Tantra Yoga – Benefits and Prerequisites For Practice

Tantra Yoga is a much talked-about term, but what is it and what does it take to practice tantra yoga? Quite simply, it is a set of tantra exercises that harnesses extremely potent power for spiritual regeneration.

Because of this power, it lies at the fundaments of ancient tantra practice.Tantra yoga lays special emphasis on the development of the powers latent in our six chakras, from Muladhara to Ajna. It should be clarified here that tantra yoga is not concerned with sexuality, but with creative force and transmuting the energy of this force into higher channels.

This revered and highly efficacious form of tantra practice involves deep meditation, in which the student of tantra sits calmly and purifies the mind and heart of wayward thoughts and desires.Tantra yoga is a ritual path, and is often grossly misunderstood and wrongly practiced. The fact is that its practitioners must have purity, humility, devotion, courage, dedication to their tantra teacher, a deep understanding of cosmic love, faithfulness, contentment, dispassion, non-covetousness and honesty. This form of yoga is a process that can unfold one’s spiritual nature through the constant worship of the energy within, collectively known as Shakti.

Practiced diligently under the guidance of an accomplished tantra master, it brings about an awakening of the self.Tantra yoga does not limit itself to a particular branch of study – rather, it incorporates in it diverse elements which are linked by a unifying rule of Tantra Dharma. It aims to bring about consciousness in all states of human life – the conscious state, the waking state and the dream state. It is a path and practice that teaches the methods and ways by which we can discard intolerance, ignorance, selfishness and the animal instinct that lives in all of us.Tantra believes teaches us that the primary driving force behind the Universe isnothing but desire, and that desires are very natural for a soul residing in a human body.

Tantra yoga brings physical and mental cleansing through Pranayama (tantra breathing exercises) the visualization of energized energy vortexes (yantra) and deities, the repetition of mantras (energized sounds/words) etc. It is a holistic means of studying of the macrocosm from microcosmic point of view.When a student of tantra practices tantra yoga under a tantra teacher, he or she will soon be able to identify a wide range of factors that impact our thoughts and feelings. Regular practice of this most basic – and yet most powerful – manifestation of ancient tantra inculcates the contentedness, concentration and focus which are needed to release our consciousness from its inherent limitations.

In short – tantra states that desires are natural, and tantra yoga provides practical means and devices to reprogram our minds and desires so that they serve us, rather than the other way round.

Acharya Subhojit Dasgupta is a Tantra Teacher with an in-depth knowledge of traditional Indian sciences and Sanskrit literature. Visit his tantra online guide to read more about Tantra Yoga, learn tantra exercises and tantric techniques from this young Tantra Master.

Tantra and Tantric sex – Explaining the tantric path

A shloka from Tantra Rahasayam explains Tantra as “Tanyate vistaryate jnanam anemna iti tantram” (Tantra is the divine scripture by which the light of advanced spiritual knowledge is spread).

Tantra is an ancient system of psycho-spiritual meditations and self-realization techniques that originated in India. It is still practiced in its authentic entirety by a young Tantra Acharya Subhojit Dasgupta, who represents the most ancient lineage of Tantra in India.

Tantra is collectively a large set of specific tantric techniques that includes yamas, niyamas, asanas, mudras, pratyaharas, dharanas, dhyanas and samadhi techniques. These techniques are considered an integral part of tantric self-realization and awareness.

Tantra is defined as the combination of tattva (the advanced science of cosmic principles), and mantra (the sciences of mystic sound and energy vibrations) and its various applications. Authentic Tantra is based on the harmonization of this combination, raising its intensity to unlimited potency.

Tantra can further the growth of human consciousness in all its manifestations – in personal growth, health, business, and knowledge – treating mind, body and spirit as aspects of the one intelligence.

But there is a unique aspect to Tantra: Unlike several other religions and paths that preach abstinence from all that give pleasure, Tantra proclaims that a life without pleasure is no life at all. Moreover, our desires will continue to haunt us until they are allowed to reach its peak; only after that can it be submerged. Tantra instead says that the transcendental experience of sexual union should be utilized in our path to spiritual awareness. Does that mean that the paths that teach abstinence are wrong?

