OM TANTRA
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THE LOST TEACHINGS OF TANTRA
"Most yoga teacher students today are introduced to the teachings of Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. They learn that Patanjali’s teachings convey the classical wisdom of yoga through the eight limbs of the Asthanga Yoga system. But there are two important things that they are generally not introduced to: the meditation practices described in the Yoga Sutras as well as the Tantric essence of these terse, mystical teachings. The main reason for these missing links is that traditionally the meditation lessons were given orally, outside the texts, through Diksha, or initiation ceremonies, and these initiations were considered Tantric in nature. In Alan Finger’s book Tantra of the Yoga Sutras, he writes that “Patanjali was a Tantra Yoga practitioner writing about the way yoga actually works from a scientific point of view.” In the book you now hold in your hands, you will journey into this much neglected Tantric undercurrent of yogic spirituality.
The goal of India’s many spiritual paths has always been soteriological, to seek spiritual awakening and liberation. For Anandamurti, Tantra represents the most refined essence of that universal search—a mysticism that originated as humanity’s first systematic impulse for spiritual liberation. It is this ancient tradition, that Anandamurti has rediscovered, reawakened, and revised for modern times. Similarly, Thomas McEvilley, the French Indologist and Tantric initiate Alain Danielou, as well as Tantric guru Swami Satyananda, also see Tantra as universally indigenous to humanity’s mystic search, a quest that started in early shamanism, in proto-yoga’s interior pursuit beyond the fear of the Gods in heaven. Thus, while the ancient, priestly Vedic tradition centers around external rituals and sacrifices, such as the fire offerings, the prehistoric Tantric and yogic traditions emerged as "internal sacrifices" and rituals in the form of mantra, pranayama, and chakra meditations." The Lost Teachings of Tantra, Ramesh Bjonnes
TANTRA TEACHES YOU TO RECLAIM RESPECT FOR THE BODY
"Tantra teaches you to reclaim respect for the body, love for the body. Tantra teaches you to look at the body as the greatest creation of God. Tantra is the religion of the body. Of course it goes higher, but it never leaves the body; it is grounded there. It is the only religion which is really grounded in the earth. it has roots. How to attain to this Tantra vision?
This is the map to turn you on, and to turn you in, and to turn you beyond.
The first thing is the body. The body is your base, it is your ground, it is where you are grounded. To make you antagonistic towards the body is to destroy you, is to make you schizophrenic, is to make you miserable, is to create hell.
You are the body. Of course, you are more than the body, but that 'more' will follow later on. First you are the body. The body is your basic truth, so never be against the body. Whenever you are against the body, you are going against God. Whenever you are disrespectful to your body, you are losing contact with reality, because your body is your contact. Your body is your bridge. Your body is your temple. Tantra teaches reverence for the body, love, respect for the body, gratitude for the body. The body is marvelous. It is the greatest of mysteries.
But you have been taught to be against the body. So sometimes you are over-mystified by the tree by the green tree -- sometimes mystified by the moon and the sun, sometimes mystified by a flower, but never mystified by your own body. And your body is the most complex phenomenon in existence. No flower, no tree has such a beautiful body as you have. No moon, no sun, no star has such an evolved mechanism as you have.
But you have been taught to appreciate the flower, which is a simple thing. You have been taught to appreciate a tree, which is a simple thing. You have even been taught to appreciate stones, rocks, mountains, rivers, but you have never been taught to respect your own body, never to be mystified by it. Yes, it is very close, so it is very easy to forget about it. It is very obvious, so it is easy to neglect it. But this is the most beautiful phenomenon.
If you look at a flower, people will say 'How aesthetic!' And if you look at a woman's beautiful face or a man's beautiful face, people will say 'This is lust.' If you go to the tree, and stand there, and look in a dazed state at the flower -- your eyes wide open, your senses wide open to allow the beauty of the flower to enter you -- people will think you are a poet or a painter or a mystic. But if you go to a woman or a man and just stand there with great reverence and respect, and look at the woman with your eyes wide open and your senses drinking the beauty of the woman, the police will catch hold of you. Nobody will say that you are a mystic, a poet, nobody will appreciate what you are doing. Something has gone wrong.
If you go and touch the tree, the tree feels happy. But if you go and touch a man, he will feel offended. What has gone wrong? Something has been damaged tremendously and very deeply.
Tantra teaches you to reclaim respect for the body, love for the body. Tantra teaches you to look at the body as the greatest creation of God. Tantra is the religion of the body. Of course it goes higher, but it never leaves the body; it is grounded there. It is the only religion which is really grounded in the earth: it has roots. Other religions are uprooted trees -- dead, dull, dying; the juice does not flow in them.
Tantra is really juicy, very alive.
The first thing is to learn respect for the body, to unlearn all the nonsense that has been taught to you about the body. Otherwise you will never turn on, and you will never turn in, and you will never turn beyond. Start from the beginning. The body is your beginning.
The body has to be purified of many repressions. A great catharsis is needed for the body, a great RECHANA. The body has become poisoned because you have been against it; you have repressed it in many ways. Your body is existing at the minimum, that's why you are miserable. Tantra says: Bliss is possible only when you exist at the optimum -- never before it. Bliss is possible only when you live intensely. How can you live intensely if you are against the body?"
Osho - The Tantra Vision Volume II
PATTA
Patta also known as the Knot of Eternity or The Endless Knot, is one of the eight auspicious tibetan symbols and represents the interconnection of wisdom and compassion. Also depicts the nature of this world that everything is interconnected.
