How to become universal Self

William Schindler, in Gay Tantra, reminds us that everything we experience is within Cit, consciousness, pure awareness. Cit is the constant is every experience: I am. It is our Being. In Sanskrit the word for being is Sat. In Tantra Cit and Sat are the same. Sat is the one thing we have in common with every Being and we know this through Cit.

Sat and Cit are synonymous, one cannot be without the other. Being is revealed through consciousness, and consciousness allows us to experience Being. In both Vedanta and Tantra Reality is referred to as Sat-Cit-Ananda, Being-Consciousness-Bliss. Bliss is the unconditional love and acceptance of reality as it is; the fully revealed and enlightened knowing of Being and consciousness.

When we refer to pure consciousness we are referring to ‘consciousness as’ not ‘consciousness of’, ie, not the content of consciousness, but rather the perceiver, not the perceived; the Witness. The content of consciousness is all of manifestation; Sakti, often called dynamic consciousness; consciousness in action (energy).

Here we are not talking of Siva, Sakti as anthropomorphic deities, but as impersonal philosophical terms of the Field and the Knower of the Field. There can be no Field without a Knower and no Knower without a Field. It is our limited use of the anthropomorphic which so often gets us stuck in the journey to awakening. Nevertheless, Tantra uses personified deities as symbols for the very reason that we somehow need the understand the concepts in the context of our personhood. (This reflects the work of Dr. Martineau around philosophical theories about religion, where ‘an impersonal God cannot be worshipped’.)

From a Tantric perspective, Schindler tells us, aspirants fall into three types, each with a preponderance of one of the three gunas (the very substance of Sakti – the threads out of which the fabric of reality is made).

1.     The animal types tend to have a preponderance of tamas, inertia, hence their tendency to become stuck in experience.

2.     The hero type tend to have a preponderance of rajas, dynamism, hence their tendency for never ending search, for restless questioning and deep insights.

3.     While the divine type will have a preponderance of sattva, equilibrium; having a deep satisfaction with what is, they will be effortlessly integrated.

It is invariably difficult to convince animal types that they are not the hero as they over-indulge, lacking the required discipline and self-enquiry for ruthless honesty. Likewise, as an aspirant progresses from animal to hero, it can be difficult to leave behind old practices and attitudes. The need for a competent spiritual teacher is paramount here.

In Tantra there are generally thought to be two types of practice; the ascetic and the ecstatic. The ascetic is where we shut of or minimise sensory input. The ecstatic is where we train our senses to attain deeper awareness. We require both practices. However, often the ascetic approach can become no more than escapism from life. While it is notoriously difficult to convince those stuck in ‘experience’ of the need for discipline, and so ecstatic practices often become little more than an excuse for yet more distraction (no matter how enjoyable it might be, it is still a distraction from the spiritual journey).

Ascetic practices usually revolve around meditation, typically a form of concentration, something that reduces sensory input. This can include active meditation that focusses on repetition (this might be movement or mantra) that again helps reduce sensory input, reducing activity in the mind.

Ecstatic practices use the senses, especially connected to our natural desires, to take us towards enlightenment. The key issue here is the self-delusion that can arise between sense enjoyment and non-attached mental discipline. This is not to say sense enjoyment shouldn’t be practiced, but that ruthless honesty should be practiced; are we attached to body consciousness?

Ritual is the core Tantric ecstatic practice. Rituals can be understood on different levels, where the overall purpose is to break down our conception of our body-mind identity.

1.     As an offering to God/dess, to the divine, or consciousness.

2.     As a psychological technique to transform consciousness (our individual sense of self, becoming universal Self).

3.     As a means to awaken Kundalini (although a truer way to express this might be to say, to awaken to our kundalini – Sakti – our dormant power/energy – engaging our true Self, Sakti, to connect to Siva – pure consciousness).

It is important to note that while Tantra embraces all aspects of life, it is not hedonistic. There are clear rules to be followed, especially for the animal types, before progressing to deeper levels through the hero and the divine. Where Tantra does violate societal rules it is within ritualistic practices.

So, what are the rules Tantra prescribe?

There are 10 rules, or disciplines, related to Patanjali’s yamas and niyamas, the first two Limbs from the Yoga Sutra, and there are 10 practices. The Yamas are the principles of self-regulation to de-programme our mental patterns. They consist of,

1.     Ahimsa, non-injury, where we neutralise our impulses towards aggression.

2.     Satya, truthfulness, where we bring clarity, eliminating the untruths and lies we tell to others and ourselves.

3.     Asteya, non-stealing, where we let go of wanting what others have and trusting that the universe will give us what we need.

