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At the Heart of Tantra is Love.
The practices and rituals of Tantra, both
spiritual and sexual, work to create the conditions necessary for love
to flourish and endure. When we achieve states of presence, energy
flow, relaxation, harmony, and connection, love emerges and opens the
heart. To bring about the conditions that generate and sustain love, we
can learn to rely upon Tantric practices to create more of these
positive energy states. Tantra, therefore, is not just something to do
in our bedrooms, but rather a complete way of life.
As a Tantrika, I follow regular practices to quiet
my mind, open my awareness to sensation, raise my energy vibration, and
cultivate a sacred attitude towards myself, others, and events in my
life. As part of my practice, each day I create a time to connect with
my body and spirit. I use the Ipsalu Tantra method to attune to
my inherent Bliss vibration: I awaken my body, still my mind, arouse my
shakti energy, draw that orgasmic lifeforce into my higher chakras, and
enjoy a meditation where I connect with what is present and what I want
to create in my life. By the end of my practice my body is buzzing with
blissful vibration. I feel spacious, centered, grounded, and ready to
bring my vibrant energy with me out into my day.
Cultivating states of presence, energy flow,
relaxation, harmony, and connection is not always easy. A lifetime of
hurts and other negative experiences have gradually limited our ability
to be present and to express the essence of who we really are, fully
and freely. We slowly become cut off from our feelings and the ability
to experience our sexual creative energy in a connected, joyful, loving
way.
In a subtle, gentle, yet powerful way, Tantric
loving brings healing. It breaks up and washes away residues of our
past that hold us back from limitless love and intimacy. Tantra teaches
us not only how to be great lovers, but how to be great healers for one
another as well.
Tantra represents a unique paradigm for conscious
living and loving. It offers a passionate and expansive way of life for
those seeking to connect with their sexuality in a positive,
heart-centered way, a way that celebrates freedom of spirit and body
alike.
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by Jan
Origins of Tantra
Tantra is a set of spiritual teachings and a unique paradigm for relating to one's self and the universe that originated in India well over 2000 years ago. It is still relevant today.
It originated in ancient Vedic times, in
matriarchal cultures such as that of the Indus Valley, and in practices
revolving around the worship of the Goddess.
The essence of Tantra has taken many forms of
expression and appears in virtually every culture in history, e.g.,
Chinese Taoist Tantra, Native American Quodoshka.
Tantra is a timeless phenomenon as well as a
global one. Even today in the West it satisfies many of our most
essential needs: love, connection, intimacy, play, harmony and balance,
inspiration, relaxation, celebration, physical and emotional
well-being, sexual and spiritual fulfillment.
The Word Tantra
Tantra comes from the ancient Sanskrit words
tanoti which means "to expand" and trayati which means "liberation."
This implies that you can be liberated by expanding your consciousness.
Another definition of the word Tantra is
“web” or “to weave.” Tantra is an interweaving
of the energies of many levels of consciousness from the mundane, to
the most erotic, to the most profound.
“Tantra” also signifies scripture that contains Tantric spiritual teachings.
Tantra Yoga
Like other Yogic traditions, Tantra Yoga uses the
tools of meditation (dhyana), conscious breathing (pranayama), physical
gestures (mudra), sacred sounds (mantra), sacred geometry (yantra),
body positions (asana), muscular contractions (bandhas) to achieve
self-transformation, conscious awakening, and spiritual evolution.
Tantra is generally divided into two main streams: Red Tantra and White Tantra.
White Tantra or Tantra of the Right Hand (Dakshina
Marga) involves the meditative techniques of Tantra and is essentailly
a celibate, ascetic path.
Red Tantra or Tantra of the Left Hand (Vama Marga)
involves the use of elements that were considered taboo, such as the
ritual of sexual union (maithuna), as a means of attaining liberation.
Here, sexual union is used as means for going beyond into transcendent
states of consciousness.
My private sessions and classes include verbal instruction only in the practices of Red Tantra.
“Pink” Tantra strikes the middle
ground between the two paths, harmoniously joining the practical and
esoteric elements of both orientations. The instruction and training I
offer falls into this category. My focus is on the heart energy using
tantric techniques for attaining self-knowledge, spiritual evolution,
and self-realization. The work has incredible value for single people
and couples alike.
