Tantra

Sexuality as a source for spiritual awakening is an ancient practice.  Due to great differences in sexual attitudes and religious beliefs from the Judeo-Christian religious systems, the civilizations of the East and Far East have embraced forms of sexuality as spiritual practices.  One of the most notable of these is Buddhist Tantra.

Tantra has its historical birth in the ideals of Taoism.  In Taoism, there are two aspects of energy, that of the Male or Yang and that of the Female or Yin. The basic dualism of Yin and Yang is conveyed in the symbol of the Tai Chi. Taoist sexual theory was introduced into India at the end of the 7th century, according to Joseph Needham, R. H. VanGulik, and other western sinologists. Within a century, Tantra emerged there (Chu 1993).

Taoism thought and practices flourished in China at this time, and sexuality and eroticism were intimately linked in Chinese Medicine to health and longevity.  The ideals of Taoist sexual practices held the belief that sex and intimacy were sacred paths to spiritual insight and enlightenment.

A new school of Buddhism emerged from the Indian Buddhist teachings of Tantra known as Vajrayana.  It taught that salvation could be attained through spiritual sexual intercourse.  A Hindu sect, Saiva Sakta, soon appeared with the same doctrine.  Saive Sakta Tantra still exists in India today.  The basic concept is that of the Taoists (Chu 1993).

The Taoist philosophy is simple, yet profound.  In our Universe all things are created through the harmony of Yin and Yang.  Yin and Yang must constantly assist one another (Chang 1977).  In this philosophy, each of us also has an aspect of Yin and Yang within, in a sense, bisexual in nature.  The sex act seeks to balance these natures.  The Jade Stem ( Penis) and the Jade Gate (Vagina) are the tools and instruments to harmonize the Yin and the Yang and blend the five joys (Five Elements of Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood) into a heavenly pleasure.   “The more one makes love, the more one benefits from the harmony of Yin and Yang.” (Huang Di, from the Su Nu Ching, date unknown).  Yet, this act of making love is much different from the normal sex act. The basic concept is one of non-ejaculation of the male, where prolonged intercourse with female orgasm brings about a union of the Yin/Yang within the couple and within the individual souls (Chu 1993).  In Tantra, the male is asked to forego orgasm for the delight of the female and to bring about a shift in consciousness for the couple.  It is written to “Love one hundred times without emission”, by Sun S’su-mo (Chang, 1997).

The idea and goal of Tantric sex is the Tantric Orgasm, a union with the Divine and a transformation of energies.  This practice brings about self-control and power over one’s desires and frustrations.  In Tantra, there is no guilt about pleasure.  The idea is to experience pleasure without grasping for it, to break free from all the conditionings that limit our understanding of who we are and what we can become (Lama Yeshe, 1987).  The experience of Tantric sex is to transform the pleasures, all pleasures into the Transcendental experience of deep penetrating awareness (Lama Yeshe, 1987).

The Kama Sutra of Vatsayana eloquently details that a complete human is to follow the principle of Dharma, the Holy writ and Artha, the acquisition of arts, lands, gold, cattle, wealth, equipages (horses & caravans), friends, protection and security and Kama, the enjoyment of appropriate objects using the senses to enhance consciousness. One practicing the Dharma, Artha and Kama enjoys happiness both in this world and in the world to come (Kama Sutra). The idea of the Kama Sutra is not to become enmeshed in the senses but to obtain mastery over them. This is echoed by the Lama Yeshe, “Do not grasp the pleasures, do not attach to them, but use them to balance the internal Male/Female mandala (Yin and Yang) and see oneself as a deity, to open the heart with compassion and lose the ego.”

There were many sects throughout time that professed a Tantric method of enlightenment, one of the most notable is the Tachikawa-Ryu, a Japanese esoteric Buddhist sect which taught that sexual intercourse, if properly practiced and understood was the surest way to supreme enlightenment (Stevens 1990).

How does one understand and practice Tantra?

To understand Tantra, one must look at the history of the Buddha.  The Buddha lavished in sexual delights as he lived as a Royal Prince.  He then practiced austerity.  Only when he became enlightened to the path, the Middle Path, neither extreme having control over the self, did he find freedom. Only through the understanding and practice of the Middle Path is one truly free.  Not to deny the self or pleasure, but to be non-attached to pleasure.  The Buddha attained liberation from all limiting conditions and attained unrestrained freedom through application of Tantric principles.  Many of the Sutras attributed to Buddha begin with the words, “And thus the Buddha spoke, while he reposed within the body of his consort” (Stevens, 1990).  Tantra teaches that passions are the raw material of enlightenment.  This is echoed in the teachings of Kabbalah.  Desire is the passion that began the Universe itself.

