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Tantra, Neo-Tantra and Healing

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho) had a profound influence on what is now known as "Tantra" in the Western world. Rajneesh came from an academic background, did not have traditional training in Tantra and was not part of a lineage-based system. He had an extensive textual knowledge and was a very effective popularizer. He fused cutting-edge, Western psychotherapeutic techniques of the 1960s and '70s with Tantric texts and used the phrase "neo-Tantra" to describe his system. He was a controversial figure throughout his life, and he remains one today.

Many contemporary Tantra teachers were trained by Rajneesh or his disciples, and others have embraced his ideas, at least in part. Rajneesh helped inspire the widely held notion that Tantra is a form of therapy; sometimes this belief extends to Tantric sexual practices and includes the idea that "sexual healing" can be effected through various practices designed to produce emotional release and purge traumas that are often thought to be stored in the genitals.

We view these ideas with skepticism. Classically, only people who were healthy and well-integrated , those of “heroic” temperament, were considered suitable for Tantric initiation. Those were different times, and we recognize that we live in a traumatized and alienated culture. Truly heroic temperaments are hard to come by in this day and age. The issue is emphasis; we do not deny the healing powers and therapeutic qualities of Tantric practice, but the never-ending pursuit of healing only keeps people locked into their pain and trauma.

Some have described Tantra as "the path of bliss" or "ecstasy", and we firmly believe that the experience of pleasure is the most powerful healer we have at our disposal. When we start to experience heightened pleasure, healing happens effortlessly.

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