WHITE TANTRA HEALING

WHITE TANTRA HEALING with the Dakini Kathryn

2011-11-15T18:21:00.000-08:00

NAMASTE!

Greetings! I am KATHRYN, a Tantric Dakini, the embodiment of the goddess, a high priestess of sacred truth, healer, and you are invited to experience the sublime and blissful rituals of TANTRA - a blending of Tantric energy healing practices with the art of sensual massage in a lush session focused on you!

My training in the sacred intimate arts has been extensive including Bodywork, Massage, Nutrition, Reiki, Breathwork, Tantra, Kundalini Yoga and Meditation.

I offer myself as a guide, a muse, healer ... and I create a safe space for you to be your true self, to be met and mirrored, to surrender with the unfolding, the tender soul's blossoming, where I offer my authentic self and heart to you.

You are invited to share my sacred space with me, to experience a sublimely blissful experience of time-out-of-time into remembrance of divine time through pranayama, eye-gazing, Kundalini activation, soul-language-vibrations, bliss mantras, sacred massage and more! Through an experiential session fusing ancient arts, we will unwind and relax with Tantric Massage, while holding the intention to heal what holds you back from true ecstatic embodiment, thus allowing yourself to feel interconnected with all there is.

If you are looking for a time of fiery inspiration and spiritual transformation ~ and are open to the Tantric Dakini medicine of the tiger and the hummingbird, a session fused with passion and high vibrations, then together we will bridge the divide between sensuality and spirituality ~ which is only separated by our collective societal illusion.

For Individuals - I offer healing/coaching sessions that are customized for you to learn to connect with yourself in a whole new way through Tantric practice, Sensual Full Body Tantric Massage, Breathing, Internal muscle and Chakra exercises.

For Couples - You will be guided on how to enhance your relationship, what practices work to inspire and sustain the love connection, creating intimacy, honoring the masculine/feminine within each partner, sensory development, tantric touch, healing practices and ritual work.

Tantra brings us home to the truth. Bliss is our divine birthright.

• TO REQUEST A SESSION WITH ME:

EMAIL me at: DakiniKathryn@Gmail.Com and please tell me a little about yourself.

BY PHONE - I now offer phone sessions for those who may live too far away from me to book a session in person with me. Or if you wish to discuss your session in more detail over the phone you may now telephone me at:

1-800-TO-FLIRT ext. 9479561 (First 3 minutes are free, afterwards the cost is only $1.99 per minute!) or call directly over your computer by using this button:

• INCALL SESSIONS ONLY at my beautiful, peaceful, private oasis retreat east of Orlando, Florida.

• ADVANCE BOOKINGS ONLY - (If you are coming to see me for the first time, I require a minimum of 24 hours advance notice - with more notice preferable). I NEVER do last minute, or same day sessions.

• SUGGESTED GIFT/DONATION/OFFERING: I offer a Two Hour Session for the Individual for $300; for Couples I offer a Three Hour session for $500.

PLEASE NOTE: In order for me to feel safe in inviting you to be a guest in my home sanctuary, I ask you to please be prepared to tell us accurately a little about yourself, including your name, age, some background information, any references or contact information that can be found in the directory...

Still have questions? Let me tell you more ...

I founded WHITE TANTRA HEALING which is based on the ancient teachings of Tibetan Tantric Buddhist - Medicine Buddha and White Tantra-Right Hand Healing, and as such is a holistic, healing discipline that offers a broad range of tools for supporting health, healing and personal transformation. Tantra's tools can be utilized in an infinite number of combinations to suit the unique needs of the individual throughout the ever-changing stages of his/her life.

A Tantric Healer is a Medicine Buddha whose function is to release living beings from outer and inner sickness by bestowing blessings upon them. Buddha's Truth Body (or Dharmakaya) appears in the form of Medicine Buddha, with a blue-coloured body, one face and two hands, holding a jeweled bowl and a medicinal plant.

By relying upon Medicine Buddha sincerely, living beings in these impure times can be cured of heavy physical and mental disease, and find release from the internal pain of the three poisons:

Attachment
Anger
Ignorance

They can also receive protection from many other dangers and obstacles.

Since beginingless time, we have experienced the pain of the three poisons and all the sufferings to which they give rise. Now, by relying upon this Medicine Buddha through Tantric Healing, we can be released from this pain forever. Moreover, by practicing the sadhana of Medicine Buddha through Tantric Healing sincerely, we receive a special power of body, speech, and mind, which we can then use to help others through healing actions. Therefore, we should approach and practice this Tantric Healing sadhana purely and sincerely.

As a holistic form of healing, Tantra views the human system as not just the physical body, but as comprised of several dimensions, including the physical body, breath, mind, personality and emotions. My White Tantric Healing practice offers developmental and therapeutic programs that address the needs of the whole person according to the individual's capability and interest and which specifically seek to empower each client in their own healing and wellness processes. Tantric practices prescribed may include:

Appropriate physical postures (asana)
Breathing practices (pranayama)
Meditation (dhyanam)
Guided self-inquiry (svadhyaya)
Chanting and Sound (mantra)
Tantric Massage
Sat Nam Rasayan Healing

Tantra also engages your unique sources of energy – the chakras - those that empower your spirit as well as your body. Using harmonic vibrations, your chakras are each brought into balance for optimum wellness. Drawing from the riches of ancient Tantric tradition, I offer a system of Tantric Touch, breathing techniques, and focused meditations that, when practiced together, will bring you:

Increased physical health and strength
Emotional balance
Heightened sensory awareness
Enhanced intuition and creativity
Greater peace and fulfillment in relationships
A deeper sense of your own spirituality

With regular practice, you will be surprised at how strong, healthy, and fulfilled you feel.

From my private, peaceful oasis near the Indian River in Rockledge, I offer you a sublimely relaxing sensual and spiritually healing and renewing experience in a comfortable setting, surrounded with candles, aromatherapy scents, essential oils, soothing ethereal music and my refreshing and healing presence. You will be nurtured and pampered as I give you a feeling of pure comfort and well-being. I promise you this will be no ordinary experience at all! You will feel as if you are in a blissful state of conscious awareness.

The Art of Full Body Sensual Massage . . .

2010-07-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

* Highest Quality Holistic Bodywork by a Knowledgeable Practitioner?

* Luxurious Pampering that Dissolves Stress and Leaves You Feeling Energized, Refreshed and Peaceful

* Simple, Straightforward Techniques to Expand and Extend Pleasure

* A Sensual Meditation

* A Safe Place to Explore all the Rich Aspects of Your Erotic Self

. . . Then Welcome to my World of Tantric Bliss !

NAMASTE!

White Tantra Healing Practices for Health, Longevity & Sexual Revitalization

2010-06-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

The following information is meant to give you a short introduction to an elite sect of TANTRA sexual and spiritual practices dating back 3,000 years. Until recently, most of these teachings were kept secret or taught only to a few initiates. In 1986, Hsi Lai, a practicing Taoist and Tai Chi master, began studying with one of the few living female Taoist Immortaless’ in Taiwan. Years of study later, she gave him permission to record and teach this knowledge to westerners. He has since published several books on many of the techniques, philosophies, and healing arts of the ancient Taoists. For anyone interested in a more in-depth study of the information I am about to give, I refer you to The Sexual Teachings of the White Tigress and The Sexual Teachings of the Jade Dragon by Hsi Lai.

Taoism (pronounced Dow-ism) was the first indigenous philosophy of China.
The word Tao means "The Way". At it's heart, Taoism presents a harmonious way of living created by balancing the natural forces of "Yin" and "Yang". Yin-Yang is a symbolic representation of universal process that portrays a changing rather than a static picture of reality. All parts of reality as we observe it can be classified under the title of being Yin or Yang. Here are a few simplified examples:

Yang is hot
Yang is full
Yang is dry
Yang is bright
Yang moves outward
Yang is more male

Yin is cold
Yin is empty
Yin is wet
Yin is dark
Yin moves inward
Yin is more female

The harmony and balance of these forces are what Taoists believe create a healthy, fulfilling and peaceful life. A life with these forces out of balance creates disease, chaos, and death. The writings that were the foundation from which early Taoist practices and philosophy were built came from three sources. Lao Tzu who is said to be the author of The Tao Te Ching, Huang Ti, who wrote The Yellow Emperor=s Internal Medicine Classic, and Ko Hung the author of Pao P’u Tzu. Over the years these writings have been interpreted in many different ways leading to a division of sects, schools and divergent practices. The more traditional schools recognized three distinct practices in Taoism. They are:
1. Internal AlchemyBthe process of forming the elixir of immortality.
2. Meditation-the method of achieving tranquility and the Tao.
3. Hygiene PracticesBphysical restoration methods and yoga.
(A fourth practice that was less common involved shamanism and Geomancy or Feng Shui.)

The techniques and philosophies that created WHITE TANTRA HEALING adhere to these three practices. Beginning first with sexual regeneration, then spiritual alchemy, and lastly the contemplative philosophy (meditation). These will be referred to as White/Taoist Tantric practices, not to be confused with Red/Hindu Tantric practices.

This lineage can be traced to records written as far back as 1748, but the oral tradition was handed down centuries before these writings. This practice came from an elite line of female Dakinis, courtesans and consorts who claim to have received their teachings from the Immortaless Hsi Wang Mu (Western Royal Mother) who is considered the heavenly keeper of the Peach of Immortality. Three of her women were said to have taught Huang Ti (The Yellow Emperor) everything he needed to know sexually for restoring youthfulness and achieving immortality.

What does it mean to achieve immortality?

The concept of immortality has several meanings depending on the school which one adheres to. For our purposes let me quote The Sexual Teaching of the Jade Dragon.
"The most practical meaning [of immortality] is that a person lives beyond one hundred years in good health or as the Chinese say, >retaining youthfulness within old age=...immortality carries the ideas of living with optimum health, living longer while maintaining a youthful physical appearance and disposition, and achieving lucid consciousness upon death."
Immortality was very important to these early Taoists as they valued an aged person who is still vital and young in mind far more than someone still in their youth. “Living long with no aging” gave a person more time to achieve their spiritual goals and it added to a fuller life experience. One way to achieve immortality was to practice restoring and conserving sexual energy or what the Taoist call "Ching."

The Tao is called the Great Mother
empty yet inexhaustible
it gives birth to infinite worlds.
It is always present within you.
You can use it any way you want.
From the Tao Te Ching translated by Stephen Mitchell

Taoists say: "sex is the reason we are born and it is the reason we die." What they mean by this is that it was sexual energy that gave us life and it is the misuse of sexual energy that causes premature aging, illness, and eventually death.

To understand how to achieve immortality we must look closely at three energies that the Taoist call the Three Treasures. The Three Treasures are our essential life energies that create everything physical, mental, and spiritual.

· The first treasure is "Ching" or "Jing"energy. Ching is our sexual and physical energy and is related to P'o or Earth Spirit energy. It's physical manifestation is the sperm, the egg, as well as the whole body. Ching=s primordial energy is to motivate us to procreate and be sexual. It is expressed in the blood and sexual fluids of both sexes. The emotional expression for Ching is sensuality and giving.

· The second treasure is "Qi" or "Chi" or often called "Kundalini energy". This is our breath and vital energy. We could not live even a moment without Qi. Qi animates the physical body and activates the mental function. It also animates and attracts us to be sexual. The physical expression of Qi is through the orifices of the mouth and penis for men, and mouth and nipples for women. The emotional expression of Qi is passion and kindness.

· The third treasure is "Shen", the mind and spirit energy. Shen relates to the Heavenly Spirit or Hun. It has to do with our spiritual existence and creates the consciousness of sexuality. Shen is expressed through the eyes, and this is where the saying "the eyes are the windows of the soul" comes from. Both compassion and wisdom are the emotional expressions of Shen.

A Taoist could not achieve immortality without fortifying these three treasures. Each treasure builds upon the next. Ching is needed to create Qi (kundalini). Qi is needed to build Shen. In that order. But there is a limit to the amount of Qi (life energy) we have. We are born with a certain amount and when that Qi is used up the body can no longer exist and we die.

Fortunately, Ching can be cultivated and made stronger. The Taoists found if they could increase their Ching they could restore and revitalize their Qi. When a person's Qi was strong enough it activated Shen (spirit) and illumination of the mind/spirit was attained. For this reason, the conserving and gathering of Ching was of utmost importance to a Taoist seeking longevity and spiritual enlightenment.

So how does a person increase their Ching ?

Before we can begin to look at ways to increase sexual energy, we must first look at the ways we loose sexual energy. A woman loses Ching every time she has her period. A man loses his Ching every time he ejaculates. To conserve Ching, a man must decrease (not eliminate) the amount of times he ejaculates and a woman's needs to decrease (not eliminate) her menstrual flow. Some texts on Taoist sexology state that a woman needs to limit her orgasms to conserve her Ching. This perspective comes from a male centered philosophy that has mistakenly treated a woman’s restoration the same way as a man’s. Nothing could be further from the truth. Females Taoists know that orgasms do not deplete a woman's Ching. Rather, by using certain techniques, she can make full use of it's energy to benefit her health and well-being.

Conservation of sexual energy is only one part of the equation. For full physical restoration and revitalization a person needs to do more than just conserve his/her Ching. One must also practice methods to build and cultivate it. The techniques for doing are different for men and women.
Sexually speaking, Taoist view men and women as equal partners. To restore youthfulness and vitality, each must capture in the other what is lacking in themselves. Men tend to be more yang in nature; their sexual energy tends to be more active and external. A woman is more yin in her nature and therefore her sexual energy leans towards receptivity and internal experience. One need only glance at male and female genitalia to find legitimacy in this theory. To restore his sexual vitality a man must seek out yin experiences. For a woman to restore her youthfulness and vitality she must seek out yang energy. It is by looking beyond our inherent natures we find methods and techniques that bring greater longevity and health.

“The first and most important task of any self-cultivator, regardless of his chosen tradition or practice is to either maintain or revitalize his heath.”
--Hsi Lai

It is a common belief among Taoists that a man’s good health is directly related to his sexual energy and capabilities. And without optimum sexual energy (Ching) there is insufficient internal energy to forge what is called the Elixir of Immortality, which is the result of accumulating and refining Ching and Qi. It would follow then that the first priority of any practicing male Taoist seeking long-term health and vitality was to have strong Ching. Strong Ching was defined as having:

· A strong erection and a fully functional Jade Stem (penis)
· Healthy and abundant semen
· A healthy sexual appetite
· The ability to achieve multiple orgasms
These abilities are usually plentiful in a man’s youth but over time they will diminish unless he consciously cultivates them.

The Taoists used safe and simple techniques to increase their Ching. They included:

· The Eight Jade Dragon Exercises
· Herbal Supplements
· Proper Diet
· Proper Breathing and Exercise
· Hygiene Practices
· Conservation of semen
· Increasing semen volume
· Proper Sexual Practices and Behavior
· Tantric Massage
· Cultivating Tranquility
These techniques took dedication and discipline to practice, but had many rewards. Even if a man is not seeking immortality, these methods can greatly enhance his pleasure and that of his partner. I will briefly explain each of these methods and their purpose.

“No man should ever just sit back and think he is sexually perfect, because there is always room for improvement and the older he gets the more help he needs to maintain his sexual prowess. It is only common sense that men would want to accomplish all this naturally and safely, and that is exactly what the Jade Dragon methods are: natural and safe.”
--The Sexual Teachings of the Jade Dragon

Contrary to what most magazines tell you, the size of the penis is not what matters most in sex. A strong full erection is much more important because this means that Ching has gathered abundantly in the Jade Stem. Even a man with a strong, full erection can make it stronger and fuller by practicing the Eight Jade Dragon Exercises. The Taoists used these exercises to enlarge and thicken their Jade Stem (penis) and Dragon Head (glans penis). This gave them the opportunity to perform sexually to their fullest potential and had the added psychological benefit of making them feel sexually powerful. While the penis is active during sex, nothing in the sexual encounter helps a man increase the girth and size of his penis. He must be like a body builder and spend time doing exercises to strengthen and enlarge his penis muscle. Erections are simply engorgement of the penis chambers with blood and the more room you make for the blood, the larger, longer, and thicker the penis will become. The Jade Dragon Exercises use specific methods to gradually allow the penis to accept more blood. Men who have practiced these exercises on a regular basis have reported they have increased the size and girth of their penis by two inches. Adding the application of herbal supplements to these exercises make them even more effective.

Amongst traditional Taoists, herbs and the knowledge of herbs were essential ingredients for fostering longevity. Drugs, like Viagra, while they do give a man an erection, do nothing to build his Ching or help his symptoms long term. However, used correctly, herbs can build a man’s sexual energy and increase his stamina long into his later years. Taoists started taking herbs during their thirties and continued doing so throughout their lives. Herbs taken specifically to help restore Ching helped to:
· Enlarge and thicken the penis
· Create stronger erections and stamina
· Increase semen volume (thus increasing the length of orgasm)
· Improve the quality of the semen
· Give multiple orgasms
· Increase overall sexual desire and energy
One popular herbal formula was named The Joyful Dragon because the Dragon was another name for the penis. Another formula that aided in a stronger erection was known as Dragon Horn. An herb taken regularly by Taoists was Ginseng or ren shen also known as “the king of herbs”. Ginseng is said to aid in dispersing Qi to the meridians and organs. White American ginseng, being more yin, reduces heat in the lungs and is considered best for increasing sexual energy. Chinese red ginseng is known for increasing semen quality. When deciding on what herbs to buy, it is important to find fresh herbs formulated correctly. Your neighborhood health store would have information and products formulated for sexual vitality. I have seen good results with New Chapter’s Native Man. A Chinese herbalist (if you are lucky enough to have one in your area) can also be very helpful in finding the right herbs to increase Ching. Tao Traditions makes very effective herbal supplements for men (and women). Their website is www.taotraditions.com.

Healthy caution should be administered when taking herbs. While herbs are a natural substance, more is not necessarily better. In fact, the rule of thumb for taking herbs is to take them for six days, then skip one day. Do this for six weeks, then skip one week. Continue this cycle for 6 months, then skip one month. Repeat this cycle again or take as needed. Because herbs are reestablishing the body’s natural intelligence, it is important to give them at least 6-9 months to work. Also, when taking restorative herbs, discontinue using them if you get a cold or flu. Bacteria and viruses are made stronger by these herbs. Restorative herbs like ginseng will actually feed your cold. Therefore, only take these herbs when you are well.

In the U.S. we all know that eating fresh and well-prepared foods and drinking pure water help prevent disease and create strong healthy bodies. Taoists would also advise not to consume too many processed (dead) foods and foods that contain sugar. Sugar depletes sexual energy and over time can adversely affect a person Qi. Likewise, too much caffeine will drain the adrenal glands robbing them of beneficial Qi and leaving you bankrupt in your old age. Nicotine has been proven to adversely affect blood flow to the penis and can cause impotence. Drugs will, over a short period of time, cause all kinds of sexual dysfunctions in a man. Alcohol, when consumed moderately, helps to increase sexual desire. But if consumed to the point of drunkenness dulls the mind and can also cause sexual dysfunctions. It is best to limit oneself to one or two drinks before sexual activity.

PROPER BREATHING AND QIGONG

Breath is Qi and Qi is breath. It would be impossible to build and cultivate Qi without paying attention to the breath. Breath exercises, therefore, were applied in all Tantric and meditative practices. The four main types of breath control used were, cleansing breath, natural breathing, tortoise breathing, and immortal breathing.

The practice of Tai Chi and Qigong was another way the Taoists added years on to their lives. Tai Chi exercises help to stimulate and accumulate Qi in all the major systems in the body as well as restoring youthful flexibility. It is also a form of meditation which helps too calm and center the mind.
Qigong exercises also help to restore Ching, Qi and Shen. A set of Qigong exercises, The Eight Brocades were at the center of the Taoist’s quest for longevity and vitality. Master Li Ching-yun, who is chronicled to have lived beyond 250 years, practiced these exercises daily and wrote them down so that others could benefit from their practice.

Great care was taken in Taoist’s Tantric practices to create a mood and an atmosphere that allowed for intensity and passion. For this reason they engaged as many of the senses in their love making as possible. Sight, sounds, smells, tastes, touch—all were important elements designed to give greater pleasure and intensity to their partners. Fresh sheets and fresh flowers were laid out. Incense burned, while they listened to their favorite music; candlelight, delicious food and drink all added to the sensuality of the encounter. Bathing was also a part of this ritual as a clean body was more desirable and inviting. A man would carefully clean himself and put on cologne (as would his partner) to make his body pleasing.

It was also important to shave the pubic and groin area. There were three reasons for this. The first was that when the pubic hair was removed it was easier to keep that area clean (pubic hair holds bacteria, oils, and excrement). With the pubic hair removed, his partner would take more pleasure in the oral arts of sex. The second reason for shaving was that it sent restorative signals to the body, triggering adolescent responses making him feel more youthful and energetic. The Third value of shaving was esthetic. It made the penis look bigger and younger.

Men who ejaculate often age much more rapidly than men who conserve their Ching. Symptoms of excessive dissipation are, having dribbling ejaculations, thin, clear, runny semen and testicles that hang low and sag. The indications of healthy semen are hard, spurting ejaculations, pure white, thick consistency with a pleasant taste. Taoists interested in restoration and revitalization saw the benefit of using their will power to limit the frequency of ejaculation. They knew that having less but more intense orgasms brought about greater bliss and fuller satisfaction for themselves and their partner. Conserving their Ching also increased the volume and quality of semen which had the added dimension of impressing his partner. The more semen a man ejaculates, the more his partner views herself as having really fulfilled him. The rule of thumb for masturbation was to ejaculate only once in every three masturbations. The other two times, stop before the sensation of climax occurs and simply relax until the urge to climax disappears.

The Yellow Emperor’s Plain Girl Classic says this about ejaculation:

“Upon the first sensation of ejaculation, if you control it correctly, you will strengthen yourself and enhance your virility. Here are the benefits of restraining ejaculations:

· Restraining the second ejaculation will clear the ears and eyes.
· Restraining the third ejaculation will rid the joints and muscles of the body of soreness and ailment.
· Restraining the fourth ejaculation will strengthen the five internal organs.
· Restraining the fifth ejaculation will regulate all the pulses of the body.
· Restraining the sixth ejaculation will strengthen the spine and waist.
· Restraining the seventh ejaculation will strengthen the buttocks and thighs.
· Restraining the eighth ejaculation will bring youthful color to the skin and a smooth, robust complexion.
· Restraining the ninth ejaculation will naturally increase longevity.
· Restraining the tenth ejaculation will lead you to immorality.”
Diet, taking herbal supplements, and exercise also play an important role in controlling ejaculation.

Besides taking herbs, practicing the Jade Dragon exercises, and limiting the frequency of ejaculation, there were still other methods for increasing the volume and quality of semen. They were:
· Soak the scrotum in cold tap water for three minutes for thirty days. Discontinue for thirty days and then soak the scrotum again for thirty days. Continue this cycle for a full year. This method doubles the amount of semen a man normally produces, especially if he is taking herbs and practicing the Jade Dragon exercises.

· Every day place a slice of red ginseng in your mouth until it dissolves.
· Eat two ounces of crushed walnuts a day for sixty days. Wait ninety days and then resume eating the walnuts again. Continue as needed. This helps restore sexual energy, strengthen erections and increase semen quantity.

· Eat cinnamon sticks, licorice root, and fresh pineapple to make semen taste better.
· Limit dairy products and sugar as they make the semen taste bitter or rancid.
· Let your partner see you ejaculate (rather than ejaculate inside her or in a condom). Do this on her body. It is very healthy for women and it creates an important psychological response in both partners as the male will want to ejaculate more semen and his partner will want to draw more semen from him. This will make the orgasm more intense and visible for both partners.

Another benefit of increasing the quantity of semen for a man is that his orgasms will last longer, be more intense, and he will have the ability to have multiple ejaculations in one love making session. The benefits for his partner are that she will feel more stimulated and excited by the amount of semen he ejaculates as well as feel good about herself for having really fulfilled him.

It is often the case in long term relationships that sex becomes less frequent and also less interesting. If sexual energy dwindles so does the health of both partners. Taoists took great measures to insure sexual desire and intensity was continuously fostered in their relationships. Some of the methods were different for each partner, some were similar. I will give a few important examples here, but be aware that there is much to be learned on this subject.
One of the most important lessons the Taoists taught regarding men in all sexual situations, is to maintain the utmost respect for the woman’s feelings, satisfaction, and comfort. They make the analogy that a woman is like a rose that has not yet opened. How does one open the rose without harming the petals? This is where understanding the arts of the bedchamber paid off the most.

Let me quote from the 3,000 year old Plain Girl Classic. This was the sexual advice given to the failing Yellow Emperor seeking revitalization and longevity. Plain Girl states:

“Sex between males and females is a natural act that determines and produces a higher quality of life. If sexual activity is practiced in accordance with the principles of yin and yang, the male will greatly enhance both his prowess and energy and the female can eradicate illnesses and restore her youthfulness. Both the male and female can experience inner joy, live in good health, and be full of enlivened spirit. However, if they do not maintain the principles of yin and yang within there sexual activity, their bodies will suffer imbalances and be hastened toward deterioration…

“Sexual activity is never to be considered as an end in itself, as it is but part of a larger scheme designed to develop love and the natural exchange of male and female sexual energies. All sexual activity should be embarked on first with mutual respect, love, and great anticipation….each partner must have the proper attitude and feeling to fully experience the activity. It is for this reason that sexual activity must be undertaken with an attitude of harmony and gentleness. Approach everything slowly and with awareness of what is taking place. Make a concerted effort to feel and sense the actuality of the other person’s energy and sensation… All violent or hard movements must be avoided if the heights of pleasure and joy are to be attained…

“When a man seeks to have sexual activity with a woman he should always prepare himself mentally by approaching it slowly and in a progressive manner. But the most important thing is to calm the mind; once that occurs the Jade Stem will stand and remain erect.

“The man must also observe the Five Empowerments: kindness, proper conduct, manners, knowledge, and sincerity. Along with these he must know how to properly stimulate her Nine Erogenous Areas. Then, when expressing his sexual desire for her, he will be able to show his full appreciation for her Five Beautiful Qualities and so benefit from the union. With all these, a new stamina and vigor will fill his entire body.”

-- From Sexual Teachings of the White Tigress

The Plain Girl was hinting at the secrets that few men know about women, partly because men assume a woman’s sexuality is like theirs. And because little knowledge is given to women about their sexuality, a woman may try to be like a man in they way she approaches sex. Every man is different in the way he approaches sex and how he needs stimulation. Likewise, every woman is different in her approach to sex and how she can be satisfied. Part of the reason for this has to do with the type of body a person has. For instance, there are 8 different penis types and 5 different glans penis types in men. In women there are 3 different clitoral types, 8 different vagina types, and 5 different areola types. Each type has its own distinct sexual expression and needs. This is why sex seems like such a mystery to most of us, and it is. Each person is a flower waiting to be opened.

Western sexual practices have been unaware of what Taoists knew thousands of years ago: there are potent medicines in a man and a woman’s body that, when retrieved during sex, regenerate and revitalize both partners. These are known as The Three Peak Medicines. During intense sexual stimulation and activity, a female produces three valuable secretions in her body and the male produces two.

The High Peak medicine emits from two small cavities beneath the tongue (on both the male and female). Combining this medicine with a man’s Dragon Rain (pre-ejaculation fluid) and saliva was known as the Great Medicine for the female. For the male the woman’s High Peak medicine brought prolongation of life. The Middle Peak medicine was also called the “Peach of Immortality”. It is a sweet-tasting secretion that emits from a cavity on the underside of the nipples. The Lower Peak medicine is a very thick, white substance secreted during orgasm and found under the clitoris. These medicines are considered very restorative for both the male and female.

A man also secrets the High Peak medicine under his tongue and his Lower Peak medicines include both the Dragon Rain (pre-ejaculation fluid) and semen. These fluids are very valuable to a woman wishing to advance her restoration process and build her Qi. The practice of oral sex was essential to Taoists who wanted to retrieve these medicines and make use of their restorative powers.

Intercourse was approached very carefully so as not to cause pain or injury to the woman. Special techniques were practiced to help give greater pleasure and to assure that the union benefitted both partners. Many of these techniques were used to heal and restore the organs and Qi. Advanced techniques, known as “Transformational Sexual Methods” were practiced only with a trusted partner, as they had very powerful psycho/spiritual effects. One of these methods was the massaging of the Kundalini gland, which is located about three inches on the back side of the anus. This was a very powerful exercise and needed some preparation to practice if one was seeking to use it for illumination.

Learning the proper methods of breathing during sexual activity was also something that could greatly benefit one’s health. In the Secrets of the Jade Chamber it states that “a man should put forth great effort in expanding his abdomen with his breath during sexual activity so that he may increase his physical strength and stamina. So when the woman is stimulating his Jade Stem with either her Red Lotus or Jade Gate, he is to take a deep breath, hold it for a count of thirty, and then exhale. He should repeat this several times. This will ensure he maintains a hard erection.”
To learn more about Taoist Tantric practices, read The Sexual Teachings of the Jade Dragon, and The Sexual Teachings of the White Tigress

“Women who practice this Tantric Healing Massage give something that cannot be gotten any other way. All it takes is a man to be with them one time to find this out.”
--Hsi Lai

Healing Tao Tantric Massage is a unique Tantric method known to rejuvenate and revitalize a person Ching (sexual energy) and Qi (life force) or Kundalini energy. This sensual and effective massage was first created for the Emperors of China to help increase their stamina, vitality and longevity. Most Emperors had many wives, concubines, and consorts who depended on him to maintain a strong libidinal constitution for healthy offspring and personal pleasure. Massage helped to stimulate his vital energies, while also giving him a relaxing and luxurious respite from his daily duties.

This massage was meant to be as pleasurable and sensual as possible. For this reason, trust and a positive attitude were necessary elements for its success. A female Taoist or consort who practiced giving this massage was taught to always approach it with great sincerity, kindness, and passion. Every aspect of a person's senses were to be taken into account and made use of.

This Taoist Tantric massage was taught to my teacher by a female Taoist Immortaless who entrusted him with centuries of secret Taoist knowledge and techniques. I have been very lucky to be one of a few in the United States to have learned these methods. It has been with my teacher's trust and encouragement that I began my massage practice.

The massage begins by relaxing the muscles and joints, known as Chin Sung and focusing on breathing into the "Tan Tien" (abdomen and lower back). Unique and specific techniques are used to knead and open blood flow in the joints and muscles of the body. This helps to release stagnant Qi which can then be used to awaken Ching and move it into channels that benefit revitalization.
When we are "stressed out" our valuable life force (Qi) is being wasted on thoughts and emotions that steal our vitality and give us nothing back. When we breathe correctly and relax, this frees lost energy which returns to us to feed our organs and cells. This is why we begin the massage with breathing and relaxation. In this way Taoist say we can turn stress into vitality.

The second part of the Healing Tao Massage is what makes this practice unique. Again, using specific massage techniques we warm and stimulate what the Taoists call the 12 cavities and Eight Subtle Qi Meridians including the Jen Mo Meridian. The Eight Meridians are not meridians normally associated with acupuncture. Just two of thesethe Control meridian and Function meridianBhave associated acupuncture points along their paths. These Eight Subtle Meridians are the channels in which Ching is accumulated and mobilized. When the Eight Subtle Meridians are obstructed, neither Ching nor Qi can move through the channels properly. The stimulation of these subtle meridians is crucial for revitalization. The techniques used to do this are known as Qi Chu (Qi Stimulation) and Ching Hsing (Activating Sexual Energy).

The benefits of having this massage done regularly cannot be underestimated. Subtle but powerful shifts in a person's energy level can be experienced, as well as the ability to cope better with stress. A person may notice increased vitality and stamina. There is no indication of being depleted or drained like a person sometimes feels after a long massage. This elegant massage is an exquisite sensual/spiritual journey providing profound physical/mental relaxation and liberation from stress, which then allows for an overall intense, heightened, and blissful experience. After completing this massage one feels centered, peaceful and filled with balanced, productive energy.

“One cannot avoid life by hiding in the mountains, because life
exists there as well. But one can avoid the disturbance of the external
world by remaining centered and calm like a mountain.”
-- I Ching by Hua-Ching Ni

The idea of cultivating tranquility is rather foreign to most westerners. We believe that more is better and that each second of the day should be filled with doing things and fulfilling obligations. Taking leisure time seems like something lazy people might do. Every moment must have a purpose to it, otherwise we are wasting our lives.

For the Taoists seeking to live a long life, nothing takes them further away from that goal than too much activity and too little tranquility. It was important to stop and take time everyday to be quiet and still. Leaving the turbidity of daily life meant restoring their Qi. There is really nothing that restores and accumulates Qi as well as sitting in tranquility. Meditation was paramount to their restoration and spiritual practice as it cultivated their yin energy like nothing else.

Our goal, if there is one, in meditation is to 1) breathe and 2) observe. We have been breathing since the day we were born, so it’s something we know we can do. For just a few minutes a day we give ourselves one job, one task and that is to breathe and watch the breath. When we do this our mind begins to quiet down and our bodies begin to relax.

Here is a simple meditation:

Sit or lie in a comfortable position with your back straight. Close your eyes and bring your attention to the lower abdomen (about 3 fingers below the navel). Without forcing anything, take a breath in and then exhale. On the exhalation count (to yourself) “one”. Inhale again and on the next exhalation, count “two”. Continue this simple exercise up to the count of ten and then repeat.
You will find that it will be almost impossible to focus only on your breath. Your thoughts will want to distract you. So this is what you do: give each incoming thought a simple label like, “I am thinking about food”, “ I am thinking about work,” “I am feeling sensation in my back”, etc. After you have given the thought a label, let the thought go and then return to counting and following the breath.
Start this practice by sitting for about 3-5 minutes. Eventually, try sitting up to 20 minutes or longer. But if you can only practice this meditation for 3 minutes a day, you will find that it still has great benefits. For one thing you will begin to see what your thoughts are and how your thoughts create the reality you call your life. What we put our attention on grows. Meditation gives us the chance to start to release thoughts that create negativity and death in our lives and replace them with thoughts that create health and tranquility.

To increase her sexual energy and to restore and preserve youthfulness a female Taoists would practice the following techniques:
· Shaving the Pubic Area (to re-create physical adolescent likeness)
· Reducing the Length of Her Period
· Reducing Sexual Intercourse
· Increasing Oral Sex
· Intensifying Her Orgasms
· Producing Saliva
· Restoring the Breasts
· Restoring the Ovaries
· Tightening the Vagina
· Breath Exercises for Increasing Sexual Energy
· Willow Waist Exercises (Qigong)
· Herbal Supplements
· Yoga (backbends and headstands)
· Peach Brandy
· Transformational Techniques
· Tantric Massage
· Cultivating Tranquility (Meditation)

One of the biggest differences in this particular sect of Taoist Tantric practice for women was the practice of reducing the frequency of intercourse. A woman who wanted to restore her youthful looks and sexual energy needed to first reduce the amount of intercourse she had. There were very good reasons for this:

“Too much intercourse ruins the entire genital area, causing the skin color of the labia and pubic mound to darken, dries up the internal sexual secretions, and creates sacs that hang downward from the vulva. Too much intercourse may cause premature graying and loss of pubic hair, sagging of the breasts, widening of the hips, flattening of the buttocks, aging spots on the body, vaginal cysts, yeast infections and cervical cancer, and also aid in easy infection of STDs…Intercourse is very hard on a woman’s body, and over an extended period of time it takes its toll on her entire physical appearance and health. All contact with the vagina should be approached with the idea of not damaging it, and women and men should always seek to be gentle with it…The verse ‘stimulate the lotus but do not harm the petals’ was recited for good reason.”

--Sexual Teachings of the White Tigress

This did not mean that women stopped having intercourse all together, but limited its frequency and made sure that any insertion in the vagina was done with care. Intercourse brings more blood to the vagina and uterus, and therefore increasing the length of a woman’s period which is how a woman loses her Ching (sexual energy).

A female Taoist would rather practice the oral arts of love making, finding it to have many benefits to help her build and accumulate Ching. Some of the benefits include:

· Absorbing the Dragon’s Breath and Dragon Jade.
· Increasing the production of saliva which is full of nutrients that benefit the body.
· Finding power in submissiveness.
· Remembering oral fixations of youth.
· Bringing more blood to the face and exercising the facial muscles.
· Creating greater sexual energy and more intense orgasms for both partners.
· Swelling the breasts because of hormonal effects on the milk glands.
· Stimulating the thyroid gland.
· Creating deeper breathing.
· Releasing hormones in the endocrine system which leads to increased Qi throughout the whole body.

“What orthodox Taoism chose to ignore is that females cannot accomplish intense levels of stimulation through intercourse. A woman achieves her highest states of sexual stimulation via the clitoris and tongue. Intercourse rarely brings a woman to complete orgasm, but clitoral stimulation and tongue stimulation, namely cunnilingus, fellatio, and deep passionate kissing, can. Intercourse is too damaging to a woman’s body and negates the benefits of the hormones. The more a woman uses her tongue when engaged in sex, the greater her stimulation.”

--Sexual Teachings of the White Tigress

The Taoist would never use alcohol to get drunk. Alcohol is much harder on women than on men. Women who drink excessively age much faster than those who don’t. That said, the Taoist found that there was a restorative quality in peaches when they were fermented. This created an elixir that would stimulate blood circulation and bring a heightened euphoric state. It also helped to firm the breasts and tighten the vagina as well as being an excellent preventive medicine for all heart concerns. It had many benefits for men as well.
I have tried making peach brandy myself but with very little luck. However, I have discovered a delicious peach liquer made in France from only hand picked peaches. The name is Mathilde and I have found it in most liquor stores. It is recommended that women take one shot glass full a day. It’s also excellent for both men and women to take a shot glass or two before Tantric practices.