TANTRA BOOKS
01. Sacred Body, Sacred Spirit - Ramesh Bjonnes
02. Tantra - The Yoga of Love and Awakening - Ramesh Bjonnes
03. A Brief History of Yoga From Its Tantric Roots to the Modern Yoga Studio - Ramesh Bjonnes
04. Moola Bandha: The Master Key - Swami Buddhananda
05. Prana and Pranayama - Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati
06. Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha - Swami Satyananda Saraswati
07. Kundalini Tantra - Swami Satyananda Saraswati
08. Yoga Nidra - Swami Satyananda Saraswati
09. Meditations from the Tantras - Swami Satyananda Saraswati
10. A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya - Swami Satyananda Saraswati
11. Surya Namaskara - Swami Satyananda Saraswati
12. Jewel in the Lotus - Swami Sunyata Saraswati & Bodhi
13. Tantra - The Supreme Understanding - Osho
14. From Sex to Superconsciousness - Osho
15. The Book of Secrets - Osho
16. Vigyan Bhairava Tantra
17. Tantra and Shamanism from the Himalayas - Claudia Muller-Ebeling, Christian Ratsch, Surendra Shahi
18. Kriya Secrets Revealed - J.C. Stevens
19. Tantra Illuminated - Christopher D. Wallis
20. Tantra, Discover the path from Sex to Spirit - Shashi Solluna
MEDITATION
"Meditation is to make that which is unconscious conscious, and to make that which becomes conscious superconscious. Each breath, each mantra a prayer sound to That, which we always are, but which we often forget. Meditation is to make every breath a conscious whisper into the cosmic ear of That." Ramesh Bjonnes
KABIR
Where do you search me?
I am with you
Not in pilgrimage, nor in icons
Neither in solitudes
Not in temples, nor in mosques
Neither in Kaba nor in Kailash
I am with you O man
I am with you
Not in prayers, nor in meditation
Neither in fasting
Not in yogic exercises
Neither in renunciation
Neither in the vital force nor in the body
Not even in the ethereal space
Neither in the womb of Nature
Not in the breath of the breath
Seek earnestly and discover
In but a moment of search
Says Kabir, Listen with care
Where your faith is, I am there.
SHAMANISM
Shamanism is an ancient spiritual healing practice that was found in pre-modern societies worldwide. There is a remarkable similarity in these practices cross-culturally. The similarities involve: rituals involving drumming and chanting; beliefs about illness and healing, such as soul loss and recovery; alterations of consciousness conceptualized as soul flight; and many other features such as connection to animal spirits, belief about transformation into animals, an experience of death and rebirth and the use of supernatural power to cause sickness and death. Shamans share some characteristics with contemporary shamanistic healers, such as mediums, who nonetheless have a distinctive profile reflecting their presence in more complex societies. In addition to the similarities of shamans across pre-modern cultures, there is evidence of shamanic practices tens of thousands of years ago. This suggests that shamanism reflects some basic aspects of human nature. These involve evolved capacities for using rituals to enhance human bonding, intragroup cooperation, and healing, as well as the adaptive effects of alterations of consciousness that enhance cognitive capacities. These cognitive capacities are exemplified in the shamanic soul flight or out-of-body experience in which there is a perception of the self and personal identity separate from the physical body. The ancient presence of shamanism is illustrated in linguistic roots. For modern European cultures, shamanism was largely associated with the concept of witchcraft, reflecting the consequences of demonizing and oppressing shamanic activities. Other Indo-European cultures have more positive past associations with shamanism, exemplified in the characterization of the Buddha as the “great śramana.”
The concept of the shaman entered the Western world centuries ago, but its meanings remain problematic partly because modern European considerations resulted from contact with foreign cultures. Gloria Flaherty (1992) argues that shaman entered modern Europe through German scientifijic explorations which encountered the practices among the Tungus of Siberia. Shaman and similar terms (śaman, samman, csaman, and khamman) reflect a root of the Tungus-Manchurian and Turko-Tartar language families (śam, csam, kam, xam, and xamsa), which means “to move,” “to be agitated,” “to step,” “to stride.” The term is related to the Tungus-Manchurian verb ŝa, meaning “to know” (Campbell 1983; see Winkelman 2010 for discussion). The foreign origin of the term has led to questioning whether shamanism even exists apart from its construction within Western intellectual history (see Hutton 2001; Znamenski 2007; Stuckrad 2007).
The modern Western encounter with shamanism through colonial enterprises, explorers, merchants, and the military led to distorted understandings of shamanism as involving mad theatrics, social pathology, and mental illness, including psychosis and schizophrenia. Anthropological studies of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century provided more accurate descriptions of shamanism. Maria Czaplicka’s Aboriginal Siberia (1914) synthesized foreign sources and Ruth Benedict (1923) material from the Americas provided more accurate knowledge about these practices. The modern concept of the shaman was presented in Mircea Eliade’s Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy (1964, French original 1951). Eliade characterized shamanism as the entering of an ecstatic state to interact with the spirit world in a ritual done on behalf of the community. The shaman connected the local community with the spirit world in a nighttime ceremony charged with fear, hope, and other powerful emotions. Shamans provided healing, prophecy, communication with spirits, the recovery of lost souls, and protection against hostile spirits and other shamans. Shamanism assumes animism, the belief in a cosmos populated by spirits of natural phenomena, humans, and animals. The shaman summons spirit allies, particularly animals, while excitedly beating drums and singing, chanting, and recounting an engagement with supernatural powers.
Shamans are believed to be selected by the spirits, a calling often manifested in a prolonged period of illness. Shamanic initiates also deliberately seek spirit experiences in a vision quest that involves arduous rites, often in isolation in the wilderness. Either path generally leads to a death-and-rebirth—an experience of dismemberment from attacks by savage beasts that kill the initiate but then reassemble the person with new capacities. Shamanic transformation into an animal and the flight of the soul can take the shaman to the sky, through the earth, or to the lower worlds. The shamanic journey through these worlds involves the opening or hole, called the axis mundi, through which shamans, spirits, and gods descend and ascend. These worlds are accessed via the shaman’s ecstatic state which is achieved after dancing violently for hours, leading to the collapse or repose of the shaman. While the shaman appears unconscious, a vivid experience unfolds in the interior mental processes. This experience, known as soul flight, astral projection, out-of-body experience and others, has been reported in virtually all cultures. Although some have challenged the notion that soul flight is necessary to shamanism, this experience of the separation of the soul from the body is a human cultural universal and key to understanding a variety of aspects of shamanism. The shamanic soul flight is reflected in phenomenologically- similar experiences found cross-culturally, including among modern peoples, such as in near-death and clinical death experiences.