No! It simply means that they are trying to attain transcendence in different ways. Their aim is the same, only their basic methods differ from Tantra.

Tantra aims for the transcendence of the transient world and aims at giving its practitioners, experiences of intense meditation. Tantra recognizes sex as an important part of a person’s being and the development of one’s soul, but acquiring the right balance is the key.

Tantra is to be used as a spiritual path by people who do not prefer to sacrifice their sexual activities, either due to their disposition or because they are involved in family life.

Rather than suppressing our sexual inclinations, Tantra asks us to utilize the power of sex to gain transcendence. It instructs us not to have sexual play but to use it to climb the ladder of spiritual consciousness. Sex will not stop the continual distraction in one’s mind but when the sexual urges are strong, it is better to utilize it for spiritual purposes and not suppress it. And through these esoteric experiences gained by tantric union and through other non-sexual tantric techniques, one can anticipate to evolve spiritually in a natural way and will gradually lose mundane interest in sex.

And finally when the mind’s attention is diverted away from sex, it becomes ready for serious spiritual sadhana. That is the prerequisite for greater spiritual evolution.

But a word of caution: Tantra does not preach indiscrimate sexual play. It has set specific rules as to how the sexual energy will be utilized. These rules have to be strictly followed; otherwise one can suffer undesirable experiences associated with the premature awakening of the chakras, which is life-threatening without the direct guidance of a knowledgeable Tantra Master

Persons who would like to practice this sexual aspect of Tantric Sadhana must do so under the able guidance of a Tantra Master, who will lay down strict guidelines on the conduct of their lives and what focus their spiritual sadhana must follow.

Copyright (C) Subhojit Dasgupta.

Subhojit Dasgupta is a Tantra Master and offers Tantra lessons to select pupils.

Tantra Leads To Supreme Enlightenment

There are numerous paths to achieve Realization. Of the many paths, Tantra is considered as the ‘crown’ of realization because it puts you in direct contact with the entire process of complete realization.

The reason why Tantra is so powerful is because Tantra interconnects and unites all of reality, and everything attained on the physical level also crosses into the spiritual level as well. And the spiritual and the physical are no longer separate but an integral part of each other.

Tantra is a way of life and a complete spiritual movement in itself, which originated in India, as per Vedic evolution. Tantra is a diverse and rich spiritual tradition of India and it forms an integral part of the Vedas or Vedic scriptures.

The process of Tantric Realization comprises a vast and diverse array of Tantric and Agaamic scriptures, some of which are yet to be translated from the ancient Sanskrit scriptures.

Tantric scriptures deal with extremely advanced meditations, rituals, symbolism, and energy-transfer processes known as Shakti-paat. The esoteric forms of Tantra using mantras or the powerful sacred sounds are known as Mantrayana.

An offshoot of Tantra is Tantric Buddhism known as Vajrayana or the Vehicle of the Thunderbolt. The vajra is a double-headed ritual tool, used with a bell. Held in the right hand, it represents the masculine, skillful means, and compassion. The bell in the left hand represents the feminine, wisdom, emptiness, and nirvana.

In the Vajrayana the five Jinas namely Akshobya, Amitabha, Amoghasiddhi, Ratnasambhava, and Vairocana, also known as the Dhyani-Buddha, are a major focus of tantric meditation. But Tantra is regarded as a faster way of attaining Buddha-nature than the path of the bodhisattvas.

The process of realization with Tantra is through ALL our faculties – the senses, the emotions, and the intellect, encouraged and roused to their highest pitch, so that our deepest memories and responses are awakened and converted into the pure energy from which they all originated.

Tantra tries to realize the continuous connection between all human states and conditions. This realization is brought about by using more than eight million tantric mudras and their permutations and combinations used in Tantra meditation, as well as advanced sexual postures, as our deepest feelings and pleasures become the raw material for our transformation into supreme or Tantric Enlightenment.

Copyright (C) Subhojit Dasgupta

Subhojit Dasgupta is a teacher of Tantra