What is Tantra?

Wow, this is a pretty simple concept that will be hard to answer. I expect mostly because people think one of two things; it means sex in the West and in much of India is means black magic.

Well, it means neither actually. Black magic is cured by tantra and yes, there are sexual components to tantrik sadhana but just regular sex cannot be called tantrik. That I’ll explain later.

It means thread, or to weave. Why would that have anything to do with this? Well because the goal of all tantrik techniques is to recognize the common thread between all things, so thereby weaving it together. That thread is what would be called God in Tantra, though many people try to avoid the use of the word God these days it is an important part of a Tantrik lifestyle and practice.

The concept of Tantra, Mantra, Yantra is also there. Tantra is the technique, the Mantra is the deity that you are invoking within yourself and the Yantra can be a geometric design which also invokes the deity but the Yantra ends up being your body. So in this vein of thought your guru will give you one technique that is in his/her parampara, and is usually a beginning stage so you can slowly open up the chakras and energy channels to allow the energy to flow and then once it begins a new technique will be given that is on the next level.

If that technique was a mantra and a specific location or way to chant the mantra, or say with a visualization, then you will do exactly that for however many times he/she told you to in the exact way they told you to. Usually the prescription will be 1 lakh times; 100,000 times, or even more. But not usually less. Unless your guru is like mine then they will simply observe you until they see your energy has shifted to the new level and then they will give you a new mantra, maybe to be done in a different place or with a new visualization. Or sometimes simply no instructions except to do it this many times before you come back. And they will know if you have or not when you come, because they will be able to feel it,.

Now I had an old teacher who was very open about what she called Neo-Tantra, the sexual approach. Because she believed it was also possible to achieve things that way as well, but the concern was on that side of things the deity is often left out of the equation. You simply are doing it in a selfish way, and that is NOT what Tantra is about at all. Her idea was you had to have a love affair with the deity, almost always a Devi, that would push you to go looking for ways to learn how to worship Her and to bring Her energy to you or within you. Then and only then would you be willing to surrender to the level you need to to accept the gurus teachings that would then evoke that Devi within you. And then you would be beginning your foyer into Tantra, but this was still only a beginning step as far as she was concerned, and in this I agree with her.

You also have to have a guru in Tantra, without one you will likely fail big time. And yes, there were so many of the old school holy men who did not have one and yet achieved much success in tantra. But they were almost always in India and so wanting that more than anything in their life that their chosen God appeared to them and gave them instructions directly. This is how all the mantras and other techniques came into existence in the first place anyway. And almost never happens nowadays, not that it couldn’t. India, unlike most of the rest of the planet, is not closed off to the idea of this still happening. But is very careful to accept new people because so much scamming has gone on. And so many gurus went to the west and were tempted by things there to their detriment. Really to their downfall! Which has given the Guru a bad name over there and around he world. But it doesn’t mean there aren’t real ones, good ones out there. I myself have one.

So if you want to deepen your experience of life, sometimes to an extreme that may seem too much, especially if you’re not from the culture that it is from. But then again even here in India people think they want this, but don’t really. So maybe I need to revise my wording. So, if you want to swim on the surface and never take a chance, then stay away from Tantra. BUT if you’re interested in life lived to its fullest extent, and the possibility of death at all times, and even are ready to accept death as the defining element of life then go seek a Guru, a Tantrik Guru. Because your life will change, and it will get better, and it will get worse in some ways (because awareness at this level is hard) but it all ways it will be enhanced. Your senses will get more heightened, your awareness will be soaring and you will have to learn to love and laugh through it all. But in my opinion that is the point of all this.

And another but…. If you aren’t willing to begin seeing something more within each being, within each situation, something many call God, but you are not required to. Some thread, some weaving together of all things including you, including me, including the rock you’re sitting on, the tree under whose shade you sit and everything you can see then don’t come to Tantra. For the techniques you learn will for sure show you this and drive you mad if you’re not willing to be with this knowing.

Tantra is this and so many more things, including an extension of the Vedas. Let’s meet sometime and discuss!