The use of tea has always been an intregal part in the daily lives of the eastern world. Aromatic teas mixed with ginger and orange helped to increase energy, improve circulation and detoxify the body. Jasmine green tea contains more health promoting anti-oxidants than wine, vegetables and 21 fruits. With a distinctly sweet aroma, Jasmine aids in digestion, freshening the breath and is prized for its slimming and cholesterol reducing properties.

           “A common cry in today’s fast-moving society is the plea to bring the
           sacred back into everyday life…we are aware there is something missing
            in our lives, but we don’t know how to reclaim it…When we talk of the
            sacredness of water, we try to encourage people to view water as magical,
           mysterious, an all-powerful substance that gives us life.
                                    --The Healing Energies of Water by Charlie Ryrie

Our bodies are made up of about 75% water. The brain is also made up of 75% water. Water is the most yin of substances and as such is the most healing. This is why Taoists began many of their love making and massage sessions with some form of water therapy. Water helps to clean our bodies, minds, and psyche, of the day’s stress. The softness of the water soothes muscles and joints, opens the pours and begins to create the act of receptivity and relaxation. Both of these qualities are essential in the revitalization process and help to make the Healing Tao Massage more effective.

AROMATHERAPY BATHS

Aromatherapy has become a highly recognized form of stress relief therapy in the last 50 years. It is known that the odors we smell have a significant impact on how we feel. In dealing with patients who have lost the sense of smell, doctors have found that a life without fragrance can lead to a high incidence of psychiatric problems such as anxiety and depression. Smell enters through cilia (the fine hairs lining the nose) to the limbic system, the part of the brain that controls our moods, emotions, memory, and learning. For instance, studies with brain wave frequencies have shown that smelling lavender increases the alpha waves in the back of the head which are associated with relaxation.
Aromatherapy works almost immediately to calm and relax the mind. Having a bath before a massage session decreases the more active yang energy of the day and brings a person into softer receptive yin energy. The yin (water) has already begun to work its magic. A relaxing bath also makes the transition from the outside world to the massage table a lot more effective. And a clean body is a lovely way to begin a massage.

Baths also help restore the body’s memory of youthfulness as it brings back the childhood sensations of being bathed by a loving, nurturing caregiver. The bath ceremony is sensual, relaxing, and a enjoyable way to begin to build trust and comfort prior to a massage.

AROMATHERAPY FOOT BATH AND MASSAGE

In many eastern cultures the bathing of the feet had great significance. It was a way of showing honor and respect to a guest or loved one. Reflexology points on the feet connect to the organs of the body, including the eyes, ears, and brain. Bathing the feet relaxes the mind and the body and begins to bring a person into more receptive yin energy. The foot bath also had positive psychological and emotional effects. For a man to have a woman kneel before him and bath and massage his feet makes him feel like a king. In my practice, it also gives me a chance to harmonize my energies with my client’s before beginning the massage. This allows for greater trust and comfort in our session.

"The biggest distinguish-ment is in just her demeanor. Anybody who gets lucky enough to be massaged in this manner starts understanding the difference between going to a massage parlor or to a massage therapist as opposed to going to a Tantric Healing masseuse, the whole giving and the energy and the passion that’s involved is so much different than someone who is doing it just for money.”

            You, I consider the most adorable
            With your springtime skirt revealing your thighs
            Bringing pain to my passion
            Your waist resembles a supple willow
            Your fragrance is like the orchid
            And your face, like a flower
            There is not one bit of difference!
            Night and day my thoughts are of you
            When shall we imbibe the Ambrosia, Ambrosia?
            Even one moment of this spring night
            A thousand gold pieces could never buy!
--Quoted from Sexual Teachings of the White Tigress
            by Hsi Lai

From the White Tigress Manual:
            Sexual energy is the reason a human is born,
            Lack of sexual energy is the reason a human dies.
            Within this sexual energy is the secret not only of health
               but of immortality as well.
            In men the secret lies in conservation and retention of sexual energy.
            In women the secret lies in its development and activity.
            Lao Tzu himself states,
                        “The mysterious female is inexhaustible. How the
                        Yellow Emperor achieved immortality and how
                        Western Royal Mother achieved immortality
                        cannot be compared. Each has its own path,
                        each seeks the other’s essence to become complete.”
            The male retains, the female absorbs.
            Heaven [male] creates, Earth [female] is receptive.
            The male is active, and so seeks stillness. The female is still
                and so seeks activity—each must acquire the essence of
                the other to be complete.
            The yin absorbs the yang, the yang absorbs the yin—this
                secret is so simple it goes unnoticed and undetected.
            Like all of nature, it must fuse and intermingle with its opposite
                to achieve growth and potential, as a tree cannot exist
                without both sun and water, humans cannot exist without
                sexual energy. Immortality can only be achieved through
                    the disciplined use of sexually energy.

2010-04-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

2010-03-02T12:10:00.000-08:00

What is TANTRA?

2009-03-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

Here is how I define TANTRA in today's world:

Tantra is the collective title that covers a vast range of practical teachings leading to the expansion of human consciousness and the liberation of primal energy (Kundalini). The unifying principle behind the diverse systems of tantra is that the material world and its experiences can be utilised to attain enlightenment.

Many movements today describe tantra as sexual practices promising longer and better orgasms, increased stamina and ecstasy, but this is a shallow and paltry echo of the Tantric Tradition. The real Tantra aims to awaken Kundalini, the dormant potential force in the human personality.

Although there are many branches of Tantra, the practices common to all systems leading to transcendental awakening are mantras (vibrational tuning through sounds), yantras (concentration symbols to liberate the consciousness), chakras (realisation of psychic centres), mandalas (perception of macrocosmos in microcosmos), tapasya (practices of self-purification), Raja Yoga (integral yoga), pranayama (yogic breathing practices), self surrender, shaktipat (transmission of energy) and tantric initiations (a process incorporating all of the above imparted by the qualified master to a deserving disciple).

Tantra advocates a pattern of life which integrates the faculties of the intellect and the heart. The faculties of the intellect are discrimination and concentration, and those of the heart are seeing the unseen, having glimpses of the transcendental or cosmic consciousness beyond the material.

Based on the method and purpose, Tantra in the Western World is popularly defined as:

White Tantra (Focusing on raising the Kundalini energy through breathing, postures and mantras, for purpose of clearing the body’s energy channels and achieving a higher state of being, internal perfection.)

Black Tantra (Various Tantric practices designed to raise the energy and direct it for the magic purposes and power, and uncommon physical feats, controlling others, or effecting one’s own fate.)

Red Tantra (The most well known in the West, because of the West’s obsession with, and the fear of, sex). Breathing techniques, meditation, touch, energy exchange, prolonged ritual coitus and other sexual practices, traditionally done with the goal of clearing the body’s energy channels and achieving higher levels of consciousness, unity with the partner and through him/her the Deity and sacred sexuality. In the West also used for general and sexual healing, to master an open and deep intimacy with partner and oneself, and to experience sex on a whole new level of pleasure, emotion and energy play.)

Whether one is trying to become One in himself, or as a couple, Tantric practice at its height is a truly spiritual/religious experience. This is a kind of ecstatic state not unfamiliar to the West either - from St. Theresa to St. Francis, the ecstatic experience of Oneness with the World/God. For the less religious, Tantra is still a profoundly healing and heart-opening experience.

There are a number of schools and Tantric practitioners who offer learning and hands-on tutoring of White or Red Tantra, either one-on-one, in classes or for couples. Although there is a number of established and respected organizations and individuals trained by them, there are no government regulations, nor accreditation in place specifically for Tantra. Many of the practitioners, however, study in more than one field of wellness and/or sexuality, such as massage therapy, Yoga, counseling, or human sexuality, and are accredited in such fields.

Due to the lack of accreditation and the fact that “Tantra” has become a popular and often misused sales word, it’s difficult to find a good, legitimate Tantric practitioner to work with. Look at the person’s work and educational background, and when you call ask a number of questions about the course or a session, the kind of Tantra practiced, as well as the educational and professional background. (Often, the most blatant “fakes” will not even know the definition of Tantra).

If you are serious about learning Tantric practices, Kundalini Yoga is a great way to prepare. It will introduce you to the conscious breathing and meditation techniques, and prepare your mind and body for the further energy work.

SAT NAM!

White Tantra Healing and Tantric Healing Yoga are based on an ancient philosophy of health and wellbeing. It offers us a broad spectrum of tools for healing that can be utilized in an infinite number of combinations to suit the unique needs of the whole person. One of these healing tools is meditation.

Tantric Yoga is based on an ancient, multi-dimensional model of the human system, as well as specific teachings regarding the origin of sickness and disease. Chief among the principles underlying the teachings and practices of Tantric Yoga is special emphasis on the role of the mind in the healing process. A peaceful, stable mind, the Tantric Yoga masters asserted, is essential to wellbeing. To achieve this, they developed numerous techniques for calming the mind and harnessing its power for the purpose of physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual healing. It is in this context that we begin to understand the meaning and experience of meditation. In TANTRA, meditation is not only a spiritual practice: it is a powerful healing methodology.

My Tantric Ritual Healing sessions are designed especially for those interested in learning about and experiencing the healing and meditative aspects of TANTRA.

Participants will:

* Understand why and how TANTRA works in the healing process
* Learn the meaning and process of meditation as it is presented in the teachings of Yoga
* Experience different kinds of meditation practices
* Understand why and how meditation works as a healing methodology

Bodily toxicity, unnatural life-style, negative thinking and emotional shock disturb the three bodies: physical, feeling and thought. My Tantric Rituals offer healing for these bodies. Many past participants have found these rituals to be life transforming.

Between the cells of our physical body there is considerable space. This space is pervaded by two invisible bodies just as radio waves pervade the “solid” walls of a room. Ancient Indian teachings call the first invisible body, the subtle body. It is the seat of our feelings. The second invisible body pervades both the physical body and the subtle body. It is called the causal body and is the origin of our thoughts.

The subtle body has seven major spinning wheels of energy (chakras) which obtain most of their energy from the five basic elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Akash (Space). Elements and combinations of elements play an essential role in determining how we feel. For example, when Earth is in abundance, we feel solid and grounded. Our confidence is strengthened. When Air is plentiful, we may feel buoyant and more loving.

Under conditions of stress and toxicity, the elements lose some of their purity and potency. They may then have a negative effect on our feelings. A dispersed Earth element may make us feel weak and sluggish. Polluted Air can cause us to feel uncaring.

White Tantra Healing helps people to purify the elements and integrate the three bodies. As a consequence, many people have had the personal experience of strengthening their positive feelings and thoughts.

There will be yoga practices, visualizations and deep tone chanting and also Aarti, an ancient practice which balances the hemispheres of the brain.

An hour of the ritual will be devoted to a speech fast. This is of paramount importance for the observation of thoughts and feelings, and ultimately leading to internal silence from which one can be guided from within.

Purification of the physical body inspires the desire to keep the body healthy. Regular exercise and healthy diet become part of our routine. Physical purification sharpens all five senses. I will offer guidance to you on how you can do this in your home.

Purification of the subtle body cleanses our feelings. The emphasis shifts to the subtle body and feelings which may have been buried beneath our awareness. Sometimes, old memories from early childhood emerge. This is part of the purification process. Since all members are there for the same purpose, they provide an unusually supportive environment for each other. We become in touch with our feelings on a deeper level. Relationships evolve creating contentment; competitiveness evaporates. In fact, we truly feel happy when others are succeeding. Helping others becomes a reward in and of itself. As the sounds of chakra tuning and mantras are chanted they act deeply on the subtle body. This supports the purification process and helps to increase sensitivity to sound.

Purification of the causal body purifies our intentions. Interest in abstract thinking naturally emerges. The desire to turn the senses regularly inward occurs. Purified energy from the physical and subtle body is refined enough to penetrate the causal body. The process of thinking itself may begin to feel clearer. Special sounds which produce surya (golden) akash are chanted. This highly refined akash pushes more dense and toxic akash out of the causal body. Consequently the breathing rate drops and participants feel freer to meditate.

SAT NAM!

TANTRA as taught by the BUDDHA

2009-02-28T05:31:00.000-08:00

TANTRA as taught by the BUDDHA

Different people have different capacities for spiritual understanding and practice. For this reason, out of his compassion, Buddha Shakyamuni gave teachings at many levels, just as a skilful doctor administers a variety of remedies to treat different types of sick people.

For those who wish merely to attain human happiness Buddha gave teachings revealing actions and their effects, or karma; and he taught moral discipline as their main practice.

For those who wish to experience the permanent inner peace of liberation, or nirvana, for themselves alone, Buddha gave teachings on the faults of samsara; and he taught the three higher trainings – training in higher moral discipline, training in higher concentration, and training in higher wisdom – as their main practice.

For those who wish to attain the ultimate goal of full enlightenment Buddha gave teachings on the development of great compassion and bodhichitta; and he taught the six perfections – the perfections of giving, moral discipline, patience, effort, mental stabilization, and wisdom – as their main practice.

All these teachings are open to anyone who wishes to study and practice them. The experiences that are gained from practicing them are called the ‘common spiritual paths’.

Besides these teachings, Buddha also gave teachings on Tantra. These may be practiced only by those who have received Tantric empowerments. The experiences gained by practicing these teachings are called the ‘uncommon spiritual paths’.

What is Tantra?

The highest of all possible human goals is the attainment of complete enlightenment, an ultimate state of peace in which all obstacles obscuring the mind have been removed and all good qualities such as wisdom, compassion, and skillful means have been fully developed.

However, we cannot reach this ultimate goal merely by waiting for it; we need to use the appropriate methods to take us there.

What are the methods for attaining the peace of full enlightenment? They are the paths of Sutra and Tantra (or Secret Mantra); there is no third method. Of these two, the techniques revealed in Secret Mantra are superior to those revealed in the Sutras.

Not only is Tantra/Secret Mantra the supreme path to full enlightenment, it is also extremely rare.

As Je Tsongkhapa said, the teachings of Secret Mantra are even rarer than the Buddhas because, although a thousand founding Buddhas will appear during this Fortunate Eon, only the fourth (Buddha Shakyamuni), the eleventh, and the last will teach the paths of Secret Mantra.

At the moment, we have a great opportunity to practice these rare and beneficial teachings, so it is important that we develop a strong intention to practice them purely.

If the Mahayana teachings were to vanish from this world, we would have no opportunity to become a Buddha. Therefore, while we still have access to these precious teachings, we should apply ourselves to them assiduously and try to gain some experience of them.

The etymology of Secret Mantra is as follows. ‘Secret’ indicates that these methods should be practiced discreetly. If we make a display of our practices, we will attract many hindrances and negative forces. This would be like someone talking openly and carelessly about a precious jewel they possessed and, as a result, attracting the attention of thieves.

‘Mantra’ means ‘protection for the mind’. The function of Secret Mantra is to enable us to progress swiftly through the stages of the spiritual path by protecting our mind against ordinary appearances and ordinary conceptions.

Authentic Tantra

Je Tsongkhapa explained that an authentic Secret Mantra practice must possess four attributes,
known as the ‘four complete purities’. These are:

• Complete purity of place
• Complete purity of body
• Complete purity of enjoyments
• Complete purity of deeds

The practice of these four complete purities was not revealed in the Sutra teachings, but is to be found only in Secret Mantra.

Secret Mantra is distinguished from Sutra by the practice of bringing the future result into the
present path. For example, even though we have not yet attained enlightenment, when we practise Secret Mantra we try to prevent ordinary appearances and ordinary conceptions of our environment and instead visualize our surroundings as the mandala of a Deity.

In the same way, we prevent ordinary appearance of our body, our enjoyments, and our deeds, and, in their place, generate ourself as a Deity, visualize our enjoyments as those of a Buddha, and practise performing enlightened deeds.

By doing such practices, we can attain the resultant state of Buddhahood very rapidly.
These four practices are essential for both the generation stage and completion stage of Secret Mantra.

Levels of Tantra

Tantra, or Secret Mantra, has four levels:

Action Tantra
Performance Tantra
Yoga Tantra
Highest Yoga Tantra

Action Tantra principally emphasizes external actions, Performance Tantra places equal emphasis on both external and internal actions, Yoga Tantra principally emphasizes internal actions, and Highest Yoga Tantra is the supreme class of Tantra.

All four levels of Secret Mantra transform great bliss into the spiritual path, but the methods of transformation differ according to the level being practised.

In Action Tantra, the meditator generates bliss by looking at a visualized goddess, and then transforms that bliss into the path. In Performance Tantra, the meditator generates bliss by exchanging smiles with the goddess, and in Yoga Tantra, by holding hands with her and so forth.

In Highest Yoga Tantra, the meditator generates bliss by imagining sexual embrace with a consort and, at advanced stages, by engaging in actual embrace; and then transforms that bliss into the spiritual path. It should be noted, however, that it is very difficult to use great bliss as a method for attaining enlightenment, and if we are able to do so we have indeed attained a formidable accomplishment.

As the great Mahasiddha Saraha said, ‘Everyone is excited by copulation, but very few can
transform that bliss into the spiritual path’.

Attachment & Tantra

Generally, Buddhism teaches that attachment is a delusion that is to be avoided, and eventually abandoned, but in Secret Mantra there is a method for transforming attachment into the path.
However, to practice this method we must be very skillful. In this practice, we use attachment to generate great bliss and then use that mind of great bliss to meditate on emptiness. Only if we can do this is it a transformation of attachment.

Attachment itself cannot be used directly as a path because it is a delusion, and even in Secret Mantra it is finally to be abandoned. In authentic Secret Mantra practice, the bliss generated from attachment meditates on emptiness and thereby overcomes all the delusions, including attachment itself.

This is similar to the way in which the fire produced from rubbing two pieces of wood together eventually consumes the wood from which it arose.

For those who are unskillful, or whose minds are untrained, such practices of transformation are impossible. For this reason, the Yogis and great meditators of the past have said that to attain the realizations of Secret Mantra, one’s mind should first be controlled by training in the Sutra stages of the path. Without building this firm foundation, there is absolutely no way to attain a pure experience of Secret Mantra.

It is very important, therefore, that both the Spiritual Guide and the disciple have controlled minds and an impeccable motivation. Even though we may call ourself a Buddhist and take refuge in the Three Jewels every day, these alone are insufficient qualifications for the practice of Secret Mantra.
It should be noted that the spontaneous great bliss of the completion stage of Secret Mantra is not the same as ordinary pleasure experienced at the height of sexual embrace.

Spontaneous great bliss is experienced only when, through the force of meditation, we cause the winds to enter, abide, and dissolve within the central channel and, as a result, the white drop melts and flows through the central channel.

Using spontaneous great bliss to realize emptiness was the essential heart practice of the great
Secret Mantra Masters of ancient India, such as Saraha, Nagarjuna, Tilopa, Naropa, and Maitripa; and of the great Tibetan Masters, such as Marpa, Milarepa, Gampopa, and Je Tsongkhapa.

As in the past, so today – the Secret Mantra meditator’s supreme path to perfect enlightenment is the union of spontaneous great bliss and emptiness.

Tantric Teachers

All the meditations of Kadampa Buddhism, Conqueror Vajradhara and the great Secret Mantra Masters of ancient India.

These techniques were passed from the Indian Masters to the Tibetan Masters, and have been
handed down to the present-day Teachers in an unbroken lineage from spiritual Father to spiritual Son.

Although Mahamudra meditations were practiced by the ancient Indian Masters, the particular system of Mahamudra presented here is a ‘close’ lineage transmitted by Conqueror Vajradhara to the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri, who in turn transmitted it directly to Je Tsongkhapa, who was the first human Master in this particular lineage.

The Gurus of the close lineage of Vajrayana Mahamudra are as follows:

Vajradhara
Manjushri
Je Tsongkhapa
Togdän Jampäl Gyatso
Baso Chökyi Gyaltsän
Drubchen Dharmavajra
Gyalwa Ensäpa
Khädrub Sangye Yeshe
Panchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsän
Drubchen Gendun Gyaltsän
Drungpa Tsöndru Gyaltsän
Könchog Gyaltsän
Panchen Losang Yeshe
Losang Trinlay
Drubwang Losang Namgyal
Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsän
Phurchog Ngawang Jampa
Panchen Palden Yeshe
Khädrub Ngawang Dorje
Ngulchu Dharmabhadra
Yangchän Drubpay Dorje
Khädrub Tendzin Tsöndru
Dorjechang Phabongkha Trinlay Gyatso
Yongdzin Dorjechang Losang Yeshe
Dorjechang Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche

In recent times, this lineage was held by Trinlay Gyatso, more widely known as Phabongkha Rinpoche, who was an emanation of the Tantric Deity Heruka. This great Lama was like the sun of Dharma, illuminating the hidden meaning of both Sutra and Secret Mantra.

He passed the Mahamudra lineage to his heart Son, Yongdzin Trijang Dorjechang, and it is through the kindness and authority of this holy Spiritual Guide that this information is now available.

IN SUMMARY . . .

Tantra (Synonymous with Secret Mantra). Tantric teachings are distinguished from Sutra teachings in that they reveal methods for training the mind by bringing the future result, or Buddhahood, into the present path. Tantric practitioners overcome ordinary appearances and conceptions by visualizing their body, environment, enjoyments, and deeds as those of a Buddha. Tantra is the supreme path to full enlightenment. Tantric practices are to be done in private and only by those who have received a Tantric empowerment.

TASHI SHOK!

What is White Tantra?

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White Tantra is a timeless synthesis of two ideals: union with the Divine and perfect health of mind and body. The genius of the ancient Indian mystics has left us a rich legacy of knowledge, based upon the power of sound, which puts man’s quest for enlightenment and for health, happiness and prosperity in perfect balance. This secret knowledge, passed down in an ancient oral tradition for thousands of years, is an authentic spiritual art perfectly preserved for today’s world.

Tantric knowledge is often used today as a remedial measure for physical healing, material problems, spiritual problems and for problems with entities. Sometimes cosmic forces try to disturb people and disrupt their lives and their spiritual journeys. Tantra has the ability to solve these kinds of problems and can cure conditions that medical science cannot explain or heal.

White Tantra is an exacting science of Spirit. It encompasses principles that govern the fabric of Creation that manifests as our physical world. Through the ancient teachings of Tantric tradition we have been given a perfected, highly technical roadmap through the ethers to the realization of our connection with the Supreme Divine Power.

In the White Tantric process we come to understand the vibrational makeup of what we consider to be life and the principles of how to alter our material circumstances on the path of ascension. Tantra is a highly spiritual technology, eternally pure, whose goal is full control of the physical senses and the ability to communicate directly with the Supreme Divine Power.

There are two sciences operating simultaneously today. One is physical science, Bhut Vigyan. The other is Dev Vigyan, or spiritual science, which describes in detail how to ascend and connect with God. Within the category of Dev Vigyan there are many techniques that guide the spiritual aspirant toward the Supreme Divine Power. Some of these techniques include prayer, worship, invocation, yoga, shankhya, gyana (Divine knowledge), devotion, and principles of karma.

Within Dharma Shastra, a universal body of spiritual understanding, there are two principles. One is Vedic science, Dev Vigyan (Nigam), which consists of four ancient scriptures known as The Vedas. These four main texts were passed down from antiquity from generation to generation in the oral tradition. The other principle is the Tantric system, Tantra Vigyan (Aagam).

The Tantric system describes in exacting detail how to analyze the human mind in order to synthesize it. It’s an extremely technical science that covers many diverse areas of knowledge. Initially, it provides for the fulfillment of materialism. Once those needs and desires have been addressed, the human mind comes to the point when it opens quite naturally to the pursuit of the spiritual. Tantra is perhaps the most highly perfected technology known to man. It can assist us to live in oneness with the Supreme Divine Power.

Yet it is very difficult to enter into the main lineage of White Tantra. This is because for mastery, the study of White Tantra requires full time devotion and dedication for at least twenty to thirty years. To give you some perspective on the level of discipline and commitment it takes to enter into an authentic White Tantric tradition, consider the example given to us from Dr. Bindu Purohit of Bombay:

”My formal spiritual education began at the age of seven. I started to learn to chant Mantras and was taught how to conduct major Vedic fire rituals. At the age of eleven, my Guru gave me a test. I was taken to a room and was ordered to sit there and chant. I was told to chant for 24 hours a day at the highest possible volume and was not allowed to leave the room without permission. For nourishment, I was given only the broth from boiled beans and water. I was never told how many days I would be spending in this room. Sleep was not permitted. If I fell asleep, I was awakened after one hour. Forty one days later, my Guru told me that I had qualified for Tantric education.”

The authentic science of White Tantra is only passed down from teacher to student in the oral tradition. This is why those who have mastered this tradition insist that the strict supervision of a qualified Guru is of first and foremost importance. The White Tantra system is not possible without a teacher. Whether or not you qualify for ongoing instruction with the Guru, based on your nature, the process begins with control of the senses. The objective is to instill the practice of obedience without consideration of logic.

There are no authentic books or scriptures on White Tantra available anywhere. In ancient times Tantric seers kept this science highly secret. Their secrecy was not simply to prevent people from learning Tantric techniques so that they could maintain a monopoly on the knowledge, but also to protect innocent people from the volatile potential of powers that could be unleashed through incorrect practice.

Many have been interested to learn these techniques throughout history. But it is a rare individual who is ready to dedicate him or her self to the long years of practice it requires for mastery. The ancient Tantric practitioners chose only one or two people over the course of a lifetime who demonstrated full devotion and dedication, and gave them the sacred teachings in the timeless oral tradition. Those rare students became the next generation of Tantric masters. In this way the secret knowledge was passed down through the ages.

In today’s world, many people have adapted certain small pieces of Tantric technology with the hope of creating energy and personal power for themselves. The techniques are often misused by these self-serving practitioners who distort the sacred knowledge only for their own pleasure and personal gain. Those practices are known as Black or Red Tantra.

In Black and Red Tantra, the technology and the energy may well be present, but not in their full dimension and purity. Many are ill-prepared to use the techniques properly. These practitioners often are not mentally fit and have tainted teachings that were originally conceived in purity. Many unsuspecting people get caught up in the allure of exotic so-called “magical” powers and have gone crazy as a result of the misuse of these potent energies.

In White Tantra, the Tantric practitioner uses the sacred Tantric techniques for the well being of society. These spiritual masters have full knowledge of the science of Tantra. At the same time, they are fully connected with The Supreme Divine Power. They follow the exacting ancient disciplines of the science of spirit in their practice of Tantra.

In White Tantric practice, the practitioner is able to discern with finely developed intuitive power. Permission is then sought from high level spiritual guides and from the Supreme Divine Power. If it is determined that a candidate who wants to learn White Tantra is fully ready in his own spiritual practice, then certain techniques may be given to them in the time-honored oral tradition. There is a contract of understanding between the Tantric practitioner and the person to whom the techniques are given. In this sacred pact it is understood that the secret knowledge can only be used privately. It is not to be revealed to anyone.

There are two kinds of seekers. One goes initially toward materialism and then enters into spirituality. The other group is more spiritually focused from the beginning due to previous life karma. These people are not drawn to spending their time pursuing material pleasures and rewards and enter into the mainstream of spirituality directly. One of the salient features of the White Tantric system is its blend of material life and spiritual life in perfect harmony. It is possible within this system for the spiritual seeker to progress towards perfect bliss while engaging in household and worldly affairs.

Indian saints and visionaries neither lay down their lives on the altar of spiritualism nor renounce life and the world just for the sake of it. To create the conditions where the spiritual and worldly are in balance, a person is guided, through the practice of Mantra, to attain a state of perfect bliss that he or she experiences even while participating in everyday life.

So where do you begin if you want to learn White Tantra?

First, it’s very important to make the distinction between learning about White Tantra and practicing White Tantra. They are very different procedures. In fact, they can even oppose one another.

Why is this so?

One dimension of White Tantra that can be elusive, frustrating and incomprehensible is that progress in White Tantra is not based on mastery of external knowledge. In fact, there are times when knowledge can become a downright hindrance to our development.

Many spiritual systems advocate both study and practice of the elements of the system. This is not the case with the White Tantra process. This is because the White Tantra process is so powerful and evanescent that it requires we receive only and exactly the specific energies that will give us the highest quality of progress.

Having said that, at the beginning of your quest it is important to learn who is teaching and what they are teaching. That way you can find who you want to study with and what you want to study. This initial orientation to the world of Tantra will give you perspective and the opportunity to dialogue with others to deepen your progress. This dialogue is a part of what this website and the White Tantra Society are about.

Please be cautious when you search the web for information on Tantra. Nearly all of what is out there relates to sex and selling sex. Much of what appears to be genuine information on the search engines will just pull you into never-ending loops of pornography.

White Tantra is not about sex. This blog is definitely not the place to learn about sex and Tantra. Everything you will find here, however, is interesting and useful for someone who wants to learn who is in the world of Tantra and what they are teaching. We have weeded out the obvious trash and New Age drivel, including only what we believe is potentially valuable to the would-be student of genuine White Tantra. This site will save you a lot of time and energy and give you a forum for reference in your process.

SAT NAM !

The Use of Mantras in Tantric Healing

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A saying from the Vedas claims that "Speech is the essence of humanity." All of what humanity thinks and ultimately becomes is determined by the expression of ideas and actions through speech and its derivative, writing. Everything, the Vedas maintain, comes into being through speech. Ideas remain unactualized until they are created through the power of speech. Similarly, The New Testament, Gospel of John, starts "In the beginning was The Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God..."

In mainstream Vedic practices, most Buddhist techniques and classical Hinduism, mantra is viewed as a necessity for spiritual advancement and high attainment. In The Kalachakra Tantra, by the Dalai Lama and Jeffrey Hopkins, the Dalai Lama states, "Therefore, without depending upon mantra...Buddhahood cannot be attained."

Clearly, there is a reason why such widely divergent sources of religious wisdom as the Vedas, the New Testament and the Dalai Lama speak in common ideas. Here are some important ideas about mantra which will enable you to begin a practical understanding of what mantra is and what it can do.

Definition # 1: Mantras are energy-based sounds.

Saying any word produces an actual physical vibration. Over time, if we know what the effect of that vibration is, then the word may come to have meaning associated with the effect of saying that vibration or word. This is one level of energy basis for words.

Another level is intent. If the actual physical vibration is coupled with a mental intention, the vibration then contains an additional mental component which influences the result of saying it. The sound is the carrier wave and the intent is overlaid upon the wave form, just as a colored gel influences the appearance and effect of a white light.

In either instance, the word is based upon energy. Nowhere is this idea more true than for Sanskrit mantra. For although there is a general meaning which comes to be associated with mantras, the only lasting definition is the result or effect of saying the mantra.

Definition #2: Mantras create thought-energy waves.

The human consciousness is really a collection of states of consciousness which distributively exist throughout the physical and subtle bodies. Each organ has a primitive consciousness of its own. That primitive consciousness allows it to perform functions specific to it. Then come the various systems. The cardio-vascular system, the reproductive system and other systems have various organs or body parts working at slightly different stages of a single process. Like the organs, there is a primitive consciousness also associated with each system. And these are just within the physical body. Similar functions and states of consciousness exist within the subtle body as well. So individual organ consciousness is overlaid by system consciousness, overlaid again by subtle body counterparts and consciousness, and so ad infinitum.

The ego with its self-defined "I" ness assumes a pre-eminent state among the subtle din of random, semi-conscious thoughts which pulse through our organism. And of course, our organism can "pick up" the vibration of other organisms nearby. The result is that there are myriad vibrations riding in and through the subconscious mind at any given time.

Mantras start a powerful vibration which corresponds to both a specific spiritual energy frequency and a state of consciousness in seed form. Over time, the mantra process begins to override all of the other smaller vibrations, which eventually become absorbed by the mantra. After a length of time which varies from individual to individual, the great wave of the mantra stills all other vibrations. Ultimately, the mantra produces a state where the organism vibrates at the rate completely in tune with the energy and spiritual state represented by and contained within the mantra.

At this point, a change of state occurs in the organism. The organism becomes subtly different. Just as a laser is light which is coherent in a new way, the person who becomes one with the state produced by the mantra is also coherent in a way which did not exist prior to the conscious undertaking of repetition of the mantra.

Definition #3: Mantras are tools of power and tools for power.

They are formidable. They are ancient. They work. The word "mantra" is derived from two Sanskrit words. The first is "manas" or "mind," which provides the "man" syllable. The second syllable is drawn from the Sanskrit word "trai" meaning to "protect" or to "free from." Therefore, the word mantra in its most literal sense means "to free from the mind." Mantra is, at its core, a tool used by the mind which eventually frees one from the vagaries of the mind.

But the journey from mantra to freedom is a wondrous one. The mind expands, deepens and widens and eventually dips into the essence of cosmic existence. On its journey, the mind comes to understand much about the essence of the vibration of things. And knowledge, as we all know, is power. In the case of mantra, this power is tangible and wieldable.

Statements About Mantra

1. Mantras have close, approximate one-to-one direct language-based translation.

If we warn a young child that it should not touch a hot stove, we try to explain that it will burn the child. However, language is insufficient to convey the experience. Only the act of touching the stove and being burned will adequately define the words "hot" and "burn" in the context of "stove." Essentially, there is no real direct translation of the experience of being burned.

Similarly, there is no word which is the exact equivalent of the experience of sticking one's finger into an electrical socket. When we stick our hand into the socket, only then do we have a context for the word "shock." But shock is really a definition of the result of the action of sticking our hand into the socket.

It is the same with mantras. The only true definition is the experience which it ultimately creates in the sayer. Over thousands of years, many sayers have had common experiences and passed them on to the next generation. Through this tradition, a context of experiential definition has been created.

2. Definitions of mantras are oriented toward either the results of repeating the mantra or of the intentions of the original framers and testers of the mantra.

In Sanskrit, sounds which have no direct translation but which contain great power which can be "grown" from it are called "seed mantras." Seed in Sanskrit is called "Bijam" in the singular and "Bija" in the plural form.

An example would be the mantra "Shrim" or Shreem is the seed sound for the principle of abundance (Lakshmi, in the Hindu Pantheon.) If one says "shrim" a hundred times, a certain increase in the potentiality of the sayer to accumulate abundance is achieved. If one says "shrim" a thousand times or a million, the result is correspondingly greater.

But abundance can take many forms. There is prosperity, to be sure, but there is also peace as abundance, health as wealth, friends as wealth, enough food to eat as wealth, and a host of other kinds and types of abundance which may vary from individual to individual and culture to culture. It is at this point that the intention of the sayer begins to influence the degree of the kind of capacity for accumulating wealth which may accrue.

3. Mantras have been tested and/or verified by their original framers or users.

Each mantra is associated with an actual sage or historical person who once lived. Although the oral tradition predates written speech by centuries, those earliest oral records annotated on palm leaves discussed earlier clearly designate a specific sage as the "seer" of the mantra. This means that the mantra was probably arrived at through some form of meditation or intuition and subsequently tested by the person who first encountered it.

4. Sanskrit mantras are composed of letters which correspond to certain petals or spokes of chakras in the subtle body.

There is a direct relationship between the mantra sound, either vocalized or subvocalized, and the chakras located throughout the body.

5. Mantras are energy which can be likened to fire.

You can use fire either to cook your lunch or to burn down the forest. It is the same fire. Similarly, mantra can bring a positive and beneficial result, or it can produce an energy meltdown when misused or practiced without some guidance. There are certain mantra formulas which are so exact, so specific and so powerful that they must be learned and practiced under careful supervision by a qualified teacher.

Fortunately, most of the mantras widely used in the West are perfectly safe to use on a daily basis, even with some intensity.

6. Mantra energizes prana.

"Prana" is a Sanskrit term for a form of life energy which can be transferred from individual to individual. Prana may or may not produce an instant dramatic effect upon transfer. There can be heat or coolness as a result of the transfer.

Some healers operate through transfer of prana. A massage therapist can transfer prana with beneficial effect. Even self-healing can be accomplished by concentrating prana in certain organs, the result of which can be a clearing of the difficulty or condition. For instance, by saying a certain mantra while visualizing an internal organ bathed in light, the specific power of the mantra can become concentrated there with great beneficial effect.

7. Mantras eventually quiet the mind.

At a deep level, subconscious mind is a collective consciousness of all the forms of primitive consciousnesses which exist throughout the physical and subtle bodies. The dedicated use of mantra can dig into subconscious crystallized thoughts stored in the organs and glands and transform these bodily parts into repositories of peace.

The Seven Major Chakras . . .

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English and Sanskrit Name	Location	Color Symbol	Central Issue	Goals	Intuitive Abilities
Crown Chakra Sahasrara	Top of head	Violet	Awareness	Wisdom, knowledge, consciousness, spiritual connection	Knowingness
Sixth Chakra Ajna	Center of head	Indigo	Imagination, intuition	Clear seeing, non-judgment, accurate interpretation	Clairvoyance, the ability to see spirit
Fifth Chakra Vissudha	Throat	Blue	Communication, creative expression	Clear, authentic communication and creativity	Clairaudience, the ability to hear spirit
Fourth Chakra Anahata	Heart	Green	Love, self-affinity	Compassion, tranquility, self-acceptance, good relationships	Connectedness to one's truth or soul purpose
Third Chakra Manipura	Solar plexus	Yellow	Power, will	Vitality, spontaneity, strength of will, purpose, self-esteem	Effortlessness
Second Chakra Svadhisthana	Low belly, genitals	Orange	Sexuality, emotions	Feeling, fluidity, pleasure, healthy sexuality	Clairsentience, the ability to feel energy, emotions
Root Chakra Muladhara	Base of spine	Red	Survival	Stability, grounding, physical health, prosperity, trust	Groundedness

A More In-Depth Response to "What is TANTRA?"

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Tantra is a spiritual path for integrating body, mind and soul. It differs from other paths in its honoring of the body, using the senses, sexuality, and feelings to help you evolve spiritually. Tantra assists you in realizing your full potential as a human being. If you choose to live from the Tantric perspective, you will transform your life. You will discover bliss. You may apply Tantric practices and principles to many areas of life - to relationship and sexual loving, spiritual practice and lifestyle, physical and emotional well-being.

