Talk about Tantra and the first thing that come to the mind are sex, magic and witchcraft. Is this the real Tantra? Take a look at Google search. The first page on Google search on ‘Tantra’ is dominated by the word ‘sex.’ But Tantra has more to it than mere sex.
Since modern world associates Tantra with sex, I took a peep into Tantric sexual literature. Several books and articles are available on Tantra and most of them just arouse sexual curiosity. Some confuses the reader. But some western scholars have done detailed study on the subject.
Here I am sharing some of my findings:
- It is hard to give a particular period to Tantrism. Most scholars believe it is pre-Vedic.
Shiva and Shakti are main gods in Tantrism. They are a symbol and represent the male and female. Some Tantric texts are conversations between Shiva and Shakti. - It has close relation to the modern Advaita philosophy of Shankarachraya, the oneness of all being. So, Tantrism believes that the ‘first life energy’ is present in all of us and we can invoke it in our activities in daily life including sex.
- Foreplay is of great importance in Tantric Sex. But Orgasm is given little importance. The period just before orgasm is of utmost importance. Tantric sex tries to maintain that particular effect for a long time – in fact for hours. This is often misunderstood as prolonged orgasm.
- The ardhanarishwara, half-man or half-woman, concept is a part of Tantrism. Touch, kissing, breathe all are used to create the energy by the partners. The partners unknowingly join in the cosmic dance – don’t mistake it for real dance. They gaze at each other and keep the eyes open in foreplay and forget about their surroundings. Several different types of touch are practiced in Tantric sex.
- There are several rituals, movements, touches and exercises in Tantric sex but it should not be practiced without the help of a knowledgeable person.
17 comments:
This is indeed an excellent post, too often tantra is tied to things irrelevant to its true meaning. For tantra teaches how to become human and how to live in Love peace and harmony. As a philosophy it is merely another form of non-dual neo-plantonic idealism, to use the words of western masters of philosophy. yet philosophy is irrelevant as it is but another form of maya, for the truth can never be understood intellectually.
something i wrote:
"For there is in reality no Duality there is only the Love of Shakti, an Ocean of Endless Possibilities, the Goddess of Infinity. The One idea that is No Idea at all but is the source and substance of all creation and all of evolution. In essence the playful erotic dance of the Goddess for her Beloved in that Ancient Garden yet to be as the Wise Serpent of Old smiles in Joy at the Splendor eyes blood red."
It seems to me that the tantric sex rituals as you remarked are designed to arouse the senses( and the dormant mental powers) through foreplay.My analysis is that the mooladhara chakra gets activated as a result of the increased foreplay.This activity/energy is transmitted through the spine into the brain. Thus brain gets additional momentum and activity.The so called siddhis of the tantriks are achieved during this phase of heightened mental activity.
While I am glad to see someone has done their research on the subject... It all too often in the West happens in this manner that the primary focus of the study is the sexual part which is only a very small portion of the entire picture.
Tantra means Threads. It's many threads of Veda, Yoga, Mantram, Yantra, and other sciences xompounded over the ages to form a SCIENCE to invoke the divine.
In Tantra when you initiate you receive powers that are to be used for the good of others and the glory of god. Eventually you merge with the divine and BECOME the divine. This is one of the main goals.
Some Tantriks have abused the sexual small aspect and the Siddhi powers for personal gain and sexual relations with seekers of Tantra who do not know better... But powers and miracles that are not for the glory of God/dess is WITCHRAFT. And sex between an initiate of Tantra who tells a potential initiate they need to do sexual favors for the secrets of Tantra is ABUSE.
Even Christianity and the authority it gives in the West has been abused for selfish ends... And when someone uses God to justify or attain selfish desires they will end up in a very foul and hellish end, filled with torment.
Tantrikas should always strive to help others and to unify themselves with the divine.
It is a science of life, not sex. Sex just happens to be a part of life and there are various scientific methods of Tantra to employ to use this aspect ALSO to merge with the divine.