Shamanic ritual practices produce a sense of separation of the body from the self—a separation that psychologist Tom Metzinger has analysed in terms of the fundamental properties of the mind (2009). This perception of identity at a location distinct from the body is a fundamental aspect of self. This disembodied self has adaptive features which derive from separating certain capacities from the physical self-model, allowing the information processing systems to distribute functions to different self-modules. In this condition, intentional aspects of the person can control higher cognitive functions independent of the limitations of the physical body. These kinds of experiences have undoubtedly been at the basis of the postulation of spirits and souls, a powerful subjective experience that invariably leads to perceptions that consciousness exists apart from the physical body.
The cross-cultural concept phenomenon of the shaman promoted by Eliade’s work has had doubters and detractors. But cross-cultural studies by Michael Winkelman (1990, 1992) have demonstrated that pre-modern societies worldwide have been reported to have institutionalized in their cultural traditions specific forms of spiritual healing practice that closely correspond to Eliade’s characterization of shamanism. This empirical similarity in practitioners in different societies and regions of the world demonstrates that shamanism is something real and empirical, not just the product of the Western imagination or New Age thinking. Shamanism was a real, empirically-observable activity and phenomenon reported not only in Eurasia, but also the Americans, Africa, and the Pacific regions. Shamans were found worldwide in foraging, horticultural, and pastoral societies that were without social classes or permanent political hierarchies. These shamans shared the following features: a night time charismatic ritual performance by the preeminent group leader in the presence of the community; activities of healing; protecting from spirits and malevolent beings; alterations of consciousness though prolonged dancing, physical austerities, fasting, chanting and singing, extensive drumming, and frequent use of sacred plants or entheogens; physical collapse and apparent unconsciousness while experiencing a special alteration of consciousness referred to as “soul flight”; selection and training of initiates through premonitory dreams and illness and involving vision quests; the initiatory experience of death and rebirth; relations with animals, including the ability to control animals and to transform into an animal; the belief the shaman can also harm and kill magically; the reputed ability to control weather, physically fly and to have immunity to fire. Vocabulary for the Study of Religion, vol. 3, edited by Robert A. Segal, Kocku von Stugrackrad
RUMI
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” Rumi
"It's your road and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you." Rumi
"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." Rumi
SO HAM MANTRA
"The word "soham" (pronounced so-hum) is a composite of two separate sounds – "so" and "ham". The corresponding Sanskrit words are "sah" (meaning ‘that’) and "aham" (meaning ‘I’). When we join these two words together using the rules of Sanskrit grammar, we get the word "soham". The literal meaning of the word soham is "I am that". This is based on a concept which has been stated in some of the Tantric and Upanishadic texts. ‘I’ here refers to the individual soul and ‘that’ refers to the universal consciousness. The essential meaning of the phrase is that at the deepest level, I am the same as the universal consciousness.
The sound of soham is very commonly used as a mantra for meditation. In some Upanishads it is mentioned that the sound ‘so’ is identified with inhalation and ‘ham’ with exhalation. When we mentally chant the sound ‘so’ while we inhale and ‘ham’ when we exhale, it is a complete technique of meditation. Here we are meditating on the breath as well as the sound of ‘soham’ which is synchronized with the breathing cycle." http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2005/dapr05/orjap.shtml
NO NOISE, NO PEACE
"There is no noise in the world, there is no peace in the Himalayas. Both are within you." Swami Satyananda Saraswati
DEFINITION OF THE WORD TANTRA
"When we define a word in Sanskrit, we distinguish three levels of definition: 1. literal meaning (as found in the dictionary), 2. etymological meaning (the meaning derived from the word's root) and 3. nirukta (or "interpretive etymology") a traditional Indian exegetical reading which seeks to explain why that word is the appropriate one for what it designates.
For example, for the word Tantra the primary relevant meanings in the dictionary are "framework, system," as in a system of practice, "doctrine, theory" and "scripture"- in this case, a scripture teaching a system of practice. (Note: even literal meaning is contextual, and this is why tantra never means "loom" or "weave" in a spiritual context, but only in, a weaving context).
Number 2, etymological meaning: the verbal root of tantra is √tan, "to expand," followed by the suffix tra, which is usually an instrumental suffix. Hence tantra means "an instrument (tra) for expansion (tan)". There is only ever ONE correct etymological meaning of a word.
Number 3, nirukta: "a tantra (i.e., tantric scripture) is so called because it expands (√tan) on the topics of mantra and the principles of reality (tattvas), and because it saves (√tra) us from the cycle of suffering." That is the standard nirukta, found in the Kāmikā-tantra, but there can be more than one; and indeed, modern teachers have created their own interpretive etymologies.
Even though the basic meaning of tantra is "scripture," in time the term came to denote specific kinds of scriptures, those that we now characterize as Tantric. In this usage, the word tantra is synonymous with āgama. For a list of the specific characteristics that characterize a Tantric text, please see page 33 of the latest edition of Tantra Illuminated". Christopher Wallis Hareesh
SEMEN RETENTION
In Tibetan Tantra, semen retention is a key element in the spiritual advancement and physical well being of male disciples. Semen is deemed one of the most precious gifts given to humanity by Devi Shakti and Deva Shiva, representing a microcosm of pure energy, contained in the divine semen of Deva Shiva. Among the Dravidians of Southern India, semen is viewed as the “silver of the lingam”.
Ancient Taoists have long proclaimed the benefits of semen retention for male health and longevity. Taoist Sexual Masters assert that men who practice semen retention during sexual activity tend to enjoy a two-fold increase in brain energy.
From a scientific perspective, semen from one ejaculation contains the same amount of proteins, vitamins, minerals and amino acids as an 8-ounce steak, 10 eggs, 6 oranges and 2 lemons. It originates from the pituitary and pineal glands in the brain. As such, semen derives some of its essential nutrients from the cerebro-spinal fluid.
The remaining elements are derived from bone marrow and glands of the body which are transported to reproductive glands by blood.
In the Hindu Tantric tradition, semen contains the Solar Atoms (from Sanskrit “vahniretas” – fire semen), which if retained during orgasm moves inward along the spine to nourish the chakras and body in general. During this process, the Solar Atoms actually multiply in quantity and quality.