The benefits of Tantric practice include:

* Transcendent sexuality
* Deepened relationships
* Emotional freedom
* Expanded intuitive abilities
* Sustained health and vitality
* Boundless love
* and Playful, ecstatic awareness

As you explore further in this blog, you will discover much more about Tantra. Please read on!

At the Heart of Tantra is Love.

The practices and rituals of Tantra, both spiritual and sexual, work to create the conditions necessary for love to flourish and endure. When we achieve states of presence, energy flow, relaxation, harmony, and connection, love emerges and opens the heart. To bring about the conditions that generate and sustain love, we can learn to rely upon Tantric practices to create more of these positive energy states. Tantra, therefore, is not just something to do in our bedrooms, but rather a complete way of life.

As a Tantrika, I follow regular practices to quiet my mind, open my awareness to sensation, raise my energy vibration, and cultivate a sacred attitude towards myself, others, and events in my life. As part of my practice, each day I create a time to connect with my body and spirit. I use the Ipsalu Tantra method to attune to my inherent Bliss vibration: I awaken my body, still my mind, arouse my shakti energy, draw that orgasmic lifeforce into my higher chakras, and enjoy a meditation where I connect with what is present and what I want to create in my life. By the end of my practice my body is buzzing with blissful vibration. I feel spacious, centered, grounded, and ready to bring my vibrant energy with me out into my day.

Cultivating states of presence, energy flow, relaxation, harmony, and connection is not always easy. A lifetime of hurts and other negative experiences have gradually limited our ability to be present and to express the essence of who we really are, fully and freely. We slowly become cut off from our feelings and the ability to experience our sexual creative energy in a connected, joyful, loving way.

In a subtle, gentle, yet powerful way, Tantric loving brings healing. It breaks up and washes away residues of our past that hold us back from limitless love and intimacy. Tantra teaches us not only how to be great lovers, but how to be great healers for one another as well.

Tantra represents a unique paradigm for conscious living and loving. It offers a passionate and expansive way of life for those seeking to connect with their sexuality in a positive, heart-centered way, a way that celebrates freedom of spirit and body alike.

Origins of Tantra

Tantra is a set of spiritual teachings and a unique paradigm for relating to one's self and the universe that originated in India well over 2000 years ago. It is still relevant today.

It originated in ancient Vedic times, in matriarchal cultures such as that of the Indus Valley, and in practices revolving around the worship of the Goddess.

The essence of Tantra has taken many forms of expression and appears in virtually every culture in history, e.g., Chinese Taoist Tantra, Native American Quodoshka.

Tantra is a timeless phenomenon as well as a global one. Even today in the West it satisfies many of our most essential needs: love, connection, intimacy, play, harmony and balance, inspiration, relaxation, celebration, physical and emotional well-being, sexual and spiritual fulfillment.

The Word Tantra

Tantra comes from the ancient Sanskrit words tanoti which means "to expand" and trayati which means "liberation." This implies that you can be liberated by expanding your consciousness.

Another definition of the word Tantra is “web” or “to weave.” Tantra is an interweaving of the energies of many levels of consciousness from the mundane, to the most erotic, to the most profound.

“Tantra” also signifies scripture that contains Tantric spiritual teachings.

Tantra Yoga

Like other Yogic traditions, Tantra Yoga uses the tools of meditation (dhyana), conscious breathing (pranayama), physical gestures (mudra), sacred sounds (mantra), sacred geometry (yantra), body positions (asana), muscular contractions (bandhas) to achieve self-transformation, conscious awakening, and spiritual evolution.
Tantra is generally divided into two main streams: Red Tantra and
White Tantra.

White Tantra or Tantra of the Right Hand (Dakshina Marga) involves the meditative techniques of Tantra and is essentailly a celibate, ascetic path.

Red Tantra or Tantra of the Left Hand (Vama Marga) involves the use of elements that were considered taboo, such as the ritual of sexual union (maithuna), as a means of attaining liberation. Here, sexual union is used as means for going beyond into transcendent states of consciousness. I do not teach Red Tantra.

“Pink” Tantra strikes the middle ground between the two paths, harmoniously joining the practical and esoteric elements of both orientations. The instruction and training I offer falls into this category.

My focus is on the heart energy using tantric techniques for attaining self-knowledge, spiritual evolution, and self-realization. The work has incredible value for single people and couples alike.

The interrelated notions of the Goddess, Kundalini, the Subtle Body, and the Chakra System are central to Tantra and its aims.

The Goddess

The Goddess is revered in tantra.

In ancient times, The Goddess was worshiped as the embodiment of eroticism and the source of all creation. Every woman was seen as Shakti - The Goddess incarnate. Each woman is a Shakti. Shakti is the Hindu Goddess, or archetype, of the divine feminine.

Shakti also refers to a particular quality of energy that is feminine and rises upwards in the body, such as earth energy or sexual energy. It was worshipped in ancient India as the primal energy that created the cosmos. Shakti, or sexual energy, is creative life-force energy.

Re-awakening the Goddess is central to modern Tantra. Although both the masculine and the feminine energies are equally important, the extra focus on the feminine is necessary in order to counterbalance the predominant masculine energy of our present culture. Daily life in this busy world does not encourage women or men to recognize or acknowledge the Goddess, but rekindling a woman's sexual energy brings forth her Goddess nature. Tantric practices allow the Goddess in every woman to emerge. Both the woman and her partner benefit. The free flow of a woman's sexual energy activates her shakti, creating an atmosphere for spiritual enlightenment. Her pleasure and desire for lovemaking will increase and may even surpass the pleasure potential and sexual desire of the man.

Kundalini

The main purpose of the tantric path is to activate Kundalini energy in the body. Those who achieve this awakening live in an ongoing state of bliss.

Kundalini is the most powerful and refined energetic force available to us as human beings.

The term means "she who is coiled" and is traditionally depicted as a serpent, coiled and sleeping at the base of the spine. When awakened, it begins to uncoil as it climbs up through the chakras to the crown. For thousands of years, the serpent has been used in many cultures to symbolize rising consciousness.

A minimal flow of Kundalini exists in everyone already. It is the energy that animates the body and the physical senses and provides a base level of consciousness. As the flow increases, we begin to access higher realms of consciousness into the spiritual dimensions.

Kundalini is activated by the energy of Shakti, or sexual energy. Shakti is generated through conscious lovemaking or specific yogic techniques designed to activate this energy. The tantric path sees sexual energy as an important expression of Kundalini.

A full Kundalini awakening occurs only when a perfect balance of masculine and feminine exists in the body. Maintaining a balance between these energies is the essence of tantric practice.

For a more in-depth discussion of Kundalini and how it works, refer to the excellent chapter on the subject in Bodhi Avinasha’s The Ipsalu Formula: A Method for Tantra Bliss or Swami Satyananda Saraswati’s complete book Kundalini Tantra.

The Subtle Body

Since Tantric practices directly influence the energy of the subtle body, a basic understanding of esoteric anatomy is useful.

The Western view of anatomy encompasses systems of the body that we can see: the skeletal system, muscular system, nervous system, etc. Eastern medicine (i.e. Ayurveda, Chinese medicine) teaches that a subtle body also pervades our anatomy.

The most important aspect of the subtle body is the system of energy centers, known as chakras. The subtle body also contains several hundred thousand energy channels, called nadis. There are three principle subtle channels, the sushumna (central), the ida (left channel) and pingala (right channel). The subtle body is also called the energy body.

If you have ever done yoga or received acupuncture, you have already experienced the awakening of your subtle body.

As kundalini awakens, it rises up through the sushumna, moving through the main chakras of the subtle body. If there are energy blocks along this central energy "highway" the kundalini will not ascend through all of the chakras.
A heightened awareness of your energy body translates to intensified levels of sensation and pleasure. When your energy body is awake, even the slightest touch may arouse great bliss. I can teach you how to awaken the energy body of your beloved, inspiring in him or her unknown delights!

The Chakra System

The chakras are concentrated vortices of energy within the subtle body, centers of consciousness. They are way-stations along the upward path of the Kundalini. Our bodies actually have many chakras, both big (e.g. at the crown of the head) and small (e.g. at the pads of our fingers). “The chakras” refer to the seven main chakras "situated" along the axis of the spine. All the chakras have the potential to become powerful erogenous zones!

Although we cannot see or feel the chakras with our physical senses, they are evident in the shape of our physical bodies and in the way we think, feel, and handle life's situations.

Sometimes these energy centers become clogged or blocked due to negative experiences, physical pain, emotional traumas, social programming, cultural conditioning, limiting belief systems, or adverse life conditions. Blocks result in an incomplete or unbalanced experience of life and limit the expression of our own true life force energy. If you have ever experienced a "knot in your throat," for example, due to holding back tearful emotional expression, then you have experienced a block in the 5th chakra. This block acts as a limit, restricting the full expression of your inner world to the outer. Can you recall a time when you have experienced a "heavy heart," a block in the 4th chakra? Grief, resulting from hurts to the heart, blocks the heart's natural lightness and expansiveness; the heart becomes heavy and closed. A heavy heart prevents us from engaging in nourishing, loving relationships, and our life may feel incomplete as a result.
Awakening and opening all of our chakras allow us to express ourselves as unique, whole, and fully-realized individuals.

Tantric practice provides means to fully awaken and open the chakras, with particular emphasis on the second, fourth chakras and sixth chakras (sex, heart, and spirit), integral to our experience as expansive, joyful beings.

WHITE TANTRA HEALING

I founded WHITE TANTRA HEALING to be a unique approach within the variety of Tantric paths. Faithful to ancient Tantra's original purposes and researched techniques, it is an adapted system to meet the interests of people in the western world at the present evolutionary level. White Tantra Healing is both a profound and playful way for learning to live in bliss. What distinguishes White Tantra Healing is the focus on realizing your true Self, attention to emotional flow, and the skillfully designed sets of yogic techniques for safely activating your kundalini (most powerful and creative) energy.

"Ipsalu" in Sanskrit means "transcending illusions of desire." By freeing and integrating ego desires, you realize your bliss body. Frustration, separation, boredom and fear melt away for they are simply clouds over the magnificence that is present inside you. The union of sex, love and pure awareness within your body, with a beloved, in each moment, with everyone, with all of existence is indescribable joy. It is the essence of your nature.

SAT NAM!

TANTRIC GLOSSARY

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TANTRIC TERMINOLOGY:

Acupressure Points. The junctures of energy pathways in the body. Holding acupressure points for more than a minute or so causes the body to release neurochemicals called endorphins. The release of endorphins can create a euphoric "natural high" and encourage relaxation as well as magnetism and intimacy.

Ananda. Divine bliss; joy; spiritual ecstasy.

Asana. Yoga posture. Used to positively influence the energies of body and mind.

A-U-M. The three sounds which compose the root mantra, om. The sound-values of om and their symbolic interpretation are described in the Upanishads: ""A" as the waking consciousness, "U" as the dream-consciousness and "M" as the consciousness during deep sleep. Om as a whole represents the all-encompassing cosmic consciousness."

Aura. The subtle field of energy generated by the various life energies in the body.

Ayurveda. "Science of life." Ayurveda is the traditional system of medicine of India, which dates back thousands of years. The Sanskrit root ayu means "life," and veda means "pure knowledge."

Bandhas. Internal muscular exercises designed to strengthen the PC muscles and to direct and intensify sexual energy. Bandha exercises can greatly increase sexual pleasure and aid in ejaculatory control.

Bija Mantra. A Tantric technique for awakening, purifying, and activating the chakras. Bija means "seed," and the bijas used in this mantra are the core sounds that pertain to the seven chakras.

Bodhisattva. "One whose essence is enlightenment." Bodhi is the Sanskrit word for "enlightenment" and sattva means "essence." A divine being who remains on the human plane to help others.

Brahma. "The Creator." In Hindu mythology, Brahma is the senior member of the triad of the great Gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. In Tantric cosmology, Brahma is the creator of the world and is the embodiment of all creativity.

Chakras. Centers of consciousness and psychic energy in the body. The word chakra means "wheel" in Sanskrit. There are many chakras in the body, including seven main chakras situated along the central channel of the body, along the spine.

Chi (Qi). Chi is the Chinese word for the flows of subtle energy in the body that move along pathways called meridians. A clear flow of energy through the meridians is the key to radiant health, eroticism, and intimacy.

Chi Kung (or Qi-Gong). Literally means "breath work." It is a system of movement, meditation, and breathing that can unblock, align, and purify the body"s energy so that the entire being - body, mind, and spirit - can function more harmoniously.

Dakini. "Skydancer." The embodiment of cosmic feminine energy, enlightened wisdom. A female Tantrika or Yogini.

Devi. "Shining one." Refers to the feminine principle or the Goddess.

Dhyana. Sanskrit word for meditation.

Durga. "She who is difficult to go against." Durga represents the triumphant aspect of Shakti, the cosmic energy of destruction, particularly the removal of the ego which stands in the way of spiritual growth and ultimate liberation. The Goddess Durga evokes strength, health, and purity.

Feng Shui. Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese science of arranging objects and surroundings in the best possible way to balance sacred energy and attract toward us all the benevolent forces of the cosmos.

Ganesha. The elephant-headed God, son of Parvati and Shiva. Ganesha is the remover of all obstacles - physical, emotional, and psychic. He is invoked at the start of any new undertaking.

Hatha Yoga. Hatha means "force" and represents the union of two words - ha, "sun," and tha, "moon." Hatha yoga is the ancient Indian system of physical postures and breathing exercises that balances the opposing masculine and feminine forces in the body, the "sun" and the "moon."

Ida. One of the three principal channels of the subtle body. It is the (female, lunar) nadi going about the central sushumna nadi, terminating in the left nostril. Opposite in polarity from the pinga.

Kali. "Dark one." The aspect of Divine Mother that fights evil and destroys the ego.

Kali Yuga. "Age of Darkness." The era of "spiritual decline" that is still in progress today. Described in Vedic scripture as a period "when society reaches a stage where property confers rank, wealth becomes the only source of virtue. . . falsehood the source of success in life. . . and when outer trappings are confused with inner religion." Tantra is a set of teachings intended for this particular age.

Karma. "The law of cause and effect." The accumulated effect of past deeds and actions.

Krishna. One of the many incarnations of Vishnu whose teaching is featured in the Bhagava Gita. Often depicted playing his flute, he embodies divine joy, love, playfulness, and male eroticism. Krishna's death inaugurated the Kali Yuga, which is still in full swing today.

Kundalini. "She who is coiled." Refers to the powerful creative sexual energy coiled like a sleeping serpent near the base of the spine. One of the goals in Tantra is to gently awaken this dormant energy in order to awaken consciousness and attain enlightenment.

Kwan Yin (Quan Yin). The Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion. Kwan means "to perceive" and yin means "the sound of the world": "She who hears the suffering of the world." The energy of Kwan Yin is gentle and peaceful. She was known as a great healer and the female energy counterpart of Buddha.

Lakshmi. "Good Fortune." The Goddess of abundance, wealth, and beauty. The female counterpart of the god Vishnu.

Laya Yoga. The path of meditation and subtle energy work. A form of yoga intended to awaken and channel kundalini energy (also known as Kundalini Yoga). Laya Yoga can be understood as the higher, meditative phase of Hatha Yoga. Laya Yoga and Hatha Yoga together are subsumed under Tantra Yoga.

Lingam. Sanskrit for the male sexual organ meaning "wand of light." The symbol of Shiva.

Lotus Flower. In Tantric art, the lotus is a symbol of purity, self-transcendence, and expanding consciousness. Because of its smooth and oily surface the lotus is not sullied by the mud and water in which it grows. It is also a Tantric term for the Yoni.

Maithuna. Sanskrit word for sexual union. The ceremonial union of Shiva with Shakti. A Tantric rite aimed at raising the kundalini through physical love.

Mandala. "Mystic circle." A mandala is considered sacred geometry and is used as a tool for Tantric meditation.

Mantra. An audible and sacredly empowered pattern of rhythm and words. A mantra is a spiritual formula, a combination of sacred syllables transmitted from age to age in a religious tradition that forms a nucleus of spiritual power. Om Shakti, for example, is a popular Hindu mantra and means "praise energy."

Metta. In Buddhism, the Pali word for "lovingkindness." The practice of metta was first taught by the Buddha himself two thousand five hundred years ago as a supremely rich and powerful way of cultivating a generous heart. "Without a generous heart," the Buddha said, "there can be no true spiritual life."

Mudra. Potent hand positions or finger-postures that profoundly influence and focus the body's energy.

Nadi. "River." Invisible channels of psychic energy, woven throughout the subtle body. Conduits of prana. Yogic texts state there are 72,000 of them. Together with the chakras, the nadis constitute the composition of the subtle body in Tantra.

Namaste. The traditional Indian form of salutation, a respectful greeting recognizing the equality of all and the sacredness of all. "The God/Goddess in me greets the God/Goddess in you." The gesture (mudra) of namaste is made by bringing together both palms of the hands before the heart.

Nataraj. Nataraj is the dancing form of Lord Shiva. This famous icon of Hinduism depicts Shiva in his "unending dance of destruction/creation," while trampling down "the demon of ego that hinders our progress to enlightenment."

Nyasa. "Placing." A ritual form of touch to awaken the chakras and the energy conduits of the body.

OM. Seed mantra composed of three sounds, a-u-m, embracing within it the "sound" of our own inmost divine consciousness, the "sound" of all of creation, and the "sound" of the Supreme Being creating reality.

Parvati. "The one born of the mountain (Himalaya)." Consort of Shiva. Parvati represents not only physical but spiritual beauty.

Pingala. One of the three principal channels of the subtle body. It is the (male, solar) nadi opposite the ida nadi. It spirals around the central sushumna channel and terminates in the right nostril. It has a positive polarity.

Prana. The body's vital energy or life force; air; breath.

Pranayama. Prana means "life force" and yama comes from ayama or "expansion." Pranayama serves to instill meditative peace and to foster calm, alertness, and concentration.

Puja. Worship or celebration. There are different kinds of pujas that include many forms of ceremonial worship. In modern Tantric practice, there are community or group pujas, a transformational ritual gathering which awakens and brings forth the priest/priestess, the shaman, and the god-essence in each of us. It is an opportunity for the renewal of body, mind, and spirit.

Raja Yoga. "Royal yoga." Emphasizes the mental and spiritual rather than physical. Its aim is to make one a "ruler" over all one's mental and spiritual equipment, the general aim of all Tantric schools.

Red Tantra. The aspect of Tantra that relates to the mastery of sexual skills.

Sacred Space. A sacred space is a place of tranquility created through intention, respect and focus. It is about cultivating an environment that is filled with energies that support, uplift, comfort, and transform our inner and outer awareness and benefits our highest good.

Sacred Spot. An energetic pole for sexual fulfillment. In a woman it is the energetic access to the second chakra located on or around the G spot in the Yoni. In a man it is located at the root of the second chakra located within the upper wall of the base chakra.

Saraswati. "She who flows." The Goddess of arts and learning and patroness of the "Sixty-four Arts." Saraswati is the feminine energy counterpart of Brahma. She is typically portrayed holding a lute (vina).

Shakti. Shakti means power, force, and feminine energy. The word shakti is derived from the Sanskrit root shak, meaning "potency" or "the potential to produce." She represents "the fundamental creative instinct underlying the cosmos, and is the energizing force of all divinity, of every being, and every thing." The Goddess Shakti is the feminine counterpart to each of the Gods of the Hindu pantheon, especially of Shiva.

Shiva. The male divine symbol of the transcendental. Shiva stands for growth and transformation. In Tantra, Shiva represents pure consciousness manifesting in the creative union with his consort Shakti.

Subtle Body. A field of force, with energy vortexes at the psychic centers (chakras).

Sushumna. The principal nadi of the subtle body located in the spinal column. This psychic channel controls spiritual evolution and is the "highway" that connects this world with the next.

Tai Chi. A spiritual and physical discipline, developed in China over millennia to bring balance to the body and flowing peace to the mind.

Tantra. A spiritual path, originating in India, that embraces sexual energy as a way of achieving conscious awakening and enlightenment.

Tantrika. A practitioner of Tantra.

Tara. One of the most popular of the Buddhist Goddesses who is adored for her protection from evil and her support in overcoming obstacles. Her name is derived from the verb tara, meaning "to cross," for she enables the devotee to "cross the ocean of existence." Tara is the symbol of tranquility and cosmic peace.

Vajra. A Tibetan term for the male sexual organ meaning "thunderbolt" or "scepter of power."

Vedic. Ancient Indian/Hindu philosophy and science with a holistic approach. The Vedic period is dated c. 2500-500 b.c.e. The Vedas are considered to be the oldest extant scriptures in the world.

Vishnu. "The Preserver." The aspect of Brahma known as the protector of all humanity.

White Tantra. White Tantra relates to the yogic or spiritual aspects of Tantric practice and consists of exercises or postures (asanas) combined with special breathing (pranayama), hand or finger gestures (mudras), internal muscular exercises (bhandas), chanting (mantra), and meditation. The skills and benefits of White Tantra practices increase ones ability to master Red (sexual) Tantra.

Yab-Yum. Seated astride position. An asana in which a woman sits astride facing herpartner, heart-to-heart. TheTantric image of yab-yum represents the male principle uniting in perfect balance with the female principle, creating an image expressing the sacredness of sexuality as a spiritual path to enlightenment.

Yantra. A geometric diagram, usually of interlocking triangles and circles, used as a focus for healing meditation. The Sanskrit word yantra derives from the root yam meaning "to sustain," or "hold." In metaphysical terms a yantra is visualized as a "receptacle" of the highest spiritual essence.

Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang are complementary and interdependent aspects of a single unifying force. The Yin force is seen as cool, lunar, passive, receptive, feminine, and internal. The Yang force is warm, solar, active, productive, masculine, and external. Each is relative to the other and both contain a small amount of the other. These opposite forces interact in order to create balance. This is seen in the yin/yang symbol, illustrating the light within the dark and the dark within the light.

Yoga. Yoga is a term for spiritual discipline and derives from the Sanskrit yuj, which means, among other things, to "yoke," "to join together," "union and communion." Yoga is a holistic way of relating to the body that involves an increasing awareness on all levels: the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. The basic philosophy of yoga acknowledges the presence of divine energy in all people, all place, and all things.

Five Simple Principles I Teach in White Tantra Healing:

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Relax & Expand your sensations, feelings, and awareness.

Breathe and Circulate Prana (Qi) in natural harmony through the internal and external cosmos, developing awareness and abiding in awareness of sushmna nadi at all times...

Use experience, memory, dream, and symbolic imagination to live in and amplify your positive emotions into powerful tools while acknowledging, transforming, and releasing your negative emotions. Steps 1. - 3. will arouse Kundalini naturally.

Practice stillness, quiet, and one pointed focus so that absorption (Samadhi) becomes your natural state. Act always from the wisdom derived from abiding in this state. Wisdom comes from the clear light emptiness of Sushumna.

Live in awareness of bliss, emptiness, and their union at all levels of existence, from the mundane to the subtlest tremor of the divine within you. Experience all as the unity of existence and voidness, the pulsing continuum of opposites and polarities.

TANTRIC MEDITATION

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CULTIVATING AWARENESS – Life as a Tantric Meditation

1. The real Tantric meditation is how you live your life.

2. In order to live life fully, you have to be present for it.

3. To be present, it helps to purposefully bring awareness to your moments – otherwise you may miss many of them.

4. You do that by paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and
non-judgmentally to whatever is arising inwardly and outwardly.

5. This requires a great deal of kindness toward yourself, which you deserve.

6. It helps to keep in mind that good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, the present moment is the only time any of us are alive. Therefore, it's the only time to learn, grow, see what is really going on, find some degree of balance, feel and express emotions such as love and appreciation, and do what we need to do to take care of ourselves – in other words, embody our intrinsic strength and beauty and wisdom – even in the face of pain and
suffering.

7. So a gentle love affair with the present moment is important.

8. We do that through learning to rest in awareness of what is happening inwardly and outwardly moment by moment by moment – it is more a “being” than a “doing.”

9. Formal and informal meditation practices are specific ways in which you can ground, deepen, and accelerate this process, so it is useful to carve out some time for formal practice on a regular daily basis – maybe waking up fifteen or twenty minutes earlier than you ordinarily would to catch some time for ourselves.

10. We bring awareness to our moments only as best we can.

11. We are not trying to create a special feeling or experience – simply to realize that this moment is already very special – because you are alive and awake in it.

12. This is hard, but well worth it

13. It takes a lot of practice.

14. Lots of practice

15. But you have a lot of moments – and we can treat each one as a new beginning.

16. So there are always new moments to open up to if we miss some.

17. We do all this with a huge amount of self-compassion.

18. And remember, you are not your thoughts or opinions, your likes or dislikes, they are more like weather patterns in your mind that you can be aware of – like clouds moving across the sky – and so don’t have to be imprisoned by.

19. Befriending yourself in this way is the adventure of a lifetime, and hugely empowering.

20. Try it for a few weeks – it grows on you. Such is the power of Tantra to transform your life.

TANTRIC HEALING YOGA - Tantric Buddhist/White Tantra Healing

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The other day I had a client who sat with his eyes closed, submerged in the rhythm of his own breathing, and after a while noticed that he was thinking about his troubled relationship with his father.

“I was able to be there, present for the pain,” he said, when the meditation session ended. “To just let it be what it was, without thinking it through.”

“Acceptance is what it was,” he continued. “Just letting it be. Not trying to change anything.”

“That’s it,” I said. “That’s it, and that’s big.”

This exercise in focused awareness and mental catch-and-release of emotions has become perhaps the most popular new meditation technique of the past decade. Mindfulness meditation, as it is called, is rooted in the teachings of a fifth-century B.C. Indian prince, Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha. It is catching the attention of talk therapists of all stripes, including academic researchers, Freudian analysts in private practice and skeptics who see all the hallmarks of another fad.

For years, psychotherapists have worked to relieve suffering by reframing the content of patients’ thoughts, directly altering behavior or helping people gain insight into the subconscious sources of their despair and anxiety. The promise of mindfulness meditation is that it can help patients endure flash floods of emotion during the process — and ultimately alter reactions to daily experience at a level that words cannot reach. “The interest in this has just taken off,” said Zindel Segal, a psychologist at the Center of Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. “And I think a big part of it is that more and more therapists are practicing some form of contemplation themselves and want to bring that into therapy.”

At workshops and conferences across the country, students, counselors and all sorts of therapists throng lectures on mindfulness. The National Institutes of Health is financing more than 50 studies testing mindfulness techniques, up from 3 in 2000, to help relieve stress, soothe addictive cravings, improve attention, lift despair and reduce hot flashes.

Some proponents say Buddha’s arrival in psychotherapy signals a broader opening in the culture at large — a way to access deeper healing, a hidden path revealed.

Yet so far, the evidence that mindfulness meditation helps relieve psychiatric symptoms is thin, and in some cases, it may make people worse, some studies suggest. Many researchers now worry that the enthusiasm for Buddhist practice will run so far ahead of the science that this promising psychological tool could turn into another fad.

“I’m very open to the possibility that this approach could be effective, and it certainly should be studied,” said Scott Lilienfeld, a psychology professor at Emory. “What concerns me is the hype, the talk about changing the world, this allure of the guru that the field of psychotherapy has a tendency to cultivate.”

Buddhist meditation came to psychotherapy from mainstream academic medicine. In the 1970s, a graduate student in molecular biology, Jon Kabat-Zinn, intrigued by Buddhist ideas, adapted a version of its meditative practice that could be easily learned and studied. It was by design a secular version, extracted like a gemstone from the many-layered foundation of Buddhist teaching, which has sprouted a wide variety of sects and spiritual practices and attracted 350 million adherents worldwide.

In transcendental meditation and other types of meditation, practitioners seek to transcend or “lose” themselves. The goal of mindfulness meditation was different, to foster an awareness of every sensation as it unfolds in the moment.

Dr. Kabat-Zinn taught the practice to people suffering from chronic pain at the University of Massachusetts medical school. In the 1980s he published a series of studies demonstrating that two-hour courses, given once a week for eight weeks, reduced chronic pain more effectively than treatment as usual.

Word spread, discreetly at first. “I think that back then, other researchers had to be very careful when they talked about this, because they didn’t want to be seen as New Age weirdos,” Dr. Kabat-Zinn, now a professor emeritus of medicine at the University of Massachusetts, said in an interview. “So they didn’t call it mindfulness or meditation. “After a while, we put enough studies out there that people became more comfortable with it.”

One person who noticed early on was Marsha Linehan, a psychololgy professor at the University of Washington who was trying to treat deeply troubled patients with histories of suicidal behavior. “Trying to treat these patients with some change-based behavior therapy just made them worse, not better,” Dr. Linehan said in an interview. “With the really hard stuff, you need something else, something that allows people to tolerate these very strong emotions.”

In the 1990s, Dr. Linehan published a series of studies finding that a therapy that incorporated Zen Buddhist mindfulness, “radical acceptance,” practiced by therapist and patient significantly cut the risk of hospitalization and suicide attempts in the high-risk patients.

Finally, in 2000, a group of researchers including Dr. Segal in Toronto, J. Mark G. Williams at the University of Wales and John D. Teasdale at the Medical Research Council in England published a study that found that eight weekly sessions of mindfulness halved the rate of relapse in people with three or more episodes of depression.

With Dr. Kabat-Zinn, they wrote a popular book, “The Mindful Way Through Depression.” Psychotherapists’ curiosity about mindfulness, once tentative, turned into “this feeding frenzy, of sorts, that we have going on now,” Dr. Kabat-Zinn said.

Mindfulness meditation is easy to describe. Sit in a comfortable position, eyes closed, preferably with the back upright and unsupported. Relax and take note of body sensations, sounds and moods. Notice them without judgment. Let the mind settle into the rhythm of breathing. If it wanders (and it will), gently redirect attention to the breath. Stay with it for at least 10 minutes.
After mastering control of attention, some therapists say, a person can turn, mentally, to face a threatening or troubling thought — about, say, a strained relationship with a parent — and learn simply to endure the anger or sadness and let it pass, without lapsing into rumination or trying to change the feeling, a move that often backfires.

One woman, a doctor who had been in therapy for years to manage bouts of disabling anxiety, recently began seeing Gaea Logan, a therapist in Austin, Tex., who incorporates mindfulness meditation into her practice. This patient had plenty to worry about, including a mentally ill child, a divorce and what she described as a “harsh internal voice,” Ms. Logan said.

After practicing mindfulness meditation, she continued to feel anxious at times but told Ms. Logan, “I can stop and observe my feelings and thoughts and have compassion for myself.”

Steven Hayes, a psychologist at the University of Nevada at Reno, has developed a talk therapy called Acceptance Commitment Therapy, or ACT, based on a similar, Buddha-like effort to move beyond language to change fundamental psychological processes.

“It’s a shift from having our mental health defined by the content of our thoughts,” Dr. Hayes said, “to having it defined by our relationship to that content — and changing that relationship by sitting with, noticing and becoming disentangled from our definition of ourselves.”

For all these hopeful signs, the science behind mindfulness is in its infancy. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which researches health practices, last year published a comprehensive review of meditation studies, including T.M., Zen and mindfulness practice, for a wide variety of physical and mental problems. The study found that over all, the research was too sketchy to draw conclusions.

A recent review by Canadian researchers, focusing specifically on mindfulness meditation, concluded that it did “not have a reliable effect on depression and anxiety.”

Therapists who incorporate mindfulness practices do not agree when the meditation is most useful, either. Some say Buddhist meditation is most useful for patients with moderate emotional problems. Others, like Dr. Linehan, insist that patients in severe mental distress are the best candidates for mindfulness.

A case in point is mindfulness-based therapy to prevent a relapse into depression. The treatment significantly reduced the risk of relapse in people who have had three or more episodes of depression. But it may have had the opposite effect on people who had one or two previous episodes, two studies suggest.

The mindfulness treatment “may be contraindicated for this group of patients,” S. Helen Ma and Dr. Teasdale of the Medical Research Council concluded in a 2004 study of the therapy.

Since mindfulness meditation may have different effects on different mental struggles, the challenge for its proponents will be to specify where it is most effective — and soon, given how popular the practice is becoming.

The question, said Linda Barnes, an associate professor of family medicine and pediatrics at the Boston College School of Medicine, is not whether mindfulness meditation will become a sophisticated therapeutic technique or lapse into self-help cliché.

“The answer to that question is yes to both,” Dr. Barnes said.
The real issue, most researchers agree, is whether the science will keep pace and help people distinguish the mindful variety from the mindless.

A variety of meditative practices have been studied by Western researchers for their effects on mental and physical health.

Tai Chi

An active exercise, sometimes called moving meditation, involving extremely slow, continuous movement and extreme concentration. The movements are to balance the vital energy of the body but have no religious significance.

Studies are mixed, some finding it can reduce blood pressure in patients, and others finding no effect. There is some evidence that it can help elderly people improve balance.

Transcendental Meditation

Meditators sit comfortably, eyes closed, and breathe naturally. They repeat and concentrate on the mantra, a word or sound chosen by the instructor to achieve state of deep, transcendent absorption. Practitioners “lose” themselves, untouched by day-to-day concerns. Studies suggest it can reduce blood pressure in some patients.

Mindfulness Meditation

Practitioners find a comfortable position, close the eyes and focus first on breathing, passively observing it. If a stray thought or emotion enters the mind, they allow it to pass and return attention to the breath. The aim is to achieve focused awareness on what is happening moment to moment.

Studies find that it can help manage chronic pain. The findings are mixed on substance abuse. Two trials suggest that it can cut the rate of relapse in people who have had three or more bouts of depression.

Yoga

Enhanced awareness through breathing techniques and specific postures. Schools vary widely, aiming to achieve total absorption in the present and a release from ordinary thoughts. Studies are mixed, but evidence shows it can reduce stress.

Though today, Yoga is mainly associated with the practice of physical postures and a few basic breathing techniques, there is more depth to this powerful discipline than has existed for more than two thousand years. It may seem trivial if so much importance were given to Yoga, over such a long period of time, if all it was, was a bunch of postures, that addressed only the physical needs of an individual.

On the contrary, Tantric Healing Yoga is a holistic healing discipline that addresses the needs of the whole person through continuous adaptation of its many tools to suit the student’s unique and changing needs. This is why, with the compassionate guidance of a skilled teacher, Tantric Healing Yoga is as appropriate for the young as it is for the old, as appropriate for the stroke victim lying immobile in a hospital bed, as it is for the flexible, athletic dancer. This is why it may be said that Tantric Healing Yoga is for everyone. It offers a wide range of tools which include physical practices, special breathing techniques, powerful meditative practices, symbolic gestures and use of vocal sounds, guided self inquiry practices and more.

When appropriately administered, Tantric Healing Yoga practices may be used in a wide variety of purposes such as

* in promoting and maintaining physical and mental health
* in serving as a complimentary system of holistic health care - both preventative, and curative
* in relieving stress and promoting efficiency
* in aiding to face and deal with challenging life situations
* in providing and guiding us in spiritual transformation

The aim of Tantric Healing Yoga is to promote health and facilitate healing in a holistic manner, by allowing the healer to design and teach appropriate and unique practices that empower the students in their recovery.

A Holistic Process

Tantric Healing Yoga does not look at our individual system as one that is made up of parts. Rather it looks at our human being as one holistic entity that is made up different dimensions (physical body, breath, mental, personality traits, and emotions) that are mutually dependent on and mutually influence one another. It propounds that an illness at the body level, need not exist because of a cause in the body level, but could also manifest because of a problem in another dimension of the body.

For example, it is now proven that one possible factor that could contribute to heart attacks could be stress. And one cause stress could come because of emotionally unstable relationships. Thus an emotional cause may manifest as a physical symptom. The contrary could also be true. So are innumerable other possibilities. Thus Tantric Healing Yoga Therapy teaches us that, in choosing and designing practices for healing, we must understand such dynamics in the student (patient), before coming up with a unique solution.

Understanding this situation, the ancient masters presented tools of Tantric Healing Yoga, which were able to influence multiple dimensions of our human system, rather than just one. Thus a practice administered at the body level, may not only have an impact on the body, but has the potency to impact the other dimensions as well. Similarly a deep meditative practice may not only influence our mind or emotions, but may also have an influence on our physical body. Thus a good Tantric Healing Yoga practice empowers the whole human system, rather than parts of it. This is the beauty of Tantric Healing Yoga, and hence its potency in healing. Thus a Tantric Healing Yoga Therapist needs to be competent in the wide range of Tantric Healing Yoga’s tools, rather than just a few of them.

Some of the common tools used in Tantric Healing Yoga therapy include:

· postures (asanas)

· special breathing techniques (pranayama)

· meditative practices (dhyanam)

· social attitudes (yama)

· guided self inquiry practices (svadhyaya)

· symbolic gestures (mudra)

· use of vocal sounds (mantra)

· dietary recommendations (ahara niyama)

· lifestyle changes (vihara niyama)

. Tantric Touch Healing

This list is not comprehensive, but is indicative of what is possible in Tantric Healing Yoga therapy. Also, often these tools may not be taught in isolation, but may be grouped together to come up with an effective practice.

An Individual Process

To make healing effective and potent, we must understand and interact with patients individually, rather than prescribe practices in groups, though some exceptional situations may even allow that. When we interact with students privately we can understand their individual illnesses, their causes and what are the individual abilities of the student, which can help us design practices that will be the perfect fit for them. Can a doctor prescribe the same pill to patients irrespective of their complaint? Similarly a Tantric Healing Yoga therapist has to interact with the student privately to help heal them. Otherwise it will not be an effective process.

A Self Empowering Process

A powerful component of the healing process in Tantric Healing Yoga is that it empowers the student to heal themselves. Unlike in surgery, where a surgeon operates on a passive and often unconscious patient, or massage therapy, where the therapist works on a patient, in Tantric Healing Yoga the student has an active and often complete responsibility in the healing process. The Tantric Healing Yoga Therapist’s role is limited to one of understanding the student’s illness, and teaching appropriate practices that the student will have to do it themselves. An important job is also to review and verify the appropriateness of the practice.

