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The oldest forms of meditation in the world
probably came out of a tradition which came to be known in India
as Tantra. The word means "weaving" and has to do with
weaving the soul together with its divine source. The term is
used in many ways today often associated in the West with the
cultivation of higher sexual pleasure and liberation. So here
is a brief survey of its different meanings.
Tantra has a very general sense meaning the
pursuit of wholeness in personal development. It contrasts with
Yoga which is the pursuit of an ideal state or way of being. Generally,
in the West under the influence of Christianity, people have sought
to become some sort of ideal, but with the advent of Freud in
the last Century, another view evolved in the West in which all
aspects of the Self need to be brought together in a transcendent
whole. Most alternative therapies subscribe to the view of psychological
health as being whole rather rather than ideal.
In the Hindu tradition, 108 Tantric exercises
appear in a scripture said to be 5,000 years old called the Vignana
Bhairava Tantra. There is a wonderful and very accessible translation
and commentary on these exercises by Osho Rajneesh called The
Book of the Secrets. One of its primary themes is that enlightenment
happens when the goddess and the god (the feminine and masculine
principles) within us are united. Out of this very ancient idea
and stream of meditation techniques, Tantra in India has evolved
over the millennia into two forms, often designated as left and
right handed Tantra.
Left-handed Tantra involves achieving wholeness
through extremes of behavior. One should basically do everything
one is most afraid to do. This form of Tantra also involves the
high cultivation of sexuality and the identification of the partners
with the god and goddess whose union creates high states leading
to enlightenment. This is traditionally considered a very dangerous
path because the goal of enlightenment can so easily be derailed
into the pursuit of pleasure.
Right-handed Tantra does not involve sexual
practices and could be called Tantric Yoga. Wholeness is achieved
by opening the chakras, or energy centers along the spine, which
are foci of aspects of consciousness.. For instance, the first
chakra at the base of the spine is the focus of our survival mind.
The Seventh chakra at the top of the head is the mind of our divine
awareness. By awakening all of the chakras and realizing their
energies in the spine, the practitioner comes into wholeness.
In the West, Tantra has been largely taken over
into the project of enhancing sexuality and its pleasures, the
liberation of which is seen as an important component of being
whole.
Celebrations of Love includes trainings
in many techniques for opening the capacity for a much greater
sense of sexuality and sensuality. In my own Archetypal Psychodrama
Workshop, the focus is on the basic project of uniting the inner
masculine and feminine principles.
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