To: K-list
Recieved: 1999/11/14 02:09
Subject: [K-list] is tantra the yoga of sex?
From: Zala
On 1999/11/14 02:09, Zala posted thus to the K-list:
Is tantra the yoga of sex?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As you can probably imagine, there are many inquiries for books, tapes,
seminars, etc. on the subject that is called new age tantra.
Occasionally, I review such materials for the sheer irritation value of
it,
hoping to find some depth. Rarely do I find anything even to get my feet
wet. Rarely do I recommend this genre to anyone interested in a serious
study of tantra. Mostly such workshops, books, videos and tapes
misrepresent
the authentic tantric tradition, which is well established through several
well respected lineages. Such materials are usually very far from genuine
tantra in spirit (most importantly), in form or in content. As a rule,
they
constitute cleverly disguised digressions on sex and marriage therapy or
are
musings on the theme of Kama Sutraa medieval Indian treatise on human
sexuality.
It is unfortunate that tantra has become another casualty of our plastic
culture that loves the common denominator, that trivializes everything and
that strives to delude us with grandiose ideas of perpetual youth and
pain-free life. Let us not allow ourselves become sullen, silent and
guilt-ridden perpetrators of triviality. Let us not allow the rich and
profound tantric tradition to be watered down and ignored through
distortion.
A serious student of tantra should know that the main point of tantra is
contained in the very meaning of the term tantra: tan means expansion and
tra connotes liberation. Thus, tantra always refers to liberation through
expansionbreaking through personal barriers and courageously going forward
toward the Divine Bliss both as an individual and as a society.
Ultimately,
tantra is the path of the spiritual warrior (shambhala/avadhuta) that
encourages us to fight unceasingly against limited or prejudiced thinking,
against inner and outer enemies of genuineness, truth and the Divine Plan,
against shallowness. In particular, tantra inspires and teaches us to seek
Anandathe Divine Bliss as opposed to being caught in the cage of merely
looking for pleasure and avoiding pain.
It is true that tantra encourages savoring life to its fullest, with its
pleasure and pain, beauty and ugliness, living and dying. It is true that
tantra teaches us how to go beyond, how to reach the union of these
opposites and how to transcend them. It is true that many images used in
tantric philosophies and practices to represent these opposites appear to
be
obviously erotic. However, one should not interpret these images out of
context, merely based on the first visual impression.
At its very core, tantra is founded on the philosophical notion that one
Living Divinity (Brahma) separates Itself into Him (Shiva) and Her
(Shakti),
into the Creator and the Creatrix, into Cognitive and Operative Principles
of the Universe. Everything: God, Truth, Divine Love is viewed as having
two
aspects: male and female, now and then, here and there, self and
other-than-self. The continuous relationship between these opposites
generates appearances of energy and matter. Our continuous ego-driven
(Shakti-inspired) interference with our lifes mission (i.e., the Divine
Plan for us) sustains the separation of these opposites. Thus, we are
caught
in the Play (Lila) of energy and mass by holding onto ever-unresolved,
infinitely complicated relationships between the opposites created by the
Divine Order Itself for our edification and imprisonment in the world of
perceived self and other-than-self.
As a system of practice that aims to resolve and go beyond these
opposites,
tantra naturally endeavors to address the most obvious example of Shiva
and
Shakti engaged in eternal play: the attraction and relationship between
the
sexes. In a heterosexual situation, the man embodies a bit more of
Cognitive
Principle (Male/Shiva) than a woman, while the woman embodies a bit more
of
Operative Principle (Female/Shakti) than a man. Tantric techniques help an
individual to balance these two principles within and, thus, to reach a
state that equally embodies Shiva and Shakti, Male and Female, Anima and
Animus.
Generally such evolution, such development, such training is accomplished
in
several very specific steps. The crude tantric teachings (i.e., tantric
dos
and donts) are used to prepare a person for the more subtle tantric
teachings (yoga). Subsequently, the yoga system is engaged to calm the
tug-of-war game of opposites, to learn to handle this game well and
eventually to go beyond such dualistic mode of being through a form of
Abhidhyan (non-dualistic) yoga practice. Typically, a well-balanced tantra
yoga training would include developing a solid moral foundation, a daily
practice of asanas (yoga postures), mental exercises of concentration and
meditation as well as certain advanced rituals of appeasing the deities
(puja/japa yoga) and serving your guru/teacher (guru yoga) and his ashram
(karma yoga). Since the tantra yoga system of practice is based on the
tantra yoga philosophical system, such training would necessarily include
learning the theoretical side of tantra from a reputable source.