Since much of the healing happens due to the regular practice by the student, a key responsibility of the Tantric Healing Yoga Therapist is to inspire and motivate them to maintain the practice. This is often the key to the success of a good healing process.

What I Offer

Healing and Wellness

Tantric Healing Yoga offers developmental and therapeutic Tantric Healing Yoga programs that address the needs of the whole person according to the individual's capability and interest and which specifically seek to empower each client in their own healing and wellness processes.

Personalized Individual Tantric Healing Yoga programs

I offer one-on-one consultations and classes.

I design and monitor a course of practice that directly addresses the student’s specific needs, abilities, situation and therapeutic and/or wellness goals.

Initial Consultation:

First Session - 90 Minutes initial intake, consultation and program

Second Session - 30 Minutes - Follow Up

Subsequent Follow-Up Sessions:

45 to 90 Minutes (depending on each individual)

In preparation, please wear loose and comfortable clothing and we will provide anything you might need.

All sessions are held in my sacred space in my home near the Indian River in the Cocoa/Rockledge area of Florida.

EMAIL ME FOR MORE INFO: Kathryn@Kathrynstouch.com

In my capacity as an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church, and as a Tantric Practitioner (or Vajra Yogini) I both practice and teach Tantra, Sat Nam Rasayan Healing and lead Satsang sessions.

TANTRA
Tantra is a spiritual path for integrating body, mind and soul. It differs from other paths in its honoring of the body, using the senses, sensuality, and feelings to help you evolve spiritually.

Tantra assists you in realizing your full potential as a human being. If you choose to live from the Tantric perspective, you will transform your life. You will discover bliss.

You may apply Tantric practices and principles to many areas of life - to relationship and loving, spiritual practice and lifestyle, physical and emotional well-being.

The benefits of Tantric practice include:

* Deepened relationships
* Emotional freedom
* Expanded intuitive abilities
* Sustained health and vitality
* Boundless love
* and Playful, ecstatic awareness

As you explore further in this website, you will discover much more about Tantra. Please read on!

At the heart of Tantra is love.

The practices and rituals of Tantra, both spiritual and sensual, work to create the conditions necessary for love to flourish and endure. When we achieve states of presence, energy flow, relaxation, harmony, and connection, love emerges and opens the heart. To bring about the conditions that generate and sustain love, we can learn to rely upon Tantric practices to create more of these positive energy states. Tantra, therefore, is not just something to do in our bedrooms, but rather a complete way of life.

As a Tantrika, I follow regular practices to quiet my mind, open my awareness to sensation, raise my energy vibration, and cultivate a sacred attitude towards myself, others, and events in my life. As part of my practice, each day I create a time to connect with my body and spirit. I use the Ipsalu Tantra method to attune to my inherent Bliss vibration: I awaken my body, still my mind, arouse my shakti energy, draw that lifeforce into my higher chakras, and enjoy a meditation where I connect with what is present and what I want to create in my life. By the end of my practice my body is buzzing with blissful vibration. I feel spacious, centered, grounded, and ready to bring my vibrant energy with me out into my day.

Cultivating states of presence, energy flow, relaxation, harmony, and connection is not always easy. A lifetime of hurts and other negative experiences have gradually limited our ability to be present and to express the essence of who we really are, fully and freely. We slowly become cut off from our feelings and the ability to experience our sensual creative energy in a connected, joyful, loving way.

In a subtle, gentle, yet powerful way, Tantric loving brings healing. It breaks up and washes away residues of our past that hold us back from limitless love and intimacy. Tantra teaches us not only how to be great lovers, but how to be great healers for one another as well.

Tantra represents a unique paradigm for conscious living and loving. It offers a passionate and expansive way of life for those seeking to connect with their sensuality in a positive, heart-centered way, a way that celebrates freedom of spirit and body alike.

In principal, the Tantric Practitioner learns to focus and amplify life-force energy ("Chi" or "Prana") by combining various breathing and body awareness exercises. When the practitioner holds a high vibrational field of life-force energy around an affected area, she or he facilitates healing through the process of resonance and entrainment.

Everything vibrates. When two things vibrate at different frequencies, there is a tendency for the vibrations to come together. Most often, the slower vibration will rise to match the faster frequency. There are many kinds of examples of entrainment: over time, similarly tuned electric oscillators will match frequencies; disembodied animal hearts when placed near each other and kept alive in a lab will all beat in unison; and when women share a dormitory, over months they will often start menstruating at the same time.

Tantric Healing uses resonance and entrainment to facilitate healing. The practitioner learns to raise his or her vibration and create a high level of energy. If that energy field is placed around an area of pain, stress, inflammation, or disease, that part of the body will entrain to the higher frequency and allow one’s own biological intelligence to do whatever healing it deems necessary.

Tantric Healing provides healing energy for the practitioner as well as for the person seeking healing. Using Tantric breathing techniques and body awareness exercises, the practitioner can hold an extraordinarily high vibration, influencing the person in need of healing to match the vibration of the practitioner. The practitioner will not become drained from doing the work. Most often, the practitioner feels emotionally uplifted as a result!

I show people that they can actually dramatically change the taste of wine by directing energy into it; we're definitely affecting the very physics and chemistry of matter. I see that in the future, when research has been done, life force energy will be appreciated as being real ... and powerfully impacting physics, chemistry, biology, medicine and psychology. Our world will forever be different as people realize that their love has impact and their love has value.

Healing is a fascinating process which is generally very poorly understood. While many people think they can heal other people, it is of utmost importance to realize that all healing is self-healing. I see myself as being simply a "catalyst" for self-healing. Cells desire to be well, and given the right energetic, emotional and nutritional environments, they will do just that. The body has an extraordinary intelligence and ability to heal itself. My favorite definition of a healer is someone who was sick and got well; a great healer is someone who was very sick and got well quickly.

Origins of Tantra

Tantra is a spiritual teaching and philosophy that originated in India well over 2000 years ago. It is still relevant today.

It originated in ancient Vedic times, in matriarchal cultures such as that of the Indus Valley, and in practices revolving around the worship of the Goddess.

The essence of Tantra has taken many forms of expression and appears in virtually every culture in history, e.g., Chinese Taoist Tantra, Native American Quodoshka.

Tantra is a timeless phenomenon as well as a global one. Even today in the West it satisfies many of our most essential needs: love, connection, intimacy, play, harmony and balance, inspiration, relaxation, celebration, physical and emotional well-being and spiritual fulfillment.

The Word Tantra

Tantra comes from the ancient Sanskrit words tanoti which means "to expand" and trayati which means "liberation." This implies that you can be liberated by expanding your consciousness.

Another definition of the word Tantra is “web” or “to weave.” Tantra is an interweaving of the energies of many levels of consciousness from the mundane, to the most erotic, to the most profound.

“Tantra” also signifies scripture that contains Tantric spiritual teachings.

Tantra Yoga

Like other Yogic traditions, Tantra Yoga uses the tools of meditation (dhyana), conscious breathing (pranayama), physical gestures (mudra), sacred sounds (mantra), sacred geometry (yantra), body positions (asana), muscular contractions (bandhas) to achieve self-transformation, conscious awakening, and spiritual evolution.

Tantra is generally divided into two main streams: Red Tantra and White Tantra.

White Tantra or Tantra of the Right Hand (Dakshina Marga) involves the meditative techniques of Tantra and is essentially a celibate, ascetic path.

I DO NOT TEACH OR INVOLVE MYSELF IN THE PRACTICES OF RED TANTRA.

The interrelated notions of the Goddess, Kundalini, the Subtle Body, and the Chakra System are central to Tantra and its aims.

The Goddess

Tantra reveres The Goddess.

In ancient times, The Goddess was worshiped as the embodiment of eroticism and the source of all creation. Every woman was seen as Shakti - The Goddess incarnate. Each woman is a Shakti. Shakti is the Hindu Goddess, or archetype, of the divine feminine.

Shakti also refers to a particular quality of energy that is feminine and rises upwards in the body, such as earth energy. It was worshipped in ancient India as the primal energy that created the cosmos. Shakti energy, is creative life-force energy.

Re-awakening the Goddess is central to modern Tantra. Although both the masculine and the feminine energies are equally important, the extra focus on the feminine is necessary in order to counterbalance the predominant masculine energy of our present culture. Daily life in this busy world does not encourage women or men to recognize or acknowledge the Goddess, but rekindling a woman's energy brings forth her Goddess nature. Tantric practices allow the Goddess in every woman to emerge. Both the woman and her partner benefit. The free flow of a woman's energy activates her shakti, creating an atmosphere for spiritual enlightenment. Her pleasure and desire for lovemaking will increase and may even surpass the pleasure potential and desire of the man.

In Tantra, I honor the Goddess. I enjoy teaching these techniques and initiating those new to Tantra into the art of honoring the divine feminine.

Kundalini

The main purpose of the tantric path is to activate Kundalini energy in the body. Those who achieve this awakening live in an ongoing state of bliss.

Kundalini is the most powerful and refined energetic force available to us as human beings.

The term means "she who is coiled" and is traditionally depicted as a serpent, coiled and sleeping at the base of the spine. When awakened, it begins to uncoil as it climbs up through the chakras to the crown. For thousands of years, the serpent has been used in many cultures to symbolize rising consciousness.

A minimal flow of Kundalini exists in everyone already. It is the energy that animates the body and the physical senses and provides a base level of consciousness. As the flow increases, we begin to access higher realms of consciousness into the spiritual dimensions.

Kundalini is activated by the energy of Shakti energy. Shakti is generated through conscious lovemaking or specific yogic techniques designed to activate this energy. The tantric path sees our energy as an important expression of Kundalini.

A full Kundalini awakening occurs only when a perfect balance of masculine and feminine exists in the body. Maintaining a balance between these energies is the essence of Tantric practice.

Like a cobra which has cast its coils
spiraling conch-like three-times-
and-a-half round Shiva, her mouth
laid on that other mouth
which leads to bliss,
the enchantress
of the world,
slender as a lotus stem,
bright as a lightning-flash,
lies sleeping,
breathing softly out and in,
murmuring poems
in sweetest meters,
humming like a drunken bee
in the petals of
the muladhara lotus,
how brightly her light shines--Satcakra-nirupana Tantra

For a more in-depth discussion of Kundalini and how it works, refer to the excellent chapter on the subject in Bodhi Avinasha’s The Ipsalu Formula: A Method for Tantra Bliss or Swami Satyananda Saraswati’s complete book Kundalini Tantra.

The Subtle Body

The Subtle Body

Since Tantric practices directly influence the energy of the subtle body, a basic understanding of esoteric anatomy is useful.

The Western view of anatomy encompasses systems of the body that we can see: the skeletal system, muscular system, nervous system, etc. Eastern medicine (i.e. Ayurveda, Chinese medicine) teaches that a subtle body also pervades our anatomy.

The most important aspect of the subtle body is the system of energy centers, known as chakras. The subtle body also contains several hundred thousand energy channels, called nadis. There are three principle subtle channels, the sushumna (central), the ida (left channel) and pingala (right channel). The subtle body is also called the energy body.

If you have ever done yoga or received acupuncture, you have already experienced the awakening of your subtle body.

As kundalini awakens, it rises up through the sushumna, moving through the main chakras of the subtle body. If there are energy blocks along this central energy "highway" the kundalini will not ascend through all of the chakras.

A heightened awareness of your energy body translates to intensified levels of sensation and pleasure. When your energy body is awake, even the slightest touch may arouse great bliss. I can teach you how to awaken the energy body of your beloved, inspiring in him or her unknown delights!

The Chakra System

The chakras are concentrated vortices of energy within the subtle body, centers of consciousness. They are way-stations along the upward path of the Kundalini. Our bodies actually have many chakras, both big (e.g. at the crown of the head) and small (e.g. at the pads of our fingers). “The chakras” refer to the seven main chakras "situated" along the axis of the spine. All the chakras have the potential to become powerful erogenous zones!

THE CHAKRAS

English and Sanskrit Name
Location
Color Symbol
Central Issue
Goals
Intuitive Abilities

Crown Chakra Sahasrara
Top of head
Violet
Awareness
Wisdom, knowledge, consciousness, spiritual connection
Knowingness

Sixth Chakra Ajna
Center of head
Indigo
Imagination, intuition
Clear seeing, non-judgment, accurate interpretation
Clairvoyance, the ability to see spirit

Fifth Chakra Vissudha
Throat
Blue
Communication, creative expression
Clear, authentic communication and creativity
Clairaudience, the ability to hear spirit

Fourth Chakra Anahata
Heart
Green
Love, self-affinity
Compassion, tranquility, self-acceptance, good relationships
Connectedness to one's truth or soul purpose

Third Chakra Manipura
Solar plexus
Yellow
Power, will
Vitality, spontaneity, strength of will, purpose, self-esteem
Effortlessness

Second Chakra Svadhisthana
Low belly, genitals
Orange
Sexuality, emotions
Feeling, fluidity, pleasure, healthy sexuality
Clairsentience, the ability to feel energy, emotions

Root Chakra Muladhara
Base of spine
Red
Survival
Stability, grounding, physical health, prosperity, trust
Groundedness

Although we cannot see or feel the chakras with our physical senses, they are evident in the shape of our physical bodies and in the way we think, feel, and handle life's situations.

Sometimes these energy centers become clogged or blocked due to negative experiences, physical pain, emotional traumas, social programming, cultural conditioning, limiting belief systems, or adverse life conditions. Blocks result in an incomplete or unbalanced experience of life and limit the expression of our own true life force energy. If you have ever experienced a "knot in your throat," for example, due to holding back tearful emotional expression, then you have experienced a block in the 5th chakra. This block acts as a limit, restricting the full expression of your inner world to the outer. Can you recall a time when you have experienced a "heavy heart," a block in the 4th chakra? Grief, resulting from hurts to the heart, blocks the heart's natural lightness and expansiveness; the heart becomes heavy and closed. A heavy heart prevents us from engaging in nourishing, loving relationships, and our life may feel incomplete as a result.

Awakening and opening all of our chakras allow us to express ourselves as unique, whole, and fully-realized individuals.

Tantric practice provides means to fully awaken and open the chakras, with particular emphasis on the second, fourth chakras and sixth chakras (sex, heart, and spirit), integral to our experience as expansive, joyful beings.

Ipsalu Tantra Kriya Yoga is a unique approach within the variety of Tantric paths. Faithful to ancient Tantra's original purposes and researched techniques, it is an adapted system to meet the interests of people in the western world at the present evolutionary level. Ipsalu Tantra is a profound and playful way for learning to live in bliss. What distinguishes Ipsalu is the focus on realizing your true Self, attention to emotional flow, and the skillfully designed sets of yogic techniques for safely activating your kundalini (most powerful and creative) energy.

"Ipsalu" in Sanskrit means "transcending illusions of desire." By freeing and integrating ego desires, you realize your bliss body. Frustration, separation, boredom and fear melt away for they are simply clouds over the magnificence that is present inside you. The union of sex, love and pure awareness within your body, with a beloved, in each moment, with everyone, with all of existence is indescribable joy. It is the essence of your nature.

What is the difference between "Tantric Touch", "Quantum Touch" and "Reiki" Healing . . .

TANTRIC TOUCH

Tantric Touch (TT) is a type of healing energy whereby the therapist moves his or her hands over the patient’s “energy field,” allegedly directing the flow of chi or prana so the patient can heal. TT is based on the belief that each living thing has a “life energy field” which extends beyond the surface of the body and generates an aura. This energy field can become unbalanced, misaligned, obstructed, or out of tune. Energy healers manipulate this energy field by making movements that resemble massaging the air a few inches above the surface of the patient’s body. Energy healers also think that they can transfer some of their own life energy to the patient by actually touching or "laying on of hands" upon the patient. These manipulations allegedly restore the energy field to a state of balance or harmony, to a proper alignment, or they unblock a clog in the field or transfer life energy from healer to patient. This restoration of integrity to the field is thought to make it possible for the body to heal itself.

TT has no scientific basis but it does have a history, though TT is apparently being practiced worldwide by all kinds of “alternative” healers and laypersons in addition to a few Tibetan Tantric Medicine Buddha healers.

Practitioners admit that there has never been any scientific detection of a human energy field. This, they say, is because of the inadequacies of our present technology. One with a trained sense, however, is allegedly able to detect the human energy field and assess its integrity. Despite the obvious metaphysical basis for this, defenders of TT claim it is scientific because it is based on quantum physics. A grant proposal to study therapeutic touch on burn victims asserts: “Quantum theory states that all of reality is made up of energy fields and that over 99% of the universe is simply space.” Another defender claims that the underlying principles upon which this technique is based include acceptance of the Einstein paradigm of a complex, energetic field-like universe (i.e., the existence of a Life energy flowing through and around all of us). Further, if life is characterized by an interchange of various qualities of energy, it can be assumed that any form of obstruction -- either within the organism or between the organism and the environment -- is contrary to Nature's tendencies and therefore unhealthy. In practicing Tantric Touch, one attempts to influence this energy imbalance towards health to restore the integrity of this field. In this way the TT practitioner does not so much "heal" the patient as facilitate the patient's own healing processes, by gently manipulating the body's energy flow and adjusting it as a whole. With the achievement of balance in mind, body and spirit, we have a truly holistic healing.

Why so many believers?

One might wonder why a group of otherwise intelligent, highly trained would be attracted to something like TT?

Those who practice Tantric Touch report reaping benefits for themselves. For example, the ability of TT to reduce burnout in health care professionals has been well-documented.

The Tantric Touch/Quantum Touch/Reiki therapist has powers physicians don't have: secret, mystical powers which only the practitioner can measure. Tantra is passed down from teacher to pupil, who then becomes a teacher themself. You get a lot of positive feedback. You can’t hurt anyone because you are not invading their body with drugs or surgical instruments. You network and those in your network feed off of each other's enthusiasm. There is a great deal of communal reinforcement. Many patients swear they can feel your good work.

Our minds release 1000 thoughts per wink of an eye. Some of these thoughts get lost in the unconscious, and some get stuck in the subconscious and affect the conscious mind. These thoughts become feelings, emotions, desires, multi-realities or fantasies. Instead of mastering our mind, often our mind and thoughts direct us, which can cause impulsive decisions, poor communication and self-imposed stress.

White Tantric Healing Yoga enables you to break through these subconscious blocks, so you can have a more enjoyable life. In the shortest time, you can experience release from a lot of the burden you carry in your mind.

When you see and act on each moment with clarity, you can gain a deeper understanding of yourself and your life can change. Your mind, body, and soul can act together as one. This is the path to personal freedom and awareness, and will bring more success to every area of your life.

Envision the energy of the universe as both parallel and perpendicular in nature, like a cloth woven together. As a cloth becomes stronger when it is stretched on the diagonal, so the White Tantric Healing Yoga diagonal, or ‘Z’ energy is stronger. This energy, when directed by the VajraYogini, cuts through the blocks that are stuck in the subconscious mind.

Using the diagonal energy, the Tantric VajraYogini connects her subtle body to the subtle bodies of the participants through the course facilitator. This works the same way as a worldwide telephone system that relies on satellites and electromagnetic energy in order to connect two parties.

White Tantric Healing Yoga should not be confused with black or red tantric. Those forms of yoga also transform energy, but in a different way and for different purposes. Black tantric directs the energy to manipulate another human being and red tantric directs the energy solely for sexual purposes.

White Tantric Healing Yoga is done in pairs as a group meditation. You sit facing the VajraYogini and follow her instructions.

Each Tantric Healing Yoga session consists of between six and eight kriyas. A kriya is a meditation incorporating:

• a yoga posture (asana)
• and/or hand position (mudra)
• a mental focus or breathing technique (pranayama)
• and/or a mantra

Sometimes the kriyas are accompanied by music. These kriyas vary in length from thirty-one to sixty-two minutes. There are breaks between each kriya.

The environment is peaceful, and the atmosphere is friendly, supportive, and uplifting.

QUANTUM TOUCH

Reiki is enhanced by Quantum-Touch. Quantum-Touch has no attunements or symbols. Quantum-Touch is a natural and innate skill that can be learned with simple breathing and body awareness techniques. These techniques allow the Quantum-Touch practitioner to powerfully focus and amplify the life-force energy.

Practitioners of Quantum-Touch don't become drained or tired from doing sessions. When I interviewed Reiki masters, about 40% reported that they had occasionally felt energy going up their arm, or had become tired and drained.

This is a function of the practitioner entraining or matching to the client's vibration. Without a skill to hold a high vibration, Reiki practitioners may at times become drained.

I've taught Quantum-Touch to numerous chiropractors, physical therapists, acupuncturists and osteopaths who have been astounded to observe rapid structural realignment, reduction of inflammation, and other benefits.

Reiki masters who have taken my workshops have nicknamed Quantum-Touch, "Reiki empowerment" or "turbo charging the Reiki." I got a laugh when one of my students wrote in the review of my workshop that Quantum-Touch was "like Reiki on steroids." Both systems use the same life-forced energy. The Quantum-Touch practitioner learns to focus the energy like a laser, which takes concentration, body awareness and breath.

I am a Reiki Master and have had success with Reiki, but have found Quantum Touch to be very powerful and show results much more quickly. I have worked on two women who can feel the energy as it flows through their bodies. Their response has been that Reiki comes from without and Quantum Touch comes from within. I can feel the energy field surrounding people and can say from direct experience that Quantum Touch (especially after the Supercharging workshop) expands the individuals energy field at least tenfold, which would help account for the breakthroughs in health.

CHAKRAS

Chakras are our energy centers. They are the openings for life energy to flow into and out of our aura. Their function is to vitalize the physical body and to bring about the development of our self-consciousness. They are associated with our physical, mental and emotional interactions. There are seven major chakras. The aura is often referred to as the eighth chakra. The first chakra (root) actually hangs outside of your body. It is located between your thighs, about halfway between your knees and your physical body. The seven chakra (crown) is located on the top of your head. The remaining chakras, (sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, and third eye), are aligned in sequence along your spine, neck, and skull. Individually, your chakras look similar to funnels with petal-like openings.

Chakras are invisible to the human eye, but they can be perceived intuitively by trained energyworkers.

Evaluating the Health of Your Chakras

Having your chakras evaluated by a trained practitioner is a good way to get a better understanding of how your body functions on an energetic level. An energyworker trained in reading chakras will be able to tell you which chakras are functioning poorly and which chakras are working overtime. When one or two chakras are performing at a reduced level, the remaining chakras have to pick up the slack. Having a non-functioning chakra can effectively "blow out" an otherwise healthy chakra. Not good.

Keeping Your Chakras in Proper Alignment

When your back or hip gets out of alignment you will make a trip to the chiropractor's office for a spinal adjustment. Similarly, a healer trained in manipulating the energy flow of energy can assist you in getting misaligned chakras back to functioning properly. It may take one or more appointments with a practitioner to get your energy levels up to par. Afterwards, there are a variety of healthy actions you can take to help keep them open, allowing your energy to flow naturally.

REIKI

Reiki (pronounced Ray Key) is a combination of two Japanese words rei and ki meaning universal life energy. Reiki is an ancient laying-on of hands healing technique that uses the life force energy to heal, balancing the subtle energies within our bodies. Reiki addresses physical, emotional, mental and spiritual imbalances. This healing art is an effective delivery system. The Reiki practitioner serves as a vessel that supplies healing energies where they are most needed. Reiki's ki-energies flow out of the practitioner's body through the palms of the hands while they are touching the recipient's body.

What to Expect During a Reiki Treatment

You will be asked to lay down on a massage table, couch, or bed.

You will be fully clothed except for your shoes. You may also be asked to remove or loosen your belt so that your breathing is not restricted in any way. It is best to choose loose-fitting garments to wear on the day of your appointment. Wearing natural fabrics is best (cotton, wool, or linen). You may also be asked to remove any jewelry (rings, braceletes, pendants, etc.) prior to the session, so consider leaving these items at home.

Relaxing Atmosphere

Reiki practitioners will often create a relaxing atmosphere for their Reiki sessions, setting the mood with the use of dimmed lights, meditative music, or bubbling water fountains. Some practitioners prefer to be in a place that is completely silent, without distraction of music of any kind, to conduct their Reiki sessions in.

Healing Touch

The Reiki practitioner will place his hands lightly on different parts of your body. Some practitioners will follow a predetermined sequence of hand placements, allowing their hands to rest on each body placement for 2 to 5 minutes before moving on to the next. Empathic practitioners will freely move their hands in no particular order to the areas where they "feel" Reiki is most needed. Some Reiki practitioners do not touch their clients. They will hover their lifted palms a few inches above the reclined body. Either way, Reiki energies flow where they are suppose to. Reiki is a smart energy that automatically flows where the imbalances are in your body regardless of where the practitioner's hands are placed.

Phantom Hands

Because Reiki energies flow to where they are most needed there is a Reiki phenomenon called "phantom hands" that you may or may not experience. Phantom hands feel as if the Reiki practitioner's hands are touching one part of your body when they are actually elsewhere. For example, you may be able to see that the healer's hands are actually placed on your stomach, but you could swear that hands are touching your legs. Or, you may feel as if several pairs of hands are on your body at the same time as if several people are in the room with you.

Becoming a Reiki Practitioner

Reiki is traditionally taught in three levels. Levels I and II are typically taught in one day class (8 hours) or over a weekend period (16 hours). Level III is generally a more intensive course of study and will take a longer commitment. Class time involves an initiation ritual called an attunement and learning the hand placements for self treatments as well as treating others.

Reiki Controversies and Myths

The healing community has come a long way in demystifying the cloak of secrecy that once surrounded the teaching of Reiki in the western hemisphere. As a result, inaccuracies that were born out of the teaching being hidden away have been chipped away layer by layer. However, some of these Reiki Myths continue to grow organically.

Reiki was first introduced to Canada and the United States in the 1970s. Hawayo Takata, a Hawaii native of Japanese descent, brought her knowledge of Reiki to the mainland through oral teachings. Reiki teachings and stories were passed down from teacher to student by word of mouth for several years. No wonder the stories got jumbled up!

SAT NAM!

My Personal Mantra: Focus ONLY on the GOOD ! Focus ONLY on your JOY !

2008-05-14T07:23:00.000-07:00

My Personal Mantra: Focus only on the GOOD – Focus only on the JOY!

When I first learned of TANTRA, I realized that I had been living my entire life backwards. If things were good in my life, I was happy. If things were difficult in my life and everything was going wrong, I was stressed and miserable. In my ignorance, I had been misusing the law of attraction all of my life. But all of that changed when I had the knowledge of TANTRA.

To live in accordance with TANTRA and the most powerful law in the Universe, we must be in Joy first - and then everything will change. To live our lives by emotionally reacting to what is happening outside of us is misusing the law! As we react with negative emotion to any difficulties, we attract more negativity into our lives. We cannot defy the law of attraction, which operates on the most microscopic levels of vibration, and with absolute exactitude.

You must be in Joy first. And then your life will change into Joy.

Difficult times are the greatest opportunities in disguise. When we face difficult times we have to put in determined work to get ourselves into Joy. But let me tell you, when you can get yourself into Joy despite what is happening around you, your life must change - it's the law!

In addition, as you become Joy in difficult times you are becoming the master of your emotions, the master of your life, and the master of the law of attraction. Difficult times are your greatest opportunity to practice yourself into Joy.
Of course if your life is going along swimmingly then it is very easy to be in Joy. During those times your Joy is most likely a reaction to the good times. But the magnificence and the power that you really have within you will be seen when you can be in Joy during difficult times. It is then that you will see the true power that you have within you, because as you hold to Joy, you will shift all the energies of the Universe, and your life and your world will change.

The cause of everything is within you, and the effect is what you experience in your life. You have the power within you to change everything by putting yourself in Joy. You can change everything so easily by becoming Joy first! And nothing can change until you get yourself in Joy, because that is the law of attraction. Like attracts like! The energy of Joy attracts energy of Joy!

Do whatever it takes to find your Joy, and then keep yourself in it no matter what. Keep ramping up your level of Joy every day. There is no limit to the levels of Joy you can reach. You will see change to the degree of Joy that you can attain and maintain. The higher the Joy you can create within you, the more spectacular the change, and the higher the Joy, the faster the change. Once you get yourself in Joy it is easy to maintain it, because your emanation of Joy attracts more Joy. The law of attraction will continually send you more feelings of Joy.

You cannot criticize or blame or complain when you are in Joy. You cannot be afraid when you are in Joy. You cannot speak negatively when you are in Joy. You cannot harm another when you are in Joy. Negativity cannot reach you when you are in Joy.
When you are in Joy you are compassionate. When you are in Joy you are considerate and caring. When you are in Joy you love others. When you are in Joy you appreciate everything. When you are in Joy you are in love with the world, and the Universe is in love with you.

Be in Joy. Seek it with all of your heart, and you will find it.

May the Joy be with you,

TANTRIC AWARENESS - Expanding Your Awareness for Happiness

2008-05-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

Tantric Buddhists aim to expand their experience far beyond the realms of conventional human emotion and sensuality, aiming to achieve both oneness with the unnameable, and expansion of personality and experience beyond conventional limits all while here, in this body ...

We use any tools available to us... most importantly, our own experiences and memories.

By taking a feeling we have already experienced it, repeating, refreshing, and amplifying it continually, we stretch our personal interpretation of reality.

While others mull over their negative experiences, we as tantrics choose to re-experience and amplify the "positives," over and over in the mind and senses, intensifying good feelings and making them ever more concrete, palpable, and real, w hile our consciousness becomes ever more subtle...

Do happy amplifications every time you can remember to, multiple times a day, week for week...

1. Recall a specific time when you feel very happy, smiling, full of laughter...

2. Be there. Feel it.... use all of your senses as you step back into that joyful feeling...

3. See what you saw, there, in the same way.

4. Hear what you heard, the same way, feel what you felt, smell what you smelled, taste what you tasted, the same way...

5. Be there

6. Now, smiling and breathing gently but deeply from your lower belly, feel the feeling bigger, more joyful...

7. Now, smiling and breathing gently but deeply from your lower belly, feel the feeling bigger, more joyful...

8. It gets pleasantly more intense - you know how... maybe brighter, maybe softer, happier... subconciously, you feel what to do to increase happiness now

9. Now, feeling joyful feelings each breath as you smile, gently let go of the m emory and be present here, now, whe re you are with that same joy

10. When your joy is lower, step back into the happy memory, intensify your joy, then let the memory go, step into the present moment, the present place, here, now, breathing and smiling and feeling that same happiness through yourself...

11. Stay with that feeling as long as you like, you like it, integrating it with what's around you, here, now, happy....

12. Refresh and renew it as often as you like -- use better memories to intensify your joy...

13. Soon, you'll find that the happiness here is better than past... that the joy in the present place is better than remembered.

14. Nothing is better than the blissful clear light of here, now, in this space...

You feel good when you want to, so remember to feel good now!

TANTRA - Preparation for Sessions - Exercises

2008-05-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

When the body and mind are tense, awareness is diminished. Your external senses are less perceptive, and you are less able to turn inwards (pratyahara). Tantra seeks to achieve expansion ("tanotti" in Sanskrit) of both sensory and internal awareness, to achieve liberation ("trayotti" in Sanskrit). The contraction of the two words "tan-otti" and "tra-yotti" forms the Sanskrit word "tantra".

Try an experiment. Slowly shake out your right arm - loosen up the muscles. Then take your left index finger, and move it gently across the hairs of your relaxed right arm, from wrist to shoulder. First do it fast, then do it exquisitely slowly. Close your eyes and repeat it.

Now try the experiment again, this time keeping the muscles of your right arm flexed hard - tense. Try it again relaxed. Notice the difference between your sensation and awareness during tension, and your sensation and awareness during relaxation.

The same thing happens when you try to make love (external senses) or meditate (internal senses) while tense vs. relaxed... you are more aware of sensation, pleasure, and all the other levels of reality when relaxed.

This is why in right hand path tantra (the solo meditative tradition) and left hand path tantra (the tradition that can include the use of sacred sexuality), practitioners are taught how to relax themselves or each other through techniques like abyangha, marma adi, sarangi, kum nye, kundalini yoga, and more.

For now, just try to relax before meditating, making love, or even self-pleasuring! You'll be more fully present during the experience, more aware! Once you have relaxation and awareness, try to follow the gross sensations back to their subtlest aspect.

Get and give massages, exercise regularly, breathe deeply and slowly, do Kundalini yoga or physical qigong. It's much harder to achieve self-realization when muscle tension and shallow breathing are preventing your mind from becoming tranquil!

BHUTA SHUDDHI

2008-05-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

In the Vedas of yore there is clearly defined an ancient tantric practice, known as bhuta shuddhi. Bhuta shuddhi literally means 'cleansing or refining the physical elements', however, apart from this, its actual meaning should be considered as 'refining the underlying consciousness related to the elements'.

We all know that matter is composed of five elements: earth, water, fire, air and ether. The different proportions, quintuplication, permutation and combinations of these are responsible for the formation of matter in its gross form. In the same way, the human body is also composed of these five elements.

If you can develop a process to purify and separate these elements, you can return to the source of matter and discover the potential energy or subtle form behind the gross form. Just as a scientist breaks down matter into elements and finally arrives at the subtlest form, which is energy, similarly, the tantric or yogi purifies his gross body elements and finally realises the ultimate source of matter which is pure consciousness.

Technique

First think of kundalini rising from mooladhara chakra (sacral plexus) up to sahasrara chakra, along the sushumna canal. The practitioner is to meditate on the mantra Hamsa and consider himself united with Brahman (supreme consciousness). Then bring your awareness from the legs to the knees in the form of a square yantra. Consider this square to be composed of the earth tattwa (element) which is a golden colour and is represented by the bija mantra Lam.

Next bring your awareness to the portion below the navel. Imagine there the form of a semi-moon with two lotuses at each end. This is surrounded by a circle of water, white in colour and represented by the bija mantra Vam.

Then bring your awareness from the navel to the heart and imagine there a yantra of triangular shape, with swastika marks on each of its three sides. This is the fire tattwa; it is red in colour and is represented by the bija mantra Ram.

Next bring your awareness from the heart to the centre of the eyebrows, and imagine there the form of six dots in a circular shape. These are symbolic of the air tattwa, which is of smoky hue and is represented by the bija mantra Yam.

Then bring your awareness from the region of the eyebrows to the crown of the head and imagine there the akasha mandalam or the region of ether, beautiful and clear, with Ham as its bija mantra. Thus ponder on the earth principle dissolving into water, its cause. Then water dissolving into fire, its cause. Then fire dissolving into air, its cause, and air dissolving into ether, its cause.

Now imagine akasha dissolving into ahamkara (ego), its cause. Then ahamkara dissolving into maha tattwa (the great principle). And maha tattwa dissolving into prakriti, prakriti into the supreme Self. Then consider yourself as the highest knowledge, pure and absolute.

Imagine now that the 'papa purusha' or sinful man; who is about the size of your thumb, is situated at the left of your abdomen. His form is grotesque, black as coal, with fiery eyes, big teeth and a large belly. In his hands he holds axes and shields. Inhale air through the left nostril, mentally repeating the bija mantra Vam for water. Perform kumbhaka and imagine that you are purifying the sinful man. While doing kumbhaka, repeat Ram, the bija of fire, and think of the sinful man being burnt to ashes. Then exhale the ashes of the sinful man through the right nostril. Next meditate on the water tattwa again, repeating the bija mantra Vam, and imagine the ashes of the sinful man being rolled into a ball with nectar from the moon.

Think steadily of this ball being turned into a golden egg, while meditating on the earth tattwa, represented by the bija mantra Lam.

Repeat the bija mantra Ham, ether tattwa, and imagine yourself as an ideal being pure and clear. Create the elements afresh in the reverse order from Brahman the absolute, then ether, air, fire, water and earth and locate them in their respective positions, in the forms described earlier, represented by their bija mantras. Then repeating the mantra Soham, separate the jivatma or individual soul from paramatma or the cosmic soul and locate the jivatma in the heart region. Think also that the kundalini has returned to mooladhara via sushumna, piercing the chakras. Next meditate on Prana Shakti, the vital force, seated on a red lotus in a vast red ocean. She has six hands which are holding the trident, bow of sugarcane, noose, goad, five arrows and a skull filled with blood. She has three eyes, highly decorated breasts and her body is the colour of the rising sun. Thus meditating, one should apply ashes on the body.

A daily discipline

Ideally bhuta shuddhi should be practised three times a day; morning, midday and at dusk. However, the number of times can be reduced according to one's lifestyle. Practice of bhuta shuddhi is not restricted to a particular sect or cult; anyone can practise it.

These days there is a tendency for many to plunge into vama marga, because they think it is a philosophy synonymous with free lifestyle and living. However, I would like to point out that this practice and other forms of purification, such as manas shuddhi, prana shuddhi, deva shuddhi, mantra shuddhi, should become a daily discipline before taking to the practices of vama marga or any other marga, Tantra is very clear on this. Vama marga is only for those who have control over their minds.

Tantric practices start with bhuta shuddhi, which begins from the moment one wakes up. You are taught the daily disciplines of bathing, brushing of teeth, etc., from a very early age so, you do them without a second thought. But if, for some reason, you are unable to complete them on any day, you feel uncomfortable and ill at ease. In the same way, this practice too should become a part of your daily routine. Perhaps it should have greater importance, because it is not only conducive to physical hygiene but also to mental hygiene. That is precisely the reason the shastras and scriptures stress the fact that only after the discipline of bhuta shuddhi is perfected, is atma shuddhi or purification of consciousness possible.

The Dakini Kathryn - See What Kundalini Yoga Has Done to My Body

2008-04-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

TANTRIC YOGA

2008-04-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

Yogi Bhajan, who is a master of Tantric Yoga, has said:

"That there is actually three types of Tantric Yoga. One is White Tantric Yoga that can remove the garbage from your subconscious mind, which blocks you from seeing your real self. It does involve the male & female energy, and does not involve sexual intercourse, nor do you take off your clothes. The second is Red Tantric and directs the energy for sensual purposes. And the third is Black Tantric that directs the energy to manipulate another human being. All other forms of Tantra, are an offshoot of this."
-Yogi Bhajan

Having done over one thousand White Tantric Yoga Kriyas since 1995, I can tell you that White Tantric Yoga is the ultimate technique or science, to erase one's karma and dis-ease. It is so powerful that White Tantric Yoga must be done with the support and the guidance of the Mahan Tantric Teacher to direct and regulate the flow of energy. He plugs into infinity and then into us, our finite-self. He then directs the energy with care and supervision, as Tantric can release a lot of subconscious traumas, toxic emotions, and poisons from ourselves.

