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Where Tantra California Started And What It's All About

By Shannon Byers


Tantra is a very old Eastern philosophy. Its origins in fact go right back over 7000 years ago to India. The word 'tantra' is composed of two different Sanskrit words - Tanoi, meaning to expand something and Trayati, meaning to liberate something. The purpose of Tantra California is thus to expand your personality, to let it grow, until eventually it can be liberated from suffering.

On the whole most Western people are probably better informed when it comes to yoga than Tantra. Strangely enough, many historians hold the opinion that yoga was an offshoot of Tantra thousands of years ago. This was a different yoga than what we often run into in the West, which is nothing more than a collection of strenuous physical postures. The yoga we are talking about here was a school of thought with a holistic approach to life, where meditation, breathing techniques and sexuality were all used to place the individual on a higher level of existence.

In the end, however, Tantra is bigger than yoga. And Tantra is definitely not just about sex either. It's about living a holistic life, where your spirit, your mind and your body are in perfect harmony with each other.

Ancient Tantra doctrine holds that one of the most essential parts of life is struggle. There is a remarkable degree of convergence here with Buddhism. In the human struggle to move from captivity to freedom, there are various stages. It begins with a stage where we are slaves to our human desires. As one learns to control these desires over time, you reach the stage called human development. After another period of struggle you will in the end get to a stage where you will be truly free, like a god.

Although there are similarities between Tantra and Buddhism, there are also deep differences. Buddhism and some other eastern doctrines teach that the path to enlightenment goes through self-denial, to lose all desire and not to be attached to anything. Tantra, on the other hand, holds that our desires form a very important part of who we are.

The Tantric doctrine thus teaches us that our desires, including our sexual desires, should not be denied but rather used to help us reach a level of divineness. To suppress our desires will not do any good, to the contrary it will lead to psychological problems and even physical illness. To be a complete human being, you have to acknowledge your desires, including your sexuality.

Sex is however not the goal, it's simply one of the tools to reach the goal. The ultimate goal remains self fulfillment, reaching a level of physical, spiritual and mental balance. Connecting with your partner on a physical level is however an important part of this growth process. Tantra California is therefore not just a set of practices - everything has a purpose in the journey to become a complete human being.

Tantra California




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