Tantra
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
Written by Carolyn Hoppe & Sean Michael Smith
Introduction
Tantra is most well-known as an ancient spiritual practice of connecting to divinity through sensuality and sexuality. It is a way to create a sacred union in becoming one with God rather than just a sexual act. It is far more encompassing than sex itself and can be practiced without the sexual component. Tantra is a belief that sensuality is part of spirituality. It teaches ways to use all the senses to express and experience true intimacy. The word “tantra” means to liberate and expand. Tantra practice assists you in being fully present in yourself so you can witness another in a more heightened sensual and divine way. Tantra principles focus on setting the space for a deep, intimate connection. Tantra techniques bring you to a place where you can honor yourself, your partner, and together honoring God. The goal is to merge with another and lift to a higher plane beyond the human realm.
Kenneth Stuggs in his book The Essential Tantra (1989) says, “When we embrace all our sexuality, we honor our spirituality. When we embrace all our spirituality, we honor our sexuality. When we embrace both, we celebrate God… In tantric sensual ceremony we bring our attention to sensory and feeling experiences. We slow down so that we become aware of subtleties. We discover the beauty beneath the rough edges. We nurture the senses in gentleness. The heart is touched and we experience joy.”
Tantra teaches the art of living everyday in the world as if it were sacred, cultivating the power of awareness and seeing the world as unlimited, for it is only our perception that sees the limits. Unenlightened beings experience the world as a place of suffering while enlightened beings experience the world as a place of bliss. Tantra offers tools to transmute fear and attachment into universal power and love. Before Tantra can be learned, psychological work must be done to release emotions, patterns and beliefs that limit expansion.