Before Yogi Bhajan taught it openly and to anyone, you had to go through many years of service (karma and bhakti yoga), including the mastery of Kundalini Yoga first, before you could participate in White Tantric Yoga. Today anyone can participate, thanks to the blessings of Yogi Bhajan.

Let's look in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Yoga, an see what it says about Tantra.

"Tantra is derived from the root tan, to extend or expand."

Tantra does not mean to expand a man's six inches into twelve inches. There is a lot more to life, then a ten to twenty second orgasm between the legs.

It was over twenty-eight years ago, when I picked up my first book on Tantric Yoga. Having Scorpio as my Sun sign, and having a fully functional sex organ, my 2nd chakra woke up at the thought of having sexual intercourse with a female, and using that experience to achieve enlightenment. Like many of us, long ago, I new nothing about tantra and very little about yoga. When it came to the chakras, or centers of consciousness that we have throughout our body, I was at a lost to understand them and how they related to Tantric sex. At that time, I was into hypnosis, parapsychology and metaphysics, and there wasn't a lot of information available on the subject of tantra. Even today, many people still don't fully realize what tantra truly is. They look at a book called the Kama Sutra, at all those sexual positions, and think that is Tantra or Tantric Yoga.

To find out about sex you have to look into Red Tantric Yoga. And sex is just a very small part of the red tantric yoga experience. Tantra is to use the experience - to expand into infinity. We take the finite self and expand into the Infinite-self, as the Infinite comes into the finite. When this happens, you and your partner will become one (Ek-Ong-Kar). In this oneness - you will know and be everything - in the oneness of it all. This is what enlightenment is. As you become the transparent light - you can see all. There will be nothing unknown to you. Can you even believe that concept? Many of you reading this, will know what I am saying, and some or you may have even experienced it, or at least a perception of it. So what happened to the true teachings of Tantric Yoga?

I think we all get the picture; what is supposed to be Yoga or union with the Divine-Self, is nothing more than union with the physical self. Sex, Sex, and more Sex. Let's get into the science of it. When our energy is blocked at our 2nd chakra, and our higher chakras are not open, then we become preoccupied with sex. Sex on a low level, just for the indulgence of it. It may even be to the extent of perverse or rape. We will find ourselves out of control - until we get our chakras balanced and in-control. If our 3rd chakra (our power center) is undercharged, men will lack the energy to even get it up, and women will say, I'm too tried. If overcharged, we can become a sex maniac, or a slave to our six inches.

"Though a man may be six feet tall, most men are ruled by their six inches."
-Yogi Bhajan

I know sex can be one of the most pleasurable experiences, full of more joy and delight than you can possibly imagine. It can bring such a bliss or ecstasy into you, that you will feel and think you are in heaven. Let us look into a couple of books and have a look see.

"In the Taoist Secrets of Love," by Mantak Chia he says:

"A total orgasm of the body and mind might be described as a showering of nectar from the head, running down your insides like a springtime shower. It is a wave of subtle chi energy that breaks up muscle armoring, releases nerve and lymphatic tension, and opens up hidden powers of feeling."

In "Sexual Secrets," by Nik Douglas & Penny Slinger it says:

"The union of man and women is like the mating of Heaven and Earth. It is because of their correct mating that Heaven and Earth last forever. Humans have lost this secret and have therefore become mortal. By knowing it, the Path to Immortality is open. (Shang-Ku-San-Tai). Ram Dass Bir Singh and Sharona Peforming A White Tantric Yoga Kriya,

Using The Mahan Tantric Energy To Open and Ballance the Cahkras.
"When you are having physical intercourse, and the love game is perfectly divine, she totally merges in you, and she is totally supportive of you, and she is playing the game, and you are ejaculating, and two ejaculations are happening. One will be in the lower area of your male organ, and the other will be in your head. If ever that should happen to you, one symptom and sign of it is, that you will be aware of what is happening in the universe and universes beyond, but you won't move physically. This can only happen if the woman is perfectly with you, is 100% supportive, 100% projective, 100% cooperating, and 100% your mate. You are mating with your mate, and the meeting is very, very, meditative."

-Yogi Bhajan (From The Ancient Art of Self-Healing.)
Venus Kriya

How many of you know that in India, Tibet, Nepal, China and Japan, that sexuality has long been regarded as both an art and a science? The eastern view of life is, that no life is complete without a thorough knowledge of the sexual principals underlying all existence. Today most of their science regarding intercourse, has been lost into the vast ocean of desire for more physical sex. How many quickies have you put under your belt? And if it isn't quickies, it's immoral to even think about sex, much less talk about it. Despite the fact that the word immoral comes from the Latin word morâlis, meaning custom, many of us have become very accustomed to either running away from sex, or directly into it. Granted, some of us keep running after sex, but never seem to find it. And some yogis, celibates, or monks, don't even desire to find sex, or learn about it. However if no one on this planet ever had sex, than we would all be dead in about 100 years.

Having intercourse between two consenting adults, when performed with the proper care, knowledge, and techniques - can not only be a very pleasurable experience, a very energizing and healing experience, it can give one the experience of God-Consciousness.
A good book on this subject and the first one I would highly recommend is: "The Art Of Making Sex Sacred," by S.S. Guru Terath Kaur Khalsa Ph.D., copyright 1998, pictured above. It is full of Kundalini Yoga, or Yogic practices to revitalize and transmit sexual energy, it contains Venus Kriyas and meditations for couples, and a chapter on sexy foods.

"Tantra is to worship the Goddess, The Shakti or female. It is through her that we are all born. And it is through this body that we are all liberated."

"Male And Female Make A Union, And This Complete Union, Is The Greatest Yoga."
-Yogi Bhajan

As you can see, Tantra is to "expand the mind", and when sex is only between the legs it does very little to develop the mind. Sex is only a small part of the totality of Tantra. In "Tools For Tantra", by Harish Johari ©1986, it says:

"Tantra is a holistic approach to the study of the universal, from the point of view of the individual: the study of the macrocosm through the study of the microcosm. It draws on all the sciences: astronomy, astrology, numerology, physiognomy, physics, chemistry, alchemy, Ayurveda (the traditional medicine of India), psychology, parapsychology, mathematics, geometry, and so on, to provide a practical means of realizing the highest ideals of philosophy in daily life. Instead of separating and categorizing the different areas of human knowledge, Tantra draws them together like beads on one string. The beautiful rosary thus formed is a unique instrument for enhancing the physical, mental, and spiritual life of man and woman."

"Tantra is to worship the Goddess, The Shakti or female. It is through her that we are all born. And it is through this body that we are all liberated." - Ram Dass
"The problem is that when man could not consciously relate to the reality of the Infinity, then came Red Tantric. Let us physically enjoy six women, one man, three men, one women, upside left, rightside down, crawl around, do this, bend forward, bend backwards, bend left, bend right. This posture is better, that posture is better." -Yogi BhajanClick here to add text.

In "Kundalini Yoga, Flow of Energy," by Dr. Dyal Singh Khalsa, we have some very enlightening information:

"Sexual intercourse, between a man and a woman is the relay of energy through the physical body, to the auric body, to the pranic body, and to the radiant body, which gives everlasting fulfillment. If properly done, it will give each other the equivalent of FIVE YEARS OF ENERGY, one year per tattwa."

Five years of energy! We have five basic elements called tattwas that make us who we are. We have a total of ten bodies including our physical, auric, and pranic body. We have eight chakras or centers of energy. One chakra is connected to our sex organ. The tantric experience may start in our creative sex chakra, but it must expand to include all the chakras and bodies - into the radiance of the total selves. Here is my favorite quote from the Mahan Tantric Master. This quote is the real essence of Divine Intercourse.Click here to add text.

Anyone truly interested in the the yoga sets and meditations of the real Tantric Yoga - should have this book pictured above, it's called: "Sexuality & Spirituality, with the Kundalini Yoga Sets and Meditations of Yogi Bhajan," by Dr. Gururattan Kaur Khalsa, and Ann Marie Maxwell, copyright 1989.

But when one has a quickie or overindulges in sexual intercourse, it can be a drain on one's energy, open the doors for sickness and disease, and shut down ones Higher-Consciousness, as it takes one into their shallow self. Men especially should not overindulge in having a physical orgasm, especially masturbation. (Sorry guys.) It has to do with one of the life forces, called semen or Bindu.

"A man's semen contains all the vitamins, and minerals that he needs. One should bring this semen or Bindu up his spine, so that it may become Ojas [life force] and distribute it throughout his body. It takes Eighty bites of food, when fully digested, to give you one drop of blood. Eighty drops of pure blood makes one drop of semen. A man needs 90% of his semen, to maintain his body."

-Yogi Bhajan

The other circumstance is that when two people experience intercourse together, they exchange energy. If one person is low in energy or full of garbage (karma), than the other person can be drained of their energy, and even take on some of that person's karma.

"If you have sex with someone, than half of all energy, or the effects from all the yoga that you did for one full year, goes into your partner."

-Yogi BhajanClick here to add text.
So remember, if you are looking for a twenty second orgasm, then so be it. I have nothing against that. And I will never pass judgment on anyone. You do what you want, just don't use people and abuse people, because in the end you will just be hurting the other person, yourself, and creating karma for yourself. Is it really worth twenty seconds?

In "Sexuality As A Sacred Meditation," by S.S. Guru Terath Kaur Khalsa Ph.D. ã 1989, she says:

"Sexual intercourse is not a relationship between his penis and her vagina. It is total merger of their polarities, auras, spirits and consciousness. Appreciating and respecting this can bring a blissful merger for both on the highest spiritual levels. "Sex is a sacred act, created by God, which if done consciously, can take the couple straight to God." [Whatever our concept of God is, it will take us to that concept.]

The problem is, that when two people are madly in love with each other, and their physical passion is starting to boil, that's when they often get stuck and relate only to those sexual desires, and forget their original spiritual aspirations. Being attracted to someone with a lot of physical passion and chemistry, may only lead to mad passionate sex. Remember, it's the soul inside the person that matters. Not how big her or his might be. The body is just a tool or vehicle to get there. And this vehicle needs to be tuned up, running properly, and able to connect to your partners spiritual energy. There is a lot more to Tantra, than just Sexual

Desire or Romantic Love.

"You should have your three nervous systems in balance before you start intercourse. If the parasympathetic nervous system is out of balance, the man will have difficulty getting an erection. If his sympathetic nervous system is out of action, he will ejaculate quickly. If your action nervous system is out of balance, he will have a problem ejaculating at all. Kundalini Yoga corrects these problems."

-Yogi Bhajan

It can take months, if not years of Kundalini Yoga to strengthen the nervous system, purify the body and prepare the mind, before one can truly practice Red Tantric Yoga and raise the energy beyond the second chakra. This energy is called the Kundalini. It has many names from the Life Force, to the force behind the Prana, also called Chi or Ji. Yogi Bhajan calls it the "Blueprint of our Soul." It is already contained within us, at the base of our spine, and just needs to be elevated up our spine and into our life, that we may know and experience our soul. If we are not ready to experience and know our soul, we could get lost in all the garbage that may be in the way. There is a way to deal with the garbage effetely, it's called a Venus Kriya. Venus kriyas are similar to White Tantra, except you don't need the guidance of the Mahan Tantric Teacher. It uses the guidance of the mantra "Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo," to regulate the fusion of the male and female energy. It should be learned from a certified Kundalini Research Institute, (K.R.I.) instructor of Kundalini Yoga -

Sex, sex and more sex. I can not stress enough, that Tantra is not just Sex. In "Ecstasy Through Tantra," by Dr. John Mumford ©1988, he states that:

"Tantric sexuality is the dimension of sex for consciousness expansion. One possible translation of the Sanskrit prefix Tan is 'expand,' while tra means 'liberate' so Tantra becomes that which first 'expands' and then 'liberates' the mind. A colloquial translation of Tantra would be mind-blowing."

For those of you who have had a mind-blowing experience, and for those who haven't, you are in for an explosion that is beyond sex. The trick is to have an "eruption in the mind", not just between your ?

Let's look at another book called, "The Tantric Way," by Ajit Mookerjee & Madhu Khanna ©1977, it is stated that:

"Tantra is a Sanskrit word derived from the root 'tan,' to expand. From this point of view the tantra means knowledge of a systematic and scientific experimental method which offers the possibility of expanding man's consciousness and faculties, a process through which the individuals inherent spiritual powers can be realized. In a looser sense, the term tantra is used as a label for any form of 'expanded' literature that is remotely, if at all, associated with the doctrines of tantra. In such cases, the word is used almost as a 'suffix' (like the term 'sastra') to indicate a systematic treatise."

"Care, therefore, should be taken to differentiate between original scriptures and pseudo-tantras. Rakshasi Tantra and many other similar texts, for instance, are not part of the authoritative doctrine. Because of its interchangeable connotations, the term tantra has been subject to a great deal of misinterpretation and is sometimes wrongly associated with spurious practices, vulgarizing it to the level of a fad."Click here to add text.

I do not want to get to technical and I certainly do not want to bore you. After all, sex should be fun and reading about it should also be fun. But when someone wants to have only the fun of sex, just a physical orgasm, and tells you that is Tantra or Red Tantric Yoga, he is misinformed, lying, or just plane horny. If someone wants to have a five minute quickie, or an orgy, than go for it (if you don't mind the karma). But do not have an orgy and tell someone that it is Tantric Yoga, just to seduce them.

"If you screw someone by misleading or deceptive means, than it is you who will be screwed, by karma, in the end."

-Ram Dass Bir Singh Khalsa

Awakening Your Kundalini Energy - the Kundalini Rising!

2008-04-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

It's called the "Psychic Energy System," and the original portrait is a whopping 84 inches by 46 inches. It was painted by the artist Alex Grey, and is from a book called "Sacred Mirrors." It shows the major Chakras (communication centers) from the base of our spine to the top of our head, (I added the numbers, including the word Aura, which Yogi Bhajan calls the 8th chakra).

It shows the major meridians, (channels of energy) as white lines that run throughout the inside of the body. The entire body is immersed in and interpenetrated by an oceanic lattice of energy, which represents the prana. It also shows the skeletal system, cardiovascular system (red and blue), nervous system and the lymphatic system (yellow).

When I first saw this picture, called the "Psychic Energy System," I myself was quite overwhelmed by what I saw and how it reminded me of all the subtle energies inside of me and around me. It's all me so what is there to be frightened of? In my 29 years of teaching Kundalini Yoga I have listened to various stories of what people generally call a Kundalini Experience. Most are positive and a few were just incredible. Though a few people have had an alarming experience, it's not the Kundalini to blame, it's you and your imbalance with life. Kundalini is just the blueprint of your soul, and when it rises, your rise to connect to your soul body. Your soul is the foundation of ten bodies and your physical body is the container for the other nine. Then you have an eleventh which is not really a body, it's your command center. Are you in command of your life and can you balance the ten bodies to all work together? Do you even know what I am talking about? If not, when you experience something that you do not understand or you misunderstand, it can cause fear and false conceptions. To understand a Kundalini Experience, there are many basic things that are essential for you to know first. Like electricity, if you don't know what electrons, volts, amps, and insulators are, it can be a shocking experience. And to confuse things even more... What you see in the picture is not real!

"...Kundalini, Chakras...these are all imaginary things."
-Yogi Bhajan.

It's called maya - the illusion, by yogis and the Holographic Universe, by the quantum scientist.

"The self and any of its material interests in spite of how compelling they are, are an illusion.
-"Fred Alan Wolf, Ph.D., physicist and writer

Remember, you are just visiting time and space, to find your place, which is beyond space, into Infinity. Have I lost you? If so, read on and I will try to come to earth and explain what can't be explained. Let me take a few pages from a book I am writhing, to paint a better picture:

"Kundalini is a natual element that rapidly makes you what you already are, and brings you to the practical experience of infinity. What is going to be uncoiled in you, is already in you."
-Yogi Bhajan

There was a time when I couldn't even pronounce this word Kundalini, (Kun-dah-lee-nee). That was back in 1992, before I had ever taken a class, in any type of yoga or meditation. (At least in this incarnation.) At that time I was working with hypnosis and trying to find out if such things as ESP, Astral Projection, and Past Life Experiences are in fact, factual. However, as I continued in my search to be healthy, wealthy, and wise, this word Kundalini kept popping up.

I had no interest in the supernatural, occult, and especially in becoming spiritual. After all I had been a magician and knew that all this esoteric stuff was simply done with slight of hand, misdirection, and mirrors. I certainly didn't need mysterious words like Kundalini to explain nothing more than hocus-pocus. I knew that self-induced hypnosis (even though someone may not know if he or she is hpnotized) can give a person the ability to see and feel whatever they imagine, called self induced hallucinations. Your imagination or thoughts, create an image or sensation through the chemistry and neurons in the brain, that you belive to be real.

I had enough problems trying to digest all the mind blowing stuff that I had encountered from: past lives, remote viewing, metaphysics, and spirits. Yet there was something stirring inside of me. A force--yet not a force--a kind of energy that seemed to have its own wisdom, its own sort of spirit. As I learned more about this energy and the chakras, it spirited me beyond the thought of even being spiritual. Into sort of just being who I am. At first I felt as if I was losing a part of me. I found my desire to be a playboy, along with riding expensive cars and extravagant women l-e-a-v-i-n-g me. My longing to acquire millions of dollars, with a million dollar estate, was becoming just a state--TO BE FREE.

As wave, upon wave, of desire left me - like the waves upon a lake - I soon found myself perceiving bits of my dharma, or my destiny. It frightened me at first, seeing images of myself all dressed in white, with hundreds of people chasing after me, like I was some kind of sage. They all wanted what I had found--yet, I wasn't even sure, I wanted it myself? With questions like: Who am I? Where have I come from? Where am I going? And what is this feeling, that is rising up in my spine? Why do I feel--I AM BEYOND SPACE AND TIME? Could I be--GOING OUT OF MY MIND? With impressions of: nothingness, yet everything; sensations of fear, yet fearlessness; and feelings of emptiness, yet ecstasy--I was soon guided into a Kundalini Yoga class as taught by Yogi Bhajan, and found myself chanting, "Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo," soon afterwards--EVERYTHING WAS FINE!

This mantra is universal, and a connection to our Infinite-Self. It goes beyond time and space, nevertheless is connected to time and space, to guide us and inspire us - so that we may not unduly perspire, as we embrace our Infinite-Face within our Finite-Self. To know that beyond time, we can all be fine; and beyond space, we can all have our own place. That I am me, within me.

"I am me. There is one place for you, within you, where you can hang in and not be touched. This place is beyond all that is imaginable, in existence, in feelings, in reality, and in non-reality. That I still hold myself as me. Can you even think of it?
-Yogi Bhajan

I soon learned that I was embracing my soul, and in that process we become who we really are. Remember our soul doesn't need expensive cars or extravagant men and women. It doesn't need millions of dollars, and is always in its own state. It doesn't care if we are bad, mad, or stuck into some kind of fad. It doesn't care what our religion is, or even if we are an atheist. For our soul is spiritual, with its own spirit; a spirit that can take us beyond all religions - to our origin. Beyond our nothingness, beyond our fears, and beyond our feelings of: emptiness, misery, pain, suffering, and death. Beyond all, where we know the answers to all our questions, before we can even ask the question.

"Knowledge ,strength, wisdom, is all within you. It has to be triggerd, that's all."
-Yogi Bhajan

Why are some people afraid of their KUNDALINI?

It's only a lack of Kundalini, that will allow fear to manifest. Kundalini is the light that will expose the fears. These fears are nothing more than a lack of knowledge or a misunderstanding of who we are. These misconceptions may have roots so deep, that when pulled, they may do a little kicking and screaming at first, but if we let go and don't react--the kundalini energy will remove the weeds, so we can grow and accept our soul. It's only fear of letting go, and going into infinity to experience our Infinite-Self, because that's who we are. Once the kundalini totally rises and does its thing - there is nothing that we will not know or fear!

Why did the teachers of old say that Kundalini Yoga was dangerous and had to be learned from a Master?

To keep people from practicing this powerful technology and misusing the powers, without learning humility first. Some teachers simply had no real experience or knowledge of kundalini yoga. A good example was Gopi Krishnas first book called Kundalini -The Evolutionary Energy in Man, c.1967.

"The many schools of thought concerning Kundalini make for confusion rather than clarification. However, Kundalini is the essential Energy in each, and the steps laid out must be followed with care."
-Swami Sivananda Radha,

"Kundalini Yoga for the West."

Why does someone feel heat, as the Kundalini rises?

This heat is called tapa. At times, we can feel this heat as it burns the karma. If we have a lot of trash to burn, it can become quite a bonfire. So take it slow, and burn a small pile at a time.

Why might someone's body jerk, as the Kundalini rises?

If we believe that a jerking body is a sign of our kundalini raising, then our belief will cause our body to jerk. Yogi Bhajan calls it Jerk-Yoga. Excessive toxins throughout our body can obstruct the flow of energy and cause a vibration in the corresponding space. It may be felt as a slight trembling. It will soon pass as the toxins are eliminated. A weak nervous system can also cause vertigo (dizziness and confusion). That's why in Kundalini Yoga, we do kriyas (exercises/meditations) to build up our nerve strength first. Generally we start a kriya with a time of 3 minutes, then add one minute a day, to slowly detox and increase our stamina.

Why do some people keep the Kundalini down and put a lock on it?

Because when it rises, it unlocks the qualities of compassion, kindness, and fulfillment; it leaves no room for hatred, malice, and greed.

Can someone have hallucinations?

Beliefs, mental illness and drugs, can all cause temporary movies. If we see a baby dancing, just let it go and go beyond all sensory feedback. If you believe that you will see a certain image, than your own belief can be the cause of it. Don't give any energy to your beliefs, desires, or thoughts. Let them go! Chant Sat Nam Wahey Guru, and dissolve the thought or image with the power of its vibration.

"The Kundalini Experience does not mean you have gone into a deep breathless trance and are filled with inner lights. It integrates you more fully with reality and gives you a broader vision and sensitivity so that you can act more efficiently."
-M.S.S. Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, Ph.D., 1993

Again I repet: Do you find that meditating on the painting at the top of the page is enlightening or frightening? Remember--meditation can confront you with old habit patterns, beliefs, attachments, convictions, identities, past incarnations, and bring out your deepest fears. If you peer deep into yourself, you just might find yourself confronted by your fears. However your fears are nothing more than impulses in your brains that are sent along pathways, called axons and dendrites. They travel from the nucleus of the neurons, to the synaptic buttons, that push your buttons and cause you to react. Could your samskaras, your karmic programs from your past, be linked to the quantum electro/chemical patterns and actions of the neurons in your brain? Kundalini is the energy to reprogram the toxic patterns of your brain. Kundalini is the blueprint of your soul. It's up to you to start building.
Why might someone feel strange when their Kundalini Rises?

As your Kundalini rises, it will make you more sensitive to your inside self. If your body is full of animal and fish vibrations from eating meat you may feel like a cow, fish, or pig. This is just one of the reasons why yogis are vegetarians. It takes up to seven years to eliminate the pranic imprint of what you put into your body. And dead animal flesh with all its hormones, can paint quite a picture inside of your subtle body.

Is raising the Kundalini difficult and what about psyhic powers, siddhis, or supernatural abilities that one can acquire from practing Kundalini Yoga?

"Raising your kundalini is not difficult. It happens so naturally when you practice Kundalini Yoga that you may not even recognize the actual moment that it happens. If you're expecting bells to ring, cannons to go off or lights to flash, forget it. Seeing visions, hearing sounds, having some physical sensation might sometimes seem quite impressive, but it can also be very misleading. Such phenomena are not the goal of the practice of Kundalini Yoga. There may be no physical sign at all, or possibly just a very slight indication. In case you do experience such things, don't let yourself get sidetracked. They don't prove anything. They are not the criteria for whether the kundalini has risen. Yogi Bhajan calls them 'glitter at the bottom of the ladder.' "

-"Kundalini Yoga The Flow Of Eternal Power," Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa, c.1996.

If you find yourself with psyhic powers, please don't stop practicing the yoga, and run off to become a Remote Viewer, as one of my yoga students did. Do not get lost in the glitter at the base of the mountain. Keep up until you reach the top - then you will truly know what to do with your life.

If you are someone who has risen your kundalini energy with confusing, frightful, or undesirable results. I would say you were without the proper guidance, knowledge, and technique of a genuine KUNDALINI YOGA Instructor. That your body was full of toxic emitons, toxic attachments, and toxic habits,--Kundalin will confornt them and it's up to you to let them go. From phobisa to an overblown ego, from fears to ignorance, and from guilt to blame--Kundalini will try to eliminate all attachments to them.

Can you let go and grow, so that you may glow!

It wasn't until 1969 when Yoga Bhajan came to the United States and began to unfold the true knowledge of Kundalini yoga--that we had a genuine map, of this wondrous divine technology--as the true science of Kundalini yoga was kept secret for thousands of years. Let's check out a book that some of us may have read. It's called "Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man," by Gopi Krishna c. 1967, Pub. Shambhala:

"Pulling the cover over my face, I stretched myself to my full length on the bed, burning in every fiber, lashed as it were by a fiery rain of red-hot needles piercing my skin." He then remembers, "Could it be that I had aroused kundalini through pingala, the solar nerve which regulates the flow of heat in the body and is located on the right side of sushumna?" Then as if by the help of his Divine-self, "The idea flashed across my brain to make a last-minute attempt to rouse ida, the lunar nerve on the left side, to activity, thus neutralizing the dreadful burning effect of the devouring fire within." He goes on to say, "I brought my attention to bear on the left side of the seat of kundalini and tried to force an imaginary cold current upward through the middle of the spinal cord".

Always remember that if you find yourself getting extremely hot, to simply breathe long and deep through your left nostril only, until you cool down.

"I distinctly felt the location of the nerve [left side] and strained hard mentally to divert its flow into the central channel. There was a sound like a nerve thread snapping and instantaneously a silvery streak passed zigzag through the spinal cord, exactly like the sinuous movement of a white serpent in rapid flight, pouring an effulgent, cascading shower of brilliant vital energy into my brain, filling my head with a blissful luster in place of the flame that had been tormenting me for the last three hours." -Gopi Krishna

Remember: Left Side (Ida) is Cool Energy - Moon

Right Side (Pingala) Is Warm Energy - Sun

My first genuine Kundalini Yoga teacher Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, comments that:

"He [Gopi Krishna] had no master or technique to raise Kundalini. That by haphazard meditation, he drew on the energy without physically preparing his body with breath or mantra. Consequently, he had a negative experience. In Kashmir, I asked Gopi Krishna why he wrote about such experiences without emphasizing that this is not the experience when actually practicing Kundalini Yoga. He replied, 'I still do not understand the Kundalini. The experience has been with me for 27 years. I have translated the old texts, but they are written in a symbology code.' "
Kundalini Can Untie The Knots Of Life.

Let's have some fun with words. See if you can follow them.

We spend lifetimes creating: patterns, projections, and philosophies; we accumulate: fear, frustration, and failure; these become like a cluster of knots that keep us tied to distress, difficulty, and discomfort. We all need to do our best, to put all these disturbances, disorders, and distractions to rest, so that we can all rest--before we choke ourselves, on our own knots. These knots can block the life energy that flows throughout the circuitry in our physical bodies, to our various organs like our small intestine or the kidneys.

It is said that "an imbalance in our small intestine meridian can produce emotional imbalances." It is also said that "an imbalance in our kidney meridian can be the cause of fear." So if a blocked or over stimulated energy channel can produce emotional imbalances and fears, than could not these fears cause us to misinterpret what we see, feel, and sense.

Do we blame the energy--the Kundalini--that tries to unblock them, or do we learn how to propley unblock them through a qualified Kundalini Yoga Instructor.

The Key To Kundalini Yoga.

"We Begin Every Kundalini Yoga Class Or Practice Session By Chanting A Special Mantra. This Is For Protection And Guidance, And To Help Us Tune Into The Part Of Us Which Wants To Grow And Expand."
-"Kundalini Yoga - For Body,Mind, and Beyond,"
by Ravi Singh c. 1988.

The special mantra, called the Adi Mantra is:

"Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo."

This is the secret to a safe, powerful, and effective Kundalini Yoga class. It should be learned from a qualified teacher.

"This Mantra is chanted before every class or practice session involving Kundalini Yoga. If you read most old books about yoga, they say Kundalini Yoga is the most powerful of all yogas, but that it is dangerous. The fact is that if you practice it in correct form, chant a universal Nam, [mantra] and humble yourself before the higher self or teacher, it is perfectly safe. The Adi Mantra opens the protective channel of energy for Kundalini Yoga."

-"Kundalini Yoga / Sadhana Guidelines," by
M.S.S. Gurucharan Singh Khalsa c. 1974.

"Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo" means, " I Call On The Infinite Divine Guru Of Wisdom That Is Within Me, To Guide Me And To Protect Me."
Kundalini Yoga, by Shakta Kaur Khalsa, c. 2001, is published by DK. It is a simple book that makes learning Kundalini Yoga very easy, except from a yoga class. It's a basic book full of pictures, meditations, and exercises, to unlock your inner potential. It's all based on the teachings of the Master of Kundalini Yoga, Yogi Bhajan. This book is the real thing.

"What is Kundalini Yoga? Rise Before You Fall."
-Yogi Bhajan

"As One Opens The Door With A Key One Should Open The Gate To Liberation With Kundalini Yoga."
-Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Eight Steps To Balance The Kundalini Rising

This is important and I will explain it in detail. If you are having trouble with Kundalini, and you can't see a qualified Kundalini Yoga Teacher, at least take the time to read and practice this meditation to balance yourself and connect you to your inner guide or Guru.

1: If you ever feel this energy rising, or you desire it to rise; you should sit in an easy cross-legged position with your spine straight or in a chair with both feet on the ground with your weight equally distributed between them. It's important to balance the weight on the left and right sides of the body to your exact center and straighten your entire spine. The goal is to have the energy rise up the exact center of your spine. If you are sitting with your body off to one side, or if you spine is bent, it will cause restrictions to the flow of energy.

2: Pull your chin back, called neck lock. You neck is not down, as in some pictures, it is slightly in. If the neck is not pulled back to straighten the spine, then it will block the flow of energy, which can cause an excessive pressure on the rest of your body. This is the cause of dizziness, uncomfortable heat, and excessive strain.

3: Press the palms of the hands and the fingers together. Make them straight with the fingers pointed up, and then press them, with the backs of the thumbs into the center of the chest, at the sternum or heart chakra. This is called Prayer Pose. This will help to balance the left and right sides (ida and pingala) and open the Heart Chakra.

4: Focus your closed eyes on the point between your eyebrows and slightly up, called your third eye. This is your command center and will help you to be in command of yourself.

5: Inhale deeply through the nose and chant the Adi Mantra "Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo," from three to five times. Make a connection to the Guru within you. (Click on the mantra to learn how to chant it.)

6: You are now ready to direct the energy up the exact center of your spine, out the top of your head and around your physical body, as a bright protective and healing light. This is called your auric body or 8th chakra. Do not stop at the top of your head or fill your head with energy (you do not want your head to get over-loaded), let it travel out the top or tenth gate and fill your aura. This will heal and balance all your chakras. This will give you a bright protective aura.

7: Ask "Guru Dev" (your infinite transparent self) to help you balance yourself and for guidance. Any negative thoughts or emotions should be neutralized with a powerful mantra like "Wahe Guru!"

"Waa-hey Guru"

8: Inhale deep through the left nostril and exhale completely through the right nostril. Then inhale deep through the right nostril and exhale completely through the left nostril. Use your thumb or finger to close one nostril and to breath through the other. Continue for 3 to 11 minutes, to balance and open your prana nadis. (To make it even more effective - you can mentally vibrate a mantra like Sat Nam as you inhale and Wahey Guru as you exhale.)

To end: inhale through both nostrils and hold a few seconds and thank the Guru within you, which is you. Relax and enjoy the experience.

Kundalini Rising

When the Kundalini energy rises within you--you rise. It should go up the exact center of your spine, to keep you at your center. If too much energy goes up the right side of your body, through a channel called Pingala, sun energy, you can overheat. If too much energy goes up the left side of your body, through a channel called Ida, moon energy - you can freeze. That's why you sit straight.

If you feel too hot, excited, or agitated - try breathing only through your left nostril, as you inhale you meditate on the energy going down the left side of your body to the base of your spine, and as you exhale up the exact center of your spine, until you cool down.

If you are too cold, gloomy, or depressed - try breathing only through the right nostril. As you inhale you meditate on the energy going down the right side of your body to the base of your spine, and as you exhale, up the exact center of your spine, until you warm up. (Close one nostril with your thumb, to breath through the other.)

You can mentally chant any mantra as you breathe like Sat Nam on the inhale and Wahe Guru on the exhale. This will help to keep your mind focused, connect you to your true identity, and break through emotional blocks.

If yo are still to hot, and left nostril breathing doesn't cool you down, try the "Sitali Pranayam Breath." You sit straight, curl the tongue into a "U," and then protrude it slightly past your lips. You inhale through the rolled sides of the tongue, and exhale through the nose. Do this till you cool down, 3 to 11 minutes. It is even good for fevers.

Picture of Kundalini Rising as described by Yogi Bhajan, drawn by Hector Hara, from Kundalini Yoga, by Shakta Kaur Khalsa, Published by DK books c. 2001.

"The picture above shows the actual path of the Kundalini Rising. When you practice Kundalini Yoga and have a true Kundalini Experience, the Kundalini energy mixes below the navel at the seat of the Kundalini, descends to the root chakra, spirals up the Shushmana (the central column of the spine) to the pineal and pituitary glands in the brain, makes a double loop at the throat chakra, flows down through the heart center, navel, and root chakra, and returns to its starting point."

-Quotation fom a poster "The Awakened Kundalini," published by IKYTA

"The most beautiful emotion we can experience is the mystical. It is the power of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms - this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness."

-Albert Einstein (18791955), German-born U.S. theoretical physicist. Quoted in: Philipp Frank, Einstein: His Life and Times, ch. 12, sct. 5 (1947).

MEDITATION

2008-04-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

MEDITATION: How To Meditate - Guided Breath Meditation

Developing Still and Alert Attention

Set aside a certain amount of time when you can be alone and undisturbed. Five to 10 minutes is a good amount of time for those who are just beginning meditation practice; eventually you may settle on 20 or 30 minutes. Sit on a chair or cross-legged on the floor, and feel a sense of balance and alertness in your posture. Rest your hands on your thighs or knees, and close your eyes. Now, bring your attention to your breath. Take a deep inhalation and release it with a sigh. Relax your shoulders, your jaw, and your belly. Release anything you are holding on to and give yourself permission to take these few minutes for yourself.

Staying alert yet relaxed, bring your attention to your breathing. Observe your natural inhalations and exhalations. Witness each in-breath as it enters your body and fills it with energy. Witness each out-breath as it leaves your body and dissipates into space. Then start again, bringing your alertness to each breath.

In less than one minute your mind will probably be flooded with thoughts. You may become aware of pain in your body. Perhaps you will feel restless, anxious, or bored. You will begin to tell yourself stories about your thoughts, feelings, and sensations.

Congratulations! You are meditating. The purpose of meditation is to become aware of your thoughts without judging or fighting them. Your goal is not to get rid of your thoughts, but rather to witness each thought as it comes and goes, like clouds passing in the sky. In this way, you begin to identify less with your thoughts—the "voice in your head"—and more with the still and alert Presence that is your essence.

Instruction on the Breath

1. Assume a comfortable posture lying on your back or sitting. If you are sitting, keep the spine straight and let your shoulders drop.

2. Close your eyes if it feels comfortable.

3. Bring your attention to your belly, feeling it rise or expand gently on the in-breath and fall or recede on the out-breath.

4. Keep the focus on your breathing, "being with" each in-breath for its full duration and with each out-breath for its full duration, as if you were riding the waves of your own breathing.

5. Every time you notice that your mind has wandered off the breath, notice what it was that took you away and then gently bring your attention back to your belly and the feeling of the breath coming in and out.

6. If your mind wanders away from the breath a thousand times, then your "job" is simply to bring it back to the breath every time, no matter what it becomes preoccupied with.

7. Practice this exercise for 15 minutes at a convenient time every day, whether you feel like it or not, for one week and see how it feels to incorporate a disciplined meditation practice into your life. Be aware of how it feels to spend some time each day just being with your breath without having to do anything.

Instructions on Counting the Breath

Your breath should be light, even, and flowing, like a thin stream of water running through the sand. Your breath should be very quiet, so quiet that a person sitting next to you cannot hear it. Your breathing should flow gracefully, like a river, like a water snake crossing the water, and not like a chain of rugged mountains or the gallop of a horse. To master our breath is to be in control of our bodies and minds. Each time we find ourselves dispersed and find it difficult to gain control of ourselves by different means, the method of watching the breath should always be used.

The instant you sit down to meditate, begin watching your breath. At first breathe normally, gradually letting your breathing slow down until it is quiet, even, and the lengths of the breaths fairly long. From the moment you sit down to the moment your breathing has become deep and silent, be conscious of everything that is happening in yourself…

Making your breath calm and even is called the method of following one's breath. If it seems hard at first, you can substitute the method of counting your breath

As you breathe in, count 1 in your mind, and as you breathe out, count 1.

• Breath in, count 2. Breath out, count 2.

• Continue through 10, then return to 1 again.

