An Introduction to Tantra, East and West

by Magdalene Meretrix

When you hear the word Tantra, what images come to mind? Turbans and
Sitar music? Mind-blowing sex? Most people in the Western world have heard the
word Tantra, but few know anything in detail about what it means.

The situation in India isn't much different. Many people in larger cities have
adopted the Western view of the world, including the Western view of Tantra, while
those in the smaller towns and villages often to equate Tantra with sorcery and black
magic. The truth appears to lie somewhere in between.

Tantra is a form of Yoga (see glossary below) -- another word that to mean
something different in the West. It may make you think of people bending themselves
into pretzel shapes, but those physical exercises, part of a system called Hatha Yoga,
are a tiny fraction of this ancient and complex philosophical system.

Tantra is also a very ancient system of spiritual philosophy and way of life.
Most scholars agree that Tantra is even older than the Hindu religion. Sanskrit words
have a great depth of meaning. It would take an entire essay just to go through the
various shades of meaning included in the word "tantra," but one simple translation is
"an extension of knowledge."

Even though Tantra is so old, it's been controversial from the beginning.
Teachers of Yoga, a spiritual path that teaches separation from the world, and of
Bhoga, a spiritual path that teaches that physical pleasure can lead a person to divine
enlightenment, have nearly always been at odds with one another. Gurus, even today,
will often tell you that bhoga is just hedonistic self-indulgence and tantra is very
dangerous.

But Kaula Tantra, the form of tantra that Westerners are most familiar with, is
a way to unite yoga and bhoga - to discover the divine through enjoying the pleasures
of the physical world. Traditional Tantra is not a single unified thing but rather a

1
collection of schools of thought and action, many very different from one another.
Consider the word "Christian" and think of how different a Quaker meeting house is
from a Roman Catholic cathedral. Similarly, there are some forms of Tantra that
include magical incantations, some that include eating of feces or copulation with
corpses and some that advocate complete sexual celibacy. Kaula is the school of
Tantra that includes the Maithuna ritual -- sacred sexual intercourse.

To the Kaula Tantrika, pleasure is not an end in itself but a way to contact
divinity -- to reach a state of Samarasa. A person in Samarasa views the world with
equality -- sort of like the phrase I'm sure you've heard: "All are One." The ancient
saying adopted by the neo-pagans, "as above, so below," finds its place in Kaula
Tantra, where the sexual union of a couple represents the union of the god Shiva and
the goddess Shakti. This union of the gods, in turn, represents the mystical union of
the universal forces of creation and destruction.

Unlike most Eastern philosophies, tantra doesn't deny the physical world.
While other religions teach that the physical plane is an illusion we must escape,
Kaula Tantra considers concrete reality to be a magical condition that we can use to
propel ourselves to a higher state of consciousness.

Western Tantra, an eclectic blend of select beliefs from Kaula Tantra mixed
with new age and neo-pagan beliefs, is not necessarily any less effective than Eastern
Tantra. For the practitioner who was born and raised in the culture and mindset of the
New World, Western Tantra is often more effective and accessible than traditional
Kaula Tantra with its complex rituals, foreign vocabulary and multiple godforms.

I grew up with a form of Yoga that was filtered through Western teachings
much as tantra has been Westernized. As a child, I learned about chakras (powerful
energy centers in the human body) and prana (life-force energy) from my father. The
colors I learned to associate with the chakras, however, are not the traditional Indian
colors and many traditional yoga teachers would consider some of the prana exercises
I use unorthodox. My approach to tantra yoga has, from the outset, been a blend of
Eastern and Western traditions and likewise these techniques I'm going to introduce to
you here are an eclectic blend of both worlds.

2
 I have used many of these techniques over the years in my sex work as well as
in my personal life. Using these teachings, and many others too numerous to relate in
an introductory article, I have helped my clients and myself develop a greater
connection between spirit and body. These exercises are also useful for a variety of
specific issues such as premature ejaculation or inability to reach orgasm.

The first step to practicing transcendent sex is to tone your body. The better
condition your body is in, the better sex will be for you and your partner and the more
chance you have of reaching that transcendent Divine state through bhoga. This
doesn't mean you have to look like a centerfold or a bodybuilder. Good condition
looks different from body to body - what matters is not how your body looks but how
it feels to you. Practicing Hatha Yoga will condition your body as will any exercises
or activities that strengthen your endurance and your flexibility.

One of my favorite books for learning Hatha Yoga is Richard Hittleman's

Yoga: 28 Day Exercise Plan. This book appears to be written for the housewife of the
70's and there is no mumbo-jumbo in it. It's filled with clear photos and lucid
descriptions of the asanas, the "pretzel positions" that you most likely associate with
yoga as a whole. But there's no pretzeling here! Hittleman stretches your learning out
over the course of 28 days, giving your body time to adjust to the new routines, and
finishes the book off with three routines to alternate among for the rest of your life.

A part of Hatha Yoga that often gets left out in Western yoga classes is the
science of breath. You will be amazed at the difference conscious and complete
breathing makes in your sex life and in your life in general. If you don't believe that
your sexual pleasure is affected by your breathing, try masturbating while holding
your breath or while hyperventilating and observe the differences.

