Tantra

1. Tantra: A Path to Unity Through Polarity and Sacred Sexuality

"Tantra is about merging. It is about uniting. It is about making love."

Tantra embraces duality. Unlike paths that seek immediate unity consciousness, Tantra acknowledges life as a play of opposites or polarities. It uses this polarity as a vehicle to attain oneness-realization, embracing everything from our most human individual experience to the highest level of interconnectedness.

Sacred sexuality is a key aspect. Tantra sees sexual energy as a powerful force for spiritual awakening. It teaches methods to sublimate this energy, raising it from the base chakras to higher centers of consciousness. This practice can lead to experiences of full-body bliss and even spiritual illumination.

Unity through love. The ultimate goal of Tantra is to unite apparent opposites into totality or oneness. This includes merging:

• Sexuality with spirituality
• Masculine with feminine
• Playfulness with depth
• Dark, shadowy parts with the light of conscious awareness
• Relaxation with stimulation
• Meditation with experience

2. The Heart as the Foundation of Tantric Practice

"An open heart is the essential requirement for union to occur and for this reason Tantra is often described as the 'path of love' or 'the way of the heart'."

Cultivate self-love. Tantra teaches that opening the heart begins with reawakening its sensitivity and practicing self-love. This isn't narcissistic self-adoration, but having compassion for one's own wounds and holding them in a space of love to support healing.

Heal through love. The Tantric path sees the heart as an alchemist that transforms pain into love. Practitioners are encouraged to face pain with an open heart, allowing for deep transformation. This applies not only to personal pain but also to the suffering in the world, dissolving the illusion of separation.

Practice heart-opening meditations. Regular heart-opening practices, such as Atisha's Heart Meditation, are essential in Tantra. These meditations help practitioners:

• Tune into their heart's deepest longings
• Transform pain into love
• Cultivate compassion for self and others
• Maintain an open heart during challenging experiences

3. Awakening and Channeling Sexual Energy

"Tantra acknowledges that sex is at the root of life and that to make human sexuality and erotic union a form of worship and meditation is to practise reverence for life."

Sexual energy is life-force energy. In Tantra, sexual energy is seen as the root of all creative energy. Awakening and channeling this energy is not just about feeling sexier, but about increasing overall vitality, creativity, and connection to nature and all of life.

Three keys to awakening sexual energy:

1. Sound: Using voice to release blocked energy and express sensations
2. Movement: Activating the pelvis and hips to allow energy flow
3. Breath: Using specific breathing techniques to move and direct energy

Sublimation is crucial. Tantra teaches methods to raise sexual energy up through the body, transforming it into higher states of consciousness. This process, known as sublimation, can lead to:

• Healing and transformation of negative emotions
• Full-body orgasmic experiences
• Spiritual experiences and elevated states of consciousness
• Alignment of sex, love, and spirit into wholeness

4. Full-Body Orgasm: The Gateway to Higher Consciousness

"Truly, at the peak of orgasm, we pierce through the illusion of fragmentation and separation, and glimpse the unity and interconnectedness of all beings."

Beyond physical pleasure. Tantric orgasm is not just about prolonged physical pleasure. It's a gateway to higher states of consciousness, offering a profound shift in perception and a deep sense of connection to all of existence.

Prerequisites for full-body orgasm:

1. Opening the heart
2. Purification and healing of sexual trauma and conditioning
3. Opening the energy centers (chakras) and channels in the body

The practice of self-pleasuring meditation. This is a key technique for developing full-body orgasm. It involves:

• Creating a sacred space
• Gentle touch and massage to awaken sexual energy
• Using breath to move energy up the spine
• Cultivating awareness and presence throughout the process

The goal is not immediate climax, but building and circulating energy throughout the body, leading to a state of full-body bliss and potentially, spiritual awakening.

5. Healing Sexual Conditioning and Trauma

"Tantra transforms your sexual conditioning back into your sexual nature."

Acknowledge conditioning. Tantra recognizes that most people carry sexual conditioning from societal, cultural, and religious influences. This conditioning often leads to guilt, shame, and disconnection from our natural sexual energy.