Instructions on Labeling the Thoughts

As you sit with a good posture, you pay attention to your breath. When you breathe, you are utterly there, properly there. You go out with the out-breath, your breath dissolves, and then the in-breath happens naturally. Then you go out again. So there is a constant going out with the out-breath. As you breathe out, you dissolve, you diffuse. Then your in-breath occurs naturally; you don't have to follow it in. You simply come back to your posture, and you are ready for another out-breath. Go out and dissolve: tshoo; then come back to your posture; then tshoo, and come back to your posture.

Then there will be an inevitable bing!—thought. At that point, you say, "thinking." You don't say it out loud; you say it mentally: "thinking." Labeling your thoughts gives you tremendous leverage to come back to your breath. When one thought takes you away completely from what you are actually doing—when you do not even realize that you are on the cushion, but in your mind you are in San Francisco or New York City—you say "thinking," and you bring yourself back to the breath.

It doesn't really matter what thoughts you have. In the sitting practice of meditation, whether you have monstrous thoughts or benevolent thoughts, all of them are regarded purely as thinking. They are neither virtuous nor sinful…No thought deserves a gold medal or a reprimand. Just label your thoughts "thinking," then go back to your breath. "Thinking," back to the breath; "thinking," back to the breath…

Instructions on Working with Pain

Sit comfortably and quietly. Let your body rest easily. Breathe gently. Let go of your thoughts, past and future, memories and plans. Just be present. Begin to let your own precious body reveal the places that most need healing.

Allow the physical pains, tension, disease, or wounds to show themselves. Bring a careful and kind attention to these painful places. Slowly and carefully feel their physical energy. Notice what is deep inside them, the pulsations, throbbing, tension, needles, fear, contraction, aching, that make up what we call pain. Allow these all to be felt fully, to be held in a receptive and kind attention. Then, be aware of the surrounding area of your body. If there is contraction and holding, notice this gently.

Breathe softly and let it open.

In the same way, be aware of any aversion or resistance in your mind. Notice the thoughts and fears that accompany the pain you are exploring:

"It will never go away."
"I can't stand it."
"I don't deserve this."
"It is too hard, too much trouble, too deep," etc.

Let these thoughts rest in your kind attention for a time. Then gently return to your physical body. Let your awareness be deeper and more allowing now. Again, feel the layers of the place of pain, and allow each layer that opens to move, to intensify, or dissolve in its own time. Bring your attention to the pain as if you were gently comforting a child, holding it all in a loving and soothing attention. Breathe softly into it, accepting all that is present with a healing kindness.

Continue this meditation until you feel reconnected with whatever part of your body calls you, until you feel at peace.
Instructions on Letting Thoughts and Feelings Be

When a feeling or thought arises, your intention should not be to chase it away, hate it, worry about it, or be frightened by it. So what exactly should you be doing concerning such thoughts and feelings? Simply acknowledge their presence.

For example, when a feeling of sadness arises, immediately recognize it: "A feeling of sadness has just arisen in me." If the feeling of sadness continues, continue to recognize: "A feeling of sadness is still in me." If there is a thought like, "It's late but the neighbors are surely making a lot of noise," recognize that the thought has arisen. If the thought continues to exist, continue to recognize it. If a different feeling or thought arises, recognize it in the same manner.

The essential thing is not to let any feeling or thought arise without recognizing it in mindfulness, like a palace guard who is aware of every face that passes through the front corridor. If there are no feelings or thoughts present, then recognize that there are no feelings or thoughts present. Practicing like this is to become mindful of your feelings and thoughts. You will soon arrive at taking hold of your mind.

Instructions on Gratitude

Whatever is given is a gift—even the most difficult experiences and traumatic events can be seen as Wake-Up calls, and therefore gifts. And the appropriate response to any gift is gratitude. In the depth of our heart, we can turn fear into courageous trust, agitation and confusion into stillness, isolation into a sense of belonging, alienation into love, and irrational reaction into Common Sense. The creative imagination of gratefulness will suggest to each one of us how to go about this task. Here are five small gestures that can help you show gratitude and stay awake.

1. All gratitude expresses trust. Suspicion will not even recognize a gift as gift: who can prove that it isn't a lure, a bribe, a trap? Gratefulness has the courage to trust and so overcomes fear. The air has been electrified by fearfulness these days, a fearfulness fostered and manipulated by politicians and the media. There lies our greatest danger: fear perpetuates violence. Mobilize the courage of your heart, as the truly awake ones are doing. Say one word today that gives a fearful person courage.

2. Because gratitude expresses courage, it spreads calm. Calm of this kind is quite compatible with deep emotions. Join the truly compassionate ones who are calm and strong. From the stillness of your heart's core reach out. Calmly hold someone's hand today and spread calm.

3. When you are grateful, your heart is open—open towards others, open for surprise. During big wake-up calls in your life, or in our collective lives, we often see remarkable examples of openness: strangers helping strangers often in heroic ways. Others turn away, isolate themselves, dare even less than at other times to look at each other. Violence begins with isolation. Break this pattern. Make contact with people whom you normally ignore—eye-contact at least—with the agent at the toll booth, the parking lot attendant, someone on the elevator. Look a stranger in the eyes today and realize that there are no strangers.

4. You can feel either grateful or alienated, but never both at the same time. Gratefulness drives out alienation; there is not room for both in the same heart. When you are grateful you know that you belong to a network of give-and-take and you say "yes" to that belonging. This "yes" is the essence of love. You need no words to express it; a smile will do to put your "yes" into action. Don't let it matter to you whether or not the other one smiles back. Give someone an unexpected smile today and so contribute your share to peace on earth.

5. What your gratefulness does for yourself is as important as what it does for others. Gratefulness boosts your sense of belonging; your sense of belonging in turn boosts your Common Sense. Your "yes" to belonging attunes you to the common concerns shared by all human beings. We have only one enemy, our common enemy: violence. Common Sense tells us: we can stop violence only by stopping to act violently; war is no way to peace. Listen to the news today and put at least one item to the test of Common Sense.

Bless you all on your journey!

Interview with TKV Desikachar

2008-04-27T13:19:00.000-07:00

“People are looking for a panacea for their health problems. My father was able to reduce the physical suffering of several people. This system cannot give you any instant remedy. But, it can provide slow but steady relief…”

This is a quote from TKV Desikachar, son of one of the greatest yogis of the modern era, T. Krishnamacharya. It was excerpted from a wonderful interview on Chennai Online. You can read it in its entirety here. You can also view video excerpts here.

Desikachar is the founder of the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM) in Chennai, India. KYM offers holistic healing to anyone seeking relief from problems of the mind, body, emotions, and the soul. As a trainee of the Healing Yoga Foundation, I hear a lot of wonderful stories about KYM and the healing that takes place there. The stories remind me of how, as yogis in America, we fail to recognize the power of the practice of yoga.

You can get a taste of what you’re missing in this interview with Desikachar. Enjoy!

Sat Nam Rasayan Healing

2008-04-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ is one of the most profound, versatile, effective, and life-changing forms of healing that I’ve ever encountered! In basic terms, it consists of the practitioner going into a particular meditative state and channeling healing energy to the client. Like chess, it is easy to learn the rules of Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ yet takes diligent practice to really master the skill.

Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ is often described as an attainable life-altering miracle. It is a method of supercharged meditation and prayer that teaches you how to utilize the fundamental creative life energy of the universe to change limiting conscious and subconscious beliefs, to read what is going on inside the human body, to perform physical and emotional healings, to download teachings about anything, and to manifest anything you wish in your life. It is an incredibly powerful, easy to learn, and versatile modality—the Swiss army knife of all healing methods.

The Theta brainwave vibrates at four to seven cycles per second. This is the state you’re normally in at night when you’re first dreaming and also when you’re in deep hypnosis or having a profound experience of oneness with nature. It is a state in which you can have easy access to the contents of your subconscious mind and are also more fully connected to the basic life energy of the universe.

Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ is based on the discovery that you can go into the Theta brainwave while remaining awake and then you can (with the help of the creative energy of the universe) see what is going on inside your body as well as produce profound changes in your subconscious beliefs, in the health of your body, in what you know and how you feel, and in what you manifest in your life.

Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ acknowledges that our beliefs generate our reality. They are magnetic forces that attract or repel things from us. The Law of Attraction, popularized by the movie and book “The Secret,” states that the imagination of sensory detail of our future life and of the things that we wish to have in our life actually causes their manifestation---because the universe attracts for us all things that are in harmony with the mental and emotional energies of our projection.

This is not a theory; it is a law of the (energetic) universe. Like energies attract like energies. Create energy with your mind, and the universe “answers” with the same kind of energy. The better you craft your energetic ideas, the more elaborate the universe’s response will be.

The catch is, our subconscious mind puts out energy of enormous magnitude, dwarfing whatever dreams, wishes, and plans our conscious mind projects. Crippling and limiting beliefs in the subconscious prevent us from manifesting what we consciously want.

Therefore, however inspiring it may be, it is not enough to watch The Secret or to read the book version—and the dozens of other books published on this basic law of nature—unless you access and improve the contents of your subconscious mind.

This is one of many reasons why Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ is so profound. What is nice is that it is also easy and fast.
How is Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ performed? There are many processes, but the most basic one is outlined below to give you a general idea.

First, you identify any limiting subconscious beliefs you may have through energetic testing. Most practitioners find muscle testing of your body to work well.

Second, you meditate briefly in a particular way to “ground” your energy. Most people find this easy to do.

Third, you (if you have been trained as a Sat Nam Rasayan Healer)—enter into a conscious Theta brainwave and energetically travel to the source of the creative energy of the universe.

Fourth, you command a change in the subconscious beliefs, feelings, knowledge, or health state of the treatment subject, being careful to use appropriate positive word choices and phrasing.

Finally, you actually witness the transformation of the subject’s subconscious programs taking place!

It can be a reading, a teaching, a belief change, a manifestation, or a healing that the therapist commands and witnesses. These components of this process are all discussed further below.

What Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ Has Done for Me

I began learning Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ at a particularly low point in my life. My marriage was in crisis. Although I had been studying singing opera for many years, my career was not moving forward. I could barely admit to myself that I also wanted to be a singer, since my family had told me for years that I didn’t have a good enough voice. Negative thoughts and feelings occupied too much of my day and dragged down my general mood as well as my relationship with all those around me.

From the first weekend I began learning of Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ at a Satsang Group Session and experiencing it in myself, a profound shift started taking place. My energy was increasingly lighter and I felt happier and more positive about everything in my life. And my life was utterly transformed!

I felt---and continue to feel---happy most of the time. I am full of joy and gratitude for each moment and each experience in my life. My relationships with everyone around me vastly improved because I became more positive, more relaxed, and was sending out (and thus attracting back) better energy than I had before.

Singing and Conscious Living gigs started falling into my lap---some without auditioning. I got organized and started writing books again. I submitted one of my book proposals to a literary agent, who called immediately and asked me to send the manuscript! While discussing that book, I told him about the exciting work of Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™, and he became eager to sell yet another book I am now writing, which is the forthcoming book on Sat Nam Rasayan Healing.

The quality of my life on a daily basis is so much better that it’s almost like I’m a different person. I feel like I have just won the lottery. Everything in my life looks so much better to me—more exciting and full of possibility—and now I am continually attracting more joyful and fulfilling experiences.

It is such a delight to have the Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ tools because I can neutralize any possible roadblock every time one appears, though all things that happen now appear to me more as opportunities than as roadblocks. And with all the new wonderful possibilities that appear, I can easily take hold and ground them firmly into my reality with Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™.

Muscle Testing

The Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ process begins with accurate muscle testing. Many of us are familiar with some form of muscle testing. For years, I asked “yes” and “no” questions and got answers from my body: I used my hands to feel if my fingers held strong (yes) or went weak (no) when I made a statement.

Some health practitioners use arm strength for such testing, and others use pendulums instead. Both utilize muscular reactions to test the subconscious body’s response. Any muscle group can be used because your whole body gets temporarily stronger when you think a thought that resonates with what your body/subconscious mind believes, and your whole body gets temporarily weaker when you think a thought that does not.

It’s important to understand that muscle testing isn’t a test of the truth of the statement about an issue. Instead it is a test of your subconscious’ belief about that issue. This belief may or may not be correct. You shouldn’t use muscle testing, for example, to find out what food or supplements you should take. Muscle testing would only test your body’s subconscious opinion about the food or supplement. Realize that the subconscious is not all-knowing. It can be correct, and it can be wrong.

(However, even if a food or supplement is bad for you, it is possible with Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ to change its chemical composition and make it good for you. But this requires a very high degree of clarity, focus, and channeling of the healing energy of the universe. In most cases, it is better just to ask the universe’s fundamental intelligence, through Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™, if the substance is good for you or not and proceed accordingly.)

But your subconscious beliefs are very important; they determine what kind of energy you attract into and repel from your life. It is not so much a question of whether they are true or false in an absolute sense but whether they serve to attract good feeling and experiences into your life or the opposite. Your subconscious beliefs are not a reality tester but a means for manifestation: they make true/real for you what they contain.

If you subconsciously believe that you are happy, free, loving, creative, etc., these are the experiences that you will attract and make realities in your life. This ability that we (with the help of the fundamental creative energy of the universe) all have to thereby change our reality on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual level is the basis for the many great successes of Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ .

Your body knows exactly what your subconscious beliefs are about every issue. These beliefs may or may not serve you. Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ has found that whenever there is anything in your life that is imperfect, then there is at least one limiting belief in your subconscious. You can change that belief with Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™.

More Details About Muscle Testing

One muscle testing technique used in Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ involves a simple standing muscle test: observe the swaying of your whole body as it tilts forward (yes) or back (no) while listening to or repeating statements that have yes/no answers. Although this will work when you are facing any direction, it seems to produce a stronger, more easily identifiable result when you face magnetic north.

Before testing yourself, make sure that you are well hydrated and well mineralized because your body will thereby respond more clearly to the muscle testing. Drink one or more glasses of pure water with your favorite mineral drops added. If you body still isn’t hydrated enough, you can place the palms of your hands over your kidneys (stretching down below the last rib on your back) and apply firm pressure for about 30 seconds. This will temporarily trick your body into thinking that it is well hydrated.

Stand as tall as possible while feeling relaxed and balanced. Your toes should point straight forward, your legs placed hip width apart. Imagine your legs are two stilts, with your upper body floating freely above them.

Then you are advised to “zip up your field.” Since you are affected by the energy that surrounds you, you can temporarily neutralize this effect through a mental visualization---take one hand and, starting from a few inches in front of you and below your groin, pull that hand up the center line of your body until you reach above the crown of your head, imagining that you are zipping up a big zipper. Then let your hand drop back to your side. This shield or energy bubble prevents your test results from being affected by the thoughts and beliefs of others. Repeat this periodically during your session.

Some people have, for whatever reason, a reversed polarity. This means they test backward, leaning forward for “no” and backward for “yes.” This can usually be corrected by lightly tapping on the top of their head with first the back and then the palm of your hand, followed by having them (or you, if you are testing yourself) zip up their field.

If you do all this and still don’t get accurate results in your muscle testing, you may have some conscious or subconscious beliefs around muscle testing that need to be changed (like that it is unsafe or doesn’t work) or you may lack muscle testing skills. Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ can teach you how to test clearly and what it feels like.

A Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ practitioner can quickly identify and, with your permission, change the issue so that you can test clearly. Nothing takes place in Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ without you giving your permission every step of the way. This is not only out of respect for your free agency but also because your subconscious mind tends to automatically reject any change to which you have not given your verbal assent.

To see if you are testing accurately, hydrate yourself, zip up your field, and stand in the way described above facing north. Say “I am a man” and see whether your body sways forward (yes) or back (no). Also test “I am a woman.” If you are a person who feels s/he is both, you can test instead something like “My name is (your name)” and “My name is Donald Duck.” Or “I am a human being” and “I am an insect” or something else for which the answer is clear.

There is a difference between letting the earth’s magnetism take you back and forth and pushing yourself backward and forward. The first way you are allowing your body/subconscious mind to express what it believes and the second you are consciously controlling the outcome. Obviously, you want to let your body “speak.” To feel the difference, go ahead now and use conscious effort to push your body forward and backward. You will feel how different this is from true muscle testing, especially in your toes; they will move more and have tension.

Once you’re testing clearly and accurately on things you know the answer to, you can test any yes/no statement and see what your subconscious mind believes about it. A Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ practitioner can help you pull out the first sort of belief and replace it with the second.

Here are some good beliefs to start with in muscle testing yourself. You will want to have all of these:
• I am worthy of infinite love and the Creator’s love
• God loves me unconditionally
• I know what it feels like to be completely, unconditionally loved
• I know what it feels like and how to love completely, unconditionally
• I have a great love and sex life
• I know what joy feels like
• I am confident I can (and do) achieve anything
• I’m in the right career and excelling in it
• I love and accept my body
• I know what it feels like to be vibrantly healthy
• I am vibrantly healthy
• I am beautiful
• I am talented
• I am smart
• I am youthful
• I am a magnificent human being

If you are missing any of these, Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ can clear out anything standing in the way and then install them into your subconscious.

The creative force, the essence of pure wisdom and pure love, is known by an infinite variety of names. People call it God, Source, Universe, All That Is, Creator, etc. You don’t have to believe in the traditional God to recognize that there is a powerful, mysterious, and intelligent life force both inside and outside us which every creature shares.

This is the force you contact and utilize when you do Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™. I like to call it Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, so that is how I address it.

When you have connected with God, you can request and witness a reading, teaching, belief change, manifestation, or healing. The practitioner has the client muscle test herself (or tests her himself directly, which involved another muscle testing process) to find out what has or hasn’t changed, and then proceeds accordingly until all issues in that area are resolved.

Even if you don’t ask God for anything, just “hanging out” in the Theta brainwave while being in the “place” where God is for only five minutes a day will, over time, cure all physical and emotional maladies. This place, which is called the Seventh Plane, is such a powerful, high frequency energy that no ailment can survive in its presence, since all disease and negative emotions vibrate at a relatively low frequency.

Commanding and Witnessing Lasting Changes

Once you’ve learned how to directly connect with God and to magnify this connection by going into an ever deeper Theta Brain state (the closer you get to four cycles per second while staying awake/conscious, the more powerful your results will be), much of Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ training is in framing the most effective requests—which we call commands in order to alert the subconscious mind that they definitely are happening—and how to most powerfully witness Creator performing them.

This is where Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ connects with Quantum Physics. You’ve probably heard that light can behave like a particle or a wave, depending on how it’s being observed. Also, other experiments done by physicists, including the famous Schrödinger’s cat experiment, indicate that reality actually changes depending on whether and how it is being observed. The universe is a huge array of possibilities that become actualities when they are witnessed.

So, in response to the old question, “Does a tree falling in the forest make a sound if no one hears it?”, the answer is no. Reality depends on what we observe and how we observe it.
While this may seem alarming at first glance, it is actually very empowering. Each of us gets to decide what reality we want to create and experience, both by the situations we attract and by how we respond to those situations.

With Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™, we can make instant changes in what we believe, feel, and think about/focus on as well as in what kinds of experiences we draw to ourselves. We can also download from God, for our own use, any insight, knowledge, or even creativity that exists in the universe. We can heal ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We can download additional teachings and alter any beliefs necessary so all these changes remain permanent.

There are an infinite number of readings, teachings, healings, and other manifestations possible through Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™.

When you uncover a limiting belief in your Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ session and it doesn’t easily clear, there is usually another belief supporting it that must first be uncovered and released. When you clear a bottom belief, then all the beliefs resting on top of it either clear on their own or can then be instantly cleared when addressed. In this way, you can make very rapid progress.
One way to find a bottom belief is to keep asking yourself, “What is the worst thing that would happen if x happened?” with x being the limiting belief you have uncovered and want to get to the bottom of. When you get the answer to that question and it is, say, y, then you continue the process by asking, “What is the worst thing that would happen if y happened?”

If you don’t know, then just guess, asking yourself, “If I did know, what would it be?” or “If I were writing a story about a person just like myself, what would it be for them?” In most cases, you do know even if you think you don’t, and this is how you find out. Or, if you are more experienced with Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™, you can simply ask God, “What key bottom beliefs are holding this belief system intact?”

When you get to the bottom belief, you will often feel an emotional reaction or you will have a sense that you have reached the bottom. Common bottom beliefs include the fear of:

• Losing love
• Being disconnected from Creator
• Becoming nothing

Changing bottom beliefs usually involves teaching the person (downloading from God) a skill they lack, such as how to be good enough/worthy, safe, loved, and how to keep something bad from happening; to know who they are and how to live their daily life without having to hold onto the limiting bottom belief or the trauma from it; and what it feels like to release the belief or trauma.

Then the person can learn what the new empowering belief feels like, how to live it on a daily basis, that it’s safe and they’re worthy to do so, and how to embrace it now. One of the greatest and most healing tools in the whole Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ tool bag is to download God’s definition, perspective, and understanding of the belief, issue, person, relationship, etc. you are dealing with.

With Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ you can, for example, vastly improve any relationship by downloading God’s definition, perspective, and understanding of all the parties involved and then clearing any trauma, undesirable attachments, obligations, resentment, or grudges among them. You then return any soul fragments they are holding from one another and completely release each person and their relationship with God.

The results of this are amazing! It is like getting a brand new relationship full of good will and endless possibilities. No past incidents mar it, and yet all the admiration, respect, and love developed in the past not only remain but are magnified!

What to Expect After You’ve Received a Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™
You may feel a shift, or you may not feel anything in particular during or right after your session. Your energy will have changed, but whether you feel or retain this depends on several things. For example, you must know how to know and what it feels like when something subtle or not so subtle changes in you. Some of us lack this, and it can be installed by the Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ practitioner as a teaching.

Another is that you must have the appropriate beliefs that allow you to retain your healing. At the end of your first session, especially, your practitioner may run through a list of such beliefs to make sure that they are all installed.

For example, some of us subconsciously believe that we are not worthy to accept or retain our healing, that it is right to give our healing away to someone needier, that it isn’t safe to stay healed, etc. These negative programs must be pulled and replaced for you to keep your healing.

Also, you must follow through. Your Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ has freed you from limiting past beliefs, but these can be recreated if you choose to react in various situations in the ways you always have before. That is, before your beliefs were changed, you were compelled to react in a certain way in a certain kind of situation. Now, you have the freedom to respond differently. Be aware of that and use it to empower yourself!

Every Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ is successful, though not every healing is a cure. God decides what to actually give the client, and the client decides through the openness of his/her energy what to accept and reject. Also, sometimes what you ask for is not in your highest and best interest, so something different may occur.

The more Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ you receive, either from yourself or from another practitioner (it’s generally thought to be harder to work on yourself than to work on others, though I haven’t found this to be the case), the more you will feel the cumulative force of the changes and the more quickly and effectively you will take on, integrate, and utilize these changes.

I’m currently working as a certified Advanced Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ practitioner and instructor.

I have attended and hosted many practice groups, and I have both given and received numerous private Sat Nam Rasayan Healing™ sessions. I am now teaching courses regularly.

I do private healing sessions over the phone as well as in person. All the trainings I’m currently offering are in person here in Rockledge, Florida.

SAT NAM!

TANTRIC BUDDHISM

2008-04-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

"Tantra activates many powerful subtle energies in our body and mind and,if we do not have any mental training or discipline,
this excess energy will take the path of least resistance
through our negative emotions of attachment, jealousy, pride, egotism, and so on"

Lama Ganchen

SECRECY

"Pure intellect, indeed, detached from soul, is the death of Man. Intellect, self-confident and isolated in arrogant complacency, does not ennoble Man. It humiliates him, deprives him of his personality. It kills that loving participation in the life of things and creatures of which the soul, with its emotions and intuitions, is capable. Intellect, by itself alone, is dead and also deadly - a principle of disintegration."

From Giuseppe Tucci's "The Theory and Practice of the Mandala" - Rider.

Why are Buddhists so secretive of tantra? Tantric practice is a highly advanced form of psycho-physical exercises in order to achieve transformation of one's body and mind quickly into the perfected state of a Buddha. Simply said, these methods are not without danger when used without the proper guidance and precautions. To avoid people getting involved in these practices without proper guidance, the practices are kept secret for people without explicit permission to practice from a qualified teacher. Often, teachers require disciples to do extensive practices before being allowed any permission; more about that is written in below paragraphs on prerequisites and preliminaries. So please keep in mind that the secrecy around tantra is basically for safety, just like it is proper to lock a gun away from the reach of children.
Whatever is included on these web pages about tantra is general knowledge which is allowed for uninitiated to read, and is intended to at least take away some misunderstandings about tantric practices.

MOTIVATION FOR PRACTICE

To clarify where tantric practices fit in the Buddhist system, it may be useful to explain a bit more about the various motivations or scopes. Traditionally, only the "small, middle and high scope" are taught to distinguish the various motivations for practising. Here, I would like to present a somewhat unconventional approach, starting even below spiritual practice:

- The "Animal Scope": Wanting immediate happiness for oneself.
- The "Worldly Human Scope": Wanting immediate happiness for oneself and others.
- The Buddhist Small Scope: Wanting happiness for oneself in a future life.
- The Buddhist Middle Scope: Wanting to escape the cycle of uncontrolled rebirth for oneself. (Hinayana)
- The Buddhist Great Scope: Wanting others to go beyond suffering forever (enlightenment), and reach Buddhahood oneself to help others on their path. (Mahayana)
- The "Buddhist Tantric Scope": Wanting others to be happy as soon as possible, and reach Buddhahood oneself quickly to serve them. (Vajrayana)

A teaching from "Being Peace" by Thitch Nhat Hahn:

"A woman who practices reciting Buddha Amitabha's name, is very tough and recites "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA" three times daily. Although she is doing this practice for over 10 years, she is still quite mean, shouting at people all the time. She starts her practice lighting incense and hitting a little bell.
A friend wanted to teach her a lesson, and just as she began her recitation, he came to her door and called out: "miss Nuyen, miss Nuyen!".

As this was the time for her practice she got annoyed, but she said to herself: "I have to struggle against my anger, so I will just ignore it." And she continued: "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA..."

But the man continued to shout her name, and she became more and more oppressive.

She struggled against it and wondered if she should stop the recitation to give the man a piece of her mind, but she continued reciting: "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA..."
The man outside heard it and continued: "Miss Nuyen, miss Nuyen..."
Then she could not stand it anymore, jumped up, slammed the door and went to the gate and shouted: "Why do you have to behave like that? I am doing my practice and you keep on shouting my name over and over!"

The gentleman smiled at her and said: "I just called your name for ten minutes and you are so angry. You have been calling Amitabha Buddha's name for more then ten years now; just imagine how angry he must be by now!"

PREREQUISITES

The following aspects are considered prerequisites before a disciple can engage in tantric practice:

1. Refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

2. Renunciation: a realisation is best, but a proper understanding is essential.

3. Bodhicitta: a realisation is best, but a proper understanding is essential. For most of the initiations, it is required to take the aspiring Bodhisattva vows or the Bodhisattva vows.

4. Emptiness: a direct realisation is best, but a proper understanding is essential (see the page on Wisdom).

5. Reliance on a spiritual teacher: proper confidence in a teacher and verifying his/her qualifications is essential.

6. Empowerment or initiation: without this ceremonial permission to practice by a qualified teacher, tantric practice is improper.

7. Tantric vows: for the higher tantric classes, one needs to take tantric vows. These vows are secret to the uninitiated, so students need to take 'a leap of faith' and trust the teacher and the practice before taking them.

8. Faith/confidence: solid confidence both in the teacher and the teachings is essential to avoid serious karmic problems when doubts arise. 'Blind faith' will generally not have the power to pull someone through when things are difficult.

The only proper motivation to practice tantra is bodhicitta, or the wish to become fully enlightened in order to help all sentient beings. This is the reason why at least an understanding of bodhicitta is essential prior to engaging in tantric practice. To enforce this motivation, usually, an extra prerequisite is taking either the Aspirational Vows or the full Bodhisattva Vows.

Next, at least some understanding of the philosophy of emptiness is essential for tantric practice, as this is the basic mental state in which tantric practice becomes more than just ritual or strange practice of imagination.

Ideally, a tantric practitioner should have full realisations of bodhicitta and emptiness instead of merely a conceptual understanding. In that case, tantric practice can guide one very swiftly to the state of Buddhahood.

PRELIMINARY PRACTICES

Some teachers (depending on the specific tradition and individual student) require one to engage in the so-called preliminary practices before giving initiation to disciples. However, the first four practices mentioned below (mandala offerings, refuge, Vajrasattva and prostrations) are generally the preliminaries for a traditional "3-year and 3 month retreat".

These preliminary practices traditionally consist of :

- Making 100,000 mandala offerings to generate merit by generosity; (see instruction on the Osel Shen Phen Ling website)

- Reciting 100,000 refuge prayers (to increase one's confidence, see the page on refuge)

- Reciting 100,000 Vajrasattva mantras to purify obstacles (see Teachings on the Vajrasattva Retreat by Lama Zopa Rinpoche)

- Making 100,000 prostrations to counteract pride (see image on the right, and read a description by Sakya Pandita).
Depending on the teacher and the disciple, other practices are sometimes done:

- Offering 100,000 water-bowl offerings (create merit by generosity)

- Reciting 100,000 Guru's name mantras: Guru-yoga, to generate confidence and establish a deeper relationship with the teacher

- Making 100,000 clay images or 'tsa-tsas' in Tibetan (see picture)

- Reciting 100,000 Samayavajra mantras (somewhat similar to Vajrasattva)

- Making 100,000 fire offerings to Vajra Daka (Dorje Khadro).
Not only are these excellent methods to accumulate the necessary positive energy (karma) to have success with the practice, but they also help in the purification of obstacles to the practice.

TANTRIC MEDITATION

2008-04-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Meditation is not sitting for thousands of years struggling to become mindless. Meditation is the action of becoming aware of all that is, within you and outside of you. You focus and direct your mind within you, deep, deep within you. So deep within that you end up back outside, never to be without. You become aware of all, within the one action of meditating.

When we master this act or action, it's like waking up from a mind-numbing dream. It's like being reborn into a fantastic movie full of infinite energy, light, joy, and bliss. The word ecstasy doesn't even come close. This is not something you believe in - IT IS THE ACT OF KNOWING THROUGH DIRECT EXPERIENCE. Before you can even ask the question, you just know. It's called Giaan Yoga - union with knowledge. It's all waiting for us to remove the obstacles and open the doors.

These obstacles are nothing more than subconscious programs: called toxic thoughts by the new age therapist, phobias by the psychiatrist, and samskaras by the yogis. These little buggers can become so potent that they lead us around like the strings on a puppet. We may sit for hours in a meditative posture trying to go deep within, but within minutes we either get hit with a flood of toxic thoughts, or our mind starts jumping around like a monkey. Yet in reality, they are nothing more than little bits of electro/chemical energy that create the addictions in life, cause the karma of life, and prevent us from experiencing our true self. How many of us have ever tried a Buddhist vipassana meditation
on the development of insight? Can we be mindful of all our actions, or do we just act out of addictions, phobias, hate trips, guilt trips, and trips that we can't even begin to imagine? From a Zen meditation on the sound of one hand clapping, to a Hindu meditation on the sound of OM (it's actually ONG) - it can all become quite a challenge - until we clean the junk out of our minds, and cut the superstrings that pull us around in toxic circles.

"Meditation is a technique to break addiction to thought; in essence it is directed concentration." Dr. Andrew Weil, M. D.

Meditation is to transcend distractions
and experience the Real You.

How many of us have ever tried to keep the mind fixed on one thought and follow that thought to its source? It's called
Transcendental Meditation. As soon as we try to fix our mind on one thought, other thoughts pull it away. These myriads of thoughts prevent us from going anywhere, except around in circles. The difficulty is we have spent too many years, if not lifetimes, storing toxic thoughts or programs into our subconscious mind. Becoming conscious of this is the first step in meditation.

The next step is to simply let them go, right? I think many of us know that these programs have become so vast from over feeding and attached to us - that it is not easy to just sit and let them go. As soon as we begin to meditate, our mind starts jumping around like the monkey (called monkey mind) and we get hit with a flood of screaming thoughts, desires, and emotions that turn into commotions. Letting go of these pesky commotions or thoughts, is not so easy. Fortunately we have thousands of potent meditations contained within Kundalini Yoga, to dissolve their electro/chemical hold. Here is just one:

Meditation To Quiet the Mind

Sit straight. Put your left palm flat against the center of your chest, with the fingers pointing towards the right, the left thumb extended up towards the chin. Your right palm is flat on top of the back of the left hand, thumb extended up towards your chin. Now calmly breathe in through both nostrils and breathe out through your rolled tongue. (Open the mouth slightly, extend the tongue out slightly, and curve the tongue in a 'u'.) You are exhaling out, through the rolled tongue. Breathe long and deep.

"This will give you the deepest silence of the self. You'll hear the silence. Silent meditation is only where you can hear yourself. Otherwise, it's not silent. When you can extend to the point where you can hear your own heartbeat, you are done! -Yogi Bhajan (12-27-95, from "Keeping Up," Volume IV #1, 1997.)

Inhaling through a rolled tongue will stimulate certain meridians and cause our glandular system to secrete. This in turn will change the chemistry of our brain, and delete toxic programs. When you are done with this meditation, remember to dance a jig for a few minutes to reconnect yourself to your body and the earth plain. Yogi Bhajan calls this a: "Calm, quiet, silent, solitary meditation." (Inside of us all is a world within worlds, just waiting for us to experience.)

"If I Do Not Go Within, I Go Without."
Conversations with God - book 1, by Neale Donald Walsch

Two books on Medition, which are like no others, that I recomend are:

Meditation as Medicine, 2001, by Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D. and Cameron Stauth. Medical Meditation balances and regenerates the body's ethereal (bio) and physical energies , forging an extrordinary alliance. Dr. Khalsa details the meditation with far more power than standard meditiation: exact positioning of the hand and fingers; particular mantras; specific breathing patterns; and a unique focus of concentration. Check it out and see for yourself.

Meditation For Absolutely Everyone, 1994, by Subuagh Singh Khalsa. If you want to keep it simple, than this little 96 page book with audio tape is all you really need to truly experience meditation . It contains mantras and breathing meditations on the audio tape from the sicence of Kundalini Yoga.

Tantric Healing - Holistic Healing

2008-04-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

"The Body can heal itself. It can do so because it has a healing system At every level of biological organization, from DNA up, mechanisms of self-diagnosis, self-repair, and regeneration exist in us."
-Spontaneous Healing, by Andrew Weil, M.D.

"There exists in every person a place that is free from disease, never feels pain, that cannot age or die. When you go to this place, limitations which all of us accept cease to exist. This is the place called perfect health." -Perfect Health, by Deepak Chopra, M. D.

Anyone who hasn't heard that we all have our own healing system and a power within us that can heal, obviously hasn't been looking. Anybody who has looked into the book of Alternative Medicine - The Definitive Guide, written back in 1993 with over a thousand pages, and over 380 medical professionals, knows what I am talking about.

"Conventional medicine is superb when it comes to surgery and emergency. But there's no question that alternative medicine works better for just about everything else."
-Alternative Medicine-The Definitive Guide, c. 1993 by 380 Leading Edge Physicians

The number of professional health practitioners who are coming out today with the truth about healing and medicine is so overwhelming, that I may have to take a course in speed-reading, just to keep up with all of them.

"We are the keepers of an intuitive intelligence so powerful it can tell us how to heal Our bodies are manifestations of energy, composed of chakras. Any imbalances in these centers cause disease.
-Intuitive Healing, by Judith Orloff, M.D. c. 2000

"Life extends beyond the boundaries of our skin as the latest research shows. By accessing the biological energy fields surrounding the human body and altering them in beneficial ways it is possible to treat diseases in a radical new way.
-Virtual Medicine, by Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby, c. 1999

What was once called witch-doctoring, shamanism, or faith healing, is now called Holistic Healing, Alternative Medicine, or Energy Healing. Many of us have heard about Naturopathic Medicine, Homeopathy, and Acupuncture but how many of us have heard about Quantum Healing, Virtual Medicine, or Radical Healing? Before I get too radical with terminology, let me just repeat that Holistic Healing is real and it works. It is already being practiced in some major hospitals and in the future it will become the foundation of all healing practices.

Would you like to resemble the person in the picture with "chronic ignorance," or would you at least like to have a basic knowledge about the reality of healing and health? If so read on.

"Humans are made out of energy and sustained by energy. Our bodies are ever-changing, dynamic fields of energy, not static physical structures"
-Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, by
Christiane Northrup, M.D., past present of the
American Holistic Medical Association, c. 1998

Holistic Healing heals the whole body, mind and spirit. It creates a balance inside and out by balancing all the bodies, patterns, and energies within us and around us. Holistic Healing uses the whole technology of healing from traditional treatments to cutting edge Western medicine; from Native American to Indian Ayurveda, which is 5,000 yrs old. It includes European, German, Chinese, Japanese, and many more yet to be rediscovered. Holistic Healing uses every form of healing - one just needs to know where to start. Should I cut out my appendix, which is a storehouse for excess poisons, or should I remove the toxins through herbs, diet, laxatives, or maybe a colonic? Holistic Healing teaches you to remove the excess toxins from your body before your appendix becomes overburdened to the point of rupture. Holistic Healing is the realistic approach to health. It creates internal harmony and balance, so you don't reach the point where you need to have your organs cut out, or your bodies break down. Inside of us all, we have the ability to manifest what we truly need to heal ourselves.

"Within you is a divine capacity to manifest and attract all that you need or desire."
-Manifest Your Destiny, by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

The Human Energy Field (HEF)

Dr. Rammurti Mishra's chart of the Prana Nadis, passing energy between the body and the cosmos. c. 1972

"Imagine your whole being surrounded by a glorious, radiant sphere of light that extends for nine feet on all sides. It's golden, brilliant, and impenetrable - no outer negativity can penetrate it and all inner negativity is neutralized by it. Cosmic energy flows into our tenth gate [top of head] and down our spine, up our spine, in and ever-renewing rhythm. The energy shines and pulses, expanding the radiant sphere to its maximum. This is your tenth body, the radiant body."
-Tantric Numerology,
by Dr. Guruchander Singh Khalsa, D.C.

