Tantra

• “Tantra” by Mahasatvaa Ma Ananda Sarita
• OSHO Speaks on Tantra

What is Tantra?

I love this question, as it opens up a whole world of unlimited discovery. Our bodies are the microcosm of the macrocosm. Tantra utilizes methods of meditation to help us explore the universe inherent in our own body, mind and emotional network. It is both an art and a science, using both subjective and objective aspects of the human being. In essence, Tantra accepts the fact that that we live in a dualistic, contradictory world, and teaches us how to access the magical alchemy which happens when two contradictions meet. This magical alchemy is achieved by practicing methods of meditation. Each method will unlock one facet of the mystery we call life. I call this process, accessing the nectar of the method, or the nectar of life.

Many people are very curious about Tantra and read books, hoping that by studying written texts they will come to an understanding of this ancient science of inner mastery. However, Tantra can only be understood by one who is courageous enough to try out the techniques. This is why it has been offered as a transmission from master to disciple for thousands of years. It is a living spiritual practice.

What is the difference between Tantra as commonly known in the world and as given by Osho?

In fact, Osho’s Neo Tantra is so vibrant and pulsating with life that many people who are used to well worn and habitual tradition may miss it altogether or mistake it for something else. His flights of genius as he describes Tantra methods urge us to follow the calling of our bodies, hearts and souls as one integrated whole. His potent active and silent meditations awaken us from our slumber, and help us to shake off centuries of repression. As we open to our wholeness, we begin remembering our true nature as vibrant, sensual, spiritual beings. This reunion with our true nature  is simultaneously, a transmission of the very essence of Tantra. I consider Osho to be a truly great Tantra Master. Even without saying the word, his community of disciples around the world demonstrate Tantra in action.

The Tantra which is commonly known in the world is in a sense a reflection of the state of man’s lifestyle and attitude at this time. If we say the word Tantra, it is very funny to see that 99% of people will immediately jump to the word, SEX. This word is quickly followed by words like, orgy,  licentiousness, or desire. I remember Osho’s book, From Sex to Superconsciousness. Many people who bought the book looked only at the word sex and completely forgot that the word superconsciousness is also in the title. This is a very good analogy of what happens around the Tantra scene all over the world. People tend to forget the fact that Tantra is a spirtual path which honors each aspect of the human being as a door to expanded consciousness, and focus only on the methods which utilize sexual energy. This is a mirror of where humanity is at nowadays. We are so desperate to discover our full sexual potential that we completely forget the superconsciousness part of the equation. In my work as a Tantra teacher, I am trying in every way to bring awareness and understanding about the full spectrum of what Tantra is, and to clear up misconceptions.

In the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra, there are 112 methods of meditation. Out of those, there are perhaps 6 which relate to the sex act. The beauty of Tantra is, it honours the whole human being. And, it is clear that we are all born out of the sexual union of our parents. Therefore, if we want to move into meditation and enlightenment, we need to bring a witnessing consciousness to this most sacred procreative act. It is an expression of God. But if we use only sex as meditation, this would be to deny all the other aspects of our being. Therefore, in Tantra, there are meditations using emotions, or senses, or mind, and all the other myriad dimensions of who we are. Tantra is the most compassionate path to enlightenment as it helps us to bring the light of awareness, the light of god, into even the most dense aspects of our human nature.

I love the Tantric saying, “without the mud, there would be no lotus.” The mud at the bottom of the lake represents our animal, sexual nature. As we bring loving awareness to this through meditation, the stem of the lotus rises up through the water of our emotional being, and as we awaken to our fullness as embodied spiritual beings, a great lotus of consciousness appears on the surface of the lake. This lotus could never appear if it were not being nourished by the mud at the bottom of the lake. The acceptance of all that we are is the key to understanding and practicing Tantra.

The most basic thing about Tantra is this --  and very radical, revolutionary, rebellious  --  the basic vision is that the world is not divided into the lower and the higher, but that the world is one piece. The higher and the lower are holding hands. The higher includes the lower, and the lower includes the higher. The higher is hidden in the lower  --  so the lower has not to be denied, has not to be condemned, has not to be destroyed or killed. The lower has to be transformed. The lower has to be allowed to move upwards... and the lower becomes the higher. There is no unbridgeable gap between the Devil and God  --  the Devil is carrying God deep down in his heart. Once that heart starts functioning, the Devil becomes God.

That is the reason why the very root of the word'devil' means the same as'divine'. The word'devil' comes from'divine'; it is the Divine not yet evolved, that's all. Not that the Devil is against the Divine, not that the Devil is trying to destroy the Divine  -- in fact, the Devil is trying to find the Divine. The Devil is on the way towards the Divine; it is not the enemy, it is the seed. The Divine is the tree fully in bloom and the Devil is the seed  --  but the tree is hidden in the seed. And the seed is not against the tree; in fact, the tree cannot exist if the seed is not there. And the tree is not against the seed  --  they are in deep friendship, they are together.

Poison and nectar are two phases of the same energy, so are life and death  --  and so is everything: day and night, love and hate, sex and superconsciousness.

Tantra says: Never condemn anything  --  the attitude of condemnation is the stupid attitude. By condemning something, you are denying yourself the possibility that would have become available to you if you had evolved the lower. Don't condemn the mud, because the lotus is hidden in the mud; use the mud to produce the lotus. Of course, the mud is not the lotus yet, but it can be. And the creative person, the religious person, will help the mud to release its lotus so that the lotus can be freed from the mud.

Saraha is the founder of the Tantra vision. It is of tremendous import, and particularly for the present moment in human history, because a new man is striving to be born, a new consciousness is knocking on the doors. And the future is going to be that of Tantra, because now no more dual attitudes can hold man's mind.
OSHO
The Tantra Vision, Vol-1, Chapter-1

Top