Semen is the actual source of erectile power rather than the nerve endings at the head of the lingam or blood supply. Continual loss of semen via repeated ejaculation during coitus creates a serious hormonal deficiency, robbing the male biological mechanism of hormones, vitamins, minerals and enzymes, so vital to erectile power and potency, as well as physical and emotional health.
Natural Health Consultant, Jacques Drouin, recommends an ejaculation frequency of once every six weeks for male students over the age of 35. “Initially, it takes 6 weeks for the body to start to regenerate after a lifetime of chronic, unregulated ejaculation, and for male power to really begin to build”.
BENEFITS OF SEMEN RETENTION
Sexual Stamina: Lasting longer is a worthy goal for many men. The first aspect of semen retention for men is simply learning to control involuntary ejaculation. By using tantric semen retention methods, men learn to manage sexual response, and condition their bodies so that sexual stimulation can last for as long as they choose. This contributes to the mental and emotional health of a man by giving him a deeper sense of sex-related personal empowerment and self-confidence, knowing that he can sexually satisfy his partner.
Multi-Orgasms: Men are just as capable of being as multi-orgasmic as woman, if they do not ejaculate. Notably, ejaculation are two separate functions of the nervous system. Generally, men roll over and fall asleep after their first ejaculation; however, by applying semen retention methods, they can enjoy full body, multiple orgasms, each one rolling continuously into the next. Some such orgasms can last for several minutes.
Increased Sex Drive: A recent study from China shows that Semen Retention Increases Testosterone Levels by 45.7% after 7 days. Testosterone is intricately linked to sex drive and sexual response in men. According to Daniel Reid, in The Tao of Health Sex & Longevity, semen essence is the fuel that drives male sexuality. It is the source not only of physical capacity for sex, but also of sexual interest and emotional affection. "A man who maintains consistently high levels of testosterone semen by practicing ejaculatory control will experience an overwhelming boon in his love and affection for his loved one. He will also gain the capacity to act upon that loving urge over and over again." ~Daniel Reid
Physical Vitality: High performance athletes are discouraged from sexual activity before a big game, due to a pronounced sense of physical depletion that follows an ejaculatory orgasm. This may be due to the high concentrate of vital essences found in semen. “An ounce of semen is deemed to be equal in value to 60 ounces of blood, of which it constitutes an extract of some of its most valuable of constituents.” In Tibetan medicine, “seven drops of the vital essence of food are required to produce one drop of the vital essence of blood. Plus, it takes one cup of the vital essence of blood to produce one drop of the vital essence of semen. By this measure, semen is literally more precious than blood!
Mental Clarity: “Semen contains substances of high physiological value, especially in relation to the nutrition of the brain and nervous system. There is a remarkable similarity of chemical composition between the semen and central nervous system, both being especially rich in lecithin, cholesterin and phosphorus compounds, which would indicate that seminal emissions withdraw from the body substances vital for the nutrition of nervous tissue." Dr. Raymond W. Bernard, MD
TANTRA SAYS, FIRST PURIFY THE BODY
"Tantra says, first purify the body – purify it of all repressions. Allow the body energy to flow, remove the blocks. It is very difficult to come across a person who has no blocks, it is very difficult to come across a person whose body is not tight. Loosen this tightness; this tension is blocking your energy, the flow cannot be possible with this tension. Why is everybody so uptight? Why can't you relax? Have you seen a cat sleeping, dozing in the afternoon? How simply and how beautifully the cat relaxes. Can't you relax the same way? You toss and turn in your bed; you can't relax. And the beauty of the cat's relaxation is that it relaxes utterly and yet is perfectly alert. A slight movement in the room and it will open its eyes, it will jump and be ready. It is not that it is just asleep. The cat's sleep is something to be learned; man has forgotten.
"Tantra says: Learn from the cats – how they sleep, how they relax, how they live in a non-tense way. And the whole animal world lives in that non-tense way. Man has to learn this, because man has been conditioned wrongly, man has been programmed wrongly." Osho, Tantric Transformation, Talk #7
TANTRA TRUSTS IN YOU
"This Tantra vision is one of the greatest visions ever dreamed by man: a religion without the priest, a religion without the temple, a religion without the organization; a religion which does not destroy the individual but respects individuality tremendously, a religion which trusts in the ordinary man and woman. And this trust goes very deep. Tantra trusts in your body; no other religion trusts in your body. And when religions don't trust in your body, they create a split between you and your body. They make you enemies of your bodies, they start destroying the wisdom of the body.
Tantra trusts in your body. Tantra trusts in your senses. Tantra trusts in your energy. Tantra trusts in you – in toto. Tantra does not deny anything but transforms everything.
"How to attain to this Tantra vision? This is the map to turn you on, and to turn you in, and to turn you beyond.
The first thing is the body. The body is your base, it is your ground, it is where you are grounded. To make you antagonistic towards the body is to destroy you, is to make you schizophrenic, is to make you miserable, is to create hell. You are the body. Of course you are more than the body, but that 'more' will follow later on. First, you are the body. The body is your basic truth, so never be against the body. Whenever you are against the body, you are going against God. Whenever you are disrespectful to your body you are losing contact with reality, because your body is your contact, your body is your bridge. Your body is your temple.
Tantra teaches reverence for the body, love, respect for the body, gratitude for the body. The body is marvelous, it is the greatest of mysteries." Osho, Tantric Transformation, Talk #7
TANTRA IS PUREST LOVE
"Tantra is purest love. Tantra is the methodology of purifying love of all its poisons. If you are in love, the love I am talking about, your very love will help the other to be integrated. Your very love will become a force for the other. In your love the other will come together, because your love will give freedom; and under the shade of your love, under the protection of your love, the other will start growing. All growth needs love - but unconditional love. If love has conditions then growth cannot be total, because those conditions will come in the way. Love unconditionally. Don't ask anything in return. Much comes on its own - that's another thing. Don't be a beggar. In love be an emperor. Just give it and see what happens... a thousandfold comes back. But one has to learn it. Otherwise one remains a miser; one gives a little and waits for much to come back, and your waiting, your expectation, destroys the whole beauty of it. When you are waiting and expecting, the other feels that you are manipulating. He may say it or not, but he feels you are manipulating. And wherever you feel manipulation, one wants to rebel against it - because it is against the inner need of the soul. Each being is an end unto himself. Love treats you as an end unto yourself. You are not to be dragged into any expectations. Tantra is the highest form of love. Tantra is the science, the yoga of love.
