The Secret of Shiva and Shakti

There is one energy that keeps taking on new names and forms. In Tantra the name of that energy is Shakti, the feminine force, which is actually one and the same as its only apparent companion Shiva, the masculine force.

Yoni : Symbol of Cosmic Mysteries

Yoni veneration is as old as humanity, says Peter Baltensperger in Lucrezia Magazine. The yoni symbolizes the cosmic receptacle as well as the ultimate source - the inexhaustible fountain of life itself.

Cultures throughout the ages have venerated the yoni as the symbolic representation of the mystery of the cosmos. As the primal source of all being, it constitutes the entrance into the universal womb from which we all come and to which we all return. In Hinduism, it is the attribute of the goddess Shakti, consort of Shiva. In Earth-centered, Nature-based religions, it is the sacred symbol of the Great Goddess, the Great Earth Mother herself. Above all, it is the matrix of generation, the universal focus, the be all and end all of existence. It is the shrine of worship for the great mysteries of the universe, the ultimate representation of life. Read more

What Is Shakti?

Anyone who reads anything about Tantra comes across the term Shakti. What is Shakti?

Shakti is the ultimate creative power of the universe. Shakti creates, she is not created. To be able to tap into this creative power is one of the goals of yoga and tantra. The realization of this power in us leads to freedom from limitation and the awakening of a higher life.

Shakti is pulsating, vibrating, throbbing creating power or force. These vibrations create the universe, the Big Bang, and all names and forms. These vibrations are represented as mantras, and when a series of sounds, a garland of letters, is infused with Shakti, the sound is transformed into a potent tool that can awaken the higher mind and reveal knowledge which leads to higher experience. Read more

Awakening Shakti

One of the most common terms used in Tantra is Shakti. What does this word mean? Shakti represents the female principle of energy and motion without which there could be no manifested universe. Her name means "creative energy and/or "power" in Sanskrit.

According to the philosophy of Tantra, the entire universe is a manifestation of pure consciousness. In manifesting the universe, this pure consciousness seems to become divided into two poles or aspects, neither of which can exist without the other.

One aspect, Shiva, is masculine, retains a static quality and remains identified with unmanifested consciousness. Shiva has the power to be but not the power to become or change.

The other aspect, Shakti, is feminine, dynamic, energetic and creative. Shakti is the Great Mother of the universe, for it is from her that all form is born. Read more

A Tantric Mistake and Its Consequences

Even Tantra teachers make mistakes. Ananth Tantri once gave in to a woman's insistence that he awaken her kundalini. He knew it was dangerous, but she was extremely persuasive. They both suffered the conseqences of his lapse in judgment.

To err is human, to admit is divine...

This is hard to talk about, but here it is. A few years ago, a very lovely Californian blonde in her early 40s requested me to coach her on the esoteric mysteries of kundalini, its arousal, and awakening. She wanted me to help her unleash the energy through the classical tantric ways using a variety of sensual and sexual methods. She was married, and so I felt it would be highly inappropriate for me to use the sexual approach to kundalini movement. So, I declined.

She was very persuasive, very intent, and gosh darn it, very attractive. So I finally agreed to awaken all the energy latent in her, but through the most secret of all of tantric methods, one that is usually never talked about, written about, and whose use is not looked at kindly by the Goddess - yes, Sarpa Tantra - the path of the serpent. This is the non-sexual (no intercourse) tantric approach that arises awakens and moves the kundalini wherever you want in less than 5 minutes - the time it takes to get a non-fat, single shot, decaf latte at Starbucks. The method is conceptually extremely simple - the awakener (me), embodies, models, and personifies the kundalini energy of the awakened one (her), and systematically moves through each chakra physically. As I act the part of the serpent, breathing, hissing, coiling, and striking each chakra forcefully, her energy also gets the cue and moves, and soon her body starts to shake under the assault of my modeling the serpentine kundalini, and her own kundalini rising to mimic me. It is extremely fast, extremely powerful, and extremely dangerous to directly awaken the energy. Read more