TANTRA Articles and Secrets TANTRA20.TXT ********************************************************************** MEDITATION AND TANTRA From The Book: Sexual Energy Ecstasy By David and Ellen Ramsdale Why is sex so attractive to us? Is it, as some scientific views preach, merely animal instinct? According to Tantric views, sex is magnetic because we want the sweet taste of samadhi (higher consciousness), of light-love-bliss, of the transcendental, even if it is at first but a flash during sex. Meditation accepts that flash for what it is--a message about the nature of reality--and cultivates it into a transformed life. The key that makes Tantric sex real Tantra and not, as one of our Buddhist meditation teachers put it, just "souped up nookie," is whether the person is really sincere about making an effort to go beyond the self or not. Getting a little loose, a little open feels good. And it's certainly healthy. But real Tantric sex blows your mind completely because it takes you beyond all of your conceptions of everyday reality--you taste the transcendental unity. Your life can never be the same. The classic descriptions of the Tantric orgasm talk about a unitary or fusion experience. This is where it can get a little confusing. It is possible to have some sort of fusion experience via drugs, at a party, dancing, at a sporting event. The energies harmonize and merge and there is a moment where you feel like you are "one." The "oneness" of any real Tantric experience, however, is radical oneness. It rips your mind off. It alters your view of reality. It forces you to reconsider the purpose of your life and who and what you are. It takes you closer to answering the question "Who am I?" If your intent is to do Tantra, then the bottom line is that you need to have a regular meditation practice or similar self-discipline for self-transcendence that gives you the all-important reference point. Then your involvement in sex means you are bringing an enhanced awareness via meditation to your sexual experiences. In yoga, it is recognized that there are three levels of energy: tamas, rajas and sattua. Sex that is crude, violent, selfish, unredeeming, where people are treated as if they are objects without feeling, is tamasic. As the sensitivity of the partners is undeveloped, they resort to gross stimuli in order to "get off." Tamasic sex is symbolized by the color black. Rajasic sex, which most people would call good or great sex, is passionate, thrilling, romantic, exciting. As it has the qualities of fire, it is symbolized by red. While far superior to tamasic sex, it often leads to frustration unless sattvic consciousness is introduced as the relationship matures. For example, a hot-cold involvement, as in the expression "the fire went out," may develop. A typical response is either to find a new partner or keep the relationship but have an affair. If the conflict further degenerates, then the classic love-hate relationship results. Tamasic behavior such as verbal or physical violence tends to dominate. Sattvic sex, which is the Tantric or sacred sexuality path, incorporates the qualities of openness and space so that lovemaking is experienced as beautiful, meditative, healing, serene, flowing, peaceful, heart-felt, profound, blissful, harmonizing, mystical, spiritually beneficial. No longer a problem, sexual energy now contributes deeply to your personal growth path and overall sense of fulfillment. Through sattvic, Tantric loving, the sex energy is harmonized with the spiritual life and its powerful energies made available for love, healing and self-transcendence. Sattvic sex is symbolized by the brilliance of the rising sun which, when it reaches its zenith, radiates a dazzling white brightness that burns away the ego. In practice, most loving couples will find they tend to alternate between rajasic and sattvic lovemaking. They may even go through times when sex seems unimportant, only to emerge a few months later into a period of fiery passion where lovemaking is fresh and exciting again. The intelligent desire to make love and experience a meaningful union should be allowed to arise from within as a spontaneous flowering. Rigid rules for spiritualizing sex, even if well intentioned, tend to backfire, obstructing the natural inner flow which knows the best way intuitively without thinking. The point of sex meditation or Tantric sex is that it will take you out of your head and down into your body and your heart. As Fritz Perls said, "lose your mind and come to your senses." Tantra is all about learning to let go of the mind and discover your supreme Self hidden deep in your heart. Paradoxically, by going deep into your familiar, physical body in a conscious, loving manner, as a yoga, you discover a deeper, truer body, a body that is pure presence and has no form. When you are lost in love, when you are swept away by the current of ecstasy during lovemaking, when you are melting into the clear light space above your head during the orgasm, when you are fused as one via the Tantric energy climax, you experience this. Tantra is about the lighthearted joy of bodylessness, of formlessness. Admit it. During your really great orgasms, you completely lost track of who you are, of your body, of your partner--it all just simply melted away, overwhelmed by the power. Usually, we are very wary of this idea of having no body. But in Tantra we discover that it is; fun! Ultimately, lovers have as their nature joyous, open, luminous oneness. In Tantra, we go through the body to the source of the body, to the true body. By totally feeling the body, we actually taste a purity that is fully spiritual. Yes, the body is the temple, but we must go deeply into it and explore it completely if we are to find the inner shrine. Awake and aware, we celebrate the formless ocean of cosmic joy.