Guest guest Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 Hugh Urban has a rather great chapter in his book on the history of Tantra, about Western appropriation of Tantra, etc. I've certainly heard many stories of people trying to find teachers in Tantra only to discover that they've found a group that is more like sex therapy. The wildly overt sexuality of Western culture I think belies a kind of rebelling against internalized sexual repression, and so any religious tradition that appears to be sex-affirming can be taken very much out of context, so it becomes exploited at worst, or misunderstood at best. Over the years I've come to this place where I think it does no good to get really angry at neotantric groups who focus almost exclusively on orgasmic sex, but instead feel like doing that much more work to try and educate the general public about what traditional tantra is and is not is a really good thing. And of course, this is remembering that the pendulum swings in both directions; there are certainly those who would argue that sex is never actually a part of Tantric practice, but that's probably not true, either. And it probably comes from a similar place of denial of sexuality. Feel free to take all this with a pound of salt. jai maa -sundari On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 2:30 PM, Shankari Kali <shankari_kaliwrote: > Namaste Group: > > I wonder if anyone else has had this experience. I was on a New Age group > and happened to mention something about Tantra, and the individual wrote me > back speaking about the Kama Sutra and rather obnoxious sexual connotations > with the word " Tantra " . > > I was wondering what reactions that any of you have to the West's complete > twisting Tantra. > > Shanti Om, > Shankari > > Enquire: 'Who am I?' and you will find the answer. Look at a tree: from one > seed arises a huge tree; from it comes numerous seeds, each one of which in > its turn grows into a tree. No two fruits are alike. Yet it is one life that > throbs in every particle of the tree. So, it is the same Atman everywhere. > --Sri Anandamayi Ma > > http://shankarikali.wordpress.com/ > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 , " Sundari Johansen Hurwitt " <sundarikali wrote: > > Hugh Urban has a rather great chapter in his book on the history of Tantra, > about Western appropriation of Tantra, etc. I second the recommendation of Urban's book! > [....] feel like doing that much more work > to try and educate the general public about > what traditional tantra is and is not is a really good > thing. True. But if you're in a situation where launching into a lecture on the meaning of the word 'Tantra' would just derail the conversation, you might try substituting some other phrase. For example, a friend of mine has taken to using the term 'SriVidya'. While 'SriVidya' is not a synonym for 'Tantra', SriVidya is his actual area of interest and so the term very precisely conveys his meaning. > Feel free to take all this with a pound of salt. Drag out a second pound of salt for my suggestions > On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 2:30 PM, Shankari Kali <shankari_kaliwrote: > > [....] I was on a New Age group > > and happened to mention something about Tantra, and the individual wrote me > > back speaking about the Kama Sutra and rather obnoxious sexual connotations > > with the word " Tantra " . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 Hi there What Tantra is and what different forms of worship the practice assumes have been discussed time and again ad nauseam in this site. Tantra is evolutionary and not regid. As for traditional worshippers of Devi (there are tens of thousands of them), there is no necessity absolutely to react to, answer, convince or justify the ways of Tantra to anyone and in the least to the West. Tantra is far far removed from proselitisation or evangelisation of any kind. The essence of Tantra is to live life to the full and in the process enjoy it - always taking what comes as Devi's prasada and offer every breath of ours to Her and be humble and thankful to her. This is my modest understanding - whatever little I could with my limitations of intellect gather from our taditional acharyas and Devi's grace. JR --- On Wed, 11/26/08, Shankari Kali <shankari_kali wrote: Shankari Kali <shankari_kali Misconceptions about Tantra Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 4:00 AM Namaste Group: I wonder if anyone else has had this experience. I was on a New Age group and happened to mention something about Tantra, and the individual wrote me back speaking about the Kama Sutra and rather obnoxious sexual connotations with the word " Tantra " . I was wondering what reactions that any of you have to the West's complete twisting Tantra. Shanti Om, Shankari Enquire: 'Who am I?' and you will find the answer. Look at a tree: from one seed arises a huge tree; from it comes numerous seeds, each one of which in its turn grows into a tree. No two fruits are alike. Yet it is one life that throbs in every particle of the tree. So, it is the same Atman everywhere. --Sri Anandamayi Ma http://shankarikali .wordpress. com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 I apologise for the typos in my post. JR --- On Wed, 11/26/08, Radhakrishnan J <jayaarshree wrote: Radhakrishnan J <jayaarshree Re: Misconceptions about Tantra Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 11:03 AM Hi there What Tantra is and what different forms of worship the practice assumes have been discussed time and again ad nauseam in this site. Tantra is evolutionary and not regid. As for traditional worshippers of Devi (there are tens of thousands of them), there is no necessity absolutely to react to, answer, convince or justify the ways of Tantra to anyone and in the least to the West. Tantra is far far removed from proselitisation or evangelisation of any kind. The essence of Tantra is to live life to the full and in the process enjoy it - always taking what comes as Devi's prasada and offer every breath of ours to Her and be humble and thankful to her. This is my modest understanding - whatever little I could with my limitations of intellect gather from our taditional acharyas and Devi's grace. JR --- On Wed, 11/26/08, Shankari Kali <shankari_kali@ > wrote: Shankari Kali <shankari_kali@ > Misconceptions about Tantra Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 4:00 AM Namaste Group: I wonder if anyone else has had this experience. I was on a New Age group and happened to mention something about Tantra, and the individual wrote me back speaking about the Kama Sutra and rather obnoxious