- Tantra is neither a philosophy nor a doctrine, nor a religion, nor a manual to be a good lover, it’s not intellectual, it doesn’t care about concepts or morality, or how to define truth. Tantra reminds you that you are the vastness of the sky, the space that contains everything. It is a way of experimenting godliness and living a live full of devotion for all.
- Tantra is an internal revolution that removes all beliefs, morals and concepts of the mind, to create the internal space that one needs to conceive the infinite and timeless truth. It gives us tools for understanding and acceptance of our nature that allow us to love ourselves and others.
- Tantra celebrates duality as the friction that generates life: positive-negative, light–dark, male-female energy-matter, sex-spirit, etc.… When this duality is no longer a conflict where one denies the other, when you accept and understand your own duality; life becomes a joyful dance in celebration.
- Tantra teaches you to expand your consciousness and embrace all aspects of your duality. In the West, Tantra has been associated mostly with sexual practices mainly because it is one of the only mystical paths that doesn’t deny sex.
- Tantra neither denies nor promotes sex, simply investigates human nature as it is, without any moral assessment. A tantric loves his body, mind, heart and spirit. His path to consciousness and joy is the understanding, acceptance, and awareness of these.
- Tantra challenges taboos and beliefs imposed by any religion or moral code. The great tantric mystics were continuously persecuted and condemned. Although Tantra is a rebellion against repressive moral precepts it does not teach nor debauchery nor pornography. It teaches a scientific way of inner observation. The observer observes him or herself in a natural relaxed manner. No scriptures, watchfulness of nature happening.
- Tantra embraces all contradictions. Duality is the way life happens.
- Tantra accepts the body as the temple of the divine, because everything comes from the same source. (Quantum physics has also reached the same conclusion: energy and matter are different manifestations of the same).
WHAT IS TANTRA?
- Tantra is neither a philosophy nor a doctrine, nor a religion, nor a manual to be a good lover, it’s not intellectual, it doesn’t care about concepts or morality, or how to define truth. Tantra reminds you that you are the vastness of the sky, the space that contains everything. It is a way of experimenting godliness and living a live full of devotion for all.
- Tantra is an internal revolution that removes all beliefs, morals and concepts of the mind, to create the internal space that one needs to conceive the infinite and timeless truth. It gives us tools for understanding and acceptance of our nature that allow us to love ourselves and others.
- Tantra celebrates duality as the friction that generates life: positive-negative, light–dark, male-female energy-matter, sex-spirit, etc.… When this duality is no longer a conflict where one denies the other, when you accept and understand your own duality; life becomes a joyful dance in celebration.
- Tantra teaches you to expand your consciousness and embrace all aspects of your duality. In the West, Tantra has been associated mostly with sexual practices mainly because it is one of the only mystical paths that doesn’t deny sex.
- Tantra neither denies nor promotes sex, simply investigates human nature as it is, without any moral assessment. A tantric loves his body, mind, heart and spirit. His path to consciousness and joy is the understanding, acceptance, and awareness of these.
- Tantra challenges taboos and beliefs imposed by any religion or moral code. The great tantric mystics were continuously persecuted and condemned. Although Tantra is a rebellion against repressive moral precepts it does not teach nor debauchery nor pornography. It teaches a scientific way of inner observation. The observer observes him or herself in a natural relaxed manner. No scriptures, watchfulness of nature happening.
- Tantra embraces all contradictions. Duality is the way life happens.
- Tantra accepts the body as the temple of the divine, because everything comes from the same source. (Quantum physics has also reached the same conclusion: energy and matter are different manifestations of the same).
Although the book of secrets, Vighyan Bhairav Tantra, contains 112 meditations of which only 6 are purely sexual, in the West it is mostly associated with sexual practices. When I came back from India, I understood that the fascination we have with sex is that, although we are supposedly liberated, nobody is really happy with their sex lives. Everybody wants something more.
Although the book of secrets, Vighyan Bhairav Tantra, contains 112 meditations of which only 6 are purely sexual, in the West it is mostly associated with sexual practices. When I came back from India, I understood that the fascination we have with sex is that, although we are supposedly liberated, nobody is really happy with their sex lives. Everybody wants something more.