A complete breath is a breath that fills your entire lungs. Yoga speaks of a life
energy called prana that is inhaled through the nose and fills the body. This is the life
force that is called Chi or Qi in other systems. Learning to charge your body with
prana and offer an exchange of prana to a sexual partner can enhance your pleasure in
union. I have also found that concentrating on sending prana to an injured person
when there are no medical options available at the moment can effect a "laying on of
hands" type of pain relief.

3
 I learned breathing and prana from a book called Science of Breath by Yogi
Ramacharaka. My father had some old Ramacharaka books from 1904 (they are
currently in print again, thanks to Samuel Weiser publishing) and we studied the
entire series together. The information in this little book is marvelous and so easy to
understand that I was able to use the techniques effectively at age twelve to comfort
my pet dog with prana while we were in the car on the way to the vet after he'd had a
heart attack.

To take a complete breath, pull air in through your nose while letting your
abdomen relax to a fuller position. Letting your stomach pooch out changes the
position of your diaphragm and pulls air to parts of your lungs that often remain
untouched. Once you've filled your lungs as much as you think you can, pull your
diaphragm in slightly and raise your shoulders slightly and fill that last little bit of
your lungs. Hold the air for a moment and then slowly let it all flow out, using your
diaphragm at the end to push out the last little bits of air.

Just this breathing technique alone will make you feel more alert, more
energetic and more peaceful. Practice it until it becomes second nature to you. Your
objective is to be able to breathe like this through sex and orgasm. Most people pant
and hyperventilate during sex but would find that their sexual pleasure is greatly
enhanced if they can maintain a steady complete breath during sex and throughout
orgasm.

If you want to use breathing to work with your prana, your body's natural
energy field, visualize the energy entering your body as a golden flowing light and
filling your body with each breath. As you breathe out, imagine impurities and
negative thoughts leaving your body, visualized as a black or noxious green cloud.
Continue breathing until your entire body is drenched in the golden light and then
practice visualizing that light flowing from your heart out through the ends of your
fingertips as you breathe out. Practicing this with a partner can be great fun,
syncopating your breathing so that you are taking turns sending one another energy in
an even rhythm of unison breaths.

Once you've begun to get the hang of full breaths and energy play, the next
step you might want to take is learning to "recycle" your sexual energies. This

4
technique works for men and women both but in men has the added benefit of helping
to teach a man to be multi-orgasmic. But before we go on, I should make something
clear about male multiple orgasm. While some men, especially younger men, can
ejaculate several times in an evening, this Western tantric technique will teach you to
orgasm several times in a row without ejaculating. The parts of your brain that control
erection, ejaculation and orgasm can function separately and the effort spent training
your body and brain to orgasm without ejaculating will reward you with wave after
wave of pleasure that leave you energized rather than tired and drained.

So how can an ordinary person learn to separate orgasm and ejaculation?

There is a technique that sounds deceptively simple but, with practice, can greatly
enhance both male and female pleasure. I will describe the technique using the male
sexual terms but women should not be afraid of trying these techniques for
themselves as well. I have found deep sexual and spiritual satisfaction from pulling
my orgasmic energies up through my heart while self-pleasuring or during sex.

Begin by masturbating. Some people find it helps them to concentrate in their

early practice sessions if they allow themselves to ejaculate once and rest for a while
before beginning the practice in earnest. Once you feel you are ready to get down to
work, masturbate until you feel that you are as close to orgasm as you can get while
still maintaining enough control to keep from coming. Stop at the last possible
moment and focus on letting the sexual feelings rise through your body until they pass
out through the top of your head. As soon as you are ready to begin again, repeat the
process -- masturbating until you reach that brink and then sending the energy up
through your body.

Some men find that they have an easier time stopping at the last possible
moment if they press on their perineum -- the flat area between the testicles and the
anus -- with a couple of fingers. This puts pressure on your prostate and helps to send
the energy back into your body rather than spurting out with semen. Women might
want to experiment with their male partner's perineum as well. I have been able to
cause an orgasm without ejaculation in a man who had never practiced these
techniques before just by applying the right amount of pressure to his perineum while
I was sucking him.

5
 After you have practiced this technique for a while, you will reach a point
where you begin to experience waves of pleasure that last a very long time and, in the
case of men, are not accompanied by ejaculation. There are many theories about what
the sexual energy and the unreleased sperm do within the body. The thing I've found
most important about it all, however, is that practicing this technique enables a man to
have many orgasms during the course of having sex with his partner rather than one
exhausting burst of brief pleasure.

If you'd like to learn more about the exercises that can teach men to become
multi-orgasmic, read The Multi-Orgasmic Man: Sexual Secrets Every Man Should
Know by Mantak Chia and Douglas Abrams Arava.

There are so many more exercises and visualizations that I'd love to talk about,
but I'll just leave you with one last one -- the puja. Puja means "worship" and that's
exactly what you do when practicing puja: worship your partner. Puja is a ritual
wherein you are able to see the divine shining through your partner and reveal the
divine to your partner similarly. Puja can be performed externally, using a partner or
even your own genitals, and it can be performed internally as a meditation without
actual sex.

