There it was, in black and white, blazoned across the Google search results, Tantra and sex, everywhere: “Tantra worship has flourished in popularity in the Western World, establishing a reinterpretation of Hindu and Buddhist practices. This new, modern practice is often referred to as Neotantra. As time progressed, some of the ancient outdated teachings of tantra have been readopted …
Awakening – what is it?
There’s a lot of terms that get thrown around all the time in spiritual circles… yet often there’s no examination of what we’re referring to by those terms. To that end, I’d like to start a new series focusing on The Basics of Tantrik Teachings, and in particularly focusing on explaining words. (Happy to take …
What’s the Difference between Yoga and Tantra?
Before I share, from my own direct experience, on this question, it’s useful to examine the question itself – which is a question people often ask me. The question assumes that there IS a difference between Yoga and Tantra, as if they are two separate things – like a chair and a cup. However as …
Conversations with Kara-Leah • Shambhavi Sarasvati on Direct Realization Tantra
Shambhavi is the spiritual director of Jaya Kula. Her principle training is in the direct realization traditions of Trika Shaivism (a.k.a. Kashmir Shaivism or Shaiva Tantra) and the Dzogchen tradition of Tibet. I first came across Shambhavi when I read her wonderful book, The Play of Awakening: Adventures in Direct Realization Tantra. I too follow …
Upāya • The Skillful Means to Liberation
Recently, I immersed myself in more of Christopher Wallis’ amazing book Tantra Illuminated. He was discussing Upāya, the three skilful means to liberation. The first is Śāmbhava-upāya, which is the Divine Means. It is the most subtle way to interact with reality on the road to liberation and is engaged through the spirit and intuition. …
When it turns out Exile was just a Sabbatical • My return to the Yoga World
Three weeks ago, after a three or four year sabbatical, I stepped back into a Yoga Studio to teach. I’d stopped teaching because my practice no longer resembled a studio yoga class, and it was impossible to teach something I wasn’t doing. It felt contrived, and wrong.