SEX IS DEEP SHARING OF ENERGY WHICH WE HAVEN’T UNDERSTOOD FULLY YET
When we stop making out of sex a race to get somewhere, or a power struggle in which we make each other responsible for the outcome, when we live sex without moral repressions or pornographic hallucinations but with a clear consciousness and love, we can discover that this strong force of nature in us can become a door to profound inner ecstasy which is only waiting to be freed. The pleasure of sexual entertainment is ten per cent of our capacity to generate love and pleasure. The Tantric found, through living this act in profound meditation, that at the point of union of the main polarities: man-woman, male-female, in relaxed fusion for at least 30 min, electromagnetic energy begins to circulate between the genitals and the heart of the lovers. Sustaining this union without hurrying towards release it culminates in ecstatic communion not only of the bodies but also of the souls. The circulation of this energy is also deeply healing.
On the way proposed by Tantra we learn to free our body of judgements and tensions built up by past experiences and beliefs. We learn to release and understand the emotional wounds we still carry from our childhood and previous intimate encounters in order to lay the foundation for love and trust to flow. We learn to observe the mind, to surrender to live in the present and be creative dropping old patterns and belief systems, which are obsolete and painful. In this way we create the space for energy to flow freely and naturally.
SEX IS DEEP SHARING OF ENERGY WHICH WE HAVEN’T UNDERSTOOD FULLY YET
When we stop making out of sex a race to get somewhere, or a power struggle in which we make each other responsible for the outcome, when we live sex without moral repressions or pornographic hallucinations but with a clear consciousness and love, we can discover that this strong force of nature in us can become a door to profound inner ecstasy which is only waiting to be freed. The pleasure of sexual entertainment is ten per cent of our capacity to generate love and pleasure. The Tantric found, through living this act in profound meditation, that at the point of union of the main polarities: man-woman, male-female, in relaxed fusion for at least 30 min, electromagnetic energy begins to circulate between the genitals and the heart of the lovers. Sustaining this union without hurrying towards release it culminates in ecstatic communion not only of the bodies but also of the souls. The circulation of this energy is also deeply healing.
On the way proposed by Tantra we learn to free our body of judgements and tensions built up by past experiences and beliefs. We learn to release and understand the emotional wounds we still carry from our childhood and previous intimate encounters in order to lay the foundation for love and trust to flow. We learn to observe the mind, to surrender to live in the present and be creative dropping old patterns and belief systems, which are obsolete and painful. In this way we create the space for energy to flow freely and naturally.
A BIT OF HISTORY
The word tantra actually means technique. The Vighyan Bhairav tantra is a recompilation of techniques for awakening and expanding consciousness. Gorak Nath, a mystic also known as a reincarnation of Shiva (who represents consciousness in its pure state), gathered all the different tantric streams approx. 5000 years ago to unify the teachings. You have to place yourself in the context of India 6000 years ago, a continent, full of people of different races and belief systems but all unified by the search of enlightenment, the attainment of ultimate truth.
Gorak Nath left us 112 scientific techniques that practised will lead you to awakening. Although ancient, these techniques are also contemporary because they are scientific keys to awakening. These techniques are described through a loving dialogue that Shiva has with Shakti when she asks him to speak about love. Only half a dozen of these methods actually speak about sex. Nevertheless the fact that sex (nor emotional affection) has not been avoided as in other mystical paths has caused a lot of trouble for the followers of this path. A human being who understands his divinity, who has experienced unity, can not be subordinated to any limiting beliefs, religious or political. This is why religions and governments of that time tried to suppress these currents of practitioners, making of sex a sin.
Even Osho, mystic of our times, who unrolled these scriptures and offered them translated into a contemporary language had to live in his own experience this condemnation. At the root of this persecution the Tantrics escaped in different directions, to the Himalayas, to China, to Tibet, etc. Therefore the teachings come to us nowadays as different streams the same way that every teacher has his or her own way of pointing with the finger to the truth, depending on his/her own experience and their lineage. In India you will find temples that still remain, in spite of the controversy that was awakened in the wake of their discovery, that reflect the attitude of tantra towards life.
A BIT OF HISTORY
The word tantra actually means technique. The Vighyan Bhairav tantra is a recompilation of techniques for awakening and expanding consciousness. Gorak Nath, a mystic also known as a reincarnation of Shiva (who represents consciousness in its pure state), gathered all the different tantric streams approx. 5000 years ago to unify the teachings. You have to place yourself in the context of India 6000 years ago, a continent, full of people of different races and belief systems but all unified by the search of enlightenment, the attainment of ultimate truth.
