7 Tantric
Keys of Awakening
by
Margot Anand
The
practices and rituals you will find here are
doorways that reveal the inherent beauty and meaning
of our ordinary moments.
-
Say
yes to life in all its erotic passion.
-
Go
with the flow of the life force within and all
around you.
-
Trust
yourself, and allow your personal power to
manifest in life.
-
Open
your heart in loving compassion to the self and
others.
-
Authentically
express your creativity and your truth.
-
Look
within to achieve clarity and insight in your
life.
- Surrender
to your Source and know gratitude, spiritual
peace, and a new capacity to live at your
maximum potential in every moment.
These
seven Tantric keys can open us up to our essential
selves and unleash in us that abundant, joyous
energy -- EveryDay Ecstasy -- that allows us to be
all that we can be as human beings with our partners
and our children and in our work, our community, and
the world. In the process, we discover the meaning
of elegance, the art of achieving maximum results
with minimum effort. Elegant people are in love with
life. And their love calls them to make
contributions beyond the call of mere duty, to
participate fully, to share their joys, pains,
gifts, and truths with others. And, by their
example, they remind us that beyond our apparent
differences, we are connected in Spirit, We are One.
My
own spiritual journey, which led me to the path of
EveryDay Ecstasy, began in Paris, when I was
eighteen years old. I was wildly in love with my
boyfriend; and the first time we made love, at the
peak of orgasm, my consciousness expanded until,
suddenly, unexpectedly, nothing was left but the
absolute certainty that I was utterly and totally
free and that this absolute freedom was, for me, the
secret of life. This realization set the course of
my life.
This
may seem like an unusual beginning to many people.
Yet most of us have enjoyed one unforgettable peak
moment that leaves us with a yearning for that sense
of ecstasy, wholeness, or exquisite peace.
Unfortunately, our culture does not teach us the
value of such experiences or the skills to cultivate
them. But after this first ecstatic moment, I knew I
wanted to discover how to integrate spirituality
with sexuality in my daily life.
My
studies and degrees in psychology and philosophy at
the Sorbonne in Paris did not bring any answers to
my quest. Later, my practice as a therapist failed
to satisfy my hunger for experiential wisdom. I
turned to the study of bodywork therapies and
self-development groups: bioenergetics, encounter
groups, rolfing, Gestalt, Arica, integral yoga. And
still I found no direct answers that explained the
connection between sexuality and spirituality.
I
set out on a journey to explore the traditions of
sacred sexuality around the world. I soon was
introduced to the ancient Eastern science of Tantra;
like yoga, Zen, and Sufism, Tantra is a spiritual
path to enlightenment. But unlike most mystical
paths, Tantra includes sexuality as a doorway to
ecstasy and enlightenment. The essence of the
Tantric teachings can be summarized as this: Choose
with awareness what gives you joy, and it will lead
you to Spirit. A particularly attractive approach, I
thought, for us Westerners so deeply influenced by
the puritanical Judeo-Christian tradition, which
conceives of pleasure not as a door to heaven but
rather as a shortcut to hell!
What
Is Tantra?
Many
people today mistakenly believe that Tantra is a
spiritual bastardization of sexual therapy, an
excuse to indulge in sensual games, an addiction to
hours of sexual orgasms. Nothing could be farther
from the truth. The Tantric path teaches us to
embrace and unify the ordinary, the erotic, and the
sacred dimensions of life, which all have their
roots in Spirit.
The
beauty and wisdom of Tantra is that it embraces
sexuality as a doorway to the "ecstatic mind of
great bliss". Truly, at the peak of orgasm, we
pierce through the illusion of fragmentation and
separation, and glimpse the unity and
interconnectedness of all beings. And through the
other -- our partner -- we fall in love with life.
Because
sex holds this great potential for opening our being
to the experience of ecstasy, Tantra has for
millennia taught the cultivation of sexual love as
an art, as a skillful spiritual practice. Then, as
now, Tantra challenges the belief promoted by most
spiritual and religious paths that we must suppress
or transcend our sexuality to practice meditation or
awaken our Spirit. Tantra arose in rebellion against
these ascetical and life-negating creeds. It
acknowledges that sex is at the root of life and
that to make human sexuality and erotic union a form
of worship and meditation is to practice reverence
for life, leading us directly through the pleasure
of the senses to spiritual liberation.
Tantra
teaches that we master desires not by avoiding them
but by immersing ourself in them. Once known and
experienced deeply, they can be transcended. In
fact, Tantra teaches that nothing is to be excluded
from our understanding of reality. We need not
suffer by sacrificing pleasures. We can cultivate
them as opportunities for awakening. Tantra teaches
us to embrace every moment in our totality, to
respond bodily, feel from the heart, perceive with
clarity, and be fully present to others and to
life.
