Reddit reviews Introduction to Tantra : The Transformation of Desire

First, forget your preconceptions:

> tantra is another balancing quest, just one that is a little more sexually oriented. ... it is not about the poise or libido, it is about the balance of breath and energy.

>I am well aware of my vibratory position

This is the sort of thing that makes me despair of western New Age spiritualism and its ongoing attempts to sell a fake, cotton candy version of tantra. Most of the ideas you are referencing here can be traced back to 19th century European mysticism, not to Asian religions, and especially not to Tantra. Even the most basic elements, like chakras, were words borrowed from the East, given totally different meanings in the West, and then exported back to Asia in an unrecognizable form.

I don't blame you for the misconceptions, but no matter what you have been told, Tantra is NOT just another flavor of Western mysticism in Eastern clothing.

If Tantra means anything different from some goofy crystal-brained Californified gurus selling you nirvana on the installment plan – and it does – it is a muscular, no-nonsense application of a pragmatic problem-solving philosophy to this world.

Tantra is not only NOT a flavor of woo-woo mysticism. It is an an outright rejection of mysticism in general and of all of the fundamental ideas of New Age spiritualism in particular.

It begins with the acceptance – or, perhaps more appropriately, the non-rejection – of the self:

> There is nothing fundamentally wrong with you.

> You are just fine—just as you are. That is tantra’s main claim about the self.

> “Ego” is not evil. It is not a spiritual problem.

> No upgrade required

> You do not need to:

> + fix your self
> + improve your self
> + get rid of your self
> + see through the illusion of your self
> + transcend your self
> + transform your self
> + analyze or understand your self

> Tantra is about living here and now. Whatever self you do or don’t have—you are how you are, now. Waiting to get fixed before living is not helpful.

> You cannot, and do not need to:

> + find your True Self
> + get in touch with your higher self [much less your guardian angel]
> + awaken the Buddha Within
> + unify your little self with the cosmic All-Self

> These are just fantasies. They are imaginary ideals that spiritual people try to live up to. All they will ever do is make you feel inadequate and miserable.

(from Your self is not a spiritual obstacle)

And Tantra continues with the non-rejection of reality:

> Spirituality tries to sell you the idea that everything will be peachy-keen forever, if only you apply an all-purpose spiritual solution. Somehow, that is supposed to solve all practical problems, as well as the big hairy cosmic one.

> Tantra thinks that’s twaddle.

> Spirituality claims that the mundane world is total garbage. There’s nothing worth having here; it causes nothing but misery in the long run. You should abandon it.

> Spirituality claims there’s some kind of heaven, or nirvana, or transcendent reality, or domain of emptiness, that is all-good. You should move on to that spiritual plane. That’s salvation. That’s the solution to everything.

> Tantra is about this everyday, concrete world, just as it appears. It is not interested in escapist fantasies about Neverland.

> This world is where we are. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with it. It’s real, it’s workable, it’s enjoyable, and it needs our help.

(from Tantra is anti-spiritual)

If you want to DO Tantra, and not just play pretend Tantra or study the myriad traditional forms of historical Tantra, you need to first forget everything you think you know about Tantra, especially in terms of spirituality and spiritual energy. Because...

> + Tantra is not nice
> + Tantra is not secret
> + Tantra is not compatible with Sutra (mainstream Buddhism)
> + Tantra is not intellectual
> + Tantra is not spiritual
> + Tantra is not mystical
> + Tantra is not a bunch of rituals
> + Tantra is not esoteric Mahayana
> + Tantra is not Tibetan Buddhism (nor vice versa)
> + Tantra is not traditional
> + Tantra is not superstition
> + Tantra is not for monks
> + Tantra is/not all about sex
> + Tantra is not safe
> + Tantra is not all that dangerous

(from Tantric denials)

A tantra is a ritual, formula, recipe, or algorithm for achieving a specific goal. It is a discrete expression of technos, or "know-how." To be valid, it must survive an empirical test: does it work?

Historically, there have been many false tantras, including elaborate spells, black magic rituals, prayers for rain or victory, and mystical rites for achieving perfect health and immortality. Empirically, these are dead ends. There will always be people attracted to magical claims, but they never pan out. Instructions for manipulating spiritual energy or aligning your chakras or tuning your spiritual vibrations may give you a feeling of religious superiority, but they repeatedly fail any sort of real-world pragmatic test of efficacy, so they are not tantric.

On the other hand, any decent cookbook contains dozens of tantras that work. Any engineering, physics, or chemistry handbook, or do-it-yourself handyman guide is filled with tantras that work.

Youtube is full of tantras, for everything from crochet to carpentry, from arc welding to playing exotic instruments. Some are better than others. A set of step-by-step instructions for vipassana (aka mindfulness meditation) is a tantra, and we would consider it a valid tantra if most people, following those instructions, achieve the specified results.

However, Tantra itself is much more than just a collection of tantras, of rituals and formulas. It is a stance toward life, one of robust, even heroic, engagement with the REAL. It is science, technology, and craftsmanship done with intelligence, passion, and integrity, but it is also a clear-eyed and non-dogmatic approach to social, cultural, and personal experimentation and a passion for finding ways to make ordinary life better.

> just one that is a little more sexually oriented

If you want better sex, there are tantras for better sex. I wrote an extended handbook on the subject. But for real success you need to have a partner to whom you are deeply committed, and vice versa.

If you want a better understanding of Tantra in general, this is a good place to start: Introduction to Tantra : The Transformation of Desire by Lama Thubten Yeshe. After that, or along with it, I recommend David Chapman's online book Meaningness and his blog Vividness. (It's a blog, so the articles are in reverse order. Read from the bottom up and use the date index at the right to find the next page.)

Enjoy the voyage!!

This may be preferred:

http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Tantra-Lama-Thubten-Yeshe/dp/0861711629/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1376586725&sr=1-1&keywords=introduction+to+tantra

It covers similar concepts but in a more comprehensible way.

I've read about it in this book: http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Tantra-Lama-Thubten-Yeshe/dp/0861711629/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417589506&sr=1-2&keywords=introduction+to+tantra+lama+yeshe


Hope that helps.

Here:


http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/


http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Tantra-Lama-Thubten-Yeshe/dp/0861711629