Creating Sensual Spaces for Lovemaking

Jaiya discusses how to turn your bedroom - or any other room - into a sensual space for lovemaking.

What Is Black Tantra?

What is Black Tantra? Tantra teacher Acharya Subhojit Dasgupta explains what you need to know about this lesser known subdivision of ancient Tantra.

Black tantra is a lesser known sub-division of ancient tantra. Its rather ominous name derives from the fact that black tantra always concludes with orgasm and ejaculation in order to awaken consciousness, whereas tantra and its practices oppose any loss of sexual energy and favour spiritual pursuits (tantra sadhana).

Black tantra is about altering mental reality through a series of techniques, and it involves an advanced form of mental projection. As your tantra teacher will inform you, scriptures such as the 'Virat Kaula Sutras' state that the pursuit of orgasmic release can sometimes trigger cravings and suffering. In other words, black tantra may sometimes lead people further away from enlightenment rather than bringing them to it.

To prolong sexual intercourse with the sole objective of enjoying physical pleasure, without regard to achieving higher awareness, may lead one astray. The proper role of this offshoot of the ancient art is to help those who have fallen in this trap by engaging their subconscious creative power, which can be accessed during sexual arousal and eventually lead them to tantric 'samadhi'.

Some people erroneously consider the sexual side of tantra as 'black tantra'. This is an example of the wide-spread ignorance surrounding the art of tantra, resulting in the general rejection of this esoteric variant as dangerous and unusable. Read more

Marma Massage for Fluidity and Sexual Energy

Tao Semko demonstrates simple pressure point massage to increase fluidity and sexual energy in the pelvis/swadisthana chakra.

Carla Tara: Wisdom from a Tantric Tango Dancer

Carla Tara is a Tantra teacher, relationship counselor, Love Coach and Intimacy Guide. Born in a small Italian village high in the Alps, Carla has turned her remarkable life journey into a collection of lessons and wisdom and, now, a book: Lessons From A Tantric Tango Dancer. Listen to Personal Growth Coach Chip August and Carla talk about relationship communication, the power of breath, healing sexual dysfunction, the illusion of security, and so much more. Carla is a passionate and animated advocate of love, with a profound insight into transformation. Don’t miss Carla’s communication exercise for you to try at home. Listen to podcast

Tantra Prana Darshana:The Swerving Tantric Technique of Prana-vayu, or Life-breath

Breathing is the single most important technique in Tantra. Acharya Subhojit Dasgupta describes a technique of circular breathing called antra Prana Darshana.

In a Tantra workshop, the Tantra teacher’s first purpose of teaching his pupil the intricacies of Tantra Prana Darshana is to help him or her understand that the act of inhalation and exhalation creates a circle of breath within.

The second purpose of this tantra exercise is to help the pupil comprehend that inhalation and exhalation do not constitute two but one single breath. The breath that comes in also goes out, creating a single internal curve - the incoming breath becomes outgoing. Your Tantra teacher will place great emphasis on this fact.

For this Tantra exercise, you must sit in Padmasana (Lotus position) with your back straight. As you close your eyes, start by inhaling and exhaling effortlessly, feeling the breath entering and exiting your being. As you continue this Tantra exercise for nine cycles, you will feel the sensation of a circle of breath created within your body.

If you stop your breath for a brief moment during this Tantra exercise, you will find that your mind stops suddenly - it cannot function. Your breath is now in intricate symbiosis with your mind, and the connection between the mind and body is snapped for this moment. Read more

Traits of a Good Tantra Teacher

What are the traits of a good Tantra teacher? Good Tantra teachers have many of the same traits as good teachers of any subject, but there is a specific body of knowledge that they must have, says Tantra Bensko.

What to Look for When Beginning Individual Lessons

If you are considering working individually with a Tantra Yoga teacher, I feel there are certain important aspects to look for. There are of course many schools of Tantra, and they
vary widely, including the Buddhist and Hindu forms and those such as Ipsalu which go back to the shamanic roots and have no claim to be either of those. As regards sexuality, they vary widely also, some advocating celibacy except for householders, some advocating only ritual sex, generally with a spouse, and only on rare and prescribed occasions. Other forms of Tantra are a little more lax with sexual allowances, but traditionally, sex is only to be for the sake of enlightenment. Some forms of Tantra have been used more vampirically, with sex being used to draw energy from the partner, leaving him or her drained. These days, much is made of sex and Tantra, and it has been mistakenly associated far more than it truly is. Sex is only a small part of Tantra Yoga, and in many schools of Tantra, such as Ananda Marga, it plays almost no part at all. Tantra is a practice of using the body in ways the ancient seers of India have found to have specific effects on the subtle anatomy. The subtle anatomy is paid more attention in Tantra than any other form of practice other than Taoism, but the Tantric anatomy is specifically working with the nadis, or astral pathways, specifically the sushumna, which may be the eventual path of the Kundalini for those few for whom it rises. It also deals with countless other nadis, especially the Ida and Pingala, which cross on either side of the sushumna, crossing at the chakras. The chakras are also a strong study specific to Tantra Yoga, and the means of awakening, cleansing, connecting, and developing them are a large part of the practice. A very specific kind of sex is one way of doing this, and having sex Tantrically allows these pathways and the chakras along them to be transformed and the energy moved upwards rather than outwards, and circulated, rather than lost. This fosters cosmic consciousness, being a tool of the Divine, experiencing communion with the Divine and feeling the oneness with bliss. Read more

Sex Dreams: The Difference between Men and Women

Tantra teacher Suzie Heumann explores the differences between the sex dreams of mena and women.

How often does, say, George Clooney show up in my dreams, or for that matter in any woman's dreams? Of course, I'm specifically referring to sexual dreams. Unfortunately we don't have any research that tells us about good old George and thee but we do have some hints about the content of sexual dreams nevertheless.

It is often suggested that good dreams occur more often when we are in good health and have had positive thoughts right before we go to sleep. Case in point: I sometimes have bad dreams after I've eaten too much, or too late or have had a bit too much to drink. I try to avoid this because, obviously, I don't like bad dreams! Read more