Tantra
is a Sanskrit word derived from the root tan,
"to expand". In the process of my study
and practice of the Tantric arts, I developed this
definition: Tantra is the art of weaving the often
contradictory aspects of our self or personality
into a unified whole, for the purpose of expanding
our consciousness. Scholar Ajit Mookerjee defines
Tantra as "knowledge of a systematic,
scientific, and experimental method which offers the
possibility of expanding man's consciousness and
faculties, a process through which the individual's
inherent spiritual powers can be realized."
Create
an Ecstatic Life
What
if you began each day from a state of creative
awareness, with a clear vision of what you want and
how it can be achieved? For example, when you want
to create a perfect dinner party for good friends,
you begin with a vision of a warm gathering filled
with intimate friendship, laughter, and good food.
You begin, first imaginatively, then actually, to
feel and create the atmosphere -- you choose a menu,
the lighting, the dishes you will use, the music or
games you will play. You feel the enjoyment of the
evening itself as you prepare for it and anticipate
it throughout the day. Below is a ritual for
starting your day with clarity, by opening all your
centers.
A
Ritual for Beginning the Day
Purpose:
To
remind yourself that each day represents a brand new
opportunity to taste the sacredness of life; a
chance to be nurtured by the mystery; a chance to
relate lovingly, happily, and even with laughter to
everyone around you.
Preparation:
- Have
on hand a candle, incense, and matches.
- Prepare
a good sound system with slow, meditative music.
(Be sure to pick music that will not interfere
with your thoughts and that will not run out
before the ritual is completed.)
- Sit
on a comfortable pillow.
- Wake
up fifteen minutes earlier to allow yourself the
time to perform this ritual without feeling
rushed.
Practice:
- As
you wake up, open your eyes slowly, and close
them. Then open them again, this time with
awareness. Take a few slow deep breaths and
remind yourself that you wanted to get up early
this morning to perform this ritual.
- Get
up, put on a robe (make sure you're warm and
comfortable), and stretch slowly or shake your
body loose from the night's sleep.
- Light
a candle and stick of incense to begin creating
your sacred space.
- Play
your music.
- Sit
on your meditation pillow, in a comfortable
position. If you are doing this ritual with a
partner, sit opposite each other, holding hands.
- Relax
for a few moments, eyes closed, watching the
movement of your breath. When you feel calm and
quiet, go on to the next step.
- Begin
to focus gently and effortlessly on the day
ahead, breathing slowly and deeply. Go through
the day, envisioning each moment. See if one
difficult challenge presents itself (for
instance, you have too much to do today and not
enough time to do it, or your child is home sick
from school). Look at the thoughts as you would
look at a passing landscape through a car
window. Let the thoughts come and go.
- Pay
attention to your body. How does your body react
to these thoughts? Do you feel any tight spots?
A constriction in your chest, stomach cramps,
heart palpitations, a simple tensing of the
muscles of your jaw and neck? Zoom in on the
part of your day's vision that is causing your
body pain. This is what you will transform in
the ritual. (If you find more than one painful
area, take them one at a time. Don't try to do
too much at once.)
- Keep
breathing calmly and deeply. Create a mental
picture of the difficult moment that you're
dreading in your day to come. (We'll use the
example of a stressful project at work, one you
have to work on with difficult people.) Now
release the image, let it travel through your
chakras, allowing the energy of each chakra to
transform it.
The
Root of Creation
- Let
your awareness dwell in the first chakra, in
your genitals. Relax your genital muscles into
the earth and allow them to feel vibrant, ready,
grounded. Here is where you will generate the
vision.
- See
the difficult situation existing inside your
first chakra, let it resonate, and begin the
transformation.
- Say
(to yourself or out loud), "There is enough
time, money, trust, love, understanding to heal
this situation."
- Envision
the scene filled with a sense of abundance and
resolution. Feel that this is already true, that
it has happened. You should not feel pressure to
make it happen. When you have this vision firmly
in mind, go on to the next chakra.
The
Flowing Stream
- Let
your awareness dwell in your navel area. Breathe
into your belly and soften the muscles. See the
difficult situation existing inside your second
chakra, and surround it with a sea of fluidity
and flexibility.
- Say
to yourself, "I am open to change."
- See
yourself enjoying the flow of conversation. See
everyone finding the place of flexibility in the
situation, being open to changing opinions and
positions, adapting effortlessly to the currents
of energy that your vision carries. When you
have an image of the situation transformed by
openness and possibility, go on to the next
chakra.
