sivasakti.net - What is the purpose of Tantra ?

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W H A T is T H E P U R P O S E o f T A N T R A ?

The implications of what is called Tantra go far beyond mere "sex". They surpass the classic Kama Sutra, and even the sexual continence. It is true that Tantra it uses sex (in fact, to be more accurate, it uses the sexual energy), but this is just a means to an end. The actual aim of Tantra is the ULTIMATE SPRITUAL FREEDOM.

This concept may appear somewhat confusing for the time being ... however, for a better understanding, you should know that the Christians call it salvation of the soul. The Zen tradition - Satori,yoga - SAMADHI and Buddhism - Nirvana but it cannot be but one and the same thing. It is written in the Holy Book that we all have a spark of God inside us. Tantra believes that your spirit is of the same essence with God, pure happiness, infinite knowledge and immortality. It sustains that SPIRIT is above pain, illness and suffering, immune to all the limits of the human personality.

By achieving the state of ULTIMATE SPRITUAL FREEDOM the tantric practitioner becomes an all powerful being. There is no limit to what he can do, but not everything is permitted. Even in ULTIMATE SPRITUAL FREEDOM there are laws that must be followed - the universal laws of love, compassion and harmony.

However, a spiritually liberated person enjoys a much greater freedom than the other people because he is no longer limited by ignorance, lack of power and his happiness is not conditioned by anything exterior (and for women is the same). How many times didn't you say : First, I must get a car and THEN, I'll really be happy. I have to strive to become rich and THEN I will become happy. By contrast, all the LIBERATED people find a supreme happiness INSIDE themselves and in their permanent union with the Absolute, a happiness much more real and intense than what we usually feel in the day to day life. In fact this state is so different that we can call it by another name : DIVINE ECSTASY.

Patanjali, a yoga master in the ancient times, said "For the sage, everything in THIS world is but suffering and pain". Nonetheless, he is not the first one and not the last one to notice the universal suffering. Buddha himself said "Everything is pain, everything is ephemeral (in our physical world)". The human experience usually generates suffering. However, this universal pain does not lead to a pessimistic philosophy. No Hindu philosophy falls into dispair and negativism. The universal suffering has a positive value, as it stimulates the aspiration to reach the state of ultimate freedom. It is true that the suffering is universal, but it is not eternal.

The aim of every spiritual path is to free us from suffering. Tantra does this by a gradual EXPANSION of the field OF CONSCIOUSNESS. It is a process that involves a profound purification of the body and the aura and the mind. The physical and subtle bodies of a Tantric practitioner are pure as a diamond, and sharp as a lightning (Vajra).

Take the following example: let's say that you are in love and you tried hard to make your loved one respond to you with the same feelings. It was difficult and it took a lot of time... But today it finally happened! She told you she is in love with you. How do you feel? Don't you want to share your happiness with the whole world? Don't you feel like flying? Such moments make you forget all the bad and ugly things in this world. You are on the top of the world, and nothing can touch you! Now try to multiply this feeling to ten, a thousand, even a billion, and you will barely begin to grasp the feeling of CONSCIOUSNESS EXPANDED into the infinite.

The goal of Tantra is the ultimate happiness, a feeling so powerful that if you would feel it right now you might not be able to bear its intensity. An appropriate comparison it would be with a regular light bulb through which thousands of volts are made to run. The bulb could not bear the intensity, and it would most likely explode.
It takes a special kind of people to seek this goal. Not anyone off the street (and we can add, not everyone off the net) can be genuinely interested in this goal. An old tantric saying goes as follows: "Many are called, but few will succeed". The contemporary society has perverted the religious message to such a point that many good intentioned and moral people don't want to have anything to do with religion because it fails to address the mind as well as it addresses the soul.

Tantra on the other hand is a practice reserved to the few, it is a secret kept by few for thousands of years. The important aspect here is that it did not decay over the time. Tantra is not a religion; it is more of a spiritual philosophy doubled by a set of very efficient practices and techniques. One needs not be an Indian to practice Tantra. I myself am not an Indian and my tantric teacher is not an Indian. In fact we are Christians. The interesting fact is that I got to a better understanding and practice of my own religion after I studied the tantric spirituality. By studying one I can understand the other in a more profound way.

Tantra does not require that you believe in its teaching without considering it yourselves - quite the opposite! Tantra cannot be approached by people who cannot judge for themselves a certain matter. I invite all who are open minded to approach this teaching, leaving all preconceived ideas aside.

So, if you think you got what it takes to embark on this journey, stick with us and we'll show you how far can you go. :-)