Tantra

           If you are a sexually active adult, then I would argue that there has been at least one time when upon orgasm you have experienced a feeling of euphoria, ecstasy, and a sense of total awareness. Should your partner enjoy the same outcome, then the two of you have unknowingly experienced the magick of tantra. What the use, or practice, of tantra does is give the person the ability to reclaim their dreams, desires, and the right to make every sexual interaction as intimate, magickal, and exhilarating as humanly possible. With so much of our lives regulated by societal expectations the act of tantric sex allows for a release of energy that lessens fear and stress. Tantra itself is roughly 6000 years old and for that time has been practiced predominantly in eastern cultures and societies. It came about as an answer to religious claims that sex hampered or prevented enlightenment.

           Those that created this practice did so out of an attempt to show that enlightenment can occur in all things, especially sex. Tantra means several things. It means to expand our consciousness and to manifest and heighten our body’s own Qi (energy). Tantric practices also enable us to prolong the act of sex. This is in order to build and then enjoy the combined energy that creates those feelings of bliss, total consciousness, and the sense of two sets of energy becoming one. Those feelings or emotions that, due to the day to day grind, we are unable to have. But ultimately tantra was developed to counter the austere ideals of the time. They were attempting to show that tantric sex was a passage way toward enlightenment. It was also tied into the beliefs that such things as creative endeavors and even everyday things, such as eating, were all spiritual acts and should not be viewed otherwise. They were essentially attempting to change the status quo of the times. And thus sexual energy as well as true magick via tantric sex was presented.

           The health benefits of practicing tantra are often over looked. The energy achieved with sex is arguably one of the strongest that can be used to promote feelings of youthful vitality and exhilaration. It is an ancient practice that, when performed properly, relieves stress and anxiety. In short, it contributes to the bodies over all well being. Couple that with a good diet and exercise and you can have a happy and fulfilling life for a very long time. And that is always a positive desire for all humans on our planet. Combine these desires with the desire to gain mutual satisfaction through energy, and then the mindset for practicing tantra is in place. In the west we tend to view sex as a recreational activity as opposed to a way to enlightenment or transformation. In the west the goal is simply to achieve orgasm, where as in the east it is a way to please ones partner and to connect with them on a more spiritual and energy related level. In the west there is a definite start and stop when it comes to sex, with an average duration of 10 to 15 minutes, with the climax occurring somewhere in between. Throw in the fact that, on average, it takes women 20 minutes to reach full arousal and you can see how this mentality often leads to one party or the other being sexually unsatisfied. However, in the east the application of tantra is designed to extend the time and prolong the climax in order to assure that both achieve satisfaction as well as personal transformation unto a higher plane where the true magick and energy sharing takes place.