Gorak Nath left us 112 scientific techniques that practised will lead you to awakening. Although ancient, these techniques are also contemporary because they are scientific keys to awakening. These techniques are described through a loving dialogue that Shiva has with Shakti when she asks him to speak about love. Only half a dozen of these methods actually speak about sex. Nevertheless the fact that sex (nor emotional affection) has not been avoided as in other mystical paths has caused a lot of trouble for the followers of this path. A human being who understands his divinity, who has experienced unity, can not be subordinated to any limiting beliefs, religious or political. This is why religions and governments of that time tried to suppress these currents of practitioners, making of sex a sin.
Even Osho, mystic of our times, who unrolled these scriptures and offered them translated into a contemporary language had to live in his own experience this condemnation. At the root of this persecution the Tantrics escaped in different directions, to the Himalayas, to China, to Tibet, etc. Therefore the teachings come to us nowadays as different streams the same way that every teacher has his or her own way of pointing with the finger to the truth, depending on his/her own experience and their lineage. In India you will find temples that still remain, in spite of the controversy that was awakened in the wake of their discovery, that reflect the attitude of tantra towards life.
Tantra emerged again, only around 30 years ago. It is not a teaching that can be learned intellectually, nor scriptures, nor philosophy, nor manuals. Tantra is a direct experience with life, it’s an awakening, which sometimes requires years of search, of practice, of experience and other times happens spontaneously, like a quantum jump. The experienced master plays an important role to guide you through unknown landscapes into the void, not only through sharing techniques, but also as a life example, a catalyser for awakening.
``We live in an era in which the techniques for the awakening and the forms of transmission are so varied and manifold that it is an art. The fingers pointing to the truth are many, but the truth is one.``
TANTRA TAUGHT FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES
TANTRA TAUGHT FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES
1. Hindu or Shivait Tantra
This tantric path is the most live affirming path. It is a yes to life in all its dimensions. It is the path of devotion, of absolute acceptance of all manifestations of life. Everything is sacred, sex, life, death, all sentient beings, everything is a manifestation of the god and the goddess. It celebrates the everyday life in its practices, through the dance, the arts, sensuality and naturalness, everything becomes a meditation, a way of devoting yourself to the divine. It is a path of relaxation, of flowing with life like a child, of effortlessness, of bliss. It is the path of the heart. Feelings and passion have to be transformed into prayer. In the prayer, the divine and the devotee merge into one, love and the lover melt, you and me disappear into one, Mahamudra is the great cosmic orgasm of the devotee making love to existence and disappearing into it. The essential practices are documented in the Vighyan Bhairav Tantra.
2. Tantra Yoga
This path is more dedicated to the attainment of enlightenment through strict practices and discipline. It is more detached in relation to feelings and emotions. Sexual practices are only used to generate the necessary energy to awaken and raise the kundalini and attain spiritual awakening. It’s more technical and oriented to individual practice. Both paths come directly from India. In my vision both paths are only the male and the female aspects of one teaching that balance each other out.
3. Buddhist Tantra
The foundation for Buddhist tantra was laid by Saraha. The approach is through transcending all thoughts and identifications with the mind and reaching therefore the state of Shunya, the quantic emptiness, the great silence, the nothing that contains the potential of the All. It says, neither this nor that, neither me nor you, neither good nor bad, pure consciousness is your true nature. Practices are meditations oriented to create an immutable presence. Sexual practices are oriented to transcending the body and the mind, they are basically virtual meditations in which you imagine yourself in profound union with the god or the goddess.
4. Tao or dual cultivation
This tantric path is more health oriented, as well as to spiritual development. It is very practical but also very technical. Its finality is to create a free flow of energy in the body. A healthy body is more likely to be a perfect container for bliss and consciousness. Sexual practices are a way of increasing the level of energy in the body and to direct it to the organs, to the spine and to circulate it through the whole nervous system, promoting health and longevity.
5. Sacred Sex
This is a term that emerged recently and it is associated with tantra. But there are many ancient civilizations that considered sexual energy a source for experiencing expanded states of consciousness, for experiencing oneness. The cult of Isis, American Indians, Hebrew traditions, shamanic traditions from all over the planet, etc.