The interrelated notions of the Goddess, Kundalini, the Subtle Body, and the Chakra System are central to Tantra and its aims.
The Goddess
The Goddess is revered in tantra.
In ancient times, The Goddess was worshiped as the
embodiment of eroticism and the source of all creation. Every woman was
seen as Shakti - The Goddess incarnate. Each woman is a Shakti. Shakti
is the Hindu Goddess, or archetype, of the divine feminine.
Shakti also refers to a particular quality of
energy that is feminine and rises upwards in the body, such as earth
energy or sexual energy. It was worshipped in ancient India as the
primal energy that created the cosmos. Shakti, or sexual energy, is
creative life-force energy.
Re-awakening the Goddess is central to modern
Tantra. Although both the masculine and the feminine energies are
equally important, the extra focus on the feminine is necessary in
order to counterbalance the predominant masculine energy of our present
culture. Daily life in this busy world does not encourage women or men
to recognize or acknowledge the Goddess, but rekindling a woman's
sexual energy brings forth her Goddess nature. Tantric practices allow
the Goddess in every woman to emerge. Both the woman and her partner
benefit. The free flow of a woman's sexual energy activates her shakti,
creating an atmosphere for spiritual enlightenment. Her pleasure and
desire for lovemaking will increase and may even surpass the pleasure
potential and sexual desire of the man.
In Tantra, reverently loving the Yoni and
mastering ejaculation are ways to honor the Goddess. I enjoy teaching
these techniques and initiating those new to Tantra into the art of
honoring the divine feminine.
Kundalini
The main purpose of the tantric path is to
activate Kundalini energy in the body. Those who achieve this awakening
live in an ongoing state of bliss.
Kundalini is the most powerful and refined energetic force available to us as human beings. 
The term means "she who is coiled" and is
traditionally depicted as a serpent, coiled and sleeping at the base of
the spine. When awakened, it begins to uncoil as it climbs up through
the chakras to the crown. For thousands of years, the serpent has been
used in many cultures to symbolize rising consciousness.
A minimal flow of Kundalini exists in everyone
already. It is the energy that animates the body and the physical
senses and provides a base level of consciousness. As the flow
increases, we begin to access higher realms of consciousness into the
spiritual dimensions.
Kundalini is activated by the energy of Shakti, or
sexual energy. Shakti is generated through conscious lovemaking or
specific yogic techniques designed to activate this energy. The tantric
path sees sexual energy as an important expression of Kundalini.
A full Kundalini awakening occurs only when a
perfect balance of masculine and feminine exists in the body.
Maintaining a balance between these energies is the essence of tantric
practice.
Like a cobra which has cast its coils
spiraling conch-like three-times-
and-a-half round Shiva, her mouth
laid on that other mouth
which leads to bliss,
the enchantress
of the world,
slender as a lotus stem,
bright as a lightning-flash,
lies sleeping,
breathing softly out and in,
murmuring poems
in sweetest meters,
humming like a drunken bee
in the petals of
the muladhara lotus,
how brightly her light shines
--Satcakra-nirupana Tantra
For a more in-depth discussion of Kundalini and
how it works, refer to the excellent chapter on the subject in Bodhi
Avinasha’s The Ipsalu Formula: A Method for Tantra Bliss or Swami
Satyananda Saraswati’s complete book Kundalini Tantra.
The Subtle Body
The Subtle Body
Since Tantric practices directly influence the energy of the subtle body, a basic understanding of esoteric anatomy is useful.
The Western view of anatomy encompasses systems of
the body that we can see: the skeletal system, muscular system, nervous
system, etc. Eastern medicine (i.e. Ayurveda, Chinese medicine) teaches
that a subtle body also pervades our anatomy.
The most important aspect of the subtle body is
the system of energy centers, known as chakras. The subtle body also
contains several hundred thousand energy channels, called nadis. There
are three principle subtle channels, the sushumna (central), the ida
(left channel) and pingala (right channel). The subtle body is also
called the energy body.
If you have ever done yoga or received acupuncture, you have already experienced the awakening of your subtle body.
As kundalini awakens, it rises up through the
sushumna, moving through the main chakras of the subtle body. If there
are energy blocks along this central energy "highway" the kundalini
will not ascend through all of the chakras.
