Tantra

Tantra has been variously translated to "loom" or "weaving" and this refers to the interweaving of what may seem to be opposites into a beautiful tapestry of rich experience.

Tantra was developed to make spiritual advancement available to householders, and not just to cloistered monks and nuns. Although the sexual aspect has gotten all the press, Tantra is about integrating spiritual practice into all areas of life, unifying rather than separating. In Tantra, sexuality is just as much divine service as working in a clinic or soup kitchen.

For the true Tantrika every thought and word is prayer. Every action is spirit in action. Sex is communion. The stuff of life becomes the material for spiritual advancement. For this reason, many regard Tantra as an accelerated path.

When the Tantric approach encounters Western societal constraints, occasionally there are misunderstandings. Some people regard sexuality as something base or vulgar. To some extent we have inherited Puritanical attitudes. The experience of pleasure, particularly sexual pleasure is considered ungodly and the stuff of temptation. Hard as it may seem to believe, some people actually consider that to deny themselves pleasure makes them somehow "pure."

From the Tantric perspective this seems a little silly. All bodily sensations hold enormous potential for spiritual attainment, including not only the heights of pleasure, but the pain of heartbreak. All bodily sensations are regarded as gifts of the God or Goddess.

But what is to keep us from "going off the deep end?" The answer is in maintaining "witness consciousness." To "hold the witness" is to simultaneously experience the full depth of sensation and emotion on a bodily level, while at the same time observing from a place of non-judgement. The practice of "holding the witness" allows the Tantrika to come to terms with past trauma and live life to the fullest.