The 5 M, or the 5 poisons...
If ascetics forbid themselves the "5 poisons", it is above all so as not to lose their consciousness in a deep, "restorative" sleep that is nonetheless without consciousness...
For tantrics, nothing should be set aside, and everything must be used to reach Consciousness.
For example, the rituals transpose the sexual act into divine love in the stillness of breath, posture and fluids. Sexual union in the Pancatattva ritual (Kalivilâsa tantra, Pancha makara) involves the 5 forbidden things, or five M, that is, the use of:
- Matsya, fish,
- Mamsa, meat,
- Madya, wine or intoxicating drink,
- Mudrâ, dried grain, and
- Maithuna, the sexual act.
But tantrism should not be reduced to a merely sexual vision and to sexual debauchery, as our world all too often portrays it...