They considered sex as the root life force, as the source for creativity. The divine uses sex for creation and therefore sex is and was considered sacred. When used with consciousness, sex can become a door for awakening. It also is a channel for deep communication between the masculine and the feminine. When men and women emerge from misunderstandings, guilt and power games, wounds, false dogma and mental sexuality to return to our essential polarity, we will recover the capacity of creating love through sexual union. The sacred sex workshops offered nowadays aim to create a safe atmosphere to heal sexual wounds and to return to our essence (or they should).
1. Hindu or Shivait Tantra
This tantric path is the most live affirming path. It is a yes to life in all its dimensions. It is the path of devotion, of absolute acceptance of all manifestations of life. Everything is sacred, sex, life, death, all sentient beings, everything is a manifestation of the god and the goddess. It celebrates the everyday life in its practices, through the dance, the arts, sensuality and naturalness, everything becomes a meditation, a way of devoting yourself to the divine. It is a path of relaxation, of flowing with life like a child, of effortlessness, of bliss. It is the path of the heart. Feelings and passion have to be transformed into prayer. In the prayer, the divine and the devotee merge into one, love and the lover melt, you and me disappear into one, Mahamudra is the great cosmic orgasm of the devotee making love to existence and disappearing into it. The essential practices are documented in the Vighyan Bhairav Tantra.
2. Tantra Yoga
This path is more dedicated to the attainment of enlightenment through strict practices and discipline. It is more detached in relation to feelings and emotions. Sexual practices are only used to generate the necessary energy to awaken and raise the kundalini and attain spiritual awakening. It’s more technical and oriented to individual practice. Both paths come directly from India. In my vision both paths are only the male and the female aspects of one teaching that balance each other out.
3. Buddhist Tantra
The foundation for Buddhist tantra was laid by Saraha. The approach is through transcending all thoughts and identifications with the mind and reaching therefore the state of Shunya, the quantic emptiness, the great silence, the nothing that contains the potential of the All. It says, neither this nor that, neither me nor you, neither good nor bad, pure consciousness is your true nature. Practices are meditations oriented to create an immutable presence. Sexual practices are oriented to transcending the body and the mind, they are basically virtual meditations in which you imagine yourself in profound union with the god or the goddess.
4. Tao or dual cultivation
This tantric path is more health oriented, as well as to spiritual development. It is very practical but also very technical. Its finality is to create a free flow of energy in the body. A healthy body is more likely to be a perfect container for bliss and consciousness. Sexual practices are a way of increasing the level of energy in the body and to direct it to the organs, to the spine and to circulate it through the whole nervous system, promoting health and longevity.
5. Sacred Sex
This is a term that emerged recently and it is associated with tantra. But there are many ancient civilizations that considered sexual energy a source for experiencing expanded states of consciousness, for experiencing oneness. The cult of Isis, American Indians, Hebrew traditions, shamanic traditions from all over the planet, etc.
They considered sex as the root life force, as the source for creativity. The divine uses sex for creation and therefore sex is and was considered sacred. When used with consciousness, sex can become a door for awakening. It also is a channel for deep communication between the masculine and the feminine. When men and women emerge from misunderstandings, guilt and power games, wounds, false dogma and mental sexuality to return to our essential polarity, we will recover the capacity of creating love through sexual union. The sacred sex workshops offered nowadays aim to create a safe atmosphere to heal sexual wounds and to return to our essence (or they should).
“Each tantra teacher will offer his own unique flavour in guiding you, trust your heart to choose. And finally I’d like to share from my experience, that no matter what path you choose, if you listen and follow with courage the truth of your heart you will realize the one who lives through you. In that moment you can throw all the techniques, laws and precepts and live naturally who you already are. And you yourself are the trampoline that catapults you to the ultimate expansion … the emptiness within which the whole universe exists.”
“Each tantra teacher will offer his own unique flavour in guiding you, trust your heart to choose. And finally I’d like to share from my experience, that no matter what path you choose, if you listen and follow with courage the truth of your heart you will realize the one who lives through you. In that moment you can throw all the techniques, laws and precepts and live naturally who you already are. And you yourself are the trampoline that catapults you to the ultimate expansion … the emptiness within which the whole universe exists.”