“Tantra.” “Tantric.”
Two words that have come to mean sex, sexual massage and so on – you do a Google search and what do you get – Tantric Sex, Tantric Massage but nothing about Tantra.
Such meanings get ascribed to “Tantra” only thanks to west’s obsession with sex. Thus, they have managed to create an impression, even in many Indian minds that Tantra = Sex.
But the truth lies elsewhere. “Tantra” isn’t just something you take to for a sexual release or escape. Rather Tantra is a complex of multiple esoteric practices, texts & traditions. Ones that span multiple Indic faiths like Hinduism, as well as Jainism and Buddhism.
The fact is that the west has appropriated “Tantra” rather well with a highly oriental filter. The west has successfully co-opted it under new-age western ideas of sex, black magic and marketed as an esoteric activity.
This misrepresentation of Tantra as mostly a sexual activity by the west has ensured that people don’t believe you when you say that Tantra is much more than sex. This exaggeration of sex in west’s marketing of tantric practices is not just mistaken but actually wrongs a highly spiritual practice.
Very often you will find that “Tantra” and “sex magic” are used as synonyms by the west; they are clearly looking through a western lens as there is no similarity between sex magic of Americas & Europe of the 19th/20th century and the ancient Indian tantric practices. Their mainstreaming has been done by occultist organisation Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) and prominent people like Aleister Crowley.
Dominated by the west the way it is, the ill-informed or shall I say its own version of Tantra dominates the west. To say that it’s completely nonsensical is to put it mildly. For the west, “Tantra” is just a tool for orgasmic pleasure; a spiritual awakening is a by-product via sexual liberation.
The truth is that originally, tantric practices were essentially yogic in nature. The only sexual aspect of it, in some way, was its purpose: achieving ānanda (bliss), not pleasure. Of course, pleasure may lead to bliss.
Tantric sexual practices
of this kind are essentially ritualistic. As these are largely esoteric, they are performed under a guru’s supervision in highly controlled environments. Mantra chanting accompanies these rituals and the deities are Shiva and Shakti that are exhibited through ritual symbolism.So, how and when did the west discover Tantra? What made the west ecstatic about it? For people living in the sexually repressive Victorian era of 19th & 20th century guided them to seek releases in “deviant” forms of sexuality and Tantra was hence easy meat, so to say.
Christian missionaries in India, by themselves a repressed set of people, were fascinated by Tantra. It repulsed them even as it allowed them to indulge in perverse fascination. People like colonizer and pornographic “writer” Edward Sellon branded it as “black art of the crudest and filthiest kind”. Eventually, Tantra became confused with repulsive and gross orientalist pornographic descriptions of Indian women in Victorian England.
OTO, as mentioned earlier, led the western spread of Tantra. Theodore Reiss founded an esoteric brotherhood and pronounced ownership of a most secretive form of esotericism and mysticism. Thus happened the synthesized fusion of Western Sex Magic & Hindu Tantra, under OTO.
Nowadays, Tantra is essentially about heightened sexual pleasure, and is hence marketed towards people focused on it. Instant gratification is promised as described in a celebrated book by Judy Kazynsky – “Complete idiots guide to Tantric sex.”
As you may notice, the West has been downright racist when it comes to Tantra. It has taken a highly spiritual discipline, Tantra, converted it into a commodity and sold it to eager, salivating buyers. In fact, Tantra is one of the shining examples of the way “West Supremacy” has been forced on all things from our continent, especially India. It’s time to assert ourselves, turn this around and shed the colonial baggage once and for all.