Many blessings and I hope all of your studies always bring you to truth! "Satnam Shivam Sundaram" (The Perfect Truth is God and God is the Ultimate Beauty)
-Devi Ma Shaktinanda
Good Post.
unfortunately, religion lives in reality, especially lives in the human beings who struggle for food,lust, power and dominance. From what I have learned in Tibetan Buddhism, which is really an extension of tantra Hinduism from its rituals, this branch has a lot more abusers than other religions, because of the significance tantra give to the sex rituals, as well as to many other human pleasures such as food, dominating the believer by giving them human waste as spiritual intake, etc. Really sad
I agree with devi maa Shaktinanda and i would only like to add that sex is only a part of Tantra but more important it frees u from bondage of the Universe.Moreover the orgasm in the sexual ritual results in implosion and not explosion as it happens in everyday life for human beings leading to possible conception.This implosion is a very difficult process i guess and is not for ordinary people but unfortunately people have a wrong notion about the sex rites in Tantra
hello,
I feel, the concept of shiv is erotic,which is tantra, but shiv's eroticism is not someting shamefull,as christinity thought. It is so greate, and so divine, that it cannot be equate with normal man's idea about sex. Humanity, whose idea about sex is just learned from mainly Islam and christinity, and they never think that Shiv's eroticism is an expresson of reason, which is vedant. and not mad orgy. We Indian have to teach the divinity of shiv.
bharat menta.
Anonymous, the concept of Shiv's eroticism is a gross misconception. It is false and do not believe such things. There is nothing divine about senseless pleasure, and please don't misinterpret the divine as such. Erotica isn't the focus of tantra anyway, unlike some would like to believe. It was created image by the West who is always looking for an excuse to engage in such things.
I do believe that there are better ways of practicing than tantra, which is relatively recent and heterodox, contrary to some older scriptures. I suppose that everyone is free to choose their own path.
Vivekananda says 'Tantra is slippery ground and this land has had enough of Tantra.'
It is more important to focus on positive knowledge, vibrations than focus on basic human instincts. It is probably easy to link sex with tantra without understanding its depth and relevance to the process of unifying with the creator.
tantra is a slippery ground ya you are right but sex is much much more slippery .so beware......
hi im not hindu person but im in love with a hindu guy we love each oother how can we learn more about tantra
It is important that tantra is considered a heterodox (not orthodox) system that is very new. It is also easily misunderstood and corrupted. Not meaning to offend but the anonymous poster above who asked about tantra, presumably to try it with the "hindu guy" who this person claims to "love", is an example of misuse of tantra. The ideas of tantra are misguided from being easily corrupted for committing sin in - lust and self-gratification specifically - in the name of religion or seeking moksha (liberation/salvation). There are, I think, better ways of seeking moksha, like those mentioned in the Gita - bhakti (faith), jnana (knowledge), and karma (good action).
Tantrism should carry a label of caution with it. It is a very clever way by some to associate sexual acts with trying to receive energy from the cosmos. Sexual acts are not advised by many of the sages of the world for religious reasons.
Realistically speaking, the sexual act is an energy-consuming time-wasting action that can make the individuals involved tired, drained of energy and susceptible to contractable disease, internal disease of the organs involved in sexual activity/ reproduction. It also increases lust, attraction and fantasy (taking one dangerously away from reality). This can cause violence and murder; wars have been fought for the love of sex.
Moving oneself away from all forms of sexual act like heterosexuality, homosexuality, bestiality, paedophilia, sex-slavery, masturbation, so-called perversion etc. will allow one to channel their energy towards other things and open the channels to the cosmos in a different way.
The purpose of the sexual act is to procreate not to recreate.
In tantra sadhana SEX is ONLY a part of Sadhana.As Ravindra Mundkur told the energy created or accumilated is transferd to the brain through spine.Mooladhara is Shakthi and the energy created passes through all the other 5 chakras to reach the sahasrara chakra the "Lord Shiva".Tantra has a lot to do with Kundalini.Sex in tantra sadhana is a process of creating energy and transfering the energy to higher consciousness by activating all chakras in the path.
Lavanya
lavanyalatalingam@yahoo.com
I like Ram Dass's take. His teachings have gotten better since his stroke and fall. He would say "Be content". Tantra is a state of mind/a place- where a woman invites a man or another woman- the bodies learn from fine tuning. If the heart and soul are given their rightly place to steer the ship of 'Self', then I say go forth! Teachings or bust! You'll be reborn for awhile either way. Go for the heart. Aim for the middle road. Don't hurt anyone. Have some fun for 's sake.
Hi Greetings to everyone
Tantra means Weave - continuity and tantram is religious philosophy according to which shakthi is usually the main diety worshipped.I accept the ideas of Ma Shathinandaji.
Every component in the world has its good and bad.Universal theory known by all and we should not be in the situation to see only the sexual aspects of tantrism. The tantric sex has its own devinity and uniqueness, it is when a person realises its aspects.There are many more number of things in tantrism where each and every human being in the world has to learn to know the truth of life and travel in the path of light towards Peace(God).
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