Traditional Eastern tantra has many beautiful puja rituals but some of these
might seem awkward or even silly to a Westerner. It depends on the person -- if you
feel comfortable telling your partner that his penis "shines with the light of a thousand
suns" then you might want to look into the traditional rituals. For many of us
Westerners, a slightly different symbolism resonates better.

For that matter, you don't have to tell your partner anything. The important
part of puja is to remember that you are worshipping, that your partner's body is a
sacred shrine or temple and that you are touching the infinite divine when you touch
your partner. You can even use puja when you are with a partner who knows nothing
about tantric sex. Your partner may never realize that you were making love to God
when you were with him or her, but they will definitely notice the difference in how
you approach them. Puja can't help but make an impression.

6
 The best, though, is when a couple decides to practice puja together. Offering
prana and love and bhoga to one another, worshipping at each other's bodies, the
couple becomes God loving God, a sacred and eternal union. Couples who have found
this point in their lovemaking tend to describe it as a transcendent experience. You'll
hear comments like, "I hit such a euphoric high that I was fulfilled physically,
sexually, mentally and emotionally for weeks afterward," or, "The sex became so
intense that I could no longer tell where I ended and my partner began."

So next time you feel an urge for that Old Time Religion, reach for your
genitals, reach for your partner and reach for the divine. Your body truly is a temple
of the divine and every day can be a holy day when you learn to bhoga all night long.

Glossary of Tantric Terms

• Asana - "posture" - Any of the body positions taught in Hatha yoga.

• Bhoga - "pleasure" - To some, hedonistic pleasure for pleasure's sake. To the

kaula tantrika, pleasure for the purpose of uniting with the divine.

• Chakra - "wheel" - One of the many points of concentrated energy on the body
(some believe they are ganglionic centers in the nervous system).

While there are many chakras throughout the body, western tantra focuses on
seven of them. Westerners attribute the colors of the rainbow to the seven major
chakra although traditional yoga follows a different color scheme.

Working with the energies of the chakras can help develop your kundalini
energy. For more information about the western version of the chakras, visit the
SahajaYoga Center's Chakra Page at

http://www.sahajayoga.org/ChakrasAndSubtleBody/

• Guru - "teacher" - A spiritual guide or teacher in one of the Yoga traditions.

7
• Hatha - "Sun-Moon" - A system of yoga that attempts to open one to the divine
through perfecting the body and its vital functions. The primary components of
Hatha are breath work, prana work and asanas.

• Kaula - "knower of kali-kala" - A branch of tantra that includes sex in some of its
rituals. Kaula tantra is symbolized by an eclipse which represents the union of Sun
and Moon.

• Kundalini - "spiritual force" - An energy, considered by some to be sexual, that

flows up and down the spine. Kundalini is represented by two serpents, Ida and
Pingala, and is said by some to "awaken" and "rise" at some point in one's yoga
practices.

Some gurus teach that it is dangerous to attempt to raise one's kundalini by

oneself and thus it can be difficult to find solid information about raising one's own
kundalini energy. For further information, consult the Kundalini Resource Center at
http://hmt.com/kundalini

• Maithuna - "sacramental intercourse" - One of the panchamakara, five sacred

rituals in kaula tantra: maithuna (sex), madya (liquor), mudra (bean), mamsa
(flesh) and matsya (fish).

Kaula tantra teaches that there are three types of people: Divine, Heroic and
Beastlike. The Beastlike may not perform panchamakara because they are not
enlightened and approach these rituals as sins. The Divine no longer need these rituals
in order to connect with divinity because they have assimilated the sacred. The
Panchamakara rituals are only for the Heroic.

• Prana - "life-energy" - The energy of your life force that keeps you alive and
healthy when it is plentiful or diseased and dead when it is not. It flows
throughout your body like an electric current and can be shared with others. For a
more in-depth look at prana, read David Frawley's article, The Secret of Prana, at
http://www.spiritweb.org/Spirit/prana-secret-frawley.html

8
• Puja - "worship" - While this word is used to mean any sort of worship ritual or
festival, in kaula tantra it often takes on the special meaning of sexual worship. It
can also mean magick in some circumstances.

• Samarasa - "equal interest" - Also called samadrishti. The condition of

enlightenment wherein one sees oneself as the world and the world as being in
oneself.

• Shakti - "strength" - One of many Hindu goddesses used in tantric practices.

• Shiva - "the destroyer" - One of many Hindu gods. Shiva is said to create and
destroy worlds through dancing.

• Tantra - "to extend" - A collection of philosophical systems found traditionally in

India and Tibet. Traditional tantra is very complex and involved. For more
information about traditional Eastern tantra, The Hindu Tantrik Home Page at
http://www.hubcom.com/tantric is a good place to start. For a more Western view
of Tantra, visit SacredSexuality.net at http://www.sacredsexuality.net

• Yoga - "yoke" - A philosophy meant to yoke the practitioner with the divine
through meditation, asanas and "right living."