Into The Heart Home Page

The word "Tantra" is used today to mean many things — usually having some association with unbounded sexuality. Yet Tantra is so much more than that.

To truly understand Tantra, I recommend looking to its origins. That takes us back to India and Tibet nearly 2,000 years ago, where Tantra was developed as a very advanced spiritual practice. At that time, serious spiritual practice was generally restricted to men in the priest caste, involving tremendous dedication to the practice of meditation, as well as renunciation of "worldly" attachments. This was supported by a monastic lifestyle, including rigorous restrictions relative to the "pleasures of life" – money, food, and sex.

Within that context, Tantra was introduced as a kind of finishing school for enlightenment. Once an aspirant had attained a very high level of mastery in both meditation and discipline of the body-mind, his teacher might decide to have him begin practicing Tantra. The monk would then engage in Tantric practices (under the teacher’s direct supervision) that were seemingly the polar opposite of many of his previous instructions. These practices generally involved elaborate rituals that included very "worldly" things, such as drinking alcohol, feasting on meat and other previously-forbidden foods, meditating in graveyards, and engaging in sexuality with a consort from the lowest caste (chosen by the teacher).

The idea behind these apparently non-spiritual acts was to test and grow the practitioner until he could stably bring the realization he had achieved through meditation and abstinence into all the ordinary domains of life, and thus achieve full realization in all realms. Tantra (which translates as weaving or expansion) was actually about expanding the aspirant’s realization by weaving the realm of the spiritual with the earthly realm, to the point of total union or oneness.

This concept of weaving of opposites is central to Tantra. It is through this weaving that one can experience union and ultimate liberation. In Tantra, there is a fundamental understanding that the Divine itself is ultimately realized through inclusion or holding of ALL that is, including all apparent polarities (e.g. purity and pleasure, transcendence and immersion in life, self-realization and devotion to others, equanimity and action, surrender and engaging the will, etc.) The Tantric image of God and Goddess in union is an icon for this weaving of polarities.

Let’s take a closer look at this God-Goddess stuff. In Tantra. God (also called Shiva or the Divine masculine) refers to transcendental consciousness. The domain of Shiva is understood to be the unmanifest, prior to space, time, and all arising. It is the state that people generally seek to connect with through meditation, which has been described as peace, stillness, emptiness, spaciousness, pure awareness, liberation, nirvana, and the Self.

By contrast, the Goddess (also called Shakti or the Divine feminine) refers to the vibratory energy of manifestation. In its purest form, Shakti is the energy of love. Shakti is also the creative force of nature (sometimes referred to as Divine Mother), as well as the forces that sustain and destroy. In terms of spirituality, the feminine Divine energy may be experienced as radiance, bliss, fullness, heart-opening, subtle visions or sounds, and light. It may also be experienced as change, movement, purification, and disintegration.

In Tantra, the Divine is seen as Shiva-Shakti, or the union of the Divine feminine and masculine. It’s the masculine, ever-still, presence of consciousness fusing with the feminine, in-motion, energy of life and love. Ultimately it’s an alchemical recipe for unity and oneness.

So what’s all this got to do with sex? Well, to begin with, Shiva and Shakti are a couple of pretty hot lovers, in a very cosmic sense. So we’re talking about quite a juicy view of the Divine. As a matter of fact, Shiva and Shakti are often visually represented in sexual embrace, as a symbolic communication of the nature of the universe. In other words, everything that exists, every moment in time, can be understood as Shiva-Shakti, or the play of consciousness and energy.

And that's not just an abstract concept. In Tantra, you and I (and everyone) are related to as the Divine feminine and masculine. This is often expressed as seeing the God and Goddess within. Sadly, we live in a world that largely denies these amazing parts of each of us. As we learn to re-invigorate these aspects of ourselves, we often see striking changes in our participation in life, including our sexuality (though actually, in Tantra, there isn’t any such thing as a non-sexual moment:-)

There's more that links Tantra with sexuality. Tantra views sexuality as the microcosm that reflects the macrocosm. Because of this, sexuality is a unique and powerful vehicle for experiencing the embrace of consciousness and energy. In Tantra, there are sexual practices that guide the participants into unity and oneness, both within oneself, with one’s partner, and potentially with the Divine. I call this aspect of Tantra "Sacred Sexuality" (to differentiate if from the broader spectrum of Tantra), and it's a profoundly transformative practice of ecstasy, integrating body, heart, mind, and soul.

Many people are attracted to Sacred Sexuality because it brings greater intimacy and love into their relationships. Sacred Sexuality is a heart-opening practice, expanding our capacity for feeling and being present with an intimate. It also grows us in our capacity to give and receive sexual energy, so most people experience a dramatic increase in their sexual pleasure and aliveness. However, this sexual energy isn’t merely confined to the genitals. It’s redirected to the entire body, including all the chakras, with powerful results for our whole-body energy, health, and spiritual growth.

And last, but certainly not least, Sacred Sexuality is a powerful tool for healing. Many of us have experienced sexual shame and wounding, which is stored in our cellular memory. This may range from obvious incidents of sexual trauma, to a vague or pervasive sense of sex as secretive, dirty, sinful, or evil. Sacred Sexuality is a potent means for actively releasing emotional/sexual blocks and wounds, and through that returning to a life-positive orientation of celebrating our sexuality and reclaiming it's highest potential.