"Why does yoga produce so many philanderers? And why do the resulting uproars leave so many people shocked and distraught?""

"One factor is ignorance," says William J. Broad in the NYT (via Instapundit):

Yoga teachers and how-to books seldom mention that the discipline began as a sex cult — an omission that leaves many practitioners open to libidinal surprise... Since the baby boomers discovered yoga, the arousal, sweating, heavy breathing and states of undress that characterize yoga classes have led to predictable results. In 1995, sex between students and teachers became so prevalent that the California Yoga Teachers Association deplored it as immoral and called for high standards.

Oh, the "ignorance"! And yet... it was "predictable." Hmm. Seems contradictory... and yet, this subtle combination of knowing and not knowing is typical of sexual things. And religious things.

Also in the article:

At Rutgers University, scientists are investigating how yoga and related practices can foster autoerotic bliss. It turns out that some individuals can think themselves into states of sexual ecstasy — a phenomenon known clinically as spontaneous orgasm and popularly as “thinking off.”

The Rutgers scientists use brain scanners to measure the levels of excitement in women and compare their responses with readings from manual stimulation of the genitals. The results demonstrate that both practices light up the brain in characteristic ways and produce significant rises in blood pressure, heart rate and tolerance for pain — what turns out to be a signature of orgasm.

This is the future of sex: The woman, completely inside her own head and the man, over there using a computer monitor to get a look at her private parts: