The Spirit of Western Tantra

The approximate Sanskrit definition of "Tantra" is "web" or that union of oppositesthat, when united, become one with everything in the universe. So Tantric practice aimsto unify the many and often apparently contradictory aspects of the self into aharmonious whole (e.g. masculine and feminine, spirit and matter, dark and light).

Many people who experience deep ecstatic sexual states liken these to transcendentalspiritual experiences. They discover that the distinction between what is carnal and whatis spiritual may not be as clear as they were taught. They may even feel that they havecome to know God, or ultimate reality, through sex. Tantra and the Kama Sutra bothview sexuality as vital aspects of the path to enlightenment.

The Roots of Ancient Tantric PracticesTantra’s roots go back many thousands of years and originally developed in India.Tantric practices were at their height between 500 to 1300 AD. It was and is today a living system that is designed to promote rapid growth towards enlightenment in the individual. The spiritual, sexual and personal transformation components of Tantra included yoga, meditation, deity worship, whole-body health, and Ayurvedic medicine. In India, both in ancient and modern times, if you were lucky enough to have a guru, that guru deemed you either worthy or not ready to study sexual Tantra. To be worthy required a certain type of person who was able to worship the deities and their partner as though they were a goddess or god. Elaborate rituals were designed to transform the act of making love to a higher purpose.

What is most experiential in life is also most spiritual. In other words, when you allow yourself to be deeply moved by an experience—feeling it in your body, letting go of the ego’s need to control things—then you are having what mystics have called a spiritual experience. Handling a powerful spiritual experience well requires an individual to have some personal growth encounters.

Personal growth is an individual experience. Though most of us won’t seek out a guru, practicing even the simplest of the Tantric techniques can bring a sense of greater communion with your partner, your sexual nature, and, ultimately, with your soul. We become expansive because our spirit opens up when we engage in more trusting sexual practices that involve communication, the spirit of playfulness, and being open to discovery.

Most of us must teach ourselves the basics of love and sexuality through some form of trial and error process. Over time, and especially in long term relationships, we tend to stop exploring and being inventive. When we can break out of those old patterns and learn new ways of being -- physically, spiritually, and emotionally -- we expand and open. In a sense, we transcend who we thought we were.

Today in the West, there has been a renewal of interest in Tantric practices. Perhaps because our society is "maturing," perhaps because of a widespread awakening of consciousness, we seem to be gravitating in these times towards the lessons in conscious intimacy that Tantra has to offer. In addition, we are more aware than ever about the value of education. Most of us know very little about our own bodies and our potential for pleasure. In this "Information Age," we are attracted to information and knowledge.

Important Components of Classical Tantra In essence Tantric sex is a spiritual practice – like meditation or yoga. It was not aimed at self-indulgence or pleasure as an end in itself. Tantra uses sexuality, with all of its rawness, social stigma, fear, vulnerability and ignorance to crack open the ego so that we can be present with our lover, and ultimately, with our self.

The spiritual seeking that many Westerners are involved in fits well with the practices that Tantra offers. The modern seeker may find that many of the components of ancient Tantric practices integrate well with our daily lives. In fact, the experiences one has practicing Tantra can be seen as a metaphor for other aspects of one’s life and can give one "tools" for being more present and aware in general.

"Begin to do some kind of growth work on yourself every day, i.e., yoga, meditation, journal writing, bodywork, men’s or women’s groups. There are many options. The key is to begin working trough your emotional blocks. Explore forgiveness and unconditional love (for yourself as well as others) as a realistic choice in your life". David and Ellen Ramsdale from Sexual Energy Ecstasy

Yoga Tantra is called the sexual yoga. Yoga is another term associated with practices that help to unify apparent opposites. The practice of hatha yoga, for example, tones not only the muscles, it massages and keeps healthy the vital internal organs in our bodies, as well. It harmonizes the body and the mind by connecting conscious breathing with focusing the mind. When doing yoga, you are actually performing an active meditation. You are focusing your energy on certain internal, as well as external, points. You bring much more awareness to the body and mind with yoga.

Risk The role of the guru in classical Tantra was one of guide and pusher of edges. The guru knew you and your limitations in your life. He or she set a path for the student that would lead them ultimately to stretch and grow in ways that the individual might not attempt on their own.

The beauty of Tantra is that it is a partnered path of learning. In a sense, your partner is your guru. To trust another with your personal growth is the ultimate act of surrender. Surrender is where breakthroughs happen. If two people can do that for each other, taking conscious risks that gently stretch the limits of their comfort zones, they can realize great growth—both individually and as partners.

To risk the vulnerability of "doing it wrong," not looking good, being stuck emotionally, facing your own shadows, and other life challenges, is to move closer to your own soul and to the power that resides in self-realization. If you discover, for example, a fear in intimacy and move towards it with courage and trust, not denying it or trying to hide from it, the benefits are great.

You will feel yourself becoming less fearful as you meet and face your fears and limiting beliefs. How your face your sexual fears is a great metaphor for how you deal with fear in general. In sex, you cannot hide from the truth. The feedback is immediate. If your body feels pleasure, it feels pleasure. If it feels numb, it feels numb, and you know it.

"There is an Eastern saying that "in the unsteady mind enters time", faith is a timeless and steadying experience that can transform an ordinary physical love relationship into the super-sensual union of a "god" and "goddess", the highest attributes of our spirits. The truly erotic experience is always timeless; the couple evoke faith in each other and awaken the non-dual essence within." Nik Douglas and Penny Slinger, Sexual Secrets

The Gods and Goddesses in Tantra Tantra originated in Hindu India and as a result, though it is not a religion in and of its self, is based on the Gods and Goddesses of the Hindu pantheon. The Gods and Goddesses represent the male/female, yin/yang qualities of all humans. Whole, healthy individuals, are all a unique blend of both female and male traits.

Shiva is the supreme god in Hindu Tantric beliefs. He represents the male principle and the control and movement of time and all material things. His penis, or Lingam in Sanskrit, is up-right, action oriented, and powerful. It commands a place of nerve and worldly power.

His counterpart is Shakti – the female essence. It is Shakti’s energy that literally runs the universe. Without Shakti, Shiva is nothing and would have no power in the world. She is the creator, the sustainer, and the destroyer all in one. This is fitting considering that a woman gives birth, sustains the child with milk (here the equivalent of Mother Earth feeding her children), and takes back her child in death to her bosom.

These two deities form a union that is necessary to keep the universe in perfect harmony. This is a metaphor for the life of every living human. According to Tantric philosophy, life is a journey to become a balanced blend of both of male and female, that is, to become whole or unified. Your sexual nature can lead you to this perfect balance of energies.

"Chakras are not physical entities in and of themselves. Like feelings or ideas, they cannot be held like a physical object, yet they have a strong effect upon the body as they express the embodiment of spiritual energy on the physical plane. Chakra patterns are programmed deep in the core of the mind-body interface and have a strong relationship with our physical functioning. Just as emotions can and do affect our breathing, heart rate, and metabolism, the activities in the various chakras influence our glandular processes, body shape, chronic physical ailments, thoughts, and behaviour." Anodea Judith, Eastern Body, Western Mind

The Chakras In eastern medicine, the chakras are seven "energy centers" situated along the spine in what is called the subtle body. Practitioners of eastern medicine treat the subtle body as well as the gross physical body and see the chakras as very important to the overall health of the individual. Each of the chakras is associated with one of the basic core energies that we work with in life. The energy that flows through them and up the spine is called Kundalini Energy.

There are symbols, colors, sounds, the five elements, emotional "drives" and gestures associated with each chakra. As you extend your practices of Tantra and other sciences relating to the body, you begin to see where you flow and where you get stuck in life. As you learn to sense the energies in your various chakras, through Tantric practice, you can discover where your life energies are not flowing, where you are stuck, and where you need to put your attention in order to re-vitalize yourself.

Chakra Chart
Chakra	Color	Mantra	Issue	Power Centers
1. Base	Red	Lam	Security	Safety, Secure and Grounded.
2. Sex	Orange	Vam	Energy	Sexy and Alive
3. Solar Plexus	Yellow	Ram	Power	Confident and Worthy
4. Heart	Green	Yam	Love	Loving and Compassionate
5. Throat	Blue	Ham	Expression	Expressive and Truthful
6. Third Eye	Purple	Ooo	Vision	Inspired and Intuitive
7. Crown	Violet	Omm	Enlightenment	Enlighted, Ecstatic and connected

The First Chakra - Muladhara The pelvis area at the perineum is where the first chakra resides. It represents being grounded and secure in the basic physical comforts of life: food, shelter, and the needs of our animal nature. Its element is Earth and its color is red. A secure first chakra enables us to feel confident in our abilities to care for ourselves. We can hold a job that brings us enough money to survive. We have a realistic concept of our physical and its needs, and a sense of being grounded.

The Second Chakra - Svadhishthana The genital area is the seat of the second chakra. It represents our sexual urges and fantasies, creativity, and procreation. Its element is water and its color is orange. Sensations, pleasure, sexuality, and emotions are all associated with this chakra. The element of this chakra is water, the element associated with emotions. When this chakra is "open" and healthy, we are likely to experience stable emotions, gracefulness, and self-acceptance.

The Third Chakra - Manapura This chakra is situated at the solar plexus or navel area of our body. It represents our power, will, energy, authority, and longevity. Its element is fire and its color is yellow, as the sun is yellow. Ego identity and self-esteem are the products of a healthy third chakra. Confidence, reliability and autonomy without domination and manipulation produce the fire necessary to live a powerful yet compassionate life. When you have butterflies in your stomach they may indicate a sign of excitement or fear. This is a temporary disturbance in the third chakra.

The Fourth Chakra - Anahata The chest area and specifically the heart are the home of the fourth chakra. It represents our heart and all that is associated with it: sharing, love, service, compassion and devotion. Its element is air, and its color is green. The heart is often considered the seat of the soul because, when it is open, it embodies the qualities mentioned above. We can all recognize the times when our heart feels shutdown. This tends to happen when we are mad, hurt, pitying ourselves, or when we don’t feel loved. We actually can feel it as a stuck or tight area in the chest. Jealousy has been called the Green Eyed Monster in honor of the heart chakra and its color green. We say that our heart aches when we feel the emotions associated with this chakra.

The Fifth Chakra - Vishuddha This is the throat area of the body and represents knowledge and speaking the truth of that knowledge. Its element is ether or space, and its color is violet. The throat chakra builds upon the knowledge learned from the previous four chakras. It takes all that we know and have learned and dares to synthesize and help us speak what we know. When was the last time you had a "lump" in your throat? That is your fifth chakra telling you that you don’t know all of the facts, that you are afraid to speak up, or you aren’t in integrity with what you are saying. Stop, breathe deeply, notice what you are avoiding, and tell the truth.

The Sixth Chakra - Ajna Located at the pineal gland or "third eye" area of forehead, the sixth chakra represents enlightenment and self-realization. It has no element as it is beyond the elements. Its color is bluish white. Self-mastery, intuition, and insight are signs of an open sixth chakra. Symbolic and archetypal meaning is integrated into self-reflection. We can move to and through old, recurring patterns in our lives when our sixth chakra is healthy. Often this chakra opens up through a "spiritual" emergence or awakening.

The Seventh Chakra - Sahasrara This chakra is at the top of the head located at the fontanel, that area where the soft spot is on a baby’s head. It is the open conduit to God and the guru within. Immortality is achieved at this level. It is the realm of saints and holy men and women throughout the ages. Golden white light and a lotus flower with a thousand petals are the symbols of this uppermost chakra. A supremely conscious human being exhibits compassion, self-awareness, mindfulness, and awareness of the world. They would have a very evolved seventh chakra.

"Correct practice of sexual intercourse can cure every ailment and at the same time open the doors to liberation". Taoist Master, from the book by Felice Dunas, Passion Play

Tantric Practices To Balance Body, Mind, and Spirit Tantra offers many easy-to-learn practices to help you and your partner evolve spiritually while enjoying great sex. Many of the practices and lessons come from Tantric theory and have been refined by modern psychology. Focus your mind on your heart and your partner’s heart when you are making love.

Connecting the Heart and the Physical Orgasm Here is a simple practice you can try the next time you are making love. It’s about connecting the heart chakra with the genital chakra. Both men and women, but particularly men, need to learn to connect the genitals and the heart. Touching these two areas at the same time can bring immense healing to the person enabling them to experience this connection.

During foreplay or oral sex and while you are stimulating the genitals of your partner, place a hand on their heart chakra. Breathe love deeply into it. Think of the possibility of having a pure heart orgasm or extending the orgasmic release from the genitals up to the heart. You may even want to wave your hand over their body with focus on the heart area. Remind the receiving partner that they can spread the orgasmic feelings all the way up to their heart.

"As your mind quiets down, you will be able to direct more attention to your feelings and sensations, expanding your ability to experience pleasure. In High Sex, meditation helps you bring heightened awareness to the body, heart. And mind and to tune these three aspects of your being into a harmony that allows higher, more intense levels of pleasurable experience." Margot Anand, The Art of Sexual Ecsatsy

Meditation Meditation is being recognized, in many different circles today, for its value in bringing focus and quiet to the mind. Its simple techniques are easy to learn and are useful in a variety of ways in our lives. As little as 20 minutes a day can bring relaxation, concentration, and lower blood pressure to most people. The appendices contain resources where you can learn more about this valuable practice.

Practicing meditation will enable you to focus your attention during lovemaking. Most people, at some time or another during sex, have found their mind wandering, or have found that they think about whether they are doing it right or about what they wish their partner would do. The highest honor and gift you can give a partner is focused attention. When you bring that quality to your loving, it doesn’t matter what techniques you know – you simply are a great lover.

"Slow down, enjoy love’s dance. Make your sexual loving a meditation, and use the moment of orgasm to affirm and empower one another." Charles and Caroline Muir, Tantra, the Art of Conscious Loving

Tantric Orgasm Tantric philosophy talks about two seemingly different types of orgasm, the physical orgasm and the heart orgasm. At first appearance they may seem contrary to one another, but on closer inspection one supports the other perfectly.

On the one hand, Tantric practice encourages us to be in our hearts 24 hours a day. That blissful state can be equated to an orgasmic state of being with "heart energy" transferred to all that we experience and do during the day. In Tantra this is sometimes referred to as the "right hand path," in which certain sects of practitioners achieve this optimum state of being through meditation, yoga, compassionate states of mind, mantra chanting, and celibacy.

In the "left hand path," sexuality is the vehicle one rides to achieve this same blissful state. Sexuality is used as a form of yoga to go to the deepest spiritual levels one can attain. The orgasm is used as the gateway to recognize the bliss state. Once this state of being is recognized, the individual is able to use that recognition to develop the ability to attain higher states of consciousness that enable you to bring the bliss state to all aspects of life. You really can "get high with a little help from your friends."

Full Body Orgasms Modern sexology recognizes that there are several forms of orgasm. In women there is the clitoral orgasm, which tends to be very localized to the genitals. There is the vaginal orgasm, which involves the G-spot and a few other areas of the vagina. There is the blended orgasm, involving the clitoris and the G-spot. Men’s orgasms tend to be of one general kind, though through Tantric practices the orgasmic plateau can be extended for long periods of time. In Tantra, there is also the energy orgasm or heart orgasm.

Vaginal orgasms tend to be full-body orgasmic experiences with the breath, the mind, and the orgasm itself all forming a complete experience. When our bodies get this full-blown experience of love, and when we practice enhancing it with different breath patterns, sounds and "right hand path" techniques, we have the potential to move into multiple orgasms and out-of-body sex.

Energy Orgasms As you go further into this practice you are able to begin to have full body orgasms, or energy orgasms, simply by breathing them, without any physical touch. This powerful energy is then much more available to you in your everyday life, sometimes by simply breathing!

When the two paths are blended, the possibilities for personal growth expand exponentially, and the duality between the two types of orgasms vanishes. Just as breath is of the utmost importance in meditation, it is the consciousness of breathing that can be the tool to a transformational lovemaking experience.