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"Most
people think that the thing we are looking for in life is meaning.
I don't think that's it at all.
I think that most people are looking for an experience that connects
them to the ecstasy of what it could feel like to be totally alive.
To know the unburdened state of total aliveness.....
is the pinnacle of the human potential."
- Joseph Campbell, Anthropologist
Abraham Maslow,
the founder of humanistic psychology, was the first psychologist to
examine well people, rather than sick people. By studying the best examples
that the human species had produced to date, he created his theory of
self-actualisation: an individual's potential to achieve the highest
state of being. One of the interesting by-products of this research
was the discovery that the more self-actualised a person became, the
better orgasms they had.
In
his ground-breaking book, The Function of the Orgasm, published
in the 1940's, Wilhelm Reich espoused the view that a person's emotional
health was related to his or her capacity to experience complete, whole-body
orgasmic release in the sexual act. He felt that a full-on orgasm
was one of the most healing experiences, both physically and emotionally,
that a person could have. The healthy person, according to Reich, is
one who regularly engages in lovingly uninhibited sexual exchange leading
to a thoroughly satisfying orgasm. He was also the first Western sexologist
to consider that healthy sexual functioning is connected with an ability
to experience higher states of consciousness.
In the East, the connection between health, sexuality and higher
consciousness has a long history. Tantra has always existed, for as
long as humans have wondered about the mystery of existence, and stood
in awe of the primordial power of their sexual nature. The capacity
for two individuals to mate and create another life form is the original
nuclear fusion. Tantra yoga is the sexual path, a vast and ancient system
of rituals and practical techniques which use the most powerful creative
energy in our body/mind system, that of sexual passion, to propel one
into higher consciousness. Tantra has a known history going back at
least 7000 years, far longer than any of the religious/spiritual practices
popular in the world today.
Freud, Jung and Reich have prepared the background
in the Western world for the popularity of Tantra. They may not have
known anything about Tantra, but they created the context for Tantra
to evolve in the West. Interest in Tantra is growing exponentially and
many forms of this age-old wisdom are being taught all over the world.
We believe that the reason Tantra is currently having such a rebirth
of popularity on every continent is two-fold. People want to have a
direct spiritual experience. They no longer are willing to go through
(nor do they trust) a third party or intermediary. Secondly, they are
capable of being responsible for their own spirituality, no longer being
needy. or lacking the confidence of self-empowerment.
The one thing that is unique about Tantra is
the recognition of our sexual nature. No other esoteric practice, religious
belief, or spiritual system celebrates our sexuality. All others repress
it, put a shame or guilt trip on it, or ignore it (this is the context
with which we have all grown up). As Tantra evolved in India, Tibet,
Egypt and China, adepts of yoga tapped into increasingly powerful techniques
for safely accessing the cosmic forces inherent in sexual energy.
The problem with the celebration of sexuality
in many cultures (but not all) has been that it has led to sexual license,
abuse and excess. This precipitated the inevitable reaction that comes
with things being out of balance - repression. The practice of Tantra
was wiped out or had to go "underground" in Europe (the Inquisition,
which wiped out more people than the Nazis), the Orient, and Egypt,
as well as India. Historically for the human race, it has been difficult
to open up the door to our sexual nature and maintain discipline and
control. Learning not to "leak" energy, and particularly sexual
energy, is a difficult task, even for many Tantrikas, or practitioners
of the art and science of Tantra.
Confusion
and ignorance
It takes enormous courage and dedication to be tantric in your view
of sexuality. Our culture is very confused about sexuality. On the one
hand, there are cultural pressures to inhibit your sexual expression.
But you can never free yourself from sex by repressing it. Trying to
avoid sex creates obsession. Unexpressed sexual energy turns into neurosis
and violence. We are enslaved by our sexuality and yet not permitted
to enjoy it, so the hunger is never satisfied. Tantra teaches us how
to be the master of our sexual energy, not a slave to it.