We are not just physical bodies composed of flesh and blood; we are complex bio-electro-chemical bodies, of opaque and transparent energy. Yogis have classified and quantified ten bodies - composed of matter, energy, and mind. The most common energy body that everyone knows about is the Aura.

"The Human Energy Field (HEF) is the manifestation of universal energy that is intimately involved with human life. It can be described as a luminous body that surrounds and interpenetrates the physical body, emits its own characteristic radiation and is usually called the 'aura.' "
-Hands Of Light A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field, by Barbara Ann Brennan

Today, many intuitive healers and psychics can see and feel this energy field, which surrounds our bodies. It's intensity and brightness is as indication of our health and well-being. The main function of the auric body is to uplift and nurture ourselves and others. Did you know that when the aura is small, people are usually crabby and negate upliftment?

"If you're reading this, your aura is probably not small. First of all, you can hear what I'm saying and not run away. After the first few sentences of this type of information (that expands your consciousness), someone with a weak or shrunken aura will be hiding, denying or discounting, and negating upliftment."
-The Ten Light Bodies of Consciousness,
by Nirvair Singh Khalsa

Energy Channels,
Meridians or Prana Nadis

"Chinese medicine is depicted as a tree with eight branches: acupuncture, herbal pharmacology, diet, massage, exercise, meditation, bone setting, and physical manipulation."
-Bioenergetic Medicines East and West,
by Clark A. Manning / Louis J. Vanrenen

The 14 Chinese meridians or channels for the healing energy, called chi, to circulate throughout the body to many of its major organs. Touch For Health, by John Thie, D.C.

The Chinese have mapped out a complete system of meridians (called nadis in India), or channels of energy that flow throughout our bodies. There are 14 major channels and each one connects to a different organ in our body and gives it its vital energy called chi. If a channel gets blocked, so does the life energy to the corresponding organ, and its function is impaired. Today modern science can tell which ones are blocked and which ones are flowing, by measuring the resistance of each channel with a sensitive ohmmeter; it's called electro-acupuncture or bio-energetic regulatory techniques (B.E.R.).

Acupuncture, Shiatsu, Applied Kinesiology, and Energy Medicine all work to balance this energy flow. In yoga, this body of energy channels is called the pranic body. Yogis have discovered up to 72,000 channels or nadis, which flow within and around us, to make us who we are. And, like the circuits in a computer, if the currents don't flow, neither do we.

"The Acupuncture meridians, the chakras and nadis, the etheric body, and other higher systems are parts of human multidimensional anatomy that have been described by ancient schools of healing throughout the world. Throughout my years of research, I have pieced together scientific evidence to substantiate the existence of an extended subtle-energy human anatomy. It is only through acceptance of this multidimensional framework of functioning that science can begin to comprehend the true nature of human physiology and the reasons for illness and wellness."
-Vibration Medicine New Choices For Healing Ourselves, by Richard Gerber, M. D.

Uplift Your Kundalini & Balance Your Chakras.
Is This The Key To All Health & Happiness?

"Our bodies are manifestations of energy, composed of chakras. Any im-balances in these centers cause disease."
-Intuitive Healing, by Judith Orloff, M.D. ã 2000

"The Kundalini and the anatomy and the bioenergetic behavior of the chakras and their energy channels lie at the core of Healing."
-"The Spirit of Healing," by David Cumes M. D. 1999

"Reiki is a Kundalini discipline."
-Essential Reiki, by Diane Stein

"Our body comprises numerous bits and pieces, each being a thread of the universal, woven together into an eloquent depiction of the whole Playing with energy and exploring new planes of consciousness can lead to new heights of exhilaration and delight The major blocks to allowing such healing shifts to occur remain the belief systems that deny our potential for change and separate us off in hopeless isolation form the larger forces that nurture and heal Such limiting beliefs lose their power over us as awareness becomes more inclusive. The healing force of a more encompassing consciousness is switched on, like a light, when energy is focused at the higher chakras. The power that turns that light on, and that can energize the most thoroughgoing healing is known in the Tantric tradition as Kundalini Shakti."
-Radical Healing, by Rudolph Ballentine, M.D.,
director of the Center for Holistic Medicine,
in New York City.

"The mind/body exercises that I recommend to patients are derived from Kundalini Yoga ... According to experts, Kundalini Yoga is the most advanced and complete system of yoga developed over thousands of years. When Kundalini Yoga successfully unites, body, mind and spirit, it greatly enhances the power of the Life-energy called Kundalini or prana, and even awaken the power of the spirit.
-The Pain Cure & Brain Longevity,
by Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D. c. 1999

Want To Know More - Read On

Through exercise you carrier nutrients throughout the body and rid the body of toxins to keep it healthy. Through asanas and kriyas (yoga) you command the endocrine system to secrete the chemicals necessary to balance the body and mind. Through sound, mantra, and meditation you cleans the subconscious of toxic emotions and programs that control you. Through Reki, Shiatsu, and Massage, you balance the flows of energy that give you life and make you spirit glow. (Are you still with me, or did you get lost in the flow?)

"You are a latticework of energies balance your chakras and keep your flows, flowing."
-Energy Medicine, by Donna Eden

As you clean out your veins, meridians, and lymphatic system - you remove the obstacles and open the doors so your life force can flow into you, and to whatever organ that needs it. The ultimate go of Holistic Health is to connect to your soul, so that you may know all that you will ever need to know, and go only where you need to go. To know your soul is to be whole; and to be whole is to be in control. But first you need to get rid of toxic emotions, toxic desires, and programs that control you and cause you to become sick.

How dose one tell which Alternative medicines work and which ones don't. Time will weed out the ones that don't and time will tell the story of the one's that work as they become popular. This is the Age of Aquarius, the age of communication where information travels at the speed of light; secrets shall be known and lies shall be exposed and none will be able to hid in a falsehood born out of greed. Holistic Healing uses the whole, so you can climb out of your hole. This is why we have so many roads to our Whole-One-Self. Use one, or use them all so you may stand tall; rise up, rise up so you may know and experience your whole mind, body, & soul. Let that be your goal.
-Ram Dass Bir Singh Khalsa

Yogi Bhajan, who is a master of all branches of yoga and holistic healing, has said that the Kundalini is the blueprint of our soul and the key to our health and well-being.

I don't have to tell you, that from my many years of experience in teaching Kundalini Yoga and Holistic Healing, that it is true, because the whole world is telling you; you just have to know where to look, and then check it out for yourself. Enjoy!

KALACHAKRA TANTRA GLOSSARY OF TERMS

2008-04-22T17:14:00.001-07:00

Notes:
This glossary was compiled from glossaries found in different English books on Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and edited by the webmaster.
Definitions and synonyms may differ in the various Buddhist traditions.
* : unpreferred term or term with incorrect connotation
(Skt): Sanskrit

ABHIDHARMAKOSHA: Buddhist classic written by Vasubandhu; the earliest attempt at a systematic representation of Buddhist philosophy, psychology and cosmology.
ABSOLUTE TRUTH: See ULTIMATE TRUTH.
ACTION MUDRA: A Highest Yoga TANTRA consort who assists in generating great bliss.
AGGREGATE: Mental or physical collection. See 5 AGGREGATES
AKSHOBYA (Skt.): Name of a DEITY. One of the 5 DHYANI BUDDHAS, representing the consciousness AGGREGATE of all Buddhas and their Dharmadhatu Wisdom.
AMITABHA: Name of a DEITY. One of the 5 DHYANI BUDDHAS, representing the discrimination AGGREGATE of all Buddhas and their Discriminating Wisdom.
AMOGHASIDDHI (Skt.): Name of a DEITY. One of the 5 DHYANI BUDDHAS, representing the compositional factors-AGGREGATE (or volition) of all Buddhas and their Wisdom of Accomplishing Activities.
ANTI-GOD: See ASURA.
ARHAT (Skt.): Foe or Enemy Destroyer. One who has destroyed the enemy of dualistic ego-grasping/clinging, and thus accomplished LIBERATION of CYCLIC EXISTENCE. There are three types of Arhats: SRAVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, BUDDHA.
ARYA (Skt.): Superior, High One. One who has gained direct meditational experience of EMPTINESS. See also ARHAT.
ASPIRING BODHICITTA: A merely wishful BODHICITTA (as opposed to ENGAGING BODHICITTA).
ASURA (Skt.): Anti/demi god , Titan*. Being living in the Asura-realm of CYCLIC EXISTENCE, within sight of the DEVAS
ATISHA: Great Indian scholar who arrived in Tibet in 1042 and caused a major purification of the Buddhism present at that time. Composer of the first LAM-RIM-text.
ATTACHMENT: Inability to separate from a person or thing, although it will ultimately lead to SUFFERING, usually it exaggerates the good qualities of the object. It is one of the biggest mental DELUSIONS which prevents the achievement of ENLIGHTENMENT.
AVALOKITESHVARA (Skt.): 1. Name of a specific DEITY, representing the COMPASSION of all BUDDHAS = Chenrezig (Tib.) 2. One of the main disciples of SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.

BARDO (Tib.): Intermediate state of existence. The time between death and rebirth.
BHUMI (Skt.): Stage. Usually referring to a stage in the BODHISATTVA-training (BODHISATTVA-bhumi).
BODHI (Skt.): See ENLIGHTENMENT.
BODHICITTA (Skt.): Enlightenment- mind. The mind dedicated to attain Buddhahood in order to help all SENTIENT BEINGS. "Conventional Bodhicitta" is either ENGAGING- or ASPIRING BODHICITTA. "Ultimate Bodhicitta" is a WISDOM motivated by Conventional Bodhicitta directly realising EMPTINESS.
BODHISATTVA (Skt.): Enlightenment being. Person who strives for Buddhahood in order to be of utmost benefit to all SENTIENT BEINGS. 1. General, someone who has taken the Bodhisattva-vows. 2. More specific, being who has taken that vow and also has attained spontaneous BODHICITTA. In the KALACHAKRA TANTRA, the Deities on the inner ledge of the MIND MANDALA.
BODY MANDALA: In the KALACHAKRA TANTRA, the outermost area of the mandala, surrounding the SPEECH MANDALA.
BUDDHA (Skt.): Enlightened/Awakened/Omniscient One. One who has purified all DEFILEMENTS and developed all good qualities. "The Buddha" usually means SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.
BUDDHADHARMA (Skt.): 1. BUDDHA's teachings. 2. The inner REALISATIONS achieved by practising Buddha's teachings.
BUDDHA-NATURE: potential of all SENTIENT BEINGS to become a BUDDHA.
BUDDHISM: Religion, philosophy founded by SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA. All Buddhist schools agree on the 4 SEALS. Main doctrines: KARMA, rebirth, EMPTINESS.
BUDDHIST: Person who has taken REFUGE in the 3 JEWELS, and agrees on the philosophy of the 4 SEALS.

CENTRAL CHANNEL: Main energy channel in the body, starting at the browpoint, going backwards under the skull and then down to the level of the navel (or lower).
CHAKRA (Skt.): Wheel, circle. A focal centre where secondary (energy) channels branch out from the CENTRAL CHANNEL.
CHARYA-TANTRA (Skt.): Performance/behavioural class of TANTRA. See 4 TANTRIC CLASSES.
CHENREZIG (Tib.): See AVALOKITESHVARA.
CITTAMATRA (Skt.): Mind-only-school. See 4 TENETS.
CLEAR LIGHT MIND: Very subtle mind which, when manifest, perceives everything as clear, empty space.
COMMITMENT-BEING: Visualised BUDDHA or oneself visualised as a BUDDHA. A WISDOM-BEING is an actual BUDDHA who is invited to unite with the commitment-being.
COMMITMENTS: Promises and pledges taken when engaging in spiritual practices.
COMPASSION: The wish that others may be free from SUFFERING and its' causes.
COMPLETION STAGE: Final stage in the practice of Highest Yoga Tantra using methods that cause the energies (Prana in Skt. or Lung in Tib.) of the body to enter, abide and dissolve within the CENTRAL CHANNEL and result in BUDDHAHOOD. In the KALACHAKRA practices, it is described in six stages.
CONVENTIONAL TRUTH: All-false truth, relative truth (as opposed to ULTIMATE TRUTH), conventional existence; the interdependence of phenomena.
CYCLIC EXISTENCE: The cycle of death and rebirth, taking uncontrolled REBIRTH under the influence of DEFILEMENTS and karmic imprints. The process arises out of IGNORANCE and is marked by SUFFERING. See 3 REALMS & 6 REALMS.

DAKA (Skt.): Male equivalent of DAKINI.
DAKINI (Skt.): Female tantric BUDDHA and women who have achieved direct REALISATION of EMPTINESS with the CLEAR LIGHT MIND.
DEFILEMENTS: see DELUSIONS
DEITY: The symbolic form of a pure being, manifested from BUDDHA's wisdom. Meditational BUDDHA form.
DELUSIONS: Misconceptions and their resultant afflicted states of mind. Syn.: defilements, disturbing attitudes, mental afflictions, afflictive emotions. Contaminated mental functions which are obstacles to LIBERATION and the causes for SUFFERING, which disturb our mental peace and propel us to act harmful to others (and ourselves). The "Root DELUSIONS" are: IGNORANCE, desire/ATTACHMENT, anger/hatred/aversion, pride, doubt and wrong views. .
DEMIGOD: See ASURA.
DEPENDENT ORIGINATION: Doctrine concerning the interrelatedness of phenomena. Closely related to EMPTINESS. See 12 LINKS OF INTERDEPENDENT ORIGINATION.
DESIRE REALM: One of the 3 REALMS within CYCLIC EXISTENCE, where beings enjoy the five external sense objects (form, sound, smell, touch and taste) and where SUFFERING of suffering is experienced. Consists of the 6 REALMS.
DEVA (Skt.): "god", "angel", a being in CYCLIC EXISTENCE, temporarily abiding in a heavenly state (unlike the Christian God).
DEVADATTA (Skt.): Litt. Theodore; name of SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA'S evil cousin, seeing the BUDDHA full of faults.
DHARMA (Skt.): Doctrine, law, truth. 1. What prevents SUFFERING; usually BUDDHADHARMA. 2. Any objects of knowledge. 3. Religion or religious knowledge. 4. REALISATIONS of the path and the consequent cessation of SUFFERING.
DHAMMAPADA (Pali): most popular collection of sayings of the Buddha in the Pali canon.
DHANYAKATAKA: Location in South India where the BUDDHA is said to have taught the KALACHAKRA TANTRA.
DHARMAKAYA (Skt.): Truth Body of a BUDDHA, the pure, omniscient MIND of a BUDDHA, result of the transformation of the ordinary MIND. The corpus of a Buddha that encompasses everything), referring to a Buddha's omniscient mental activity and the nature of that activity. (Alex Berzin) It can be divided into the SVABHAVI-KAKAYA and the "Jñana Dharmakaya". See 4 BUDDHA-BODIES.
DHARMAPALA (Skt.): See DHARMA PROTECTOR.
DHARMA PROTECTOR: Guardian of the BUDDHA's teaching. 1. Worldly protectors: ordinary DEVAS, spirits etc., bound by a tantric GURU to protect Buddhism and its practitioners. 2. Non-worldly: manifestations of BUDDHAS or BODHISATTVAS in wrathful form who protect practitioners.
DHYANA (Skt.): Advanced form of concentration MEDITATION, after realising SHAMATHA.
DIVINE PRIDE: Non-deluded pride that regards oneself as a DEITY and one's surroundings and enjoyments as those of the DEITY. It is an antidote to ordinary conceptions.
DROPS: The essence of sperm and blood (egg), abiding in the ENERGY CHANNELS or Nadis (Skt.). In the KALACHAKRA TANTRA, these often refer to the 4 drops (of the states of the waking state, deep sleep, dreaming and absorption of bliss).
DZOGCHEN (Tib.): Profound practice of the NYINGMA tradition.

EMANATION BODY: See NIRMANAKAYA.
EMPTINESS: Full expression: "Emptiness of INHERENT EXISTENCE". The doctrine that all concepts and phenomena lack INHERENT EXISTENCE. See ULTIMATE TRUTH
EMPTY FORM BODY: (or Body of Empty Form) Specific for Kalachakra practice, a non-material 'body' which appears in meditation and is developed into the RUPAKAYA or 'form body' of a Buddha. Sometimes compared to the Rainbow Body of other tantra practices, but these are described as being of subtle matter, the Empty Form Body is a production of mind and is non-material
EMPOWERMENT: See INITIATION.
ENERGY CHANNEL: Veins within the body through which psychic energy (Tib. Lung, Skt. PRANA) flows.
ENGAGING BODHICITTA: A BODHICITTA held by the BODHISATTVA vows. (As opposed to ASPIRING BODHICITTA).
ENJOYMENT BODY: See SAMBHOGAKAYA.
ENLIGHTENMENT: Syn.: Buddhahood, full enlightenment/ awakening. Highest level of development, having forever eliminated all DEFILEMENTS and karmic IMPRINTS, and having developed all good qualities and WISDOM to their fullest extent. Enlightenment supersedes LIBERATION.
EON: "Great aeon": lifetime of the universe (KALPA (Skt)). "Small aeon": one 20th. of a great aeon
EQUANIMITY: Unbiasedness. State of MIND in which one does not distinguish between friend, enemy and stranger.
EXAMPLE CLEAR LIGHT-MIND: A CLEAR LIGHT MIND that realises EMPTINESS by means of a generic image.

FORM REALM: State of CYCLIC EXISTENCE where no SUFFERING of suffering is experienced. Beings here have renounced the enjoyment of external sense objects but still have ATTACHMENT to internal form (their own body and MIND).
FORMLESS REALM: Highest states of CYCLIC EXISTENCE. Beings here have renounced form and ATTACHMENT to form pleasures, and exist only within their mindstream. Their MIND is still bound by subtle desire and ATTACHMENT to mental states and ego. See 3 REALMS.
FRONT GENERATION: Practice in TANTRA, whereby the DEITY is Visualised in front of oneself.

GANDHARVA (Skt.): Smell-eater. Celestial being.
GARUDA (Skt.): Name of a mythical bird.
GELUG(PA) (Tib.): Yellow-hats. Biggest school in Tibetan tradition, founded by TSONGKHAPA, also known as "New KADAM". Main emphasis on ethics and sound scholarship prior to serious meditation. In 1642 the 5th. Dalai Lama, who was of the Gelugpa tradition, became secular and religious leader of Tibet.
GENERATION STAGE: Stage of practice in Highest Yoga TANTRA, wherein one mentally generates oneself as a DEITY, and one's surroundings as the deity's MANDALA.
GESHE (Tib.): 1. Degree like Doctor of Theology, awarded by the principal monastic colleges of the GELUGPA tradition. 2. Title of some masters of the Old KADAM tradition.
GOD: See DEVA.
GOD REALM: DEVA-realm,"heaven". State within CYCLIC EXISTENCE. Some god realms are in the DESIRE REALM, others in the FORM and FORMLESS REALMS. See 3 and 6 REALMS
GOLDEN AGE OF SHAMBALA: A period of 1,000 or 1,800 years following the 'defeat of the barbarians' by King Rudra Chakrin, in which the DHARMA and the KALACHAKRA TANTRA will flourish.
GURU (Skt.): Spiritual teacher/friend/mentor.
GURU-YOGA (Skt.): Practice of seeing one's GURU as BUDDHA.

HEARER: See SRAVAKA.
HELL REALM: State within CYCLIC EXISTENCE in which much SUFFERING is experienced, joyless realm. See 6 REALMS.
HINAYANA (Skt.): Lesser/lower vehicle (as opposed to MAHAYANA). Buddhist path leading to individual LIBERATION from CYCLIC EXISTENCE (as SHRAVAKA or PRATYEKABUDDHA).
HERO and HEROINE: (Vira and Virini in Skt.) A hero is a male tantric DEITY, embodying method. A HEROINE is a female tantric DEITY, embodying WISDOM.

IGNORANCE: Unawareness, lack of ENLIGHTENMENT. 1. Worldly: Not knowing the principles of KARMA. 2. Transworldly: Not knowing/realising EMPTINESS.
IMPRINT (on the mind): 1. Karmic imprint; potentiality to experience certain effects in the future. 2. Imprint of DEFILEMENT; obstructions to Buddhahood which remain even after abandonment of the DEFILEMENTS themselves.
IMPUTE: To label/name or give meaning to an object.
INDESTRUCTIBLE DROP: Most subtle DROP, located at the heart, formed from the essence of sperm and egg of the parents. It does not melt until death, when it opens and allows the very subtle mind and wind to take rebirth.
INHERENT EXISTENCE: Syn.: true / objective / ultimate / self-powered / self-sufficient / independent / intrinsically / existence. Existence - from the side of the object, - by the way of the object's own character, - from within the basis of designation, - as its own suchness, - as its own reality, - as its own mode of subsistence, - by way of its own entity. INHERENT EXISTENCE is a misconception, a non-existent quality that we project onto persons and phenomena, and does not exist even conventionally. It describes existence which is independent of: causes and conditions, parts, or the MIND IMPUTING it.
INITIATION: Empowerment. Bestowal of permission and a special potential power to practice a specific part of TANTRA, given by a tantric GURU by means of a ritual.
INNER OFFERING: A MAHA-ANNUTARAYOGA-TANTRA offering, produced by mentally transforming 10 bodily substances into nectar.
INTERMEDIATE STATE: See BARDO.

KADAM(PA) (Tib.): Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, started by ATISHA. Before Lama TSONGKHAPA known as "Old Kadam", afterwards known as GELUGPA.
KALACAKRA (Skt.): see KALACHAKRA
KALACHAKRA (Skt.): Time-Wheel; name of a specific DEITY of the MAHA-ANNUTTARA YOGA TANTRA class.
KALAGNI (Skt.): In the KALACHAKRA system, Kalagni is the South node of the moon, where solar eclipses occur, or 'the head of the dragon' in Chinese astrology. It is also the yellow disc on which KALACHAKRA stands.
KALAPA: capital of the country of SHAMBHALA.
KALKI (Skt.): see KULIKA
KALPA (Skt.): Lifetime of a universe.
KANGYUR (Tib.): Collection of all translated SUTRAS and TANTRAS from Sanskrit into Tibetan. See also: TENGYUR.
KA(R)GYU (Tib.): School of Tibetan Buddhism, founded by Marpa Chökyi & Khyungpo Nyaljor (11th. century). Meditation and philosophy lineage. Special practice: MAHAMUDRA.
KARMA (Skt.): Action. Intentional action, impulse. Also; the IMPRINT which the action leaves on one's mindstream. "The law of karma": the doctrine holding that all experiences are results of IMPRINTS on our mindstream of previous actions; virtuous actions lead to happiness, NEGATIVE ACTIONS to SUFFERING and unpleasant states.
KAYA (Skt.): Body of a BUDDHA. See also 4 BUDDHA-BODIES.
KRIYA-TANTRA (Skt.): Purification class of TANTRA. See 4 TANTRIC CLASSES.
KULIKA (Skt.): "Holder of the Castes" or Shambala's Knowledge Holder (Rigden in Tib.). Titles of the 8th. to the 24th. Kings of SHAMBHALA

LAGHUTANTRA (Skt.), or better: the 'Kalachakra Laghutantra'; this is an abridged form of the original text; the Kalachakra MULATANTRA which is only existant in Shambhala. The Laghutantra was written by SHAMBALA King MANJUSHRIKIRTI (or Manjushri Yashas). This text fullfills the function of root tantra for us, as the Mulatantra is not available.
LAMA (Tib.): See GURU.
LAMAISM*: Tibetan Buddhism, an unpreferred term, based on misunderstandings by early western contacts with Tibetan Buddhism.
LAM RIM (Tib.): Lamp on the Path. The stages of the Path to ENLIGHTENMENT. Systematic presentation of all BUDDHA's teachings. First presented in this form by ATISHA. Presently mainly used in the GELUG-school.
LIBERATION: State after removing the DEFILEMENTS and KARMA which cause uncontrolled REBIRTH in CYCLIC EXISTENCE.
LOVE: The wish that beings have happiness and its causes.
LUNG (Tib.): Wind, energy, prana (Skt.). 1. Subtle (life-) wind/energy In Tantra these winds are the vehicle of consciousness. 2. Disease, energy disturbance/imbalance in the body. 3. Oral transmission of a DHARMA text.

MADHYAMIKA (Skt.): Middle-way school. See 4 TENETS.
MAHA-ANNUTARAYOGA-TANTRA (Skt.): Highest yoga TANTRA. See 4 TANTRIC CLASSES. Tantric class that contains the method to transform sexual experience into the spiritual path.
MAHAMUDRA (Skt.): Great Seal. 1. According to SUTRA: Profound view of EMPTINESS. 2. According to TANTRA: the union of great bliss and EMPTINESS.
MAHAYANA (Skt.): 'Greater vehicle' (Maha = great, Yana = vehicle. (as opposed to the HINAYANA or smaller vehicle). Buddhist path which leads to Buddhahood, emphasising great COMPASSION for all SENTIENT BEINGS. Also called "BODHISATTVA-yana". It includes SUTRAYANA and TANTRAYANA.
MAITREYA: Loving-One. Name of the next coming BUDDHA, also both teacher and main disciple of SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.
MANDALA (Skt.): Circle or sphere. 1. Symbolic representation of a meditation visualisation, usually in the form of a palace with one or more DEITIES present. 2. Symbolic representation of the universe (see MANDALA OFFERING).
MANDALA OFFERING: Mentally transforming the universe into a PURE REALM and offering it. "Inner mandala offering": offering one's body, wealth, happiness etc.
MANJUSHRI (Skt.): One of the main disciples of the BUDDHA. Name of DEITY; represents wisdom of all BUDDHAS
MANJUSHRIKIRTI: (Also Manjushri Yashas): The 8th. King of SHAMBALA (first KULIKA- king), who composed the condensed KALACHAKRA TANTRA.
MANTRA (Skt.): 'Tool for thinking'. 1. Prescribed syllables (in Sanskrit) to protect the mind (from DEFILEMENTS). They express the essence of specific energies. Recitation of mantras is always done with specific visualisations. 2. Often, Mantra is used as a synonym for VAJRA or TANTRA.
MARA (Skt.): Demon. Anything which interrupts the attainment of LIBERATION or ENLIGHTENMENT. See: 4 MARAS.
MARKS AND SIGNS: The 32 Major Marks and 80 Minor Signs of a BUDDHA - golden skin, webbed fingers & toes etc.
MEANING CLEAR LIGHT: A CLEAR LIGHT MIND that directly realises EMPTINESS.
MEDITATION: (Tib.: gom) Habituating, familiarising. Habituating ourselves to positive and realistic states of mind
MEDITATIVE CONCENTRATION: See SHAMATA.
MERIT: See VIRTUE.
MERIT FIELD: The 3 JEWELS, usually Visualised in front, before which one accumulates VIRTUE or merit. Merit fields used in tantric practices can very extensive.
MIGRATOR: (Or transmigrator) See SENTIENT BEING.
MILAREPA (Tib.): Great Tibetan practitioner (1040-1123), famed for his attainment of Buddhahood in one lifetime.
MIND: Def.:"That which is clear and knowing", mindstream. Non-physical phenomena which perceives, thinks, recognises, experiences and emotionally reacts to the environment. 1. Mental faculties (Tib.: thugs) 2. Ways of being conscious, conscious phenomena (Tib.: shes.pa).
MIND MANDALA: In the KALACHAKRA TANTRA, the central, uppermost levels of the Mandala, containing the central GREAT BLISS MANDALA, the EXALTED WISDOM MANDALA and the surrounding Mind Mandala.
MIND-STREAM: Continuity of the MIND, "that which is clear and knowing".
MOUNT MERU: Huge mountain in the centre of the universe.
MUDRA (Skt.): Seal. 1.Tantric hand gesture, 2. Tantric consort.
MULATANTRA (Skt.), or better: 'Kalachakra Mulatantra'; this is the original KALACHAKRA root tantra. An abridged commentary to this was composed by Shambala King SUCHANDRA, but both texts are not available outside Shambala. The two basic texts we use are the Lughatantra (which fulfills the function of root tantra) by MANJUSHRIKIRTI, and the commentary the 'VIMALAPRABHA' by Pundarika.

NADI (Skt.): See ENERGY CHANNEL.
NAGA (Skt.): Type of living spirit living mainly in rivers, oceans or lakes, but can live anywhere which are generally invisible. Usually depicted with a serpent-like body.
NAGARJUNA (Skt.): Great Indian Buddhist Master who revived the MAHAYANA in the 1st. century AD, after its' virtual disappearance, by bringing to light the Perfection of Wisdom SUTRAS.
NAMCU (Tib.): Tenfold powerful one: the Kalachakra "logo" composed of 10 symbols.
NEGATIVE ACTION: non-virtue, destructive action, black karmic IMPRINT, sin*. Action which leaves an IMPRINT on the MINDSTREAM which will lead to SUFFERING in the future.
NIRMANAKAYA (Skt.): Emanation Body of a BUDDHA. The result of transformation of the ordinary body and experience of self. It is the transformation of the SAMBHOGAKAYA into ordinary physical form. a network of grosser forms, emanated from sambhogakaya, which some ordinary persons can see as well (Alex Berzin) (The Nirmanakaya is visible to those with pure KARMA, others will just see an ordinary being).
NIRVANA (Skt.): Beyond suffering/sorrow, transcendence of suffering, state beyond the causes for SUFFERING, unsatisfactoriness, troubles. State outside CYCLIC EXISTENCE attained by an ARHAT.
NGONDRO (Tib.): Something which precedes, goes before. Preliminary practice to the practice of TANTRA.
NYINGMA (Tib.): Oldest Tibetan Buddhist tradition, founded by PADMASAMBHAVA. Emphasis on tantric and DZOGCHEN-practice.

PADMASAMBHAVA: or "Guru Rinpoche": G.reat Indian tantric master, who came to Tibet in 817 AD With his SIDDHIS he dispelled evil forces which obstructed Buddhism in Tibet.
PARAMITA (Skt.): PERFECTION, see 6 and 10 PERFECTIONS.
PARAMITAYANA (Skt.): Perfection vehicle. The MAHAYANA, but excluding the TANTRAYANA.
PERFECTION: Going beyond, reaching beyond limitation, (Skt.: paramita). See: 6 and 10 PERFECTIONS.
PRANA (Skt.): See LUNG.
PRATIMOKSHA (Skt.): Vows of individual liberation. Precepts established by SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA for Buddhist lay-persons, monks and nuns.
PRATYEKABUDDHA (Skt.): Solitary Buddha/Realiser. Follower of the HINAYANA tradition, concentrating on basic Buddhist teachings like the 12 LINKS OF INTERDEPENDENT ORIGINATION, 4 NOBLE TRUTHS etc. to attain LIBERATION (NOT Buddhahood).
PRETA (Skt.): Hungry ghost. A being obsessed by ATTACHMENT, living in the preta-realm within DESIRE REALM, mainly suffering from lack of food, drink and shelter.
PUJA (Skt.): Ceremony/act of worship, offering.
PUNDARIKA: second KULIKA King of SHAMBALA, best known for his famous commentary on the KALACHAKRA TANTRA called Vimalaprabha (stainless light).
PURE REALM: Realm outside CYCLIC EXISTENCE where BUDDHAS, BOHISATTVAS and practitioners with sufficient VIRTUE abide. All conditions are conducive for practising DHARMA and attaining ENLIGHTENMENT. "Pure-Land Buddhism" is a MAHAYANA tradition emphasising methods to be reborn there.
PURIFICATION: Preventing negative KARMA to ripen and counteracting self-identification with negative energy.

RAHU (Skt.): the North node of the moon, where lunar eclipsses occur. In Chinese astrology, it is 'the tail of the dragon'.
RAKSHA (Skt.): Fierce, cannibalistic type of demon.
RATNASAMBHAVA (Skt.): Name of a DEITY. One of the 5 DHYANI BUDDHAS, representing the feeling AGGREGATE of all Buddhas and their Wisdom of Equality.
REALISATION: A deep and strong understanding / inner knowing, (beyond intellectual understanding) that becomes part of us and changes our perception of the world.
REFUGE: Taking refuge means entrusting one's spiritual development to the BUDDHAS, DHARMA and SANGHA. "Inner refuge" refers to refuge in our own BUDDHA-NATURE: our own natural WISDOM and the guidance we can give others.
RENUNCIATION: Determination to be free from all problems and SUFFERING (of CYCLIC EXISTENCE), not longer having ATTACHMENT to the pleasures of CYCLIC EXISTENCE which lead to more SUFFERING and DEFILEMENTS. It is inner WISDOM.
RINPOCHE (Tib.): Precious one. Referring to a TULKU, or sometimes just a title of respect.
RUDRA CHAKRIN (Skt.): Rigden Dragpo (Tib.) (2327 - 2427 CE) "Wrathful One with the Wheel" the King of SHAMBHALA who is predicted to defeat the "barbarians" in 2424 in a spiritual war.
RUPAKAYA (Skt.): Form (Rupa) Body (Kaya) of a BUDDHA. Physical manifestation of a BUDDHA. It can be further divided into the SAMBHOGAKAYA and the NIRMANAKAYA.

SADHANA (Skt.): Tantric method of actualization, actualization of oneself as the Buddha-figure for which one has received INITIATION, also a TANTRAYANA ritual text which sets out a particular MEDITATION practice.
SADHANGA YOGA (Skt.): Six-fold COMPLETION STAGE practices to achieve the state of KALACHAKRA
SAKYA (Tib.): School of Tibetan Buddhism, founded by Khon Könchok Gyelpo (11th. century). Main practice: "Lamdrey". Sakyas ruled in Tibet for over 100 yrs, before the secular power was handed to the Dalai Lama of the GELUGPA tradition. (13th.&14th. century)
SAMADHI (Skt): Meditative stabilisation, concentration. One-pointed involvement in MEDITATION where the meditation object and the practitioner are experienced as inseparable and indistinguishable. As there are many types of Samadhi, the term does not infer anything about the practitioner's REALISATION or accomplishment.
SAMBHOGAKAYA (Skt.): Enjoyment/bliss Body of a BUDDHA. A network of subtle forms that make full use of the bodhisattva teachings and which only arya bodhisattvas can perceive (Alex Berzin). The physical (psychic) form of BUDDHA's WISDOM. The transformation result of speech, communication and LUNG. In TANTRA known as the VAJRA of speech or the BUDDHA's voice.
SAMSARA (Skt.): See CYCLIC EXISTENCE.
SANGHA (Skt.): Spiritual community. 1. In the broadest sense; whole community of Buddhists: monks, nuns and lay people up to enlightened BODHISATTVAS (this is not the original meaning of Sangha). 2. More restricted: monks and nuns. 3. Most specific: ARYA-beings.
SAUTRANTIKA (Skt.): Sutra-school. See 4 TENETS.
SELF GENERATION: Practice in TANTRA whereby one imagines oneself to be the DEITY.
SELFLESSNESS: See EMPTINESS.
SENTIENT BEING: (Trans)-migrator. Being that possesses a MIND that is contaminated by DEFILEMENTS or their IMPRINTS, living within CYCLIC EXISTENCE (thus generally excluding plants).
SHAKTI (Skt.): Deity within the KALACHAKRA MANDALA. 10 Shaktis are present, although only 8 are visible in the mandala. Shaktis are common in Hinduism, but in Buddhism they only appear in the Kalachakra tantra.
SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA (Skt.): Name of the historical BUDDHA, living in the 6th. century BC
SHAMATA (Skt.): Calm abiding, Concentration. 1. MEDITATION method to achieve tranquility. 2. The resultant tranquil meditative state; the ability to remain single-pointedly on an object with a pliant and blissful MIND. Mental quiescence, stilled and settled state of awareness.
SHAMBHALA (Skt.): "The Land held by Shiva". Mythical kingdom which is also called the pure land of KALACHAKRA. King SUCHANDRA of Shambala requested the Buddha to teach this tantra; the Kalachakra teachings are kept and practiced there.
SHRAVAKA (Skt.): Hearer. One who hears, practices and proclaims BUDDHA's teachings. Followers of the HINAYANA tradition, concentrating on RENUNCIATION and pacifying emotions, in order to attain LIBERATION.
SHUNYATA (Skt.): See EMPTINESS.
SIDDHI (Skt.): Supernatural attainment/psychic power.
SKANDHA (Skt.): See AGGREGATE.
SOLITARY REALIZER: See PRATYEKABUDDHA.
SPEECH MANDALA: In the KALACHAKRA TANTRA, the area of the MANDALA between the central MIND MANDALA and the surrounding BODY MANDALA.
STUPA (Skt.): Buddhist reliquary object. Indian Buddhist Stupas are dome-shaped monuments containing relics of the BUDDHA or his disciples. Tibetan stupas are usually purely symbolic; any size or materials, but of carefully defined shape and proportions representing the BUDDHA's mind.
SUCHANDRA: King of SHAMBHALA who requested the KALACHAKRA TANTRA from the BUDDHA.
SUFFERING: Any dissatisfactory condition, referring to physical and mental pain, and all problematic situations. See also 3 TYPES OF SUFFERING and 4 NOBLE TRUTHS.
SUTRA (Skt.): Discourse/ speech etc. of the BUDDHA, excluding teachings on TANTRA.
SUTRAYANA (Skt.): SUTRA vehicle. Also: "exoteric or common path". Name of the HINAYANA and PARAMITAYANA combined, thus excluding the TANTRAYANA (the esoteric path).
SVABHAVIKAKAYA (Skt.): Nature Body of a BUDDHA. The empty nature of the Buddha's omniscient MIND (or wisdom).

