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Yoga 101<br />
The Real Tantra<br />
Yoganaath Dileep<br />
Tantra is an ancient<br />
practice of expansion<br />
and liberation<br />
If you search for Tantra on the internet, a<br />
multitude of links appear. All provide<br />
information on tantric sex. Yeah, it’s all<br />
about sex – how to maximize your sensual<br />
pleasures by using the esoteric techniques of<br />
tantra. The vast knowledge of this great<br />
practice has been limited into just one<br />
aspect. New age tantrikas are only<br />
concentrating on sexual absurdity rather<br />
than the traditional practice. An increasing<br />
number of teachers and centres have sprung<br />
up in the West and fallen in love with the<br />
mystic world of tantric sex. For many<br />
Westerners, tantra is perceived as a technique<br />
to enhance sensual pleasures and their<br />
interpretations of tantra are based on<br />
sensationalism rather than the ancient<br />
teachings. In this context the following<br />
questions arise – Why have so many tantric<br />
explorations begun based on sex? Why do<br />
modern teachers emphasize the sexual path?<br />
TANTRA – THE SECRET DOCTRINE<br />
Tantra is an ancient practice of expansion<br />
and liberation, which originated from India<br />
thousands of years ago. Tantra is known as<br />
the royal path. Historically, masters kept this<br />
practice secret and initiated only to the right<br />
disciple at the appropriate time, that is after<br />
he has mastered all the other paths of yoga.<br />
Several years of dedicated sadhana under the<br />
close observation of the Guru will bring the<br />
disciple to the sattvic (balanced) state of<br />
body, mind and soul. The Guru will give<br />
Vignana Bhairava, has given great importance<br />
to this path. But recently most of the<br />
Western tantric schools and teachers have<br />
only selected the second path – left (vama)<br />
for their practice. They define tantra as<br />
‘sacred sex’ or the ‘way to multi orgasm’. All<br />
these concepts derived from free love or free<br />
sex. They try to combine spirituality with<br />
sensuality; and mystical experience with<br />
women, wine and wealth – the unique<br />
synthesis of religion and sexuality. What<br />
makes it sad is most of the new age<br />
tantrikas used sex as an ingredient to sell<br />
tantra. They ignored the real practice of<br />
tantra and became addicted to the left path.<br />
IS SEX INEVITABLE IN TANTRA?<br />
There are mainly three sects in tantra –<br />
Vaishnava, Saiva and Sakta (Sauras and<br />
Ganapatyas are less known). All these sects<br />
accept sex as a divine practice to raise-up the<br />
kundalini. A sadhaka can proceed by selecting<br />
either the left or right path. As tantra is a<br />
shortcut to the blissful state, the main aim<br />
is to raise the dormant energy and bring it<br />
up to sahasrara. For this purpose, a sadhaka<br />
has to select his path according to his Guru’s<br />
advice. Among the three main sects of<br />
tantrikas, Saktas emphasizes Pancha Ma–<br />
karas (5 M’s) - Madhya (wine), Mamsa<br />
(meat), Matsya (fish), Mudra (gestures), and<br />
Maithuna (sexual union). The Pancha Makaras<br />
have not always had such literal<br />
meanings, but most of the neotantric gurus<br />
took the 5 M’s only for its literal meaning.<br />
New age tantrikas are only concentrating on<br />
sexual absurdity rather than the<br />
traditional practice<br />
40<br />
the Diksha (initiation) to the disciple and<br />
advise him the Gupta Vidhya (tantra – the<br />
secret doctrine).<br />
There are two main paths in tantra –<br />
Dakshina marga (esoteric practices without<br />
sexual enactment) and Vama marga (the left<br />
path which combines sexual life with the<br />
practice). Among them the first, dakshina<br />
marga is the most commonly accepted. Most<br />
of the authorized ancient texts like the<br />
If you consider tantra as a religion it has a<br />
positive approach towards sex, unlike other<br />
religions, which mostly have a negative<br />
approach to sex. They set many rules and<br />
regulations with regard to sexuality. Many<br />
of these religious rules only helped to<br />
suppress the basic instincts of man. Thus<br />
they failed to reach their proposed goal.<br />
Tantrikas make use of the sexual energy.<br />
They transform the physical energy to<br />
mental energy with some of the esoteric<br />
practices of tantra (it is not appropriate to<br />
discuss about the secret practices here as it<br />
has to be learned only from a master). This<br />
is the most challenging part of tantric sex.<br />
Only those who have attained perfect<br />
control over their body and mind can do<br />
this. Others will easily fall into physical<br />
enjoyment. Certain qualities like purity, faith,
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