Until now, most human beings have remained quite
ignorant of their own loving potential. We are able to make love more
frequently and sensuously than perhaps any other animal. Yet we are
often disappointed after lovemaking. Why? Because most of us are like
owners of a precious Stradivarius violin that we have never learned
to play. Each of us has the built-in ability to experience ecstatic
states of consciousness. But how do we access these states?
Ecstasy
unveiled
What exactly is this "ecstasy" Campbell claims we quest for
on the hero's journey? We would define it as the continuous experience
of the divine achieved by transcendence of the ego (Latin; ex = to stand
out of, stasis = a state of being). This is, most likely, a natural
state that we "come in with" as an infant. Gradually, education
and the ubiquitous wounds of childhood erode this. Eventually, our capacity
for wonder, absolute confidence, and openness to the world, and the
freedom of our heart, fold up and close down tightly.
Stanislov Groth, in Beyond the Brain,
speaks of Tantric ecstasy as being "characterized by extreme peace,
tranquillity, serenity, and radiant joy. The individual involved…experiences
a blissful, tension-free state, a loss of ego boundaries and an absolute
sense of oneness with nature, with the cosmic order, and with God. A
deep intuitive understanding of existence and a flood of various specific
insights of cosmic relevance are characteristic for this condition."
Through the processes experienced in Tantra,
we see people regain and, hopefully, retain their capacity for wonder.
Returning to this childlike state is the door that reopens the heart.
We believe it is this possibility to which Christ referred in our favourite
Biblical quote, "Unless ye be as children, shall ye enter the kingdom
of Heaven." It is this reclaiming of our innocence, with the wisdom
of maturity, that constitute a divine state of being.
The
four principles of tantra
The four basic principles of Tantra follow along in sequential order,
like stair steps. They are (deceptively) simple, but not easy.
1. Be totally present
2. Open your heart
3. Dissolve the ego
4. Merge with the divine
Be
totally present
The ability to be totally present is what meditation is all about. It's
easy to think you know how to be totally present. However, like most
skills worth learning, it takes practice, as the mind is accustomed
to wandering. The rewards of success are awesome. Most people on the
planet spend their whole life churning over the past and having fears
and anxiety about their future. They rarely are able to relish the here
and now.
Open your heart
Once you are totally present, you then allow your heart to open. Again,
we like to think that we are Mr. or Ms. Bigheart. But it's not that
easy. We can't just snap our fingers and our heart is open. This skill
requires practice too.
Dissolve the Ego
Now this step is really difficult, and tricky.
We call it dingo medicine. The dingo is so good at fooling people he
can even fool himself. The ego loves to be in charge, to run the show,
to tell you who you are - or should be. Some of its more pervasive aspects
are the critic, the judge, the blamer and the projector. These aspects
are all important survival devices in the ordinary day-to-day world.
However, they don't serve you well when you are attempting to be in
your higher self. In fact, all of these ego games serve to separate
us from others and from our own divine nature. When the limited concept
you have of yourself (your ego) dedicates itself to the expanded self
(your divine nature); then, you have entered the path of surrender,
rather than the path of will. And remember, surrender is not defeat.
It is the mind sinking into the heart.
Merge with the Divine
If you have successfully followed the first three steps all together,
you will automatically go to the fourth step. You will be in a divine
place, a divine state of being. If you can do this simultaneously with
another human being in a loving and sexual context, it is absolutely
magical. Almost all of us have been there at some time in our lives,
and we all want to go back as often as possible. When two beings are
connected at the body, mind, heart and soul all at the same place at
the same time it is truly magical. Tantra teaches the techniques which
make it possible to achieve this bliss.
Now isn't it curious that in describing the four principles of tantra
the word S-E-X has never been mentioned? That's why Tantra is described
as sacred sex. Perhaps the emphasis should be on the sacred part. One
of the paradoxes of Tantra is that it's all about technique, and eventually,
it's about no technique. Sex is just the beginning, not the end. However,
if you miss the beginning, you will miss the end as well.
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