FW: [Tantrasadhana] <no subject>

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"Madhya Nandi" <madhya

"tantrasadhana " <tantrasadhana >

[Tantrasadhana] <no subject>

Sun, Mar 21, 1999, 10:44 AM

 

 

 

Notes on Tantric Lifestyle

 

 

 

 

As many of you are undoubtedly aware, the sanskrit word 'tantra' means to

weave, or to extend. Tantra yoga, then, is weaving together the strands of

Self. Yoga means Union. A tantric lifestyle suggests that enlightenment

signifies both what one does and how one does it. Union cannot occur

without influencing the quality of the fabric of one's Being.

 

The colors one chooses to create the activity of life will be chosen by

virtue of the light by which one sees. When one works in the shadows, the

labor of one's hands will be fashioned by the quality of this flickering,

uncertain light. When one begins to weave together the creative activity of

life with the wisdom of intuition, with the love of effort, of sadhana, the

quality of light increases until all activity swims in an ocean of fragrant,

clear and sensual awareness.

 

How will this occur? Love follows love. Wisdom impregnates wisdom. Light

begets light.

 

What is illumined by the word Awake? The quality of what we do and how we

do what we do.

 

On practice:

 

Tantra is a weaving together of all one's activities into the fabric of

Sadhana, of devotion to the recognition that I Am.

 

If one enjoys running or jogging, one can practice surrendering the breath,

thereby cultivating the temple of Being. One possible technique is to count

the steps as one exhales, hold the breath for a comfortable count, allowing

oneself to become aware of one's body releasing tension, and then exhaling

counting one's steps. As one runs, the senses are naturally very active and

alert. Cultivate this quality of sensual awareness--but try this by

allowing the mind to merely watch, to be only aware of the sensuality of

climate, of blood pounding, of the sights and sounds along one's route. If

one cultivates lengthening the breath, retaining the breath, (use common

sense, here and discretion. Do not allow yourself to become light-headed,

or go into undesired oxygen debt), and exhaling in a slow, careful manner,

one will engage the Shakti at a maximum level of effectiveness. When one's

jog is complete, she may discover that within the usual exhilaration

accompanying the end of a good run, he also feels, as his body cools down,

an abiding peace.

This peace accumulates over time and will become one's active nature.

 

Tantra sadhana is signifies the creative transformation of life into

Devotion to Self. When one is at work and finds their boss saying

unpleasant things in an unpleasant tone of voice, if one feels in one's

stomach, the nervous discomfort of the energy of embarrasment, of the 'loss

of face', one can prepare for and use these occasions for sadhana. If one

feels the heat of embarrasment rising, take hold of that heat and imagine

the heat surging up the spine, into the head, down across the face and

filling the heart. Transform the heat of embarrasment into the vehicle of

relaxation. Do not attempt to change the energy, or the emotional feelings

that arise. Grasp hold of the energy, observe one's own feelings--allowing

them to be just what they are--and channel them up the spine, across the

crown of the head and down into the heart. The most counter-productive way

to experience tension is to allow it to constrict, to sit in one place. Get

the sensation of tension moving.

 

This activity will accomplish two ends. First, it will transform the

sensation of energy from one of negativity and constriction to one of

positive, flowing release of stress. Second, it will allow the mind to

begin to be aware of all feelings, emotions, sounds and indeed,

personalities, as flowing from the Same Self. Over time, and with the

positive release of tension, one will simply discover that life has become

brighter, more tranquil. This is not because fewer conflicts are

necessarily arising, (although this may certainly be the case--after all,

light cultivates light), but that one's apprehension of life through the

medium of one's temple--the body-- has transformed. The senses appreciate

the fact of annoying voices, insulting remarks, screeching tires, ugly

smells, but they do not apprehend them at all in the same manner. One may,

in fact, perceive pleasantness within unpleasantness, pleasure in

discomfort, until these oppositions are no longer opposites, but solely the

experience of One's Very Own Self.

 

 

May we live life in the light of Grace,

 

Madhya Nandi