Tantra: The Sacred Union of Shiva and Shakti
No tradition in the history of human spirituality has been more systematically misrepresented than Tantra. In the West, the word conjures images of sexual techniques, extended intercourse, and workshops promising ecstatic union. In India, traditional practitioners regard this association with something between bemused contempt and genuine offense. The reality of Tantra — what it actually is, what it actually teaches, and why it remains one of the most radical and sophisticated spiritual systems ever developed — is almost precisely the opposite of what its popular image suggests. Tantra does not begin with sexuality. It begins with a metaphysical claim so absolute that it makes most other spiritual systems look timid by comparison: reality is sacred, in its entirety, without exception . The body is sacred. Pleasure is sacred. Desire is sacred. The emotions — all of them, including the ones that other traditions ask you to transcend or suppress — are sacred. Nothing in the manifest univ...