TANTRA: The Art of Conscious Loving® By Charles Muir & Leah Alchin

It is generally accepted that there was a “sexual revolution” which began in the mid-sixties. Many feel that this revolution is dead, some having tried all there is to try sexually, and growing bored with it. In truth the sexual revolution of the sixties was the initial phase of a sexual “evolution”. The 60’s seeds of a woman’s right to pleasure and power in the world have flowered ever since then. Tantric wisdom states that as a woman awakens, her sexual center (second chakra), she naturally awakens her spiritual power.

Like all paths of Yoga, Tantra deals with the realization of the Light within, that image we are created in. Unlike all other paths of Yoga, which advocate a celibate life-style to build up and transmute sexual energy into spiritual energy, Tantra Yoga uses sex as an extended meditation that affects us on every level of our being: physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and spiritual.

Contrary to what the ego would have us believe, we are not born naturally good at sex and relationships. Even though we are the children of the sexual revolution, we are still largely imprinted by belief systems that no longer work for us. At the foundation of our sexual structure is the typical early conditioning which filled us with guilt, fear, insecurity, and shame. This conditioning still drastically affects our ability to receive and transmit love and energy sexually, both to our partner and to our self.

The exoteric side of Tantra deals with studies in three important areas:

1) WAYS TO INCREASE PASSION AND PLEASURE: These include techniques to harmonize moods and energy fields; esoteric kissing; transformative touching; varied positions; the man learning to use the lingam (penis) as an energetic wand of light, as a master artist uses a paintbrush; the woman learning to consciously squeeze and play the yoni (vagina) like a multi-stringed instrument of exquisite beauty ; exotic, little known pleasure techniques which have been handed down through the ages; and energetic mudras to influence energy flows. All of these areas of study allow the body to become an instrument of love.

2) METHODS TO INCREASE INTIMACY: The techniques to increase passion and pleasure by themselves are not enough to carry a couple to the high octave, transcendent loving that Tantra is meant to be. In order to do this, we must learn to increase our ability to be intimate. The word “ intimacy ” has its root with “innermost”: to allow my innermost light and love out and to let yours in. It sounds simple, but it is in practice quite difficult, because we’ve all been hurt and scarred on the path of love. For each of us, there are unconscious memories of “if I love deeply, I will be hurt or abandoned”. Tantra teaches the techniques that enable us to heal emotionally and connect with our heart more deeply. These techniques of sexual and emotional healing are crucial!

3) TECHNIQUES TO INCREASE FOCUS: The third area of study covers the techniques to increase our mind’s ability to be fully present during our sexual loving. Have you ever noticed how the mind almost seems to take a perverse delight in filling us with thoughts and fears during our sexual loving? Even highly conscious meditators are often filled with thoughts that don’t serve them during sexual sharing. The nature of the mind to wander, daydream, fantasize, and worry often short-circuit sexual energy, causing a variety of problems to surface. In Tantra, we learn techniques to quiet the thinking mind and activate the feeling mind so that the beauty and power of this meditation may be fully experienced. Once the mind is quiet, a variety of esoteric techniques to awaken new consciousness and deepen the experience are utilized.

It is the gradual mastery of all three of these areas, which allows the practitioner to experience deeper and deeper states of ecstatic bliss and universal oneness.

Tantra is a path to loving yourself, your neighbor, and your God. Ultimately, it leads to an ability to feel God in everything. This happens by changing the nature of sex into a loving meditation, a type of prayer where the body becomes an instrument for the expression of love. As we walk the path of conscious loving, it heals, opens, and unfolds us. It brings profound joy, peace , and the sense of love that can only come about from being connected and centered in the heart.

Each of us has the power to change the nature of sex into a spiritual practice, which is regenerative and integrative for body, mind, and soul.

Isn’t it time to put our expanded consciousness into our sexuality , to break old misconceptions and conditioning which have caused us so much pain, and to find new and better ways to share our love in sexual communion?

The great mysteries of sexual energy and sexual communion have been lost during the last 2500 years and corrupted in ways which have caused us much suffering. We should remember that sex is God’s invention and it is mankind who corrupted it. Perhaps your God would have you know a better way.

Author's Bio: 

Charles Muir has written and produced 3 books, 9 CD’s, 3 DVD’s and 2 Hollywood movies about Tantra Yoga. He is considered the “Pioneer of the modern Tantra movement” in America. Leah Alchin, is an Advanced Certified Tantra Educator and senior female instructor at Source School of Tantra Yoga®. They make their home in the Santa Cruz Mountains and teach weekend seminars in Ashland, Oregon - Boulder, Colorado - Boston, Massachusetts - Santa Cruz, Big Sur, San Diego, California – New York City, along with vacation seminars in Hawaii. Contact their office for a free brochure about seminars and their home study course, book, audio and video programs:

Source School of Tantra Yoga®, P.O. Box 368, Kahului, HI 96733 (888) 682-6872 ~ School@sourcetantra.com ~ www.sourcetantra.com