Last Sunday I made an attempt to explain what Shakti Tantra is. I always find that super difficult and vulnerable because that knowledge cannot really be transferred from head to head. And I see a new light on this topic every day, which has now become my life. I have started a Teacher Training but everything that has to do with Tantra cannot be taught, I can only try to serve, make available, open and decondition.
The western way of transferring knowledge is through the head. I always find it very funny that when I give an explanation, women are immediately ready with their pen and paper. So eager to learn, that touches me. I feel the integrity and the ‘calling’ to connect with ‘the higher’. And at the same time I know it can only go through transmission.
In my training I try to explain as little as possible and work more with direct experience, instead of the Mind. That is super difficult because I like to talk about this topic all day long. Even though I know there is a danger that if you give it words, the essence will be lost.
That is how it is now in Tantra-land in the Netherlands. There are a few people in this field that I know they embody it. But just a handful. Many people who ‘teach’ Tantra have absolutely no idea what it is about. People who call themselves ‘Tantra Shaman’ (really?). The real tantra teachers in India cannot be found on the world wide web.
“Ignorance on fire.” that was me 15 years ago. But I remain an eternal student myself. As soon as someone tells me that he or she knows what tantra is, I already know: it is not. The same applies to myself, when I try to explain it, I always have a feeling of frustration.
In ancient times, yoga and tantra were occult and hidden for good reason. Practitioners did not want people to be fooled by the (pleasant) side effects of the tantric or yoga path. Working with life energy (kundalini / chi / prana / etc) goes beyond the Mind, it expands your horizon and your awareness. Which is liberating. And brings you in direct contact through surrendering. Oops, am I explaining something now?
Tantra groups nowadays are especially addictive. And I understand that – in daily interaction with eachother there is little real contact and connection. Your body is not often touched with attention and looked at you with love. Endorphins check, oxytocin check. Notice here the Wheel of Samsara. Like a hamster in a wheel, I see people hopping from workshop to workshop. Opening relationships and leaving them to ruins, addiction to sex and attention (under the guise of ‘practicing’). Confusion about own sexual experiences, spiritual pitfalls and bypasses ..
Touching, sexually charged moments, eye gazing, sitting and breathing shiva-shakti, relaxing your body and activating your system. Feeling super in love. All very nice.
And yet this has nothing to do with tantra. You are in the experience again. And you will not learn a shit about how you can transcend your senses. How you can transcend the experience and see your senses as a door to the formless and timeless – the eternal / unchanging. Super boring for the people who go to a tantra group for a new kundalini experience or full body orgasm, or dearmouring, open relationships etc.
I advocate calling this kind of groups, which could really help people (I have no doubt about that), Mindful Sexuality instead of Tantra. And that we leave Tantra where it belongs … in the occult spheres with more question marks than exclamation marks ..