What is Tantra?

With the advent of technology and super accessible information on the web, many people have come across the word "tantra" by many means. But what is this practice and what is its objective?

Tantra is a hybrid of spiritual practices from the Himalayas, specifically from Hinduism and Vajrayana Buddhism, also known as one more way of Yoga. It refers to any text, theory, system, method, technique or practice applied constantly. In a very simple way, tantra is the way to go “beyond the body”, using the body itself as a vehicle for spiritual transcendence or the energetic development of the human being. Therefore, tantra performs different types of body awareness practices to obtain a greater state of consciousness.

Its development in the East greatly influenced religions and their rites, such as offerings to their gods, social celebrations and the conception of the deities that rule the world. At the beginning of the last century, Pierre Bernard brought the concept of tantra to the West, giving it a much more sexual tint than its origin. This led to a great interest on the part of the western world to see him as something secret, esoteric and sexually charged.

It must be made clear that classical Tantra, which is still practiced in India, Indonesia, Nepal, Tibet and other regions of the world, is fundamentally quite different from the practices offered to the western public. Although there are currents that seek to rescue or integrate some of their bases or models, the reality is that they have focused much more on sexual practices and their benefits.

Thus, modern Tantrism, more loaded in the sexual sphere, has reached millions around the world, and offers practices for the sublimation and elevation of sexual energy in the human being. In other words, use the sexual energy, the basis of all life, to reach states of greater development of consciousness. It is postulated that enlightenment can be achieved through the conscious sexual interaction. Part of the exercises include those already known in the west as "kegel exercises", some pranayamas or breathing techniques such as deep breathing, bringing the attention of the perineum to the third eye and back, some kriyas or repetitions of body movements to strengthen the body and allow the movement of this energetic flow through it, and finally, the partner practices that go from subtle massages to synchronous breathing and sexual positions for the best energy flow between both people.

In his book "Tantra", Osho largely promoted this path as the union of opposites, as the integration of the shadow, and therefore that of accepting and embracing everything, including what is unpleasant to us or that causes internal conflict. It is clear that embracing our own darkness allows us to be in totality and therefore develop a connection between our inner world and the world that surrounds us, since we do not see ourselves as separate but as part of it.

Tantra is a very comprehensive path, very expansive and very powerful to discover. I invite you to do it first by doing research, and if it is appealing to you, gradually integrate exercises that you find online like some that we present in this blog or in the yorgasmic method book “The future of sex”. After all, the development of your person in both polarities has many benefits, not only in sex, but in your life in general.