Shashi Solluna - Tantra: Discover the Path from Sex to Spirit

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Text Shashi Solluna, 2016

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or otherwise be copied for public or private use, other than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews, without prior written permission of the publisher.

The information given in this book should not be treated as a substitute for professional medical advice; always consult a medical practitioner. Any use of information in this book is at the readers discretion and risk. Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible for any loss, claim or damage arising out of the use, or misuse, of the suggestions made, the failure to take medical advice or for any material on third party websites.

Permission to use the practice
kindly granted by David Cates.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-1-78180-710-1
ISBN 978-1-78180-784-2 in ePub format
ISBN 978-1-78180-785-9 in Kindle format

Interior illustrations: ;

I would like to dedicate this book to Shiva,
the Highest Consciousness that has led me
through life like an ever-guiding flame calling
me higher and higher. Om Nama Shivaya! And
to Shakti, the eternal life force that has made
this life so beautiful. She is the force that reveals
the mystery, the aliveness of nature, and the
energy that has kept me dancing. Jai Ma!

And to the men in my life who have
been a Shiva to my Shakti.

And to my earthly parents the Shiva and Shakti
known as Mum and Dad! Thank you for always
supporting me to do whatever makes you
happy. Thank you for giving me a loving and
stable foundation from which I could fly high.

Contents

The Tantric way is open to all the
richness of human nature, which it
accepts without a single restriction.

DANIEL ODIER

Tantra is often defined as to weave, and can be compared to weaving fabric. Tantra is therefore a path that weaves together. But what exactly is it that is being woven and why?

We experience a lot of pain when we feel a split in our lives. Whenever we feel torn two ways we feel an inner conflict, and it can also manifest as outer conflict too. Often we dont even realize that our challenges in life are due to this underlying split. For example, we may think and say that we want a relationship, but inside we fear commitment and cant understand why we arent attracting a stable relationship. Or maybe you know you are torn, and suffer: part of you wants a stable job and structure, and another part wants to travel free.

Tantra is about merging. It is about
uniting. It is about making love.

Tantra is about uniting all that has become split apart creating wholeness, healing and totality so at last your life can flow with ease and with a sense of choicelessness. There is one way, one truth. Life becomes a river that you can flow along with, rather than a complex planning strategy, a confusing chaos or a painful battlefield.

One of the big places in which our lives can be divided is between everyday life and spiritual reality. In the metaphysics of Tantra, however, the world can be understood to have two dimensions: horizontal and vertical.

The horizontal dimension is the world we see around us: our friends, family, relationships and experiences. The objects we handle on a daily basis, the physical location where we live, and so on. For most people this is reality.

The vertical dimension is the pole that runs between heaven and earth and is, in general, much less familiar. This aspect of reality highlights that we can, at times, experience a very physical solid reality bodies, objects, etc. but at other times we experience a much less tangible universe thoughts, emotions, energies and even states of consciousness. Think of a time you felt extreme joy or ecstasy and felt as though you were being lifted into the skies this is the lift upwards in the vertical reality.

Ultimately, Tantra points us to the highest level of consciousness in which we merge into what is often called oneness, in which we no longer feel like a separate physical entity. This is sometimes called heaven, as opposed to the more tangible experience of earth (physical reality). In Tantra, orgasm is one of the key ways to move from a physical solid experience of reality into the lighter more ethereal experience. In other words, orgasm can take us from earth to heaven.

However Tantra also invites us onto the path of creativity, in which we bring the heavenly vibrations back down into this earthly experience. A lot of music, poetry and dance are examples of this. In Tantra you can also channel the divine into your touch, and give healing or loving to another person through your body. So Tantra invites us to move from sex to spirit and from spirit to sex as a creative dance of life.

Now this can be quite startling, if you were raised with any conventional religion, as most of the worlds religions give the message that sexuality is a non-spiritual phenomenon, or even anti-spiritual; at best used to create babies and at worst a vehicle to take you to damnation and hell. Tantra does not teach that all sexual experiences take you to higher consciousness, but it does give step-by-step guidance to help put you on the path to sacred sexuality.

This metaphysical theory also explains why Tantra is so often the black sheep of spiritual systems. On many spiritual and religious paths we are faced with a choice: sexuality OR spirituality. Tantra gives a different invitation: choose sexuality AND spirituality, and bring the two together to create a wholeness and completion within your life. This is the weaving of Tantra.