Tantric Love

$45.00

Shipping Weight: 0.5lbs

The Tantric Love

A Comprehensive Manual on Hindu Tantric Love.

The subject of Tantric love has been controversial in the Western countries for many years. This is mainly because the subject itself was employed to further the hedonistic view on human relationships that characterizes the developed Western world. The large public still has a quasi-distorted view on the subject as shall be explained. Tantra as a philosophical concept evolved over a large span of time. During the ancient time, the idea of sacredness of the world was commonly acknowledged. To the present days, such an idea survived only within the Indian tradition where to some communities it is a way of life. Conducive to the idea of Tantric love, an entire theoretical concept emerged. Although such a concept appears to be intricate, its understanding is quite simple by following a logical structure of Tantric philosophy. For the understanding the Tantra concept, it all starts with the description of the structure of the world as it unfolds from its design, which is represented, in its initial stage, by the ideal union of Shiva and Shakti. These two deities are the epitomes of Tantric love, their interaction being what the Tantric aspirant aims for apply in day-to-day life. There is a distinct structure of the world as it unfolds from Shiva-Shakti ideal union. This structure is known as the Tattvas concept which can be represented by a ladder depicting the gradual deterioration of the spiritual plane into the material plane. From the ideal of pure consciousness that is Shiva, there is continuous flow of essential elements (Tattvas) ending up with the earth element known as Prithivi. It is from this level of manifestation that Tantric practical philosophy starts to reconstruct the lost primordial unity by employing various techniques leading to the idea of the reenactment of Shiva-Shakti's interaction. Tantra philosophy believes that the humans can use the available body instrumentality in order to restore the lost experience of happiness known as Ananda. This instrumentality is based on the human body used as a vehicle towards enlightenment (Jivanmukti). The human body and mind are used for various practice techniques in order to bring acuteness within its perception of life. The Yogic techniques are widely used in Tantra, the well-known eight steps of Yoga Sutras of Patanjali being the most relevant. However, Tantra builds its own methodology based on Mantras (magic formulae), Yantras (magic diagrams) and Mandalas (magic three-dimensional constructions). By employing various Tantric practices related to the above three methods, the aim is to rise the so-called Kundalini Shakti energy (that is seen as dormant in the area of the base of spinal cord) towards the top of the head. This method is significant to the Kundalini concept, being in fact the typical Tantric way by which the ideal Shiva-Shakti primordial unity is re-enacted. Such a major event is depicted differently in the main Tantra branches namely Dakshina (right-hand) Tantra and Vama (left-hand) Tantra, although their aims are similar. Tantra aims high by its practical journey from hedonism to sacredness. It starts with seeking pleasure in order to enhance the sensual experience and make perception acute. However, there is a level in Tantra when the hedonistic view is left aside and the Tantric aspirant does continue the spiritual journey by experiencing more advanced Tantric knowledge. The entire Tantric journey is a devotional voyage related to the wider concept of Bhakti (devotion). Tantra uses the same five devotional emotions relevant to Bhakti, known as Bhakti Ratis namely: Sakhya, the emotion of friendship, Vatsalya, the emotion of affection, Dasya, the emotion of surrender or of serving somebody, Madhurya, the emotion of sweetness or the erotic emotion and Shanta, the emotion of calm and tranquility. In so doing, the entire Maithuna Tantra ritual is a gradual development of devotional emotions. Maithuna Tantra is the main practice of Vama Tantra, the left-hand Tantra. This ritualistic practice is an experience of awareness beginning with the experience of enhanced awareness of the senses. The practice itself that is done between two partners a man and a woman is an elaborated ritual that performs a gradual consecration of the body parts to the deity to which they belong. In so doing, the woman partner consecrates her body to Shakti and becomes the embodiment of goddess Shakti. Similarly, the man partner consecrates his body parts to Shiva, as a result becoming the embodiment of god Shiva. The two partners have to surrender to each other before the sexual interaction takes place. Such an interaction is not an ordinary sexual event. It has in it sacredness for the fact that the two partners do now represent the primordial ideal partners, being Shiva and Shakti. The sexual interaction is above all a passive meditative attitude in which male and female partners explore the mind experiences rather than the body enjoyment of feelings. This transition from the gross experience of sexual interaction to a subtle one is the desired Tantric journey of Maithuna Tantra ritual. At a certain level even the subtle experience is overcome by a higher experience of awareness that is seen in Tantra as the Shiva and Shakti union equated as being the epitome of the Tantric love. Considering the extrapolation of such experiences from individual couples to groups of people or communities, the Tantric love is conducive to the consideration of a broader vision of life. Tantra brings into consideration the possibility for people to use the sacredness of sexual experience in their lives. It should certainly be taken into account that the raising of human sexual experience from profane to sacred has to have a long-term impact on society. It will not be to futuristic to envisage a gradual change of human culture to regard the high methodological philosophy of Tantra as a solution to the lost sacredness of human existence that is much pertinent to the present days humanity. The Tantric love has proven already to create strength in relationships, in the same time enjoying the human life experience without loosing its original purity.