The Tantrist, like the Freudian, sees sexuality in all of our existence.  “Mental health is closely tied to sexuality and no neurosis arises without sexual conflict” (Robinson, The Freudian Left, pg 14).

This sexuality and spiritual insight from it is one where the communion idealizes the emptiness and supreme bliss of awakening.  The sexual union represents the highest bliss.  The Female element is an embodiment of Prajna, the Transcendental wisdom.  The woman’s Yoni (Vagina) is the abode of pure bliss. The Male element symbolizes Upaya, the skillful means needed to actualize enlightenment.  The man’s Lingam (Penis), is the diamond hardness of Buddhist emptiness (Stevens, 1990).

The practice of Tantric sex requires a meditative approach to the sex act. It is not simply for gratification, but for enlightenment itself.

One must visualize the male as Buddha, and the woman, the Lady of Transcendental Wisdom. The male is to suck the Yoni and submit to the Lady of Transcendental Wisdom unconditionally, even if she gave him urine and feces to eat (Stevens, 1990).  This is to underscore the Tantric Buddhist belief that Budhahood resides in the Yoni (Stevens, 1990).

During the sex act, both man and woman remain still, only the woman moves by undulating her vagina muscles. In meditation, both partners visualize the Father, Mother, Friend, Beloved God as Vajrayana, which is an aspect of the Deity as a man and woman making love in perfect non-dual union. The couple may chant the Tibetan OM MANI PADME AUM which is translated as “ the origin of all life, the jewel of the male principle, the lotus of the female polarity, the union of the two in undifferentiated consciousness” (Stevens,1990). This meditation is similar to the Shakti-Shiva worship found in Hindu Tantra.

Each time the couple makes love they should view themselves as Lord and Lady and raise the life-force and spirit within them toward the divine.

Tantric principles crept into the Chan Buddhism of China and the Zen Buddhism of Japan.  Here is an interesting story of the Zen monk Ikkyu.  Ikkyu was traveling and saw a naked woman bathing in a river.  He bowed to her three times in the direction of her Yoni.  Several passers by asked him for an explanation.  “Why did you bow to her pussy?”, he was asked.  He responded, “Women are the treasure house of Buddhism, they are the source out of which every being came forth, including the Buddha and Budhidharma.”  In ancient Buddhism, the Vagina is the essential link between the realms of emptiness and matter, sex and spirituality (Stevens, 1990).

In Japan, it was believed that Kwan Yin (Kannon) often reincarnated as a prostitute to lead men to Buddhahood (Stevens, 1990).

The Zen monk Takuan wrote of this, “the Buddha sells the doctrine, the patriarchs sell the Buddha, the great priest sells the patriarchs, She sells her body, that the passions of all beings may be quieted, form is emptiness, the passions are enlightenment” (Stevens, 1990).

The great Japanese Zen master and swordsman Tesshu wrote, “sexual passion is the root of all existence, throw yourself into the world of sexual passion, exhaust its possibilities and then you will find release.  Love your wife/lover with all your might and seek enlightenment in the very midst of life, that is the meaning of Zen (Tesshu in Sword of No-sword, date unknown).

A contemporary of Tesshu, Monkan wrote, “Willows are green, flowers are red, things just as they are constitute the Buddhaland, the natural coupling of the male and female is an adornment of Buddhahood (Stevens, 1990).

Tantra is the art of love, but it is more than that, it is the art of unblocked feeling, for in Tantra the sex act is not simply gratification, but a feeling and fulfillment of the dual natures in Yin and Yang.

Tantra raises the Kundalini power through the Chakras.  It raises the Prana or life-force.  Tantra goes beyond common sex.  The goal in Tantra is to gain ecstasy beyond the physical body to gain spiritual insight through sex.

Tantra leads us to non-duality and a Tantric Orgasm of both body and spirit; a union with the Divine.

References:

Author Unknown, 1962.  The Kama Sutra of Vatsayana.   New York; Arkana Publications.

Chang, Jolan, 1977.  The Tao of Love and Sex.   New York: Arkana Publications.

Stevens, John, 1990.  Lust for Enlightenment.   Boston:  Shambala Publications.

Yeshe, Lama,. 1987.  Introduction to Tantra. Boston: Wisdom Publications.