4.     Brahmacharya, which Schindler calls chastity, but is actually ‘to walk in Brahman’, where we align our creative force with the greater intention of Brahman, our individual expression of universal intelligence (and as Schindler says, cultivating our ‘unwavering devotion to God/dess’).

5.     And Aparigraha, non-grasping, where our desires and attachments no longer own us.

The Niyamas are the principles of self-training to help us reprogramme our mind to attune to universal intelligence. They consist of,

1.     Saucha, purity, the cleansing of the mind and body, so we have a pure and easeful relationship with our lived and surroundings.

2.     Santosha, contentment, where we accept what is, accepting challenges as our Karma and live in alignment with our Dharma (our Karma is the experiences in our lives and how we respond to them, and Dharma is the structures of our life, ie family, culture, natural skill set, etc), and where we use our sense experience to remind ourselves of the Self, the awareness that permeates everything.

3.     Tapas, austerity, where we bring discipline and surrender to a focussed mind for practice and spiritual evolution.

4.     Svadyaya, study, especially for self-awareness and deep self-investigation.

5.     And Ishvara pranidhana, dedication to God/dess, devotion and surrender to the divine, universal intelligence.

The 10 practices are,

1.     Prayer (communicating with the divine, listening especially in the Silence. This could also relate to Worship).

2.     Japa (mantra repetition).

3.     Mindfulness (meditation in practice).

4.     Celebration (creative endeavours, music, dance, art, poetry, creative writing, etc).

5.     Ritual (that is, ritualising the totality of our life, from the time we awake to when we sleep).

6.     Reasoning (this is self-inquiry, and Jnana/knowing that allows us to transcend).

7.     Affirmation (aligning to truth, especially the affirmation of Oneness).

8.     Love of God/dess (awakening love for all, again this could be through Worship).

9.     Meditation (a daily practice which is the foundation of all spiritual practices).

10. Union (God/dess takes over, Oneness).

Through the above rules/disciplines and practices we balance the ascetic and the ecstatic. This way we can integrate our erotic impulses rather than over-indulging them or rejecting them.

But there are bound to be obstacles on the path, from the monkey mind, to health issues, external circumstances or otherwise. Just getting started is often a major hurdle for many. At this point the question is simply one of ruthless self-honesty; Are you ready? What would you rather be doing? If you can answer something else, then go do it.

The second obstacle is often, after the initial rush and enthusiasm, the waning period, the realisation that this practice will happen day after day after day. Weeks you’ve been doing it and still no awakening. Where was the enlightenment and bliss promised? At this point, again some more ruthless honesty is needed. Is there something else you’d rather be doing? If so, go do it.

Once you are set in your daily practice, the next obstacle might be once you have experienced ‘something’, some kind  of breakthrough, a great experience we want to occur again and again. Only it doesn’t! Frustration can lead to false rationalising. It never really happened. I just imagined it. I’m not worthy of this experience. It’s too difficult anyway. This can be through false humility or inflated self-regard.

Or, the spoiled child, ego, testing your resolve. It’s actually not as interesting as I thought it would be. There’s not as much sex as I expected. There’s too much sex. I’ve got a tone of other things I could be doing. I’m not sure I understand it all. Either way we can begin to feel dejected, deflated and let-down. At this point we need to question our true motives, affirming our faith in the journey, or reminding ourself that the journey is never ending. We need to face our ego with patience and persistence.

And, of course, all the innumerable external obstacle that will come our way. The trick here is to take any practical steps we can to minimise them, but progressively incorporate them into our practice. Remembering that a core practice in Tantra is Ritual (that is, ritualising the totality of our life, from the time we awake to when we sleep, the pleasant and the unpleasant).

Bringing it all together

Tantra incorporates the two key aspects of ascetic and ecstatic, of minimising sense input and training the senses, to bring an integrated whole to our spiritual practice and to our life. As men who love men, this offers a way to use our sexual energy in a spiritually productive way, utilising our sensuality as a resource. One that neither countenances over-indulgence nor represses our natural desires.

Tantra is practical. Above all, it is a doing, through technologies of practice that have been tried and tested, and ritualised, so we are able to discern our patterns to transcend our individual sense of self, becoming universal Self.

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Message me direct if you are interested in mindful, embodied, trauma-informed, or tantra-spiritually-informed 1-1 coaching robert.pinktantra@gmail.com

See my personal development / personality profiling book DISCover the Power of You published through John Hunt Publishing Ltd, 2017. ISBN: 978-1-78535-591-2

And for those who enjoy historical fiction, stories of underrepresented life’s, see my first novel Fermented Spirits published through Austin Macauley Publishers, 2022. ISBN-13: ‎978-1398437159