What is TANTRA?

Tantra is an assembly of sexual methods and processes that accelerate spiritual evolution and regenerate us on all levels. Tantric sexuality is an ancient secret key, which opens the gate to inconceivable sexual joys, and in the same time helps to achieve extraordinary spiritual psychic powers. This system is a kind of "White magic of sexuality", which brings us- if practiced constantly and correctly- pleasure, increased energy and amazing powers of control over the forces of nature. Even though these special techniques have existed for thousands of years, most of them are - despite what snobbish orientalists may say - still not familiar to the western world. To any smart person, they give the possibility to reach indescribable climaxes of sexual pleasure, as well as to gradually free up the sublimed sexual energy, so that it can be used in a creative superior way in different aspects of life, both material and subtle. Modern psychologists have discovered only recently what the tantric masters knew from ancient times: the fact that all animals, including humans, experience the most intense state of concentration of the psychic energies, both conscious and unconscious, during a successful sexual union. Through its specific methods, Tantra teaches us to extend this intensive concentration to an infinite level, throughout all aspects of life. Its special techniques make possible the complete enjoyment of the sexual pleasure "in an incomparably more intense and lasting way" than any other state experienced so far, without exhaustion. Here, the more often we practice the sublime and deep sexual and emotional communication, the faster and stronger the sexual energy will renew within ourselves, eventually leading to amazing paranormal powers (SIDDHIS). The term "Tantra" has many meanings, amongst them: the most profound essential aspect, the nucleus, the ultimate reality, the essence. It derives from the Sanskrit root "tantori" (to weave). Therefore, Tantra refers to the interpenetration of the masculine with the feminine, or the essence of any phenomenon, even of the whole manifestation, in general. From the very beginning, the tantric teachings were transmitted from one generation to another in the form of special methods or techniques taught through initiations or by writings, which were called "Tantras". These were structured as dialogues between Shiva, the personification of the essential masculine power, and Shakti, the personification of the eternal feminine power. In these basic texts, SHIVA speaks about the origin of the Universe from the tantric view, about special methods or exercises for attaining paranormal powers, and about the esoteric teachings regarding our visible changing world, as well as the whole Universe, as a result of "the creative pleasure" of the cosmic Divine Mother, the great KALI, or the energy of time. This also explains the necessity of the specific tantric exercises, which, if practised, lead to obtaining the essential unity between the individual Self, the outer world and the Supreme Absolute. In principle, Tantra is meant to make us return to our own origin, to help us reach our own roots of identity with the Absolute. Tantra allows us to "actually know the truth that we as selves represent", by practicing certain special techniques that make self-awareness possible in a profound and very new way. This happens through an extreme amplification of the experiences in the psychic, intellectual, emotional and especially sexual aspects. By revealing truths so far unknown to us about ourselves, we get to know the truths of the world, of the Universe and of our own psychic powers of enlightenment. This is completely possible, and even fast, through evolution on the tantric path. But it is necessary to know directly and ineffably, through intuitively and effectively feeling the secrets and psychic mystery of tantra, by practising special techniques that can only be understood in this way. They cannot be understood by the logical and rational perception only. For our accelerated evolution, Tantra teaches us how to use energies and mysterious powers which most people waste in their pursuit of common pleasure. Through these millenary techniques we will reach the highest aspects of pleasure, then being able to use this huge energy, resulting through sublimation, for the purpose of increasing all the powers of our being. Kali and the Joy of creation The fundamental ideas of tantrism are allegorically suggested in the cosmogonical tradition of Genesis, the way it was transmitted in the tantric writings. Here it is said that "before the Universe, before time, there was only a focus of creative force". This force was feminine and the whole Universe raised from it. It is told that the Goddess of time is in the centre of the Universe, which she herself created. After a certain period, it is said that her creative force was used up. "At that point she was overcome by the feeling of Void". After she renewed her creative forces, she decided to create even more, because this gave her such pleasure. Thus, she created the land, the seas, the plants and the animals. She gave birth to all the things and beings, placing them in a balanced relationship so that they could perpetuate and spread. Ending thus the Genesis, she found a great achievement that brought her much joy, but this time her creative energy was not used up. Then she made the form of the women and