So a few things to be remembered. Love, not as a need - but as a sharing. Love, but don't expect - give. Love, but remember your love should not become an imprisonment for the other. Love, but be very careful; you are moving on sacred ground. You are going into the highest, the purest and holiest temple. Be alert! Drop all impurities outside the temple. When you love a person, love the person as if the person is a god, not less than that." Osho
TANTRA BENEFITS FOR MEN
. Gain more confidence in yourself, feel happier and more enthusiastic about life.
. Improve your performance and develop new sexual skills by increasing your intimacy and ability to surrender and trust.
. Cure premature ejaculation or difficulties in obtaining erection.
. Recognise the diverse pleasure spots, through the body using all senses.
. Discover new kind orgasm: dry, multiple, energetic and whole-body orgasms, the cosmic mystical union between two beings.
. The tantric experience brings higher levels of wellbeing and pleasure to all areas of your life.
. Discover dormant sensorial areas and gain deeper body awareness of you and your partner’s anatomy.
. Open your voice, expression, communication and conect conscious breath to the sensations.
. Recognise and control the different states of sexual arousal so you can adjust to your partner’s rhythm.
. Move the energy in a conscious way, preparing for intensive orgasm and opening to higher spiritual consciousness.
. Work diverse muscle groups simultaneously, increasing the range of muscles relating to orgasm.
SAMADHI AND SEX
"Tao has its own Tantra. The first thing: Tao never divides into the lower and the higher, that is the beauty of it. The moment you divide reality into the lower and the higher you are getting schizophrenic. The moment you say something is sacred and something is profane you have divided. The moment you say something is material and something is spiritual you have divided, you have split reality. Reality is one. There is neither matter nor spirit. Reality is one. It expresses itself in many forms: on one level as matter, on another level as spiritual. The spiritual is not higher and the material is not lower – they stand on the same level. That is the Taoist attitude. Life is one. Existence is one. It is a tremendous oneness and there is no evaluation.
"The first thing in Tao is to drop duality. Sex is not lower and samadhi is not higher. Samadhi and sex are both expressions of the same energy. There is nothing laudable about samadhi and there is nothing condemnable about sex. The Tao acceptance is total, absolute. There is nothing wrong about the body and there is nothing beautiful about the spirit – they are both beautiful. Devil and God are one in Tao, heaven and hell are one in Tao, good and bad are one in Tao – it is the greatest non-dual understanding. There is no condemnation and no preparation. To prepare for what? One has simply to relax and be."
WITH TANTRA, EASY IS RIGHT
"Tantra is the natural way; the loose and the natural is the goal. You need not fight with the current; simply move with it, float with it. The river is going to the sea so why fight? Move with the river, become one with the river: surrender. Surrender is the keyword for Tantra; will is the keyword for Yoga. Yoga is the path of will; Tantra is the path of surrender.
"That's why Tantra is the path of love – love is surrender. This is the first thing to understand; then Tilopa's words will become very, very crystal-clear. The different dimension of Tantra has to be understood – the vertical dimension, the dimension of surrender, of not fighting, of being loose and natural, relaxed – what Chuang Tzu calls, "Easy is right." With Yoga, difficult is right; with Tantra, easy is right.
"Relax and be at ease, there is no hurry. The whole itself is taking you on its own accord. You need not make any individual striving, you are not asked to reach before your time, you will reach when the time is ripe – simply wait. The whole is moving; why are you in a hurry? Why do you want to reach before others?" Osho, Tantra: The Supreme Understanding, Talk #6
LOVERS AND SOULMATES
"In the East, we have developed a science: if you cannot find a soul mate, you can create one. And that science is Tantra. To find a soul mate means to find the person with whom all your seven centers meet naturally. That is impossible. Once in a while, a Krishna and a Radha, a Shiva and a Shakti. And when it happens it is tremendously beautiful. But it is like lightning – you cannot depend on it. If you want to read your Bible, you can't depend on it that when the lightning is there you will read. The lightning is a natural phenomenon, but not dependable.
"If you wait for your natural soul mate to meet with you, it will be just like waiting for lightning with which to read your Bible. And you will not be able to read much either. For a moment it is there, and by the time you have opened the Bible it is gone.
"Hence, Tantra was created. Tantra is a scientific approach. Tantra is alchemy; it can transform your centers, it can transform the other's centers, it can create a rhythm and harmony between you and your beloved. That is the beauty of Tantra. It is like bringing electricity into your house. Then you can turn it on and off whenever you want. And you can have a thousand and one uses of it; it can cool your room, it can heat your room. Then it is a miracle. These seven centers in you are nothing but centers of body electricity. So, when I am talking about lightning, don't think of it only as a symbol – I mean it literally.
“In your body, there exists a subtle current of electricity, very subtle. But the subtler it is, the deeper it goes. It is not very visible. Scientists say that all the electricity that is in your body, if put together, can be used to light a five-candle bulb. It is not much. Quantitatively it is not much, quantitatively the atom is not much, but qualitatively… If it explodes, it has tremendous energy in it.
“These seven centers, these seven chakras Yoga and Tantra have talked about down the ages, are nothing but five knots in your body electric current. They can be changed; they can be rearranged. They can be given a new shape, form. Two lovers can be transformed so deeply that all their seven centers can start meeting.
“Tantra is the science of transforming ordinary lovers into soul mates. And that is the grandeur of Tantra. It can transform the whole earth; it can transform each couple into soul mates.” Osho, Philosophia Perennis, Vol. 1, Talk #8
TANTRA IS NOT A RELIGION
"Tantra is not a religion, because religion basically means: for the divine against the animal – so every religion is part of the conflict. Tantra is not a struggle technique, it is a transcendence technique. It is not to fight with the animal, it is not for the divine. It is against all duality. It is neither for nor against really. It is simply creating a third force within you, a third center of existence where you are neither animal nor divine. For Tantra that third point is advait, that third point is non-duality. Tantra says you cannot reach the one by fighting through duality. You cannot come to a non-dual point by choosing one thing in the struggle in duality. Choice will not lead you to the one; only a choiceless witnessing.