Healing through awareness and acceptance. Tantric healing involves:

• Bringing unconscious beliefs and patterns into conscious awareness
• Accepting and loving all parts of ourselves, including those we've judged or repressed
• Using practices like the Taoist "Inner Smile" meditation to bring softness and acceptance to our sexual energy

Reclaiming natural sexuality. The goal is to move from conditioned responses to a natural, relaxed, and open relationship with sexuality and sexual energy. This involves healing both obedient and rebellious responses to sexual conditioning, finding authentic expression.

6. The Five Elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether in Tantric Practice

"Tantra works with the energy of the five elements of nature. These correspond to the first five chakras."

Element correspondence to chakras:

1. Earth - Root chakra (muladhara)
2. Water - Sacral chakra (svadhisthana)
3. Fire - Solar plexus chakra (manipura)
4. Air - Heart chakra (anahata)
5. Ether - Throat chakra (vishuddha)

Balancing the elements. Tantra teaches that working with these elements can help balance and activate the corresponding chakras, leading to overall energetic harmony and spiritual growth.

Practices for each element:

• Earth: Grounding exercises, walking barefoot, working with soil
• Water: Swimming, bathing rituals, fluid movements
• Fire: Sun gazing, sitting by a fire, passionate dance
• Air: Breathwork, spending time in wind, light movements
• Ether: Star gazing, spending time in vast spaces, improvisational practices

7. Conscious Relationships: From Ego to Soul

"Relationships are laboratories of the spirit, or playgrounds for the ego. They can be heaven or they can be hell. They are infused with love or infused with fear."

Commit to love, not personalities. Tantric relationships are not about committing to each other's personalities or promising eternal happiness. They're about committing to love itself, using the relationship as a vehicle for spiritual growth and awakening.

Ego vs. Soul in relationships:

• Ego seeks to get; Soul seeks to give
• Ego blames; Soul takes responsibility
• Ego reacts; Soul responds
• Ego holds resentments; Soul forgives

Tools for conscious relating:

1. Set shared intentions for the relationship
2. Practice true listening and conscious communication
3. Use energy practices like wrestling or dance to discharge tension
4. Regular intimacy practices like "belly to belly" connection

8. Tantric Techniques: Breath, Sound, and Movement

"Tantra trusts in your body. Tantra trusts in your senses. Tantra trusts in your energy. Tantra trusts in you – in total. Tantra does not deny anything but transforms everything."

Breathwork is foundational. Tantra employs various breathing techniques to move energy, shift consciousness, and facilitate healing. These include:

• Pranayama: Slow, meditative breathing
• Dynamic breathwork: Intense, continuous breathing to release emotions and blocked energy

Sound as a healing force. Tantric practices often incorporate sound through:

• Chanting mantras
• Expressing emotions through vocal sounds
• Using sound to move energy in the body

Movement to awaken energy. Tantra recognizes the importance of physical movement in awakening and circulating energy. Key practices include:

• Dance, especially styles that engage the hips and pelvis
• Yoga asanas (postures)
• Spontaneous movement meditation (Tandava)

These techniques are used in combination to awaken, move, and sublimate sexual energy, leading to heightened states of consciousness and spiritual experiences.

9. The Art of Transfiguration: Seeing the Divine in Everything

"When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him, you will see yourself... for in him you will find yourself or lose yourself."

Beyond judgment. Transfiguration in Tantra means choosing to see the divine nature or true essence in everything and everyone, regardless of their current behavior or appearance. It's a practice of moving beyond judgment to unconditional love and acceptance.

A shift in perception. This practice involves:

• Consciously choosing to see the divine in others
• Using the eyes as a gateway to this perception
• Moving from critical assessment to open-hearted witnessing

Benefits of transfiguration:

• Deepens connections with others
• Dissolves separation and cultivates unity consciousness
• Serves as a constant reminder of one's own divine nature
• Facilitates healing and transformation in relationships

Regular practice of transfiguration can lead to a permanent state of seeing the divine in and through everything, which is considered a form of enlightenment in Tantra.

Last updated: August 9, 2024