she herself took it. She named herself KALI and than she divided into 2 parts, and MAHAKALA, the masculine form, was created. She then taught MAHAKALA the tantric pleasures, and how to renew his own creative powers by frantic union with its feminine counterpart - the fascinating goddess KALI. Together, those two deities of tantrism created the first humans, transmitting to them the special tantric techniques, "so they, too, could share the oceanic bliss of total joy and unlimited power of the Universe". The idea of the creation stands as a seal at the basis of all the tantric methods. Man and woman are seen as a potential unity; so closely united and so deeply and complementarily merged in a cosmic love that they no longer see any differences between themselves. Man and woman are aiming, through a deep emotional, erotic and mental involvement, to accomplish that fulfilment in the couple that brings a harmony beyond the limits of individuality, leading to transcendental enlightenment. They attain such a deep spiritual state when they live the ineffable feeling of "total completion which allows them to become one single being," because, according to Tantra - "the supreme truth, the absolute happiness, the perfect enlightenment lie in this reunified totality". In the worldly aspect, man and woman sexually unite in a freedom and spontaneity that reminds one of the rhythms and perfect harmony of nature and through this they develop the necessary force to spiritually evolve up to the level of the whole Macrocosm in a sublime unification with the infinite. Gradually, this will lead them back to the perfect force of cosmic enlightenment which they possessed in the times when they were a unity, in the body of the great goddess KALI, unified beyond any notion of time. Therefore, Tantra gives us the possibility to live this sexual transcendental unification, the very privilege of the first Gods. Tantra is an amazing form of spiritual training, which connects the human to the infinite power of sensuality and sexual energy. With the help of these techniques, the human being frees itself from egocentric obsessions, inhibitions and repressions. Tantra aims to teach the human to guide his huge sexual energy towards all aspects and levels of life, by subliming it into a definitely superior energy. Tantra does not encounter frustrations or repressions or refrains. It integrates the sexuality globally, in the entire being and the body, spirit and emotions have the possibility to co-operate in a harmonious way in order to obtain the power and total control over our intimate lives, over our spiritual growth. Tantra does not encounter the hypocrisy found by most of the followers of the occidental and Hindu spiritual systems, which aim towards enlightenment and the supreme truth by ascesis (following the principles of abstinence and sexual denial). It bases its principle on the idea that the road to enlightenment can be found by a totally controlled and varied sexual activity. The ascetic and the beautiful initiated women Even the road towards totality and Supreme truth must have joy and happiness on it, otherwise it is only a partially self-destroying path, a pointless battle against yourself. In Tantra, all the latent human capacities, be they physical, psychic or emotional, are highly stimulated, making them controllable, in order to allow ourselves to obtain new, most refined and sublime states. A parable from the ancient tantric texts talks about the lonely pilgrim who in his search for Parasamvit or "the Supreme Truth," turned his back on all pleasures. He travelled very far to places of holy pilgrimage, he meditated and fasted for long, his sexual abstinence was total and even if this torture, which he deliberately committed himself to, was almost unbearable, his spiritual development had never reached that intense concentration in which he could use all his energies for the purpose of the knowledge of the Supreme Truth. Frustrated and deeply disappointed by the years of his struggle, one afternoon he sat on a riverside. A female tantric master had just arrived at the same river. Taking her clothes off near him, in a very natural way, she played naked in the river, enjoying the sun and the birds singing, which were as if they had come to meet her. Then she oiled her fascinatingly beautiful body with perfumed oil, preparing herself for the night's pleasures. After she listened carefully to the pilgrim's story, she seduced him, leading his senses through the frantic tantric pleasures, up to the level of the supreme awakening of the consciousness, where he discovered, astonished, that force which he had been looking for so long. Thus, he found it in the thing that he had refused for so long. Generally, in Tantra there are 3 main classes. By the tantric techniques of amplifying the ability of perceiving receptive energies (Yin) we learn how this subtle sexual energy is produced and how it can be maintained on a higher scale, by sublimation. By the tantric techniques of control (amplification of the masculine aspect -Yang) of sexual energy we learn how to use the sexuality and sexual energy in a superior way in order to produce amorous pleasures of an unthinkable intensity. In the tantric techniques of guiding the pleasure we learn how this sexual energy must be guided and sublimated in order for it to completely control, protect and harmonize daily activities, the mind, the emotions and the body. Through