know what you don't know, you're confident enough
to admit it, and you're motivated to do something about it.
At Idiot's Guides, we, too, know what we don't know, and we make
it our business to find out. We find really smart people who are
experts in their fields and then we roll up our sleeves and get to work,
asking lots of questions and thinking long and hard about how best
to pass along their knowledge to you in the easiest, most accessible
way possible.
After all, that's our promise to make whatever you want to learn "As
Easy as It Gets." That means giving you a well organized design that
seamlessly and effortlessly guides you from page to page, topic to topic.
It means controlling the pace you're asked to absorb new information
not too much at once but just what you need to know right now. It
means giving you a clear progression from easy to more difficult. It
means giving you more instructional steps wherever necessary to really
explain the details. And it means giving you fewer words and more
illustrations wherever it's better to show rather than tell.
So here you are, at the start of something new. The next chapter in
your quest. It can be an intimidating place to be, but you've been here
before and so have we. Clear your mind and turn the page. By the end
of this book, you won't be a know-it-all, but your world will be a little
less complicated than it was before. And we'll be sure your journey is
as easy as it gets.
Warm Up with a Little Background
While the Kama Sutra has a reputation for being a book about sexual
positions, this ancient collection offers far more than that. With this guide,
you also learn numerous ways to add sexual excitement beyond the
sex itself to enrich the quality of your love life.
In this part, I discuss the history of the Kama Sutra, the mysterious
64 Arts, and the sensual terms you will find throughout this book.
The History, Philosophies, and Intentions of the Kama Sutra
The original Kama Sutra was a compilation of writings put together by Hindu scholar and monk Vatsyayana
as early as the second century c.e. It is considered by many to be the oldest traceable text dealing with the
arts of love and sexual attraction. This complex book, written in Sanskrit, is the only surviving account
of this period in Indian history and is often resourced by historians trying to understand how society
functioned during this era.
Much more than a guide to sexual pleasure, the Kama Sutra was mainly written as a way to educate men on
how to be successful leaders, as well as lovers, and to give women an insight into being better partners to
their men.
While much of the Kama Sutra may seem patriarchal, a great deal of focus is placed on a man's duty to
please the woman in his life and how failing to do so will lead to her finding pleasure elsewhere. The main
message of the Kama Sutra was that a successful union between men and women required both to be well-
educated in the arts of pleasure cerebral as well as physical.
The Four Pillars of Life
The need for Vatsyayana to create the text that would become the Kama Sutra was driven by the Hindu
belief that life contained four great aims or goals. Successfully pursuing three of these aims Dharma,
Antha, and Kama would lead to obtaining the ultimate goal of Moksha. These are highly complex concepts
that have several translations, depending on the resource material, but here are some general definitions for
an introductory understanding:
Kama refers to love, as well as the body and the senses. It encompasses romance, sex, emotional
relationships, intimac, and desire. It also supports the exploration of sensory pleasures.
Dharma refers to the many elements of spiritualit, including truth, religious practice, virtue, and
the moral code. This is the ethical pursuit of living a good and proper life.
Artha supports the desire for material possessions and property. The goal of earning an income,
becoming wealthy, and increasing one's standard of living by increasing the number of tangible
objects owned is all part of this aim.
Moksha is the successful combination of the three other aims that leads to liberation and rebirth
through the cycle of life and death.
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