Neotantra

Neotantra, navatantra (Sanskrit: नव, nava 'new') or tantric sex, is the modern, western variation of tantra often associated with new religious movements. This includes both New Age and modern Western interpretations of traditional Hindu and Buddhist tantra. Some of its proponents refer to ancient and traditional texts and principles, and many others use tantra as a catch-all phrase for "sacred sexuality", and may incorporate unorthodox practices. In addition, not all of the elements of Indian tantric practices are used in neotantra, in particular the reliance on a guru. As the interest in Tantra has grown in the West, its perception deviates remarkably from the Tantric traditions. It was seen as a "cult of ecstasy", combining sexuality and spirituality to correct Western repressive attitudes towards sex. Hence for many modern readers Tantra is now synonymous with "spiritual sex" or "sacred sexuality," a belief that sex should be recognized as a sacred act capable of elevating its participants to a higher spiritual plane.

Historic Sexual practices in traditional Tantra

The practice of Tantric Buddhism in Western Xia led to the spread of some sexually related customs. Before Uighur women in Shanxi in the 12th century could get married to men of their own ethnicity when they reached 30 years old, they would have sex and bear children with multiple Han Chinese men and their desirability as a wife corresponded to whether she had been with a large number of men.

Tantric sexuality

See also: Tantra and Tantra massage

As tantric practice became known in western culture, which has escalated since the 1960s, it has become identified with its sexual methods in the West. Consequently, its essential nature as a spiritual practice is often overlooked. The roles of sexuality in tantra and in neotantra, while related, are actually quite different, reflecting substantial differences in their cultural contexts.

Practitioners

Pierre Bernard was a pioneering American yogi, scholar, occultist, philosopher, mystic, and businessman. He claimed to have traveled to Kashmir and Bengal before founding the Tantrik Order of America in 1905. He eventually expanded to a chain of tantric clinics in places such as Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York City. Bernard is widely credited with being the first American to introduce the philosophy and practices of yoga and tantra to the American people. He also played a critical role in establishing a greatly exaggerated association of tantra with the use of sex for mystical purposes in the American mindset.

Many teachers of this version of tantra believe that sex and sexual experiences are sacred acts, which are capable of elevating their participants to a higher spiritual plane. They often talk about raising Kundalini energy, worshiping the divine feminine, activating the chakras. In this context, the word "tantra", generally refers to the set of techniques for cultivating a more fulfilling sexual or loving relationship. On the other hand, there are also some truly dedicated scholars and teachers in the field of modern tantra.

Guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, later known as Osho, used his version of tantra in combination with breathing techniques, bio-energy, yoga, and massage in some of the groups at his ashram. He is the author of many books on meditation, taoism, buddhism, and mysticism, and at least six on tantra. One of them is Tantra, The Supreme Understanding, in which he unpacks the verses of the "Song of Mahamudra", by Tilopa. In addition out of his discourses on the Vigyan Bhiarav (or Vijnaya-bhairava), the 112 practices for enlightenment resulted in the much longer The Book of Secrets. His students continue to develop his concepts.

Chögyam Trungpa was a Buddhist meditation master and holder of both the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages, the eleventh Trungpa tülku, a tertön, supreme abbot of the Surmang monasteries, scholar, teacher, poet, artist, and originator of a radical re-presentation of Shambhala vision. He formally renounced his monastic vows in 1969 and was also known for smoking tobacco and for liberal use of alcohol; many who knew him characterized him as an alcoholic. In 1973, Trungpa established Vajradhatu, encompassing all his North American institutions, headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. Trungpa also founded more than 100 meditation centers throughout the world. Originally known as Dharmadhatus, these centers, now more than 150 in number, are known as Shambhala Meditation Centers. In 1974, Trungpa founded the Naropa Institute, which later became Naropa University, in Boulder, Colorado. Naropa was the first accredited Buddhist university in North America. Trungpa hired Allen Ginsberg to teach poetry and William Burroughs to teach literature. In his view not only was individual enlightenment not mythical, but the Shambhala Kingdom, an enlightened society, could in fact be actualized. The practice of Shambhala vision is to use mindfulness/awareness meditation as a way to connect with one's basic goodness and confidence. It is presented as a path that "brings dignity, confidence, and wisdom to every facet of life." Trungpa proposed to lead the Kingdom as sakyong (Tib. earth protector) with his wife as queen-consort or sakyong wangmo. Shambhala vision is described as a nonreligious approach rooted in meditation and accessible to individuals of any, or no, religion. In Shambhala terms, it is possible, moment by moment, for individuals to establish enlightened society. His book, Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, provides a concise collection of the Shambhala views. According to Trungpa, it was his intention to propagate the kingdom of Shambala that provided the necessary inspiration to leave his homeland and make the arduous journey to India and the West.

One of Osho's students, Margot Anand, founded a school called "Skydancing" tantra. She is the author of dozens of books including the Art of Everyday Ecstasy, and the Art of Sexual Magic, today is of the opinion that sex is a limitation...awakening or enlightenment means transcend of all which is fenomenal, temporary and transient. Another modern tantrika is Daniel Odier who believes that desire can be a valid pathway to transcendence. Sexologists, porn star and mother of Yoni massage Annie Sprinkle and Joseph Kramer (Sex educator) and father of Lingham massage are two examples of practitioners who teach sacred erotic massage. Joseph Kramer is known to have developed TAO EROTIC MASSAGE. Andro Andreas Rothe (German Zen Monk) developed Tantra Massage and Tantra Erotic Massage. Erotic (isn't necessarily sexual) it means a massage that massages the primary herogenous zones of the body; Penis Anus Vagina and Mouth. Shakti Verah Andro's direct student, and Sri Moojiji (Advaita master) direct disciple, take the view that herogenous zones are totally a-sexual organs. Verah works with the body through tantra massage and tantra erotic massage to point to the no body. She doesn't seem to pay any attention do sexual energy - in her words : "sexuality is the highest state of duality. As such unless we transcend sex we cannot rise beyond our basic ordinary human condition which marked by life procreation death. oneness is sexless gender less bodiless...

