What is Tantra?
by The Dear Abby of Tantra, Chandi Devi
Tantra is a spiritual practice and discipline that promises a life of peace, love and bliss to anyone dedicated to the path. Accepting all of life as an opportunity for expansion, tantra is the sublime, mystical worship between the opposite polarities of Shiva/Shakti, yin/yang, feminine/masculine for a mutually higher purpose, that is, for self-realization. Tantric sex is the union of Universal Consciousness and Energy, replicated in the microcosmic union of male (consciousness) and female (energy).
For the individual or couple, what this means is that through the activation of the kundalini and chakras, you will awaken and evolve to a higher level of consciousness. This level of awareness will affect your life in numerous ways.
On a spiritual level, you may gain deeper insight and inspiration as your creative abilities soar. Tantra is the fast path to enlightenment. You may manifest siddhis, mystical powers, such as clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairvoyance and other paranormal powers.
On a mental level, you will suddenly have an understanding of topics that you never understood before. The concepts of karma, ego and surrender will make sense. The busy "monkey" mind will be replaced with peace and quiet. Anxieties and stress may dissolve. Your mind no longer works against you, but for you.
Emotionally, your pain and suffering is eliminated as you evolve from an angry, fearful or reactive individual to someone who has enlightened emotions fueled by a purified shakti. This will improve all your relationships, especially the relationship you have with yourself.
On the physical level, tantra work improves your health, flexibility, breath intake and balance. Sensuality becomes heightened as your sensitivity to energy increases. You may not only feel energy but see it as well. As the body becomes more active, the mind becomes more still.
Tantra is an individualistic, self-regulated, holistic approach to better living. It is about taking what you learn in a class or workshop and applying it to your life every moment of every day in total awareness, perfect acceptance and an open heart. And like any other skill, it takes knowledge, will and practice...especially when the teacher is not watching.
Tantra is all about yoking and balancing "energy"-- the male energy and the female energy within the individual, as well as between a couple, regardless if that couple is composed of one woman and one man, or two women, or two men, or any other combination or grouping. It is about energy.
We are not deliberately choosing to exclude anyone. Tantra is all inclusive. Nothing is condemned, everything has the potential to become worship of God. We are talking about "energy" and I would urge everyone to go beyond a narrow understanding. Tantra is about expansion and I would urge everyone to open their hearts instead of closing it off to its bliss and wonder.
Within each individual are both feminine and masculine attributes, but not necessarily in balance. We do practices to try to balance the energies within. I would like to add that feminine does not mean fluffy or weak and masculine does not mean macho. When we say "feminine" it could mean -among other things-- the creative force, intuition, the nurturing, compassionate and loving, heart based energy. When we say "masculine" we are referring to-among other things-- right brain activities such as logic and reason.
And for those who have felt anger because they concluded erroneously that they were being excluded because of their particular sexual persuasion, please be aware that anger is aggression perpetuated by ego. Any kind of anger.
Every "spiritual" person should consider whether anger is still prominent in their actions, feelings and thoughts and if it is, ask yourself how is that emotion benefiting you? Your reaction to any situation is a sure measure of how much you have progressed in your practices. Your progress is determined by your ability to be detached, your egolessness and your ability to respond, rather than how you react emotionally. Responding requires thought. An instant reaction is a knee jerk no-brainer.
Tantra is about energy. It does not really require a man and a woman or any other combination having sex. You can exchange energy with no physical sex. To illustrate, I know of women who have received powerful orgasms by a masterful tantric-- long distance-- through energy alone. No sex talk or looking at porn. Just purified energy. I myself have had maha orgasms while chanting and meditating with hundreds of people (thank god it was in a dark room) and I witnessed myself having a full, blown-out, thunderous, out-of-this-world orgasm with a 2000 year old avatara in front of perhaps 40 people that till this day has not been duplicated with an incarnated man. (Hey, I am still hopeful!) Although I have had amazing and awesome experiences, this remains the quintessence of orgasms, hands down, in my book. It was so supreme and powerful it jolted me out of my reality---what I thought was reality. It had a function, a purpose and intention, which was for me to make the tantric path my life work. I have never wavered for over 15 years nor have I had my doubts. This is real. Energy is real, within and without. You can see it. You can feel it. You can hear it, touch it, taste it. You can save it, or you can spend it. The cache is in your heart.
Energy is something you can rely on, it is truly your own.
So don't let the words get in the way. Words are translated, misinterpreted and misunderstood. Their meanings are contingent upon each individual's life experiences, so they mean different things to different people. Look beyond the words, see the deeper meanings with your heart and not your ego.
This is why we meditate and do the practices -- to expand our consciousness, to see beyond the limitations of the words and the confusions of the ego mind, to rely on our intuition instead of borrowed knowledge. Don't allow your ego to steal the energy. Energy is much too precious. Treasure it.