sexual connotations with the word " Tantra " . I was wondering what reactions that any of you have to the West's complete twisting Tantra. Shanti Om, Shankari Enquire: 'Who am I?' and you will find the answer. Look at a tree: from one seed arises a huge tree; from it comes numerous seeds, each one of which in its turn grows into a tree. No two fruits are alike. Yet it is one life that throbs in every particle of the tree. So, it is the same Atman everywhere. --Sri Anandamayi Ma http://shankarikali .wordpress. com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 Namaste, It has been a while, hasn't it? Either way, here is my input... Based on the limited knowledge I know about the Kama Sutra, not even that book is based on sex only. Kama translates to 'pleasure' and that pleasure could be something as simple as offering pretty flowers. Now...on the Tantra subject... I actually wrote an article about the misconceptions surrounding Tantra for some New Age circles. I am not an expert, but I more or less made point that there was no more sex in it than there was in real life. I am sure many others here could provide more insight on the terminology, dynamics, experiences, etc. Jai Ma! Christina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 I have time and again said tantra is NOT random sex with multiple partners. I am tired of saying it --- On Wed, 11/26/08, msbauju <msbauju wrote: msbauju <msbauju Re: Misconceptions about Tantra Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 5:20 AM , " Sundari Johansen Hurwitt " <sundarikali@ ...> wrote: > > Hugh Urban has a rather great chapter in his book on the history of Tantra, > about Western appropriation of Tantra, etc. I second the recommendation of Urban's book! > [....] feel like doing that much more work > to try and educate the general public about > what traditional tantra is and is not is a really good > thing. True. But if you're in a situation where launching into a lecture on the meaning of the word 'Tantra' would just derail the conversation, you might try substituting some other phrase. For example, a friend of mine has taken to using the term 'SriVidya'. While 'SriVidya' is not a synonym for 'Tantra', SriVidya is his actual area of interest and so the term very precisely conveys his meaning. > Feel free to take all this with a pound of salt. Drag out a second pound of salt for my suggestions > On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 2:30 PM, Shankari Kali <shankari_kali@ ...>wrote: > > [....] I was on a New Age group > > and happened to mention something about Tantra, and the individual wrote me > > back speaking about the Kama Sutra and rather obnoxious sexual connotations > > with the word " Tantra " . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 I think in tantra, sex is done without ejaculation energy produced during the ejaculation is absorbed inside self. this is more to the part of meditation --- On Mon, 12/1/08, sankara menon <kochu1tz wrote: sankara menon <kochu1tz Re: Re: Misconceptions about Tantra Monday, December 1, 2008, 8:56 AM I have time and again said tantra is NOT random sex with multiple partners. I am tired of saying it --- On Wed, 11/26/08, msbauju <msbauju > wrote: msbauju <msbauju > Re: Misconceptions about Tantra Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 5:20 AM , " Sundari Johansen Hurwitt " <sundarikali@ ...> wrote: > > Hugh Urban has a rather great chapter in his book on the history of Tantra, > about Western appropriation of Tantra, etc. I second the recommendation of Urban's book! > [....] feel like doing that much more work > to try and educate the general public about > what traditional tantra is and is not is a really good > thing. True. But if you're in a situation where launching into a lecture on the meaning of the word 'Tantra' would just derail the conversation, you might try substituting some other phrase. For example, a friend of mine has taken to using the term 'SriVidya'. While 'SriVidya' is not a synonym for 'Tantra', SriVidya is his actual area of interest and so the term very precisely conveys his meaning. > Feel free to take all this with a pound of salt. Drag out a second pound of salt for my suggestions > On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 2:30 PM, Shankari Kali <shankari_kali@ ...>wrote: > > [....] I was on a New Age group > > and happened to mention something about Tantra, and the individual wrote me > > back speaking about the Kama Sutra and rather obnoxious sexual connotations > > with the word " Tantra " . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Namaste: In neo-tantra, Aleister Crowley has somehow become associated with tantra. Aleister Crowley was involved in all sorts of Sex Magick. I wrote an article about this on my blog. Shanti Om, Shankari Enquire: 'Who am I?' and you will find the answer. Look at a tree: from one seed arises a huge tree; from it comes numerous seeds, each one of which in its turn grows into a tree. No two fruits are alike. Yet it is one life that throbs in every particle of the tree. So, it is the same Atman everywhere. --Sri Anandamayi Ma http://shankarikali.wordpress.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 2008 Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 For those interested in the connection (or non-connection -- whatever) between Hindu Tantra and Neo-Tantra/Sex Magic/ Western Esotericism, check out this article (available online!) by Hugh Urban. It does discuss Crowley. The Omnipotent Oom Tantra and Its Impact on Modern Western Esotericism Hugh B. Urban http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/printable/Oomprintable.html , Shankari Kali <shankari_kali wrote: > > In neo-tantra, Aleister Crowley has somehow become associated with tantra. Aleister Crowley was involved in all sorts of Sex Magick. > [....] > > http://shankarikali.wordpress.com/ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 Connecting A. Crowley just with " sexual magick " is a similar misconception to reducing Tantra to just sex. What people " know " about Crowley is usually what mass media wrote about him. Crowley's close relation to Tantra is NOT in his sexual practices (which do have some resemblance to Kaula methods, but do differ at the same time quite much) but his metaphysical doctrine and understanding of spiritual growth. , Shankari Kali <shankari_kali wrote: > > Namaste: > In neo-tantra, Aleister Crowley has somehow become associated with tantra. Aleister Crowley was involved in all sorts of Sex Magick. I wrote an article about this on my blog. > > Shanti Om, > Shankari > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.