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The Path of Paradox

Tantra Is:

• Tantra is the magic of transforming one's consciousness and thereby transforming one's entire being.
• Tantra is a spiritual science. Tantric techniques have been tested and have proven effective for many centuries. If you practice diligently, you will experience results.
• Tantra can be quite simple. Everyone has had Tantric experiences; it is not always so simple to notice them.
• Tantra can be embraced in whole or in part. A few simple practices can often produce profound results.
• Tantra is a way of life. The Tantric experience of consciousness will be an ever-evolving process that will develop through daily practice.
• Tantra can provide you with the means to deepen your sense of connection to yourself, to your partner, to all that is.
• Tantra includes practices that can lead to the experience of extraordinary ecstasy.
• Tantra is a technology of mind and body that will lead you to know yourself deeply.
• Tantra is a pragmatic way to loosen the bonds of unconscious, habitual behavior and thereby start to live more freely and fully.
• Tantra is the art of becoming yourself completely. In the end, there is nothing at all to do.
• Tantra is a way to utilize the energies of the body for consciousness expansion.
• Tantra is spiritual but non-moral.
• The essence of Tantra, at least in its sexual aspects, is the exchange of essences.
• Tantra is the science of self-exploration

Tantra Is Not:

• Tantra is not sacred sexuality, even though sacred sexual practices are often included among an array of other techniques using the body as a tool for spiritual development. Teachers of Western Tantra can often overemphasize the sexual aspects, while some of their critics tend to underestimate the importance and power of Tantric sexual practices.
• Tantra is not a set of techniques for better sex. Increased pleasure, deeper intimacy and new lovemaking skills are often the by-products of the practices, and many people are drawn to Tantra due to an interest in developing these abilities. Such goals are valid, but it is unlikely that they will be attained until they are discarded
• Tantra is not psychotherapy although many Tantric practices can have profound psychological benefits. This is where we part company with those who teach Tantra as if it were a new form of therapy. For Westerners, psychotherapy may be the best form of preparation for serious Tantric practice, since it provides the student with many of the necessary tools for the self-exploration that is such a central part of Tantra.
• Tantra is not an easy fix for personal or relationship problems. Although practicing Tantra together can be a powerful way for two people to deepen their intimacy, it can also magnify existing tensions. Similarly, individual practice -- particularly meditation -- can often help to relieve personal problems, but this is not always the case, particularly if the problems are serious in nature.
• Tantra is not for the faint-hearted, the ungrounded, or the emotionally fragile. We all have these qualities in some respects and at some times, but if they predominate, you should probably find a less demanding spiritual path.
• Tantra is not a healing modality, although the practice of Tantra can produce significant benefits for both physical and emotional health.
• Tantra is not a religion in the conventional Western sense; however Tantra has helped to shape both Tibetan Buddhism and many branches of the Hindu tradition. Tantric ideas can be found within most of the world's religions.
• Tantra is not magic in the conventional sense of mere trickery or spell casting; however, spell casting is a part of traditional Indian Tantra.
• Tantra has nothing to do with Western notions about romantic love.
• Tantra is not easy. You can't learn it by reading a book or attending a weekend workshop. It requires sustained experience. (In French, the word experience means experiment and that definition applies as well.)
• Tantra is not a set of physical practices, yogic exercises or sexual gymnastics. Physical practices are merely tools for conditioning the body and changing the consciousness. In Tantra, everything one does in daily life can function as a tool.
• Tantra is not the sexual Olympics, even though Tantric sexual practices can transform sexuality into a divine -- Olympian -- experience.
• Tantra is not for everyone. It is the way of the "Vira" or hero. It requires a certain degree of fearlessness.
• Tantra is not a massage technique, genital or otherwise. All forms of massage can be given and received tantrically, that is to say, with full-awareness and a sense of sacredness, but calling something "Tantric" does not necessarily make it so.
• Tantra is not polyamory, polyfidelity, open marriage or about having multiple partners. There is no moral judgment here, and some traditional left-hand Tantric rituals specified that the sexual partner should be a person other than the practitioner's spouse, but this is by no means always the case. A person can be Tantric regardless of relationship style -- celibate, single, monogamous or polyamorous; however, conventional ideas about monogamy, which are based on moralism, have no place in Tantra.
• Tantra is not suited for sexual thrill-seekers. Tantra requires patience, self-discipline and regular practice of non-sexual solo exercises. It does not offer immediate gratification, so it is likely to disappoint anyone looking for a new kind of kick, but Tantra is not a moralizing philosophy, and one can learn a great deal from thrill-seeking, if one approaches it consciously.
• Tantra is not an easy answer. In fact, it is likely to raise more questions.

Tantra is many of the things we have said it is not and more. Truth can only be found through embracing the paradoxical.

©2006, 2008
Mark A. Michaels (Swami Umeshanand Saraswati) and Patricia Johnson (Devi Veenanand)

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