In 1997 Deborah Anapol convened a national Celebration of Eros, "a Conference on Sacred Sexuality, bringing together for the first time, teachers from Tantric, Taoist, Sufi, Buddhist, Jewish, Pagan, Hindu, Shinto, Wiccan, Occult, Native American, and Afro-Caribbean traditions."

Criticisms

Georg Feuerstein, a German Indologist who also trained in tantra, writes in the epilogue of his book Tantra: Path of Ecstasy:

"Many are attracted to Neo-Tantrism because it promises sexual excitement or fulfillment while clothing purely genital impulses or neurotic emotional needs in an aura of spirituality. If we knew more about the history of Tantra in India, we would no doubt find a comparable situation for every generation." He goes on to say, "Today translations of several major Tantras are readily available in book form... This gives would-be Tantrics the opportunity to concoct their own idiosyncratic ceremonies and philosophies, which they can then promote as Tantra."

Responding to criticism of modern Western Tantra, Geoffrey Samuel, a historian of Indian and Tibetan Tantra writes:

‘Tantra’ as a modern Western sexual and spiritual practice, however complex and contested its origins in Asia, was and is more than a fringe phenomenon of the 1960s and 1970s counterculture. On the contrary, it took up themes of considerable depth and significance within Western culture, and synthesized them creatively with borrowings from Buddhist and Hindu sources. Its slow but steady growth since the 1970s suggests that its potential has not yet been exhausted, and I would contend that to dismiss it as an empty and superficial expression of the “spiritual logic of late capitalism” is to miss the possibility of a development of real value.

According to author and critic of religion and politics Hugh Urban:

Since at least the time of Agehananda Bharati, most Western scholars have been severely critical of these new forms of pop Tantra. This "California Tantra" as Georg Feuerstein calls it, is "based on a profound misunderstanding of the Tantric path. Their main error is to confuse Tantric bliss... with ordinary orgasmic pleasure.

Urban says he does not consider this "wrong" or "false", but "simply a different interpretation for a specific historical situation."

See also

• Chuluaqui-Quodoushka
• Erotic massage
• Expanded orgasm
• Orgasm control
• Sex magic
• Venus Butterfly

References

Citations

• Tantra, The Supreme Understanding, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (1975)
• The Art of Sexual Magic, Margot Anand (1996)
• Kama Sutra: A Modern Guide to the Ancient Art of Sex, Nitya Lacroix (2003)
• Tantra: The Art of Conscious Loving, Charles and Caroline Muir, Mercury House Publishers (1990)
• The Tantra Experience: Discourses on the Royal Song of Saraha, Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh), Osho International Foundation (1978)
• Red Hot Tantra: Erotic Secrets of Red Tantra for Intimate, Soul-to-Soul Sex and Ecstatic, Enlightened Orgasms, David Ramsdale and Cynthia W. Gentry, Quiver Publishing (2004)
• Kundalini Tantra, Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Yoga Publishing Trust (2001)
• Batchelor, S. (ed., 1987). The Jewel in the Lotus: A Guide to the Buddhist Traditions of Tibet. London, UK: Wisdom Publications.
• Bharati, A. (1993). Tantric Traditions. Delhi, India: Hindustan Publishing Company.
• Douglas, N. (1997). Spiritual Sex: Secrets of Tantra from the Ice Age to the New Millennium. New York: Simon & Schuster.
• Douglas, N. and Slinger, P. (1979). Sexual Secrets: The Alchemy of Ecstasy. New York: Destiny Books, ISBN 0892810106
• Eden, D., Feinstein, D., & Myss, C. (1999). Energy Medicine. New York: Tarcher/Putnam.
• Feuerstein, G. (1998). Tantra: The Path of Ecstasy. Boston: Shambhala.
• Gerber, R. (2001). Vibrational Medicine. Rochester, Vermont: Bear & Company.
• Goodchild, V. (2001). Eros and Chaos: The Sacred Mysteries and the Dark Shadows of Love. York Beach, Maine: Nicolas Hays.
• Laue, T. (2012). Tantra im Westen. Eine religionswissenschaftliche Studie über „Weißes Tantra Yoga“, „Kundalini Yoga“ und „Sikh Dharma“ in Yogi Bhajans „Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization“ (3HO) unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der „3H Organisation Deutschland e. V.“, Münster: LIT, 2012, zugl.: Tübingen, Univ., Diss., 2011, ISBN 978-3-643-11447-1
• Odier, D. (2001). Desire: The Tantric Path to Awakening. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2001.
• Osho Rajneesh, B. S.. (1976). Meditation: The Art of Ecstasy. New York: Harper and Row, 1976.
• Osho [Rajneesh, B. S.]. (1976). The Tantra Experience: Discourses on the Royal Song of Saraha (2 volumes). Cologne, Germany: Rebel Publishing Company.
• Saraswati, S. S. (2003). Kundalini Tantra. Munger, India: Yoga Publications Trust.
• Sarita, M. A., & Geho, S. A. (2001). Tantric Love. New York: Simon & Schuster.
• Stubbs, K. R. (1999). The Essential Tantra: A Modern Guide to Sacred Sexuality. New York: Tarcher/Putnam.
• White, D. G. (ed., 2000). Tantra in Practice. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
• Yeshe, L. (2001). Introduction to Tantra. Boston: Wisdom.