A heightened awareness of your energy body
translates to intensified levels of sensation and pleasure. When your
energy body is awake, even the slightest touch may arouse great bliss.
I can teach you how to awaken the energy body of your beloved,
inspiring in him or her unknown delights!
The Chakra System
The chakras are concentrated vortices of energy
within the subtle body, centers of consciousness. They are way-stations
along the upward path of the Kundalini. Our bodies actually have many
chakras, both big (e.g. at the crown of the head) and small (e.g. at
the pads of our fingers). “The chakras” refer to the seven
main chakras "situated" along the axis of the spine. All the chakras
have the potential to become powerful erogenous zones!
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English and Sanskrit Name
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Location
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Color Symbol
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Central Issue
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Goals
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Intuitive Abilities
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Crown Chakra Sahasrara
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Top of head
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Violet
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Awareness
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Wisdom, knowledge, consciousness, spiritual connection
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Knowingness
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Sixth Chakra Ajna
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Center of head
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Indigo
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Imagination, intuition
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Clear seeing, non-judgment, accurate interpretation
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Clairvoyance, the ability to see spirit
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Fifth Chakra Vissudha
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Throat
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Blue
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Communication, creative expression
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Clear, authentic communication and creativity
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Clairaudience, the ability to hear spirit
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Fourth Chakra Anahata
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Heart
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Green
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Love, self-affinity
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Compassion, tranquility, self-acceptance, good relationships
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Connectedness to one's truth or soul purpose
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Third Chakra Manipura
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Solar plexus
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Yellow
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Power, will
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Vitality, spontaneity, strength of will, purpose, self-esteem
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Effortlessness
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Second Chakra Svadhisthana
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Low belly, genitals
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Orange
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Sexuality, emotions
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Feeling, fluidity, pleasure, healthy sexuality
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Clairsentience, the ability to feel energy, emotions
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Root Chakra Muladhara
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Base of spine
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Red
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Survival
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Stability, grounding, physical health, prosperity, trust
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Groundedness
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Although we cannot see or feel the chakras with
our physical senses, they are evident in the shape of our physical
bodies and in the way we think, feel, and handle life's situations.
Sometimes these energy centers become clogged or
blocked due to negative experiences, physical pain, emotional traumas,
social programming, cultural conditioning, limiting belief systems, or
adverse life conditions. Blocks result in an incomplete or unbalanced
experience of life and limit the expression of our own true life force
energy. If you have ever experienced a "knot in your throat," for
example, due to holding back tearful emotional expression, then you
have experienced a block in the 5th chakra. This block acts as a limit,
restricting the full expression of your inner world to the outer. Can
you recall a time when you have experienced a "heavy heart," a block in
the 4th chakra? Grief, resulting from hurts to the heart, blocks the
heart's natural lightness and expansiveness; the heart becomes heavy
and closed. A heavy heart prevents us from engaging in nourishing,
loving relationships, and our life may feel incomplete as a result.
Awakening and opening all of our chakras allow us to express ourselves as unique, whole, and fully-realized individuals.
Tantric practice provides means to fully awaken
and open the chakras, with particular emphasis on the second, fourth
chakras and sixth chakras (sex, heart, and spirit), integral to our
experience as expansive, joyful beings.
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Tantra
is a spiritual path for integrating body, mind and soul. It differs
from other paths in its honoring of the body, using the senses,
sexuality, and feelings to help you evolve spiritually. Tantra
assists you in realizing your full potential as a human being. If you
choose to live from the Tantric perspective, you will transform your
life. You will discover bliss. You may apply Tantric practices and
principles to many areas of life - to relationship and sexual loving,
spiritual practice and lifestyle, physical and emotional well-being. 
Ipsalu
Tantra Kriya Yoga is a unique approach within the variety of Tantric paths.
Faithful to ancient Tantra's original purposes and researched
techniques, it is an adapted system to meet the interests of people in
the western world at the present evolutionary level. Ipsalu Tantra is a
profound and playful way for learning to live in bliss. What
distinguishes Ipsalu is the focus on realizing your true Self,
attention to emotional flow, and the skillfully designed sets of yogic
techniques for safely activating your kundalini (most powerful and
creative) energy.