"This is very foundational to Tantra, and because of this Tantra was never really understood rightly. It has suffered a long, a centuries-old misunderstanding, because the moment Tantra says it is not against the animal, you start feeling as if Tantra is for the animal. And the moment Tantra says it is not for the divine, you then start thinking that Tantra is against the divine. Really, Tantra is for a choiceless witnessing. Don't be with the animal, don't be with the divine, and don't create a conflict. Just go back, just go away, just create a gap between you and this duality and become a third force, a witnessing, from where you can see both the animal and the divine." Osho, The Book of Secrets, Talk #59
TANTRA SAYS, KNOW THE BODY
"So those traditions which are against sex will be against the body. Those traditions which are not against sex can only be friendly toward the body. Tantra is absolutely friendly, and Tantra says that the body is sacred, holy. For Tantra, to condemn the body is a sacrilege. To say that the body is impure or to say that the body is sin is nonsense for Tantra – a very poisonous teaching. Tantra accepts the body – not only accepts it, but says that the body is holy, pure, innocent. You can use it and you can make it a vehicle, a medium, to go beyond! It helps even in going beyond.
"But if you start fighting with body, you are lost. If you start fighting with it, you will become more and more diseased. And if you go on fighting with it, you will miss an opportunity. Fighting is negative; Tantra is a positive transformation. Do not fight with it – there is no need. It is as if you are sitting in a car and you start fighting with the car. Then you cannot move because you are fighting with the vehicle – which has to be used, not fought against. And you will destroy the vehicle by your fighting, and then it will be more and more difficult to move.
"The body is a beautiful vehicle – very mysterious, very complex. Use it, do not fight with it. Help it. The moment you go against it you are going against yourself. It is as if a man wants to reach somewhere, but he fights with his own legs and cuts them. Tantra says, know the body and know the secrets of it. Know the energies of it and know how those energies can be transformed – how they can be moved and turned into different dimensions.
"For example, take sex, which is the basic energy in the body. Ordinarily, sex energy is just used for reproduction. One body creates another body and it goes on. The biological utility of sex energy is only in reproduction. But that is only one of the uses, and the lowest. No condemnation is implied, but it is the lowest. The same energy can do other creative acts also. Reproduction is a basic creative act – you create something. That is why a woman feels a subtle well-being when she becomes a mother: she has created something… "Tantra has no condemnations, only secret techniques for how to transform. That is why Tantra talks so much about the body – it is needed. The body has to be understood, and you can start only from where you are." Osho, The Book of Secrets, Talk #20
MAHAMUDRA VISION
Homage to Manjusrikumarabhuta
1. I bow down to the all-powerful Buddha
Whose mind is free of attachment,
Who in his compassion and wisdom
Has taught the inexpressible.
2. In truth there is no birth -
Then surely no cessation or liberation;
The Buddha is like the sky
And all beings have that nature.
3. Neither Samsara nor Nirvana exist,
But all is a complex continuum
With an intrinsic face of void,
The object of ultimate awareness.
4. The nature of all things
Appears like a reflection,
Pure and naturally quiescent,
With a non-dual identity of suchness.
5. The common mind imagines a self
Where there is nothing at all,
And it conceives of emotional states -
Happiness, suffering, and equanimity.
6. The six states of being in Samsara,
The happiness of heaven,
The suffering of hell,
Are all false creations, figments of mind.
7. Likewise the ideas of bad action causing suffering,
Old age, disease and death,
And the idea that virtue leads to happiness,
Are mere ideas, unreal notions.
8. Like an artist frightened
By the devil he paints,
The sufferer in Samsara
Is terrified by his own imagination.
9. Like a man caught in quicksands
Thrashing and struggling about,
So beings drown
In the mess of their own thoughts.
10. Mistaking fantasy for reality
Causes an experience of suffering;
Mind is poisoned by interpretation
Of consciousness of form.
11. Dissolving figment and fantasy
With a mind of compassionate insight,
Remain in perfect awareness
In order to help all beings.
12. So acquiring conventional virtue
Freed from the web of interpretive thought,
Insurpassable understanding is gained
As Buddha, friend to the world.
13. Knowing the relativity of all,
The ultimate truth is always seen;
Dismissing the idea of beginning, middle and end
The flow is seen as Emptiness.
14. So all samsara and nirvana is seen as it is -
Empty and insubstantial,
Naked and changeless,
Eternally quiescent and illumined.
15. As the figments of a dream
Dissolve upon waking,
So the confusion of Samsara
Fades away in enlightenment.
16. Idealising things of no substance
As eternal, substantial and satisfying,
Shrouding them in a fog of desire
The round of existence arises.
17. The nature of beings is unborn
Yet commonly beings are conceived to exist;
Both beings and their ideas
Are false beliefs.
18. It is nothing but an artifice of mind
This birth into an illusory becoming,
Into a world of good and evil action
With good or bad rebirth to follow.
19. When the wheel of mind ceases to turn
All things come to an end.
So there is nothing inherently substantial
And all things are utterly pure.
20. This great ocean of samsara,
Full of delusive thought,
Can be crossed in the boat Universal Approach.
Who can reach the other side without it?
The Twenty Mahayana Verses, (in Sanskrit, Mahayanavimsaka; in Tibetan: Theg pa chen po nyi shu pa) were composed by the master Nagarjuna. They were translated into Tibetan by the Kashmiri Pandit Ananda and the Bhikshu translator Drakjor Sherab (Grags 'byor shes rab). They have been translated into English by the Anagarika Kunzang Tenzin [Keith Dowman] on the last day of the year 1973 in the hope that the karma of the year may be mitigated. May all beings be happy!