Regular and sincere efforts at yoga practice ensure that a sadhaka will
gradually move away from animality (pashu) and eventually proceed to the
stage of skilled warrior (viira). A viira (brave individual) is a person
who
has gained control over the six enemies and eight fetters. The six enemies
are physical longing (kama), anger (krodha), avarice (lobha), vanity
(mada), blind fascination (moha), and jealously (matsarya). The eight
fetters (bondages) are hatred (ghrna), apprehension (shaunka), fear
(bhaya), shyness (lajja), hypocrisy (jugupsa), pride of ancestry (kula),
vanity of culture (shiila), egotism (mana). There is a certain advanced
initiation into a tantric (not a yoga) practice (kapalika diiksa) that
dramatically accelerates gaining control over six enemies and eight
fetters
and reaching the brave stage of spiritual development. Such initiation is
available to anyone who has reached a certain degree of expertise in our
tantra yoga meditation system.
Sexual rituals constitute a miniscule part of tantra. Such practices are
undertaken only if they are absolutely necessary for a disciples further
spiritual development and only after he or she has become an unquestioned
expert in laya yoga (yoga of dissolution), i.e., he or she has become a
viira (see previous paragraph). To attempt a practice of sexual tantra
before the successful completion of proper preparatory training is pretty
much like studying higher mathematics without first being trained in
arithmetic! The presence of such desire betrays the students ignorance,
impatience and confusion of pleasure seeking with reaching out to Divine
Bliss.
It is not possible for a novice to practice sexual tantra rituals even if
he
or she tries because the beginner has by definition no experiential
foundation on which to base such practice. The beginner can surely go
through the motions: like children who imitate peculiar motions they
observed in their parents bedroom. Trust me, though, such tantric union
yields no spiritual babies.
At this point let me also warn the reader: if practiced prematurely,
sexual
rituals can potentially undo years of efforts at yoga practice. Tantric
gurus know that a practitioners mind must be established first in Cosmic
Consciousness (viira stage, i.e., control of six enemies and eight
fetters),
then he or she can experiment with anything. For this reason spiritual
masters are known to test their disciples severely before they impart such
sexual practices, for both the teacher and the student must be certain
that
the student is ready for the practices.
Present-day announcements from the proponents of phony new age tantra
usually cater to particular groups of people. Who is usually attracted to
the so-called sexual yoga? 1) People who need basic sex education, 2)
People who desire to go beyond (resolve) their adolescent emotions/notions
regarding sex, 3) People who want uninhibited sex packaged as a spiritual
practice, 4) People who are ashamed of or are out-of-touch with their
sexuality, 5) People who are trying to reconcile their strong and
unrestrained sex drive with their spiritual longing. All but the last of
these groups are confusing personal fulfillment with spiritual growth.
That
is why sex tantra seminars are necessarily populated by people who are in
need of emotional growth and who confuse psychology which seeks to improve
their personality in relation to its functions in the world with
spirituality (such as genuine tantra) which seeks to free the eternal
human
soul (atman) from the bondages of the world. A person would qualify for a
genuine tantric initiation (tantrikii diiksa) only after this confusion
has
been adequately addressed. This is important because the practice of
tantra
yoga can commence only after an aspirant has procured a tantric initiation
from a qualified teacher.
A rational attitude to inquiry requires that we check the sources and
references of any information that is being presented to usbe it a book, a
tape, a person. How did the author acquire his or her knowledge? How many
years did he or she practice and what are the results of such practice? I
have not yet found one book, etc. on new age tantra that references
authentic tantric scriptures, teachers and practices. The authors of such
books usually have not studied with a genuine tantric master but had a
limited course of study with a sex therapist masquerading as a sex-tantrik
. (I think I may have invented this term. I love it and demand credit for
it!) This state of affairs is unfortunate considering that the genuine
information is widely available.
Dont get me wrong. New age tantra may actually be helpful. Such sex and
marriage therapy can be really healing. Sexual tantra may free people of
inappropriate shame of sex, educate them about sex, enhance their
enjoyment
of sexual life. If you want to have great sexgo for it! Have fun, have
pleasure! But act responsibly and do not call it tantrafor the whole point
of all tantra training is gaining freedom through attainment of spiritual
Divine Bliss (Ananda) that is beyond physical pleasures and pains of sex.
Living in Ananda is a permanent happy state while an orgasm is an
intermittent, temporary pleasure.
As a postscript to this commentary, here is what Georg Feuerstein who is,
in
my opinion, the foremost yoga scholar living today e-mailed me a few days
ago in answer to my inquiry about the sexual content of tantric scriptures
and about his opinion of new age tantra: "Here are my thoughts on the
subject of sexual Tantra in a nutshell: As far as I can tell, right-hand
or
conventional (samaya) Tantras generally dont deal with sex. Extant
left-hand Tantras apparently are confined to a single textthe
Vamakeshvari.
The in-between Tantras of the Kaula tradition do mention sexual practices.
But nowhere is ananda (bliss) confused with sukha (pleasure), as seems to
be
the case with what a Gelugpa lama once jokingly called California Tantra.
That's the crucial point as far as I am concerned. Even in the left-hand
and
Kaula texts, sex is simply one of the components, and none of the
scriptures
equate Tantra with sex. Thank God!"
Georg Feuersteins book on tantra will be published by Shambhala in April
1998. He is hoping that it will provide some sort of corrective to the
ridiculous versions of tantra promoted nowadays in the West.
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