The
Radiant Sun
- Let
your awareness dwell in your solar plexus.
Breathe into your solar plexus, feel it
expanding, relaxed, and powerful.
- See
the difficult situation existing inside your
third chakra, and infuse it with energy and
power.
- Say
to yourself, "I have all the energy I need
to complete this project."
- See
yourself and all the people in your image
feeling alive and on purpose. You make correct
choices, you are innovative and responsible.
Your authority is respected. When you have an
image of the situation transformed through
positive action, go on to the next chakra.
The
Pulse of Life
- Let
your awareness dwell in the center of your
chest, in your heart area. Open your chest,
relaxing the muscles that surround your heart.
Feel your heart opening to receive.
- See
the difficult situation existing inside your
fourth chakra, and surround the image and
everyone in it with love and acceptance.
- Say
to yourself, "I am ready to create a common
ground". Don't dwell on successes or
failures, or petty antagonism, but simply
appreciate what everyone has done so far.
- Let
yourself see how much happier everyone is when
they feel acknowledged, how much more motivated
they are toward positive results. When you have
an image of the situation transformed by love
and acceptance, move on to the next chakra.
The
Song of the Soul
- Let
your awareness dwell in your throat. Relax your
throat, your jaw.
- See
the difficult situation existing inside your
fifth chakra, and allow everyone in the vision
to express their truth in a creative way.
- Say
to yourself, "I enjoy sharing my creative
ideas and hearing others express theirs."
- See
the comical side of the situation. Exaggerate
the image if you need to. See everyone dancing a
jig around the office, diving off desks, flying
paper airplanes over cubicle walls. See thought
balloons coming out of their heads, filled with
brilliant, witty, outrageous ideas. When your
image is transformed by laughter and creative
expression, go on to the next chakra.
The
Full Moon
- Let
your awareness dwell in your third eye, the area
between your eyebrows.
- Feel
the eye opening, taking in the scene with great
objectivity. See the difficult situation
existing inside your sixth chakra, and envision
everyone in the scene feeling connected,
integrated between body, mind, and Spirit.
- Say
to yourself, "I act to realize my vision
with intention and purpose. I am clear in my
action and make the right choices."
- Now
you see the big picture; you are no longer
bogged down by details or identifying with
criticism. You are witnessing the situation but
are not lost in it. You have achieved a balance
between understanding the context and listening
to your intuitive guidance. Move on to the next
chakra.
The
Open Sky
- Let
your awareness dwell in the top of your head.
Relax the muscles of your scalp and allow this
chakra to open, like a cup waiting to be filled.
See the newly transformed situation existing as
pure potential inside your seventh chakra.
- Say
to yourself, "I am ready to receive what I
need to heal this situation."
- See
yourself linked with everyone in your image at a
soul level. Your Spirits are connecting. You all
have a role to play in this situation, and you
all know exactly what needs to be done to move
the project further. See all of you surrendering
your ego needs ("I know better") to
your greater purpose: harmony. You become one
Spirit. You respect each other. All is well.
When you have created this joyous image, let it
go out of the top of your head and into the
universe, knowing that it has already been
accomplished. Move into your day with calm and
certainty of success.
Completion
Review
your meditation. Have you created a joyous,
harmonious day? Do you feel ready to move into your
day with ease and confidence? If you're not quite
ready, move through the chakras again to heal any
remaining block.
Take
a moment to center yourself. Breathe calmly and
deeply for a few more moments, and allow yourself to
come back to the present moment.
 This
article was excerpted from
The
Art of Everyday Ecstasy: The Seven Tantric Keys for
Bringing Passion, Spirit, and Joy into every part of
your life
by Margot Anand.
Excerpted by permission of Broadway, a
division of Random House, Inc. ©1998 by Margot
Anand. All rights reserved. http://www.randomhouse.com
For
info or to order this book
About
The Author
Margot
Anand is an internationally acclaimed teacher of Tantra and
author of the best-selling books The Art of Sexual Ecstasy,
The Art of Sexual Magic and The Art of Everyday Ecstasy. A
native of France, Margot received her degree in psychology
from the Sorbonne in Paris and has had extensive training in
gestalt, Tantra yoga, bioenergetics, massage, and meditation.
Her style as a teacher and speaker is a rare synthesis of
French erotic humor, American pragmatism, and Indian
mysticism. She is particularly appreciated for her ability to
bring healing, lightness, fun, passion and great wisdom to her
events. Visit her website at http://www.margotanand.com.
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