DOHAKOSA
“I have visited in my wanderings shrines and other places of pilgrimage. But I have not seen another shrine blissful like my own body. // …As objects of desire, mantras and treatises go to destruction… [Hindu deities] Brahmā and Viṣṇu and all the three worlds return Here to their Source. // Know the taste of this flavor which consists in absence of knowledge…. // … It is free from conceits, a state of perfect bliss in which existence has its origin…. // Where intellect is destroyed, where mind dies and self-centeredness is lost. Why encumber yourself there with meditation? // … Look and listen, touch and eat, smell, wander, sit and stand, renounce the vanity of [contentious] discussion, abandon thought and be not moved from singleness. // … Abandon thought and thinking and be just as a child. Be devoted to your master’s teaching, and the Innate will become manifest.” (48, 50-3, 55, 57)
“When the mind abides motionless, one is released from the toils of existence. // When you do not recognize the Supreme One in yourself, how should you gain this incomparable form [of the Supreme Lord]? I have taught that when error ceases, you know yourself for what you are. // …It is this supreme bliss that pours forth unceasingly as existence…. Know but the pure and perfect state! // He is at home, but she goes outside and looks…. Saraha says, O fool, know yourself. It is not a matter of meditation, or concentration, or the reciting of mantras. // … Enjoying the world of sense, one is undefiled by the world of sense. One plucks the lotus without touching the water. So the yogin who has gone to the root of things is not enslaved by the senses although he enjoys them. // (59-62, 64)
“All these paṇḍits expound the treatises, but the Buddha who resides within the body is not known…. // … At one’s master’s word the mind is cleared. What treasure is there other than this?” (68-9)
“He who does not enjoy the senses purified, and practices only the Void [and neglects Compassion], is like a bird that flies up from a ship and then wheels round and lands back there again. // But do not be caught by attachment to the senses, Saraha says…. // Whatever pours forth from the mind, possesses the nature of the owner. Are waves different from water? Their nature, like that of space, is one and the same.” (70-2)
“He who clings to the Void and neglects Compassion, does not reach the highest stage. But he who practices only Compassion [with the fixed idea of other sentient beings] does not gain release from the toils of existence. He, however, who is strong in practice of both, remains neither in saṃsāra nor nirvāṇa.” (Extra verse:) “Do not cling to the notion of voidness, but consider all things alike.” (75)
“In self-experience consists this great bliss. // In it all forms are endowed with the sameness of space, and the mind is held steady with the nature of this same sameness. When the mind ceases thus to be mind, the true nature of the Innate shines forth.” (76-7)
“The world is enslaved by thought, Saraha says, and no one has known this non-thought.” (78) Saraha
MAHAMUDRA SONG
Mahamudra, the royal way, is free
from every word and sacred symbol.
For you alone, beloved Naropa,
this wonderful song springs forth from Tilopa
as spontaneous friendship that never ends.
The completely open nature
of all dimensions and events
is a rainbow always occurring
yet never grasped.
The way of Mahamudra
creates no closure.
No strenuous mental effort
can encounter this wide open way.
The effortless freedom of awareness
moves naturally along it.
As space is always freshly appearing
and never filled,
so the mind is without limits
and ever aware.
Gazing with sheer awareness
into sheer awareness,
habitual, abstract structures melt
into the fruitful springtime of Buddhahood.
White clouds that drift through blue sky,
changing shape constantly,
have no root, no foundation, no dwelling;
nor do changing patterns of thought
that float through the sky of mind.
When the formless expanse of awareness
comes clearly into view,
obsession with thought forms
ceases easily and naturally.
As within the openness of universal space
shapes and colors are spontaneously forming,
although space has no color or form,
so within the expanse of awareness
realms, relations and values are arising,
although awareness possesses
no positive or negative characteristics.
As the darkness of night,
even were it to last a thousand years,
could not conceal the rising sun,
so countless ages of conflict and suffering
cannot conceal the innate radiance of Mind.
Although philosophers explain
the transparent openness of appearances
as empty of permanent characteristics
and completely indeterminable,
this universal indeterminacy
can itself never be determined.
Although sages report
the nature of awareness to be luminosity,
this limitless radiance cannot be contained
within any language or sacramental system.
Although the very essence of Mind
is to be void of either subjects or objects,
it tenderly embraces all life within its womb.
To realize this inexpressible truth,
do not manipulate mind or body
but simply open into transparency
with relaxed, natural grace --
intellect at ease in silence,
limbs at rest in stillness
like hollow bamboos.
Neither breathing in nor breathing out
with the breath of habitual thinking,
allow the mind to be at peace
in brilliant wakefulness.
This is the royal wealth of Mahamudra,
no common coin of any realm.
Beloved Naropa, this treasure of Buddhahood
belongs to you and to all beings.
Obsessive use of meditative disciplines
or perennial study of scripture and philosophy
will never bring forth this wonderful realization,
this truth which is natural to awareness,
because the mind that desperately desires
to reach another realm or level of experience
inadvertently ignores the basic light
that constitutes all experience.
The one who fabricates
any division in consciousness
betrays the friendship of Mahamudra.
Cease all activity that separates,
abandon even the desire to be free from desires
and allow the thinking process to rise and fall
smoothly as waves on a shoreless ocean.
The one who never dwells in abstraction
and whose only principle
is never to divide or separate
upholds the trust of Mahamudra.
The one who abandons
craving for authority and definition,
and never becomes one-sided
in argument or understanding,
alone perceives the authentic meaning
hidden in the ancient scriptures.
In the blissful embrace of Mahamudra,
negative viewpoints and their instincts
are burned without remainder, like camphor.
Through the open door of Mahamudra,
the deluded state of self-imprisonment
is easily left behind forever.
Mahamudra is the torch of supreme liberty
shining forth through all conscious beings.
Those beings constituted by awareness
who try to ignore, reject or grasp awareness
inflict sorrow and confusion upon themselves
like those who are insane.
To be awakened from this madness,
cultivate the gracious friendship
of a sublime sage of Mahamudra,
who may appear to the world as mad.
When the limited mind
enters blessed companionship
with limitless Mind,
indescribable freedom dawns.
Selfish or limited motivations
create the illusory sense of imprisonment
and scatter seeds of further delusion.
Even genuine religious teaching
can generate narrowness of vision.
Trust only the approach
that is utterly vast and profound.
The noble way of Mahamudra
never engages in the drama of
imprisonment and release.
The sage of Mahamudra
has absolutely no distractions,
because no war against distractions
has ever been declared.
This nobility and gentleness alone,
this nonviolence of thought and action,
is the traceless path of all Buddhas.
