A Tantric Experience
Tantra History and Principles
Thousands of years ago, in India, there was a secret sect called Vratyas. The members of Vratyas eventually became known as devadasis, meaning sacred harlots. This female-centered group was associated with the Tantra Scriptures, which laid down a method for expanding mind, body, and consciousness. Tantra is most known from its sexual practices, which are a major part of the whole Tantric path. Tantra in its entire practice includes astrology, numerolgy, physics, chemistry, alchemy, medicine, psychology, parapsychology, mathematics, mantras, yantras, breathing disciplines, yoga disciplines, and more. Tantra is a holistic path, bringing many parts under one umbrella, linked together by a unifying principle.
This unifying principle is the "Shakti” or feminine, mother
goddess. Tantra works on the belief that, in heterosexuality, spiritual
energy is more powerful in the female than in the male. Sexual and
emotional union was a way that males could more easily attain devine
realization. But the sexual intercourse had to be practiced in a
special way called maithuna. Maithuna prevents ejaculation and
redirects the energy from orgasm upward through a spiritual channel in
the spine called the Shushumna, to the seat of enlightenment in the
head called Ajna, or the Third Eye.
Homosexuals and Tantra
This
is a question not often raised in the literature concerning Tantra,
which seems to be a very heterosexual practice of male/female energies.
However, medically speaking, males and females both produce
testosterone (male hormone) and estrogen (female hormone). We all have
both a masculine and feminine side to our psyches. In Tantra, a
homosexual couple simply decides who will be the sender of masculine
energy and receiver of feminine, and who will play the opposite part.
This creates the same effects of spiritual/emotional expansion of the
heterosexual practices. It is the unifying of energies through a sexual
act that is more important than the yoni/lingam physiognomy.
The Experience of Tantra
In
Tantra, the male learns to absorb, through his penis, the Shakti
(feminine) energy released from his female partner’s orgasm. Because he
also learns to control his own ejaculation, intercourse can be
prolonged for hours. Two hours is the recommended length of time for a
full Tantra sexual experience.
Through certain postures, the
male and female energies are united for the highest ecstatic
experience. The main posture used in Tantra is called the Yab-Yum
(father-mother). This position places partners face to face, either
sitting or standing. In the standing version, the female has her left
leg lying over the male’s right thigh. In the seated position, the
female wraps her legs around the male’s back.
Tantra is not
ordinary sexual intercourse. It is a union, a merging of Shakti &
Shiva, divine union of masculine and feminine. Although there are a
wide variety of rituals and practices for achieving this divine
ecstasy, the following is a simple beginners’ Tantric method.
Yab-Yum
Try not to eat a heavy meal before Tantra. A full stomach dulls the senses and decreases the experience of Tantra.
Prepare
the room with soft candlelight, incense or aromatherapy, clean bedding,
and an attractive, inviting, sensuous atmosphere. Remember to unplug
the phone and do what is necessary to ensure comfort and privacy. If
you have pets, put them in another room or outside. There is nothing
more disturbing and humorous at the same time than being in the throes
of Tantric passion and having you cat suddenly decide it wants your
attention. Use candles and incense or aromatherapy to imbue the
atmosphere with a peaceful, relaxing, energy. Some incense suggestions
are, sandalwood, Green Rose, or Night Queen. Candles should be white,
red, or pink. Aromatherapy oils can be citrus, sandalwood, patchouli,
or rose.
After the room is just the way you want it, prepare a
warm, fragrant bath. Make the bathing room conducive to meditation and
relaxation. A pink or white candle, soft music, dim or no electric
light will heighten the experience. Bathe together in warm water and a
little sandalwood oil, or a combination of sandalwood, rose and citrus.
After the bath, sit in your prepared room, facing each other
but not touching. Sit cross-legged on the "bed,” or on cushions. You
should be nude, so be sure the room is comfortably warm.
Look
straight into each other’s eyes for a while and synchronize your
breathing. Take long, deep, expansive breaths, but don’t force them.
Keep breathing easy and soft. Begin to look at each other’s body.
Slowly, appreciatively, visually take in the other’s body shapes,
curves, colors, and textures. Mentally wrap your auric fields around
each other so you both envelop the other in loving energy. Experience
this a moment. Imagine a line of light coming from your chakra centers
to the others’. The chakra centers are at the point between the brows,
at the base of the throat, at the center of the chest (heart), the
solar plexus, a few inches below the navel, and at the root of the
spine.
As the woman, begin to touch your partner. Softly,
slowly, begin at the top of the head and moving downward, explore his
body, gently, slowly, and appreciatively. Use massage oil if you like.
As
the male, begin touching your partner. Softly, caress her body from
head to toe. Feel her body under your fingers. Enjoy the sensation of
touch.
Move closer to each other so that your bodies are
touching. Embrace and gently massage each other’s backs. Experience the
warmth and energy of each other. Begin kissing and caressing. Explore
each other’s bodies until, as the female, you are ready to open up and
invite your partners’ penis into your body. At this point there will be
a sensation of your vagina engulfing and pulling the penis into you. As
the male, you will feel that the vagina is engulfing your penis and
moving it deeper into her.
Be still a moment. Then begin an in
and out motion in a way that is mutually pleasurable. As the female,
when you begin to reach orgasm. Stop and mentally move the energy up
from the genitals, through your spine, to your third eye. Do this as
often as you like before allowing yourself to experience full orgasm.
As the male, when orgasm is close, stop. Relax the muscles as much as
possible. Mentally move the sexual energy up the spine to your third
eye before resuming motion. Do this a maximum of three times before
allowing yourself to experience orgasm.
As the male, your
partners’ orgasm is a time for you to absorb the energy released by her
and bring it up to your third eye. As the female, your partners’ orgasm
energy should be absorbed and sent upward to the third eye.
Afterward,
remain together for a moment and allow the energies to continue
flowing. Then relax or meditate for a while, wash and drink some water
or tea. Avoid alcoholic beverages or drugs for at least two hours, as
they will disturb the assimilation of the Tantra energies.