A Brief Introduction to
Yoga and Tantra

He, who realizes the truth of his own being,
will come to know the truth of the Universe.

Kularnava Tantra

A human being is part of a whole, called by us the "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.

This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

Albert Einstein

Yoga

‘Yoga’ literally means "to join together", "to fuse", or "to unite" – the union of the individual self with the greater Self or God. Yoga practice starts with the body.

The body is the temple in which the divine resides.

To find the divine you enter the temple with your sacrificial fruits – presence, gratefulness, and wonder. The most common parts of yoga are Hatha yoga (the poses or also 'asanas') and pranayama (breathing exercises), which are rooted in the body. But another important part of yoga practice is meditation, which can help to integrate other levels of consciousness to further expand the levels of union.

Yoga practices are as various as in any other spiritual tradition. The most common denominator is that you work through the body to access the divine and enlighten your body, mind, and soul. In other words, a conscious and balanced union of body, mind, soul and the outer objective reality is the aim.

In Western society a lot of focus is put on the body, sometimes it is idolized excessively, or looked upon in twisted and perverted ways, some times in very materialistic ways, some times not at all because the mind has taken over. Nevertheless, the body is very present in our society and whether we like it or not it is part of our reality – it is the vehicle we experience the world through in sickness and health. Although in some ways we are denying ourselves of experiences that could relieve us of a lot of stress and discomfort we take upon ourselves, we  haven't rejected the body in western culture - in some yogic traditions, complete detachment from the body is practiced. Being that yoga is so rooted in the body, it is a perfect way for Westerners to bring back balance and clarity in their lives. This is probably also why yoga is taking on a more and more important role in Western everyday life.

Creating that sacred space and time with yourself and your body is something which is becoming more and more accepted in a reality motivated a lot by external factors controlling day to day decisions in home and work environment. Even health is looked upon as something that happens by the means of external factors, not something which is seeded or rooted in ourselves. Yoga teaches us that within our own microcosm lies all the answers and solutions to finding our true path; our personal balance if you may. A way to understand our microcosm is to look at the outer reality, the macrocosm and vice versa. This is the focus yoga teaches us to take, which is merely another way of describing the great union.

One of the most important things yoga look at in connection to the body is energy. The body is a vessel of energy; some energy, like say a piece of wood, is denser than other forms. Conventional science also talks about energy in various ways, but yoga takes it further and argues that this energy is conscious (the Native Americans speak about the spirit in everything) and omnipresent, it is what glues this universe together so to speak. If energy is conscious there is also a way to direct it by another conscious being. One way is to practice yoga positions or meditations where you consciously go in and direct and focus your mind, your energy. Herein lies the secret to all self-healing; with the right focus of will, mindset and direction of energy, balance can be restored and illumination of all the potential of spirit or energy can be accessed.

One of the forms of energy, in fact the most vital and approachable, that certain traditions of yoga focus on is the sexual one. This form of yoga practice, which encompasses many different techniques to expand consciousness like meditation techniques using yantras, mantras and music, chakra stimulation, asanas (poses), pranayama exercises, etc., is better known as Tantra.

 

 

Tantra*

 

When the meeting is perfect, when the two become one rhythm,
when their breaths have become one
and their prana, their energy flows in a circle,
when the two have disappeared completely
and the two bodies have become one whole,
when the negative and positive,
the male and the female, are no more there,
then sex is the most beautiful thing possible.

Osho

Spiritual success comes by understanding the mystery of life;
and by looking on all things cheerfully and courageously,
realizing that events proceed according to a beautiful Divine plan.

Paramahansa Yogananda

 

The root meaning of ‘Tantra’ is "to expand", "weave", or "extend consciousness". Like Yoga, Tantra is a spiritual system that teaches us to create a more harmonious life, awakening our senses and developing our ability to forming balance. Tantra takes both microcosmic and macrocosmic levels into account, which also means that there are many inner and outer levels of reality. Potentially, every one of these levels are part of the path toward transformation and expansion of self. There is nothing that Tantra sees irrelevant to human growth, all human activities and urges can be used as a tool to liberation and bliss. This be said, the tantric scripts do have certain moral or ethical guidelines that help us to stay in tune with the macrocosmic order. But on a greater level Tantra doesn’t ignore the fact that all activities are energy and it all comes from the divine source. What Tantra also teaches that in this universe, human beings have been given the power and the tools to transform – and transformation (or alchemy) is best when it happens with respect and love to all life.

In a time and society of much materialism and narcissism, Tantra is very accessible, because it embraces rather than discriminate. It gives us some guidelines of how to transform our lives, what is inherent in our culture, our often misdirected and misintepreted urges and desires to bliss and joy - addictions can often be seen as a way for consciousness to unconsciously reach those natural levels of bliss. Whereas many other spiritual traditions speak of the importance of virtue, piety and renunciation, the Tantric teachings believes that though life in this dimension may be seen as an illusion, no one has said that we have to live lives without joy and ecstasy. We certainly have the potential to experience love and bliss, so why not choose such a path that can also bring enlightenment to ourselves and each other. All knowledge and awakening comes by transcending the ego, the mind or in other words, restricting realities keeping us from being free to experience our highest potential, the divine seed within.

Tantra is often wrongly so being entirely associated with sexuality, but is, in fact, much more than that. Like the practice of yoga it uses different techniques like meditation, asanas, breathing exercises to obtain expansion and transformation. In many ways, Tantra is yoga or in other words a school of yoga. Tantra is about how to obtain living our potential and how to transform the elements (like what the alchemists seek to do). It is living our divine nature.

Being one of our most prominent urges or in other words, being the most powerful energy in us (some Tantric practitioners even talk about it being equivalent to our life energy) our sexuality can become a vehicle for such mental and spiritual growth. The Tantric teachings see sexuality as a natural part, a great motivation to experience bliss; a way for us to express and explore love and energy – our divine nature. By learning to recognize and control our orgasmic life energy (the Kundalini energy or Chi as Chinese spiritual traditions refer to it) we can gain access to even greater ecstasy, connection and growth (powers). It is about how we can utilize this body better and not waste anything, but refine and enlighten every bit of it, through which we can enter the mind and the spirit.

*All references to Tantra here is meant to include practices of "White and Red" Tantra. I have no interest in Black Tantra, which is similar in its makeup to the practice of Black Magic.

 

More ...

If you are interested in reading more about tantric yoga, I suggest you look up www.natha.net and www.agamayoga.com. Below I have compiled a list of books that I’d recommend for good reading on this topic. You are also welcome to contact me if you have any questions concerning yoga and tantra.

 

Reading list:

Paramahansa Yogananda

Margot Anand

Grieg Bivolaru

Other practices that have similar thoughts and focuses as Tantra:

Wiccan practice

Tibetan Buddhism

Alchemy

Taoism (The Tao of Sexuality)

Alchemists