To walk this all-embracing way
is the bliss of Buddhahood.
Phenomena on every plane of being
are constantly arising and disappearing.
Thus they are forever fresh,
always new and inexhaustible.
Like dreams without solid substance,
they can never become rigid or binding.
The universe exists in a deep, elusive way
that can never be grasped or frozen.
Why feel obsessive desire or hatred for it,
thereby creating illusory bonds?
Renounce arbitrary, habitual views.
Go forth courageously to meditate
in the real mountain wilderness,
the wide open Mahamudra.
Transcend boundaries of kinship
by embracing all living beings
as one family of consciousness.
Remain without any compulsion
in the landscape of natural freedom:
spontaneous, generous, joyful.
When you receive the crown of Mahamudra,
all sense of rank or attainment
will quietly disappear.
Cut the root of the vine that chokes the tree,
and its clinging tendrils wither away entirely.
Sever the conventionally grasping mind,
and all bondage and desperation dissolve.
The illumination from an oil lamp
lights the room instantly,
even if it has been dark for aeons.
Mind is boundless radiance.
How can the slightest darkness remain
in the room of daily perception?
But one who clings to mental processes
cannot awaken to the radiance of Mind.
Strenuously seeking truth
by investigation and concentration,
one will never appreciate
the unthinkable simplicity and bliss
that abide at the core.
To uncover this fertile ground,
cut through the roots of complexity
with the sharp gaze of naked awareness,
remaining entirely at peace,
transparent and content.
You need not expend great effort
nor store up extensive spirtual power.
Remain in the flow of sheer awareness.
Mahamudra neither accepts nor rejects
any current of energy, internal or external.
Since the ground consciousness
is never born into any realm of being,
nothing can add to or subtract from it.
Nothing can obstruct or stain it.
When awareness rests here,
the appearance of division and conflict
disappears into original reality.
The twin emotions of anxiety and arrogance
vanish into the void from which they came.
Supreme knowing knows
no separate subject or object.
Supreme action acts resourcefully
without any array of instruments.
Supreme attainment attains the goal
without past, future or present.
The dedicated practitioner
experiences the spiritual way
as a turbulent mountain stream,
tumbling dangerously among boulders.
When maturity is reached,
the river flows smoothly and patiently
with the powerful sweep of the Ganges.
Emptying into the ocean of Mahamudra,
the water becomes ever-expanding light
that pours into great Clear Light -
without direction, destination,
division, distinction or description.
Tilopa
(version by Lex Hixon)
MAHAMUDRA PADAMETHA
Homage to the great state of bliss!
First, stating the nature of the Mahamudra of perception:
Concerning what is called Mahamudra:
All things are your own mind.
Seeing objects as external is a mistaken concept;
Like a dream, they are empty of concreteness.
Second, stating the nature of the Mahamudra of awareness:
This mind, as well, is a mere movement of attention
That has no self-nature, being merely like a gust of wind.
Empty of identity, like space,
All things, like space, are equal.
Third, stating the nature of the Mahamudra of union:
When speaking of 'Mahamudra,'
It is not an identity that can be shown.
Therefore the mind's suchness
Is itself the state of Mahamudra.
Thus he taught the Mahamudra of the view through the threefold perception, awareness and union.
Next, among the three points on the Mahamudra of meditation,
first stating the nature of the Mahamudra of the basic state:
It is neither something to be corrected nor transformed,
But when anyone sees and realizes its nature
All that appears and exists is Mahamudra,
The great and all-encompassing dharmakaya.
Second, stating the nature of the Mahamudra of realization:
Naturally and without contriving, allowed to simply be,
This unimagined dharmakaya,
Letting it be without seeking is the meditation training,
But to meditate while seeking is deluded mind.
Third, stating the nature of the Mahamudra of indivisibility:
Just as with space, just as with a magical display,
While neither cultivating nor not cultivating
How can you be separate or not separate!
This is a yogi's understanding.
Once more, for the three points about the Mahamudra of conduct, first,
stating the nature of the Mahamudra of self-liberation:
All the good deeds of harmful actions
Dissolve by simply knowing this nature.
The emotions are the great wisdom;
Like a jungle fire, they are the yogi's helpers.
Second, stating the nature of the Mahamudra of equal taste:
How can there be staying or going?
What meditation is there by fleeing to a hermitage?
Without understanding this, all possible means
Never bring more than temporary liberation.
Third, stating the nature of the Mahamudra of indivisibility:
When understanding this nature, what is there to bind you?
While being undistracted from its continuity,
There is neither a composed nor an uncomposed state
To be cultivated or corrected with a remedy.
Once more, for the three points about the Mahamudra of fruition, first,
stating the nature of the Mahamudra of what appears and exists:
It is not made out of anything.
Experience self-liberated is dharmadhatu.
Thinking self-liberated is great wisdom.
Nondual equality is dharmakaya.
Second, stating the nature of the Mahamudra of samsara and nirvana:
Like the continuous flow of a great river,
Whatever you do is meaningful.
This is the eternal awakened state,
The great bliss, leaving no place for samsara.
Third, stating the nature of Mahamudra of ultimate perfection:
All things are empty of their own identities.
The concept fixed on emptiness has dissolved in itself.
Free of concept, holding nothing in mind;
Is in itself the path of all buddhas.
To conclude, instructing and stating the dedication:
For the most fortunate ones,
I have made these concise words of heartfelt advice.
Through this, may every single sentient being
Be established in Mahamudra.
This was given orally by the great pandita Naropa, to Marpa Chokyi Lodro at Pullahari. These thirteen verses that concisely show Mahamudra in completeness were divided up in accordance with their meaning. The details should be known from oral teachings. Do not fix your mind on other variations; since this is copied from the old manuscript, I feel it should not be changed.
(This note was added by Shamar Kacho Wangpo. There is a saying that "The pith instructions in Mahamudra should be known from an instruction in concise words." It is the opinion of all past sublime masters who upheld the Practice Lineage that this teaching summarizes all the key points of Mahamudra instruction). Translated by Erik Pema Kunsang. Published in Songs of Naropa: Commentaries on Songs of Realization, by Thrangu Rinpoche (Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1997)