this we develop the ability to enrich our mind with new ideas or by self-elevation of the consciousness. Tantra has developed a whole series of specific techniques, both physical and mental with great effects based on certain psychological concepts, strictly logical and well considered, which serve, amongst others, to deepen the concentration by the very control of the sexual states. On this deep concentration are based other more complex procedures and sexual techniques, which lead to an extremely prolonged pleasure and an unsuspected intensity of satisfaction. Nevertheless, Tantra does not stop here. The practice of its techniques leads to a definitely superior perception of life. How to bring the fascination of eroticism into everyday pleasures At the beginning I was rather sceptical regarding the importance of the idea of getting familiar with my body, again. It was quite an exciting thing, but I doubted that it might bring anything new. Actually, I knew my body quite well. The enlargement and amplification of the perception through the inner basic techniques soon convinced me that I was indeed living a complete experience of a different nature. It was the same body that I had known since birth, but now I was finding out new things about my senses and, implicitly, about my feelings. What was more fascinating was that the sexual experiences, unfamiliar to me until then, were becoming part of my daily activities. By the specific tantric techniques I found myself in the situation of making full use of my sexual energy, of allowing it to flood plentifully, so that everyday life was filled with an unusual vitality and an infinite flavour. As days passed, through these self-invigorating tantric techniques my existence was full of a deep knowledge and an inner peace. Tantra - the source of inspiration for Kama Sutra Tantra has much in common with Yoga, especially since certain basic tantric ideas have been assimilated into different Yoga practices. There is, of course, the so-called Tantra Yoga, which unlike other Yoga practices, does not aim to free the spirit by a painful separation from the body. Tantra Yoga aims to unite them in a total harmony and in the end to free them, after being integrated in a perfect equilibrium. Due to their values, the tantric ideas have reached many studies. KAMA SUTRA or Aphorisms on the ART of LOVE MAKING is a good example, as well as Tantric Buddhism (VAJRAYANA), which combine Tibetan exercises and parts of the tantric mythology with Buddhist aspects. Although there is much in common, Tantra must not be mistaken with the Yoga of the ascetics. In other words, Tantra is an assembly of methods and processes that accelerate spiritual evolution and regenerates us at all levels on a sexual path, by accomplishing a total control of sexuality, which allows us a much deeper erotic experience, of an unsuspected amplitude. Thus, we can guide the sexual energy to the hidden levels of our being, making it available in all aspects of life. The unity of the couple through love By the smart use of the sexual energy and by the use of certain spiritual methods, Tantra makes it completely possible to reach the transcendental subtle sexual level of a never ending inner cosmic orgasm, as well as the experience of pure sexuality expression of the polar masculine-feminine couple. All of these cause, in the end, a return to the sublime essence of the Universe, to the very supreme nucleus of the entire creation. The power of the totally sublimed sexuality is the heart of tantrism; thus, sexuality becomes over-awareness. Due to the specific ability of the woman to have a longer sexual activity and a repeated orgasm, she had always been, as in the act of the creation, the centre of tantric knowledge. In the ancient tantric texts it is mentioned that the woman was the one to make the initiation in the specific tantric techniques. Women guided most of the tantric groups. But in the truest meaning of tantric sexuality, not only are man and woman equal, but they are a perfect unity or a single being. They can learn from each other much faster or they can learn together, helping each other enormously with the purpose of achieving the amorous and spiritual ecstasy. Meditation and Tantra Why is sexuality such an interesting topic? Is it, as according to science, just a basic animal instinct? Actually, we find sex fascinating because during amorous fusion we are able to access special states of consciousness, to feel boundless and almighty, even if only for very short periods of time, in flashes. Through meditation, these flashes - messages about the true nature of reality - come to deeply transform our life. This is the point that classifies physical amour as tantric or not. Which means whether or not there is an honest desire to turn these experiences into sources of inner transformation. This inner attitude and honest desire of experiencing more than just a physical contact will make us more open and less rigid. We'll definitely feel better. This will also improve our health. The Tantric Orgasm Classic writings describe the state of tantric orgasm as a state of expansion, fusion and awareness of the unity and wholeness of the being. A profound state of orgasm is beyond the ordinary boundaries of the mind. It makes us expand ourselves endlessly and experience states of cosmic consciousness. It changes our perspective regarding the surrounding reality. Who am I? By experiencing states that take us beyond the boundaries of our common perceptions, we reach the point where we ask ourselves profound questions regarding the purpose of life, what and who we are. Thus, out of thorough seeking and the strong desire to find out more about "the unseen side of our being" came the classical question: " Who am I? ". Well, tantric experience leads us to this depth, both in thought and in feeling. Following the tantric path, as well as meditating and practising other spiritual techniques, the being becomes more aware of everything that happens around it, including its sexual experiences. Three kinds of amour It has been established that there are three basic tendencies within couple relationships. 