tantra

The term tantra can assume different meanings and trying to define it is not easy. It can means “plot” or “net”, but can be also synonymous of “doctrine” or “ritual”. The word tantra draws origin from the sanscrit root tan that means expansion and tra that means liberation. Tantra therefore is a whole of millenary practices to the amplification of the awareness, it is the systematic use of body and mind as physical instrument for the spiritual realization, a practical way to liberation. The body and the mind are governed by the three gunas: sattva, rajas and tamas (virtue, passion, ignorance).  They are the principal tools of the nature (Prakriti) to mantain the soul chained to the cycle of birth and death through the inexorable law of the karma.

Since the late sixties Tantra has begun to have a growing reputation in the West, but the aspect that has developed more and more has been followed is that on the use of some sexual practices. It is appropriate to clarify how these practices, mostly kept secret, are only a small part of what is tantric sadhana. Indeed, it can be said that few are those who have access to such knowledge, which are usually handed down from guru to disciple. When the sadhaka reaches a higher stage of consciousness, through the control of vital energy it becomes possible to also use sex to promote spiritual growth. We are talking about practices like the Chakra Sadhana in which sadhaks and their consorts unite to reach the experience of Divine Bliss. Here the body becomes divine and the union becomes cosmic. These are secret rituals where the alchemical transformation gradually takes place from the gross to the subtle, from the material to the spiritual level.