TANTRA (Skt.): Continuity, stream. (Continuity maintained throughout the practice.) 1. In general referring to the systems of MEDITATION described in the TANTRAYANA texts; practices involving 4 PURITIES, meditation on ENERGY CHANNELS, CHAKRAS and energy drops within the body. These esoteric teachings are not found in the SUTRAYANA and require INITIATION of a tantric GURU. 2. More specific; a scripture describing a TANTRAYANA practice.
TANTRAYANA (Skt.):Syn.: Mantra/vajra/secret/uncommon/esoteric vehicle, a MAHAYANA Buddhist path which leads to ENLIGHTENMENT. See also TANTRA.
TARA (Skt.): Saviouress; name of a specific DEITY, representing the enlightened activities of all BUDDHAS.
TATHAGATA (Skt.): One Thus Gone; title of a BUDDHA. In the KALACHAKRA TANTRA, also referring to the Tathagatas of the EXALTED WISDOM MANDALA.
TENET: Philosophical view/school. See 4 TENETS.
TENGYUR (Tib.): Collection of commentaries to BUDDHA's teachings translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan.
SVATANTRIKA (Skt.): Autonomy-school. Sub-school of MADHYAMIKA.
THERAVADIN (Skt.): The tradition of the Elders. Buddhist tradition widespread in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. Generally, practices can be said to be HINAYANA.
TIRTHIKA (Skt.): One not following the Middle way, a non-Buddhist, usually referring to a Hindu.
TONG LEN (Tib.): Giving and taking. MIND training to overcome selfishness and develop COMPASSION for others; giving one's own happiness and taking other's SUFFERING.
TORMA (Tib.): Ritual offering cake, used in tantric rituals.
TRANSMIGRATORS: See SENTIENT BEINGS.
TRIPITAKA (Skt.): Three baskets. Three collections of Buddhist scriptures; 1. Vinaya (Skt.): discipline; 2. SUTRA 3. Abhidharma (Skt.): knowledge/phenomenology.
TSOG (Tib.): Tantric (food) offering.
TSONG KHAPA (Tib.): Great Tibetan Scholar (1357-1419), founder of the Tibetan GELUGPA-tradition.
TULKU (Tib.): Recognised reincarnation of a GURU.
TUMMO (Tib.): Psychic heat, inner heat generated in special tantric meditation practices, kundalini (Skt).
TUSHITA (Skt.): Joyous Land. The BODHISATTVA PURE REALM of the 1000 BUDDHAS of this EON

ULTIMATE TRUTH: Synonyms: EMPTINESS, without INHERENT EXISTENCE, correct view, fundamental true nature, not truly existent, without self-existence, sphere of DHARMA, true nature, voidness, void of self-existence, universal law, level of truth that is the deepest fact of reality, total absence of fantasised ways of existing.
UPASAKA (Skt.): Buddhist lay-person holding 8 PRECEPTS.
USHNISHA (Skt.): The fleshy protrusion on the crown of a BUDDHA's head.
UTPALA (Skt.): Blue lotus flower.

VAIBASHIKA (Skt.): Great exposition school. See 4 TENETS.
VAIROCHANA (Skt.): Name of a DEITY. One of the 5 DHYANI BUDDHAS, representing the form (or body) AGGREGATE and Mirror-like Wisdom of all Buddhas.
VAJRA (Skt.): Indestructible/diamond/adamantine. 1. Tibetan ritual sceptre (dorje). 2. Anything used in the practice of TANTRA to differentiate it from everyday things. 3. used as synonym for TANTRA or MANTRA.
VAJRADHARA (Skt.): Name of DEITY, representing the SAMBHOGAKAYA- aspect of SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA. Vajradhara is the founder of TANTRAYANA.
VAJRAPANI (Skt.): Vajra-Holder. One of the main disciples of the BUDDHA. Name of wrathful DEITY, representing the power of all BUDDHAS.
VAJRA-POSTURE: Cross-legged posture with the feet on the opposite thighs. Mirror image of the Hindu lotus-posture.
VAJRASATTVA (Skt.): Name of a DEITY (Vajra-Being), specifically related to PURIFICATION practices.
VAJRAVEGA (Skt.): wrathful aspect of KALACHAKRA.
VAJRAYANA (Skt.): See TANTRAYANA.
VASE: implement of DEITIES, usually symbolising INITIATION. In the KALACHAKRA MANDALA, vases are represented in the Exalted Wisdom Mandala as well as on top of the roofs of the Gates and the central roof.
VETALA (Skt.): Corpse revived by a bad spirit, zombie.
VIMALAPRABHA (Skt.): "Stainless Light", a commentary on the KALACHAKRA TANTRA by PUNDARIKA (second KULIKA King of SHAMBALA. Together with the Laghutantra, which forms the basis of our knowledge of the Kalachakra tantr.
VINAYA (Skt.): Discipline. Rules governing the conduct of the SANGHA (here usually monks and nuns).
VIPASHYANA (Skt.): Seeing beyond, superior or excellent seeing, insight. 1. Meditative technique which identifies and analyses the patterns of the MIND and the world it projects. 2. The resultant WISDOM or perfect knowledge, which thoroughly and clearly discriminates phenomena.
VIRTUE: Positive potential, merit. IMPRINTS on the mindstream of positive actions, leading to future happiness.
VISHVAMATA (Skt.): Consort of KALACHAKRA.
VOIDNESS: See EMPTINESS.

WISDOM: 1. Prajña(Skt.), shes.rab (Tib.); discriminative awareness. 2. Jñana (Skt.), ye.shes (Tib.); deep/pristine awareness, wisdom-knowledge, primal wisdom, gnosis.
WISDOM-BEING: See COMMITMENT BEING.

YAMA (Skt.): Name of the Lord of (uncontrolled) Death.
YAMANTAKA: YAMA-Opponent. Name of a specific DEITY.
YANA (Skt.): Vehicle. Usually; specific path/system of Buddhist practice.
YIDAM (Skt.): Enlightened DEITY, or meditational Buddha-form, on whom one's personal tantric practice is centred.
YOGA (Skt.): Practice, endeavour, application. In the Tibetan system, generally a merely mental tradition.
YOGA-TANTRA (Skt.): Union TANTRA. See 4 TANTRIC CLASSES.
YOGINI (Skt.): Female practitioner; in the KALACHAKRA TANTRA usually referring to the 80 Yoginis of the Speech Mandala.
YOJANA (Skt.): Distance measure, approx. 1 mile.

ZEN: Japanese variation of the Chinese word "Ch'an". A MAHAYANA Buddhist tradition originating from China as Ch'an, and further developed in Japan.

KALACHAKRA TANTRA PRACTICE

2008-04-21T17:11:00.000-07:00

"The more we train to see ourselves as such a meditation deity, the less bound we will feel by life's ordinary disappointments and frustrations. This divine self-visualization empowers us to take control of our life and create for ourselves a pure environment in which our deepest nature can be expressed." - Lama Yeshe

"The wisdom that realizes emptiness, that has gained insight into the nature of reality, is of varying kinds, depending upon the level of subtlety of the consciousness perceiving the emptiness. In general, there are rough levels of consciousness, more subtle levels, and then the innermost subtle level of consciousness. It is the uncommon characteristic of Tantric practice that through it one can evoke this most subtle consciousness at will and put it to use in a most effective way. For example, when emptiness is realized by this subtlest level of mind, it is more powerful, having a much greater effect on the personality.

In order to activate or make use of the more subtle levels of consciousness, it is necessary to block the rougher levels--the rougher or grosser levels must cease. It is through specifically Tantric practices, such as the meditations on the chakras and the channels, that one can control and temporarily abandon the rougher levels of consciousness. When these become suppressed, the subtler levels of consciousness become active. And it is through the use of the subtlest level of consciousness that the most powerful spiritual realizations can come about. Hence, it is through the Tantric practice involving the most subtle consciousness that the goal of enlightenment can most quickly be realized." From Answers: Discussions with Western Buddhists by the Dalai Lama

INITIATION

Depending on the specific lineage and class of tantra, a Guru can demand that the disciple will commit to a daily practice (like reciting a certain number of mantras or doing a daily meditation practice).

Next, a ritual is carried out in which the Guru transmits the potential of the specific tradition of the practice and gives the permission to practice. Highly qualified disciples sometimes achieve immediate realizations due the combined power of this transmission and their practice (maybe in previous lives).

If you seriously intend to take an initiation, please verify the following beforehand:

• Do I have a reasonable understanding of renunciation, Bodhicitta and emptiness?
• What are the prerequisites of this initiation? Am I prepared to do the preliminaries?
• What are the vows I need to take? Am I willing to take aspiring Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva or even tantric vows?
• Why do I really want to receive the permission for this practice? Do I want to practice it, or is it only because everyone else is going?
• What are the daily commitments? Am I prepared to do these daily practices every day for the rest of my life?
• Are there retreat commitments? What does this retreat mean?
• Last, but perhaps even most important is the Guru/Teacher. Do I really have full confidence in him/her? Have I checked this person out? Does the teacher accept me as his/her disciple? The teacher/disciple relationship is extremely important in tantra.

During an initiation, try to be very alert and aware of what is happening. It is also very helpful to make notes of the visualizations and aspects that happen during the ritual, like establishing your tantric name, giving a mantra for the deity to practice etc.

If you are lucky, a commentary to the practice is given or even a retreat may be organized after the initiation, also books may be available on how to do the practice. It is best to check with your teacher or more experienced other practitioners on these details.

An initiation allows one to engage in only one specific practice, so it is important to note exactly what the practice is.

During an initiation many different ritual implements are used. Most initiations should be given to small groups of disciples at a time; the Kalachakra practice is the famous exception to this rule. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has given this initiation to hundreds of thousands of people at a time.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the meaning of initiation or 'empowerment', from Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great Perfection:

"As for empowerment in general, what does the term wang, or empowerment, signify? To begin with, our fundamental nature - what we term 'the Buddha nature', or tathagatagarbha, the very nature of our mind, is inherently present within us as a natural attribute. This mind of ours, the subject at hand, has been going on throughout beginningless time, and so has the more subtle nature of that mind. On the basis of the continuity of that subtle nature of our mind rests the capacity we have to attain enlightenment. This potential is what we call 'the seed of buddhahood', 'buddha nature', 'the fundamental nature', or tathagatagarbha. We all have this buddha nature, each and every one of us. For example, this beautiful statue of Lord Buddha here, in the presence of which we are now sitting, is a representation that honors someone who attained Buddhahood. He awakened into that state of enlightenment because his nature was the Buddha nature. Ours is as well, and just as the Buddha attained enlightenment in the past, so in the future we can become Buddhas too.

...In any case, there dwells within us all this potential which allows us to awaken into Buddhahood and attain omniscience. The empowerment process draws that potential out, and allows it to express itself more fully. When an empowerment is conferred on you, it is the nature of your mind - the Buddha nature - that provides a basis upon which the empowerment can ripen you. Through the empowerment, you are empowered into the essence of the Buddhas of the five families. In particular, you are 'ripened' within that particular family through which it is your personal predisposition to attain Buddhahood.

So, with these auspicious circumstances established in your mindstream, and when you reflect on what is taking place and maintain the various visualizations, the conditions are right for the essence of the empowerment to awaken within you, as a state of wisdom which is blissful yet empty - a very special state that is the inseparability of basic space and awareness. As you focus your devotion in this way, it allows this special quality of mind, this new capability, as it were, to awaken."

DEITY PRACTICE

Much of the popular confusion around tantra can be traced back to two aspects: deity practice and sexual practice.

Deity practice is a profound meditation practice which uses the projection of already being enlightened to speed up one's good potential and reduce one's negative mind states. It is important to understand that this should only be done from the perspective of emptiness (or a mental arising from emptiness), otherwise one may not be much different from the people behind bars in mental institutions who claim to be Napoleon...

If one imagines in deep meditation that one is a perfect, loving being, free from the delusions of attachment, anger and ignorance, one can notice a slight difference in attitude after the meditation. For untrained minds, the time that one notices some positive difference is brief. However, as with most things, regular practice enhances the positive feeling and gradually one's mind becomes habituated to a more positive state. (Remember that meditation stands for habituating the mind to positive states.)

In the words of Lama Yeshe from "Introduction to Tantra":

"When you are ready, bring to mind your Bodhicitta motivation to work for the sake of others and make the strong determination to arise in a form to which even more beings can relate.

With this compassionate motive the seed-syllable suddenly transforms into the transparent rainbow body of the deity itself. Understand this as being the actual emanation body (nirmanakaya) of full awakening that replaces the gross physical body of ordinary rebirth and has the nature of simultaneous bliss and wisdom.
Once again, identify strongly with this appearance by thinking, "This is the real nirmanakaya; it is who I really am."

In this way, then, ordinary rebirth is taken into the path as the emanation body of a Buddha.

When you see yourself as a deity, you should feel that you are the real emanation of the deity. Don't think that you are just pretending; you should be convinced. Then, like the actor who remains in character even after the play is finished, you might surprise yourself to find that you have actually become the deity.
Such divine pride - the strong sense of actually being the deity - is crucial. With it, tantric transformation will come naturally and be very powerful. Those people who think that tantra is only involved with pretending to be a deity are completely mistaken.

Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, from 'Everyday Consciousness and Buddha-Awakening':

"A beginner who visualizes the body of a deity and does not know the distinctive characteristics of the different aspects of consciousness would think that the deity must be seen as clearly during the mental meditation as if seen directly with the eyes. The eyes, however, have a much coarser way of perceiving concrete forms. Beginners do indeed meditate in the hope of attaining such clarity. Nevertheless, it will not arise, because the meditation on a deity does not happen through the medium of the eye consciousness, but through the medium of the mind consciousness. The objects of the mind consciousness are much less clear. The mind consciousness most definitely does not work like the eye consciousness. That's why some meditators who perceive a vague mental image think they are not capable of meditating correctly on a deity. The result is that they develop an aversion for the meditation. Those, however, who understand that each consciousness perceives in a different way know that mental images aren't as clear as the forms perceived with eyes, and therefore they are content with their meditation. They know how to meditate, do indeed so meditate, and thus their meditation works well."-

The main tantric practices can be summarized in the "Four Purities":
1. Seeing one's body as the body of the deity
2. Seeing one's environment as the pure land or mandala of the deity
3. Perceiving one's enjoyments as bliss of the deity, free from attachment
4. Performing one's actions only for the benefit of others (Bodhicitta motivation, altruism)

During the "generation stage", one imagines these four purities and familiarizes oneself with them. This usually involves extensive visualizations and mental exercises to achieve single pointed concentration on the emptiness of the deity and surroundings. A typical aspect of tantra is that limitations and obstacles are used and transformed in the path. The mental energy of anger is transformed into powerful compassionate action, desire is transformed into compassion for others, ignorance into omniscience etc., this is quite something else then repressing our delusions, it requires taking control over our deluded emotions.

At a very subtle level, body and mind are inseparable aspects. Both mind and energies need to be fully controlled to make the transformation to Buddhahood possible. Therefore, the extensive yogic practices found in tantra are aimed at controlling the energies within the body, like the practice of 'inner fire', 'Kundalini' (Skt.) or 'tummo' (Tib.).

During the "completion stage", the transformation to Buddhahood gradually takes place, mainly while working with the subtle energies in the channels and chakras. The main aim is to direct all energies into the central channel.
The word 'mantra' means 'mind-protection'. It protects the mind from ordinary appearances and conceptions. 'Mind' here refers to all six consciousnesses -- eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mental consciousnesses -- which are to be freed, or protected, from the ordinary world. There are two factors in mantra training, pride in oneself as a deity and vivid appearance of that deity. Divine pride protects one from the pride of being ordinary, and divine vivid appearance protects one from ordinary appearances. Whatever appears to the senses is viewed as the sport of a deity; for instance, whatever forms are seen are viewed as the emanations of a deity and whatever sounds are heard are viewed as the mantras of a deity. One is thereby protected from ordinary appearances, and through this transformation of attitude, the pride of being a deity emerges. Such protection of mind together with its attendant pledges and vows is called the practice of mantra.

DECIDING WHICH TANTRA TO PRACTICE

From an interview of Alex Berzin with His Holiness the Dalai Lama (from Berzin Archives):

Berzin: When practicing in the Gelug tradition, is it only when we reach the complete stage that we need to decide the specific Buddha-figure system through which we will reach enlightenment – for instance, through Kalachakra or through the joint practice of Guhyasamaja, Chakrasamvara, and Vajrabhairava?

His Holiness: You cannot practice both [as your actual path for reaching enlightenment]. But, that doesn’t concern us now. When we reach the point at which we single-pointedly practice the generation stage with fully qualified Bodhicitta and a correct understanding of voidness, and we decide fully to devote ourselves to a course of generation and complete stage practice, then it is best to find out whether we fulfill the defining characteristics for someone who will reach enlightenment through this path or that path. This will depend on our own physical condition [particularly, which subtle energy-system is most prominent in us] and on our previous karmic connections. Then, on this basis, we definitely decide.

Berzin: On the generation stage?

His Holiness: We are not yet at the above stage where we can concentrate fully on the generation stage, so there is not much harm in practicing several systems. We just simply get used to this generation stage or that, since we are not yet devoting our entire energies and time. When all preparations are finished and we can put all our energies into practice of the generation stage alone, then that is the stage at which to decide. Based on this decision, the complete stage of that particular generation stage will follow. Thus, the generation and complete stages are integrally related. It is impossible for someone fully practicing the Guhyasamaja generation stage to transfer on the complete stage to the Chakrasamvara complete stage.

In other words, first we need to ascertain very clearly [in terms of our subtle energy-systems and so on] that our stable connection is with the Kalachakra complete stage or with the Guhyasamaja or Chakrasamvara one. Then, we would accordingly practice that generation stage.

Berzin: Before we reach that point, is it helpful to practice many generation stages?

His Holiness: That is what we do, and it is better, because we make some connections with various practices and lay instincts. That is helpful.

SEXUALITY IN TANTRA

Please note that this very brief explanation is merely intended to give a taste for the profundity of tantric practice as antidote to what many people think is a mere superstitious belief in thousands or strange "gods" with many arms and feet that are having sex all the time. All the images and ritual involved are merely intended to practice very advanced techniques for training the mind and controlling subtle energies within one's body. It is quite the opposite of ordinary sex with attachment and craving.

As mentioned above, parts of the exercises in tantric practice are involving controlling and transforming bodily energies. Sexual energy happens to be one of the strongest forms of physical energy; simply said, it is built-in by nature to ensure the survival of the species. Also these sexual energies need to be completely controlled and transformed. What is usually overlooked is that sexual practices in tantra should be free from the ordinary desires and lust, and only very advanced practitioners should try these practices after permission from their teachers. Simply said, it has very little to do with ordinary sex. Arousal of the sexual energy is preferably done by just visualizing a consort.

The union of male and female are symbolic for the union of method or compassion and wisdom, or more specific in tantra, the union of bliss and emptiness. (See also Keith Dowman's website for a more elaborate explanation.)

"Through the skillful methods of tantra, meditators are able to cultivate pleasure in a way that actually aids in spiritual progress. Afflicted grasping and desires based on mistaken ideas are the problem, not happiness and pleasure. If the pursuit of happiness and pleasure can be separated from afflictive emotions, then it can be incorporated into the path and will even become a powerful aid to the attainment of enlightenment." From 'Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism' by John Powers

This also illustrates one of the typical aspects of tantra: rather than repressing negative emotions like attachment, they are transformed into positive energy. But using this transformation principle has two sides: it is not only a very effective means of making mental changes, but if they are done without proper guidance of a qualified teacher, the practitioner can easily increase negative emotions rather than reducing them. So very powerful psychological techniques like tantra need to be treated with much care and consideration to avoid disastrous results for the practitioner.

WRATHFUL FORMS OF THE BUDDHAS

Many people (including myself) are confused when they first see the representation of wrathful or fierce (angry looking) images in the Tibetan tradition, when someone explains that these so-called Protectors are Buddhas, the confusion is complete - an angry Buddha is a contradiction in terms? Thubten Chodron explains in 'How to Free Your Mind: Tara the Liberator':
"Why are there fierce protectors? Peaceful deities such as Tara have a certain energy that calms and gladdens our mind. But sometimes our mind is so belligerent and stuck that we need the kind of energy that goes "Pow!" to wake us up or to pull us out of unproductive behavior. For this reason, the Buddhas' wisdom and compassion appear in the form of these wrathful deities to demonstrate clean-clear wisdom and compassion that act directly. This active wisdom doesn't vacillate and pamper us. This wisdom doesn't say, "Well, maybe," or, "Poor you. You deserve to be treated well, not like that horrible person treated you." Instead, it's forceful: "Cut it out! Stop those false expectations and preconceptions right now!" Sometimes we need that strong, wise energy to be in our face to wake us up to the fact that our afflictions and old patterns of thought and behavior are making us miserable."

So, once more, we need to realize that tantra is very much a method and not a goal as such. The aim is to realize that only our own mind determines the way in which the world appears to us, and then by changing the mind, we can change this appearance. If we combine this insight with a compassionate motivation and advanced energy practices, this technique will lead us to Buddhahood. However, our mind tends to resists change, especially if our ego is under threat, so in those cases, a 'kick in the butt' may well be necessary. Just like we sometimes have to act wrathful to make clear to a small child that something is very dangerous, similarly, these angry-looking Buddha forms can wake us up towards aspects of our own deluded mind. The power of tantra here is again to redirect the force of a negative emotion like anger towards negative aspects of the mind in order to transform them into positive attitudes like love and compassion. Directing anger-energy makes a powerful antidote against our own negative emotion of anger.

IS BUDDHIST TANTRA DERIVED FROM HINDU TANTRA?

It is often claimed that Buddhist tantra is a derivative from tantric practices of Shiva’s, but in fact, the reverse may be true. Although there are striking external resemblances, the differences in methods and aims are much more significant.

As Benoytosh Bhattacharyya notes in his 'Buddhist Esoterism':
"It is possible to declare, without fear of contradiction, that the Buddhists were the first to introduce the tantras into their religion, and that the Hindus borrowed them from the Buddhists in later times, and that it is idle to say that later Buddhism is an outcome of Saivaism. The literature, which goes by the name of the Hindu Tantras, arose almost immediately after the Buddhist ideas had established themselves."

MANTRAS in Tantric Practice
A saying from the Vedas claims that "Speech is the essence of humanity." All of what humanity thinks and ultimately becomes is determined by the expression of ideas and actions through speech and its derivative, writing. Everything, the Vedas maintain, comes into being through speech. Ideas remain unactualized until they are created through the power of speech. Similarly, The New Testament, Gospel of John, starts "In the beginning was The Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God..."
In mainstream Vedic practices, most Buddhist techniques and classical Hinduism, mantra is viewed as a necessity for spiritual advancement and high attainment. In The Kalachakra Tantra, by the Dalai Lama and Jeffrey Hopkins, the Dalai Lama states, "Therefore, without depending upon mantra...Buddhahood cannot be attained."
Clearly, there is a reason why such widely divergent sources of religious wisdom as the Vedas, the New Testament and the Dalai Lama speak in common ideas. Here are some important ideas about mantra which will enable you to begin a practical understanding of what mantra is and what it can do.

Definition # 1: Mantras are energy-based sounds.

Saying any word produces an actual physical vibration. Over time, if we know what the effect of that vibration is, then the word may come to have meaning associated with the effect of saying that vibration or word. This is one level of energy basis for words.

Another level is intent. If the actual physical vibration is coupled with a mental intention, the vibration then contains an additional mental component which influences the result of saying it. The sound is the carrier wave and the intent is overlaid upon the wave form, just as a colored gel influences the appearance and effect of a white light.

In either instance, the word is based upon energy. Nowhere is this idea more true than for Sanskrit mantra. For although there is a general meaning which comes to be associated with mantras, the only lasting definition is the result or effect of saying the mantra.

Definition #2: Mantras create thought-energy waves.

The human consciousness is really a collection of states of consciousness which distributively exist throughout the physical and subtle bodies. Each organ has a primitive consciousness of its own. That primitive consciousness allows it to perform functions specific to it. Then come the various systems. The cardio-vascular system, the reproductive system and other systems have various organs or body parts working at slightly different stages of a single process. Like the organs, there is a primitive consciousness also associated with each system. And these are just within the physical body. Similar functions and states of consciousness exist within the subtle body as well. So individual organ consciousness is overlaid by system consciousness, overlaid again by subtle body counterparts and consciousness, and so ad infinitum.

The ego with its self-defined "I" ness assumes a pre-eminent state among the subtle din of random, semi-conscious thoughts which pulse through our organism. And of course, our organism can "pick up" the vibration of other organisms nearby. The result is that there are myriad vibrations riding in and through the subconscious mind at any given time.

Mantras start a powerful vibration which corresponds to both a specific spiritual energy frequency and a state of consciousness in seed form. Over time, the mantra process begins to override all of the other smaller vibrations, which eventually become absorbed by the mantra. After a length of time which varies from individual to individual, the great wave of the mantra stills all other vibrations. Ultimately, the mantra produces a state where the organism vibrates at the rate completely in tune with the energy and spiritual state represented by and contained within the mantra.

At this point, a change of state occurs in the organism. The organism becomes subtly different. Just as a laser is light which is coherent in a new way, the person who becomes one with the state produced by the mantra is also coherent in a way which did not exist prior to the conscious undertaking of repetition of the mantra.

Definition #3: Mantras are tools of power and tools for power.

They are formidable. They are ancient. They work. The word "mantra" is derived from two Sanskrit words. The first is "manas" or "mind," which provides the "man" syllable. The second syllable is drawn from the Sanskrit word "trai" meaning to "protect" or to "free from." Therefore, the word mantra in its most literal sense means "to free from the mind." Mantra is, at its core, a tool used by the mind which eventually frees one from the vagaries of the mind.

But the journey from mantra to freedom is a wondrous one. The mind expands, deepens and widens and eventually dips into the essence of cosmic existence. On its journey, the mind comes to understand much about the essence of the vibration of things. And knowledge, as we all know, is power. In the case of mantra, this power is tangible and wieldable.

Understanding Mantra
1. Mantras have close, approximate one-to-one direct language-based translation.

If we warn a young child that it should not touch a hot stove, we try to explain that it will burn the child. However, language is insufficient to convey the experience. Only the act of touching the stove and being burned will adequately define the words "hot" and "burn" in the context of "stove." Essentially, there is no real direct translation of the experience of being burned.

Similarly, there is no word which is the exact equivalent of the experience of sticking one's finger into an electrical socket. When we stick our hand into the socket, only then do we have a context for the word "shock." But shock is really a definition of the result of the action of sticking our hand into the socket.
It is the same with mantras. The only true definition is the experience which it ultimately creates in the speaker. Over thousands of years, many chanters have had common experiences and passed them on to the next generation. Through this tradition, a context of experiential definition has been created.

2. Definitions of mantras are oriented toward either the results of repeating the mantra or of the intentions of the original framers and testers of the mantra.
In Sanskrit, sounds which have no direct translation but which contain great power which can be "grown" from it are called "seed mantras." Seed in Sanskrit is called "Bijam" in the singular and "Bija" in the plural form.

An example would be the mantra "Shrim" or Shreem is the seed sound for the principle of abundance (Lakshmi, in the Hindu Pantheon.) If one says "shrim" a hundred times, a certain increase in the potentiality of the sayer to accumulate abundance is achieved. If one says "shrim" a thousand times or a million, the result is correspondingly greater.

But abundance can take many forms. There is prosperity, to be sure, but there is also peace as abundance, health as wealth, friends as wealth, enough food to eat as wealth, and a host of other kinds and types of abundance which may vary from individual to individual and culture to culture. It is at this point that the intention of the sayer begins to influence the degree of the kind of capacity for accumulating wealth which may accrue.

3. Mantras have been tested and/or verified by their original framers or users.
Each mantra is associated with an actual sage or historical person who once lived. Although the oral tradition predates written speech by centuries, those earliest oral records annotated on palm leaves discussed earlier clearly designate a specific sage as the "seer" of the mantra. This means that the mantra was probably arrived at through some form of meditation or intuition and subsequently tested by the person who first encountered it.

4. Sanskrit mantras are composed of letters which correspond to certain petals or spokes of chakras in the subtle body.

There is a direct relationship between the mantra sound, either vocalized or subvocalized, and the chakras located throughout the body.

5. Mantras are energy which can be likened to fire.

You can use fire either to cook your lunch or to burn down the forest. It is the same fire. Similarly, mantra can bring a positive and beneficial result, or it can produce an energy meltdown when misused or practiced without some guidance. There are certain mantra formulas which are so exact, so specific and so powerful that they must be learned and practiced under careful supervision by a qualified teacher.
Fortunately, most of the mantras widely used in the West are perfectly safe to use on a daily basis, even with some intensity.

6. Mantra energizes prana.

"Prana" is a Sanskrit term for a form of life energy which can be transferred from individual to individual. Prana may or may not produce an instant dramatic effect upon transfer. There can be heat or coolness as a result of the transfer.

Some healers operate through transfer of prana. A massage therapist can transfer prana with beneficial effect. Even self-healing can be accomplished by concentrating prana in certain organs, the result of which can be a clearing of the difficulty or condition. For instance, by saying a certain mantra while visualizing an internal organ bathed in light, the specific power of the mantra can become concentrated there with great beneficial effect.

7. Mantras eventually quiet the mind.

At a deep level, subconscious mind is a collective consciousness of all the forms of primitive consciousnesses which exist throughout the physical and subtle bodies. The dedicated use of mantra can dig into subconscious crystallized thoughts stored in the organs and glands and transform these bodily parts into repositories of peace.
The Sanskrit word ‘mantra’ contains the root 'man' which means 'to think' and the syllable 'tra' which means 'tool'. Thus, mantra is a 'tool for thinking'. A mantra is a sacred letter-form and sound that contains the genetic essence of a specific energy. Sometimes mantras are are defined as 'protectors of the mind'.

"It is the essence of the creative word, the primal sounds that give shape to the relative reality filling the ultimate reality of the void... The power and effect of a mantra depend on the spiritual attitude, the knowledge and the responsiveness of the individual. The sound of the mantra is not a physical sound (though it may be accompanied by such a one) but a spiritual one. It cannot be heard by the ears, but only by the heart, and it cannot be uttered by the mouth but only by the mind. The mantra has power and meaning only for the initiated... Mantras are not 'spells', as even prominent Western scholars repeat again and again... Mantras do not act on account of their own 'magic' nature, but only through the mind that experiences them." Lama Anagarika Govinda from 'Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism'
In Buddhism, most mantras are pronounced in the original Sanskrit.

It should be noted that in all main religions much importance is given to speech / the word / mantra. For example, in the Christian bible it reads: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". Similarly, in Hinduism, the sound of OM takes an essential part in the creation of the universe.

The recitation of mantras is a very important part in tantric practice, as it is used to transform the speech as part of transforming our body, speech and mind into the respective pure aspects of a Buddha). Like with other tantric practices, they only become really effective after oral transmission from a teacher.
It is interesting to note also that even in the earliest Pali (Theravadin) texts, mantras can be found for the purpose of warding off danger, as well as for the creation of beneficial conditions.

"A mantra is something that you utter when your body, speech and mind, and breath are at one in concentration. When you dwell in that deep concentration, you look at things and see them as clearly as you see an orange that you hold in the palm of your hand. Looking deeply into the five skandhas, Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin Bodhisattva) saw the nature of interbeing and overcame all pain. He became completely liberated. It was in that state of deep concentration, of joy, of liberation, that he uttered something important. That is why his utterance is a mantra.

When two young people love each other, but the young man has not said so yet, the young lady may be waiting for three very important words. If the young man is a very responsible person, he probably wants to be sure of his feeling, and he may wait a long time before saying it. Then one day, sitting together in a park, when no one else is nearby and everything is quiet, after the two of them have been silent for a long time, he utters these three words. When the young lady hears this, she trembles, because it is such an important statement. When you say something like that not just with your mouth or intellect, but with your whole being, it can transform the world. A statement that has such power of transformation is called a mantra." From: "The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra" by Thich Nhat Hanh

You can find more information on mantras and several examples (including the proper pronunciation) at Wildmind.org.

Preliminaries to Kalachakra Tantra Practice

2008-04-20T17:08:00.000-07:00

"Tantra activates many powerful subtle energies in our body and mind and, if we do not have any mental training or discipline, this excess energy will take the path of least resistance through our negative emotions of attachment, jealousy, pride, egotism, and so on"

- Lama Ganchen

SECRECY

"Pure intellect, indeed, detached from soul, is the death of Man. Intellect, self-confident and isolated in arrogant complacency, does not ennoble Man. It humiliates him, deprives him of his personality. It kills that loving participation in the life of things and creatures of which the soul, with its emotions and intuitions, is capable. Intellect, by itself alone, is dead and also deadly - a principle of disintegration." From Giuseppe Tucci's "The Theory and Practice of the Mandala" - Rider.

Why are Buddhists so secretive of tantra? Tantric practice is a highly advanced form of psycho-physical exercises in order to achieve transformation of one's body and mind quickly into the perfected state of a Buddha. Simply said, these methods are not without danger when used without the proper guidance and precautions. To avoid people getting involved in these practices without proper guidance, the practices are kept secret for people without explicit permission to practice from a qualified teacher. Often, teachers require disciples to do extensive practices before being allowed any permission; more about that is written in below paragraphs on prerequisites and preliminaries. So please keep in mind that the secrecy around tantra is basically for safety, just like it is proper to lock a gun away from the reach of children.

Whatever is included on these web pages about tantra is general knowledge which is allowed for uninitiated to read, and is intended to at least take away some misunderstandings about tantric practices.

MOTIVATION FOR PRACTICE

To clarify where tantric practices fit in the Buddhist system, it may be useful to explain a bit more about the various motivations or scopes. Traditionally, only the "small, middle and high scope" is taught to distinguish the various motivations for practicing. Here, I would like to present a somewhat unconventional approach, starting even below spiritual practice:

- The "Animal Scope": Wanting immediate happiness for oneself.
- The "Worldly Human Scope": Wanting immediate happiness for oneself and others.
- The Buddhist Small Scope: Wanting happiness for oneself in a future life.
- The Buddhist Middle Scope: Wanting to escape the cycle of uncontrolled rebirth for oneself. (Hinayana)
- The Buddhist Great Scope: Wanting others to go beyond suffering forever (enlightenment), and reach Buddhahood oneself to help others on their path. (Mahayana)
- The "Buddhist Tantric Scope": Wanting others to be happy as soon as possible, and reach Buddhahood oneself quickly to serve them. (Vajrayana)

A teaching from "Being Peace" by Thitch Nhat Hahn:

"A woman, who practices reciting Buddha Amitabha's name, is very tough and recites "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA" three times daily. Although she is doing this practice for over 10 years, she is still quite mean, shouting at people all the time. She starts her practice lighting incense and hitting a little bell.

A friend wanted to teach her a lesson, and just as she began her recitation, he came to her door and called out: "Miss Nuyen, Miss Nuyen!".

As this was the time for her practice she got annoyed, but she said to herself: "I have to struggle against my anger, so I will just ignore it." And she continued: "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA..."

But the man continued to shout her name, and she became more and more oppressive.

She struggled against it and wondered if she should stop the recitation to give the man a piece of her mind, but she continued reciting: "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA..."

The man outside heard it and continued: "Miss Nuyen, Miss Nuyen..."

Then she could not stand it anymore, jumped up, slammed the door and went to the gate and shouted: "Why do you have to behave like that? I am doing my practice and you keep on shouting my name over and over!"

The gentleman smiled at her and said: "I just called your name for ten minutes and you are so angry. You have been calling Amitabha Buddha's name for more then ten years now; just imagine how angry he must be by now!"

PREREQUISITES TO BUDDHIST TANTRIC PRACTICE

The following aspects are considered prerequisites before a disciple can engage in tantric practice:

1. Refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

2. Renunciation: a realization is best, but a proper understanding is essential.

3. Bodhicitta: a realization is best, but a proper understanding is essential. For most of the initiations, it is required to take the aspiring Bodhisattva vows or the Bodhisattva vows.

4. Emptiness: a direct realization is best, but a proper understanding is essential.

5. Reliance on a spiritual teacher: proper confidence in a teacher and verifying his/her qualifications is essential.

6. Empowerment or initiation: without this ceremonial permission to practice by a qualified teacher, tantric practice is improper.

7. Tantric vows: for the higher tantric classes, one needs to take tantric vows. These vows are secret to the uninitiated, so students need to take 'a leap of faith' and trust the teacher and the practice before taking them.

8. Faith/confidence: solid confidence both in the teacher and the teachings is essential to avoid serious karmic problems when doubts arise. 'Blind faith' will generally not have the power to pull someone through when things are difficult.
The only proper motivation to practice tantra is Bodhicitta, or the wish to become fully enlightened in order to help all sentient beings. This is the reason why at least an understanding of Bodhicitta is essential prior to engaging in tantric practice. To enforce this motivation, usually, an extra prerequisite is taking either the Aspirational Vows or the full Bodhisattva Vows.

Next, at least some understanding of the philosophy of emptiness is essential for tantric practice, as this is the basic mental state in which tantric practice becomes more than just ritual or strange practice of imagination.

Ideally, a tantric practitioner should have full realizations of Bodhicitta and emptiness instead of merely a conceptual understanding. In that case, tantric practice can guide one very swiftly to the state of Buddhahood.

PRELIMINARY PRACTICES

Some teachers (depending on the specific tradition and individual student) require one to engage in the so-called preliminary practices before giving initiation to disciples. However, the first four practices mentioned below (mandala offerings, refuge, Vajrasattva and prostrations) are generally the preliminaries for a traditional "3-year and 3 month retreat".

These preliminary practices traditionally consist of:
- Making 100,000 mandala offerings to generate merit by generosity;
- Reciting 100,000 refuge prayers to increase one's confidence;
- Reciting 100,000 Vajrasattva mantras to purify obstacles
- Making 100,000 prostrations to counteract pride.
Depending on the teacher and the disciple, other practices are sometimes done:
- Offering 100,000 water-bowl offerings (create merit by generosity)
- Reciting 100,000 Guru's name mantras: Guru-yoga, to generate confidence and establish a deeper relationship with the teacher
- Making 100,000 clay images or 'tsa-tsas' in Tibetan
- Reciting 100,000 Samayavajra mantras (somewhat similar to Vajrasattva)
- Making 100,000 fire offerings to Vajra Daka (Dorje Khadro).

Not only are these excellent methods to accumulate the necessary positive energy (karma) to have success with the practice, but they also help in the purification of obstacles to the practice.