1. Strictly physical amour, which is often cruel, violent, selfish and makes people treat each other like animals or lifeless objects. This kind of amour is symbolized in the tantric tradition by the black colour. 2. Passionate amorous relationships, which are intense, romantic, inciting. Their symbolic colour is red. They are superior to the strictly physical relationships, but most of the time these kind of relationships cause feelings of frustration. They are mostly a battle where the stronger one possesses the weak one. 3. Amorous relationships that are profoundly harmonising, mystical and spiritual. They exclude any of the problems connected to possession, violence, ego or frustration. The control of the sexual energies evolves by itself through the profound general harmonious state between the two. Actually, this is the tantric amour that combines the sexual energy with the spiritual practice. In the oriental tradition it is symbolized by the brightness of the sun, spreading bright white light, which removes the boundaries of our limited individual personality. Most people experience the first two types of relationships. Such couples often go through different dilemmas and they often go through periods when sex has no meaning to them anymore, and for a while they give up the amorous "duties" and pleasures. And when they come out of this state, they have the tendency to exaggerate, going to the other extreme. Thus, they experience very short periods of emotional balance and erotic harmony. Such couples are in a continuous fluctuation, as if their destiny is irrevocably connected to a sinusoid. Through ecstatic transfiguring tantric amour the amplitude of this sinusoid is gradually reduced, until it is completely gone. And this will stop the attitudes and states of that couple continuously fluctuating, and allow them to enjoy a permanent state of harmony and equilibrium. Our sinusoid will gradually transform into a constantly ascendant line, because the unpleasant things existing in the environment that we live in will not disturb our states of Conscience anymore. Absolute ecstasy Tantra aims to make those who practice its methods reach total amorous ecstasy. In other words, that beatitude which includes and plenarily unites the orgasmic experience of the pole of the species, considered a power supply, with the cerebral sublime ecstasy, that of the pole of the individual, each sexually nourishing and harmoniously exciting the other. That is why Tantra deliberately stimulates genital libido through different non-artificial techniques, but in a controlled manner. After the sexual energy has been awakened and uplifted from its base, which is the area of the sexual organs, the tantric directs it through the spine towards the cerebral pole, which is the upper side of the brain pan, where its unification with the individual pole makes the ultimate ecstatic experience spring forth. Prologue to the existence Only love can change the world. No system, be it political, economical, or other can bring peace and happiness to the world. Love is not just an ideal because it is born out of respect and charity. We owe everybody this respect and charity. Only love solves all of our human difficulties. Without love life is not fulfilled, it is cruel and empty. But, in order to see the truth of love, each individual must free himself from these methods of self-secluding, which destroy the individual and disintegrate the world. Peace and happiness lay upon us when the heart and the spirit are not obstructed and hindered by those ways of living, which tear us apart from the others and isolate us. Abstinence - pros and cons …and since nothing is totally good or totally bad, the same thing can be said about abstinence, i.e. refraining from any sexual contact. If that sexual energy is creatively directed to another aspect of life, a successful sublimation contributes to the spiritual development and then everything is wonderful. If the sublimation is unsuccessful - the most frequent case - the sexual energy accumulated and not used will find a way out. It will be repressed in different habits or vices: eating, smoking, watching TV for hours, etc. If it does not find a way out, it will become destructive. In the case of a neurosis it will become self-destructive, and in the case of political or religious fanaticism it will be hetero-destructive For tantrism, sexual energy has an obvious reality, which does not need to be demonstrated. So, instead of suggesting a fight against it until exhaustion, in a most absurd way, Tantra teaches people how to use it. In this way, the human being learns to overcome its limits and to obtain access towards experiences that the great initiates refer to as COSMIC.