Spanda and the power of massage

Spanda has been variously described as sacred tremor, vibratory dynamic of the absolute consciousness, an oscillation between expansion and contraction, the big bang. Christopher Wallis in his book The Recognition Sutras talks of the Tantric Master Ksemaraja, who saw divine awareness as flowing liquid, congealing and melting away again in an endless series; the enactment of this rhythmic pulse that is Spanda.

Spanda is our inner divine tremoring. When our passions are aflame. When we recognise we are the interplay of energy and consciousness (Shiva/Shakti), that the manifested universe is a play of consciousness. In Kali Rising, Rudolph Ballentine talks about the primordial throb, spontaneous action that is deeply authentic.

And it all starts with bringing consciousness to the breath.

Daniel Odier in his book Desire: The Tantric Path to Awakening emphasises that through bringing presence to the breath we come to recognise that our body does not stop at the skin but quivers and softens, wave like, out into the world and back to the body. Touch, therefore, becomes our pre-eminent sense.

Touch is now recognised as a health and wellbeing necessity. Massage being one of the keyways to bring about bodily, energetic and spiritual alignment.

The more we are able to connect to the subtle quivering in our body, the more we are able to shift from the need of intense stimulation to slow simple pleasure. This is a form of deconditioning and reconditioning. In our men-who-love-men circle this has significance as it helps shift us from sex junkies to divine worshipers (without an object of desire) from an egoist to a tantrika.

Through various massage techniques the person receiving the massage can sink into a place of deep relaxation that allows for the separation of ejaculation and orgasm (often referred to as the mini bang). Indeed, the person receiving the massage can sink into a place of not wanting anything at all, allowing for a true union to take place (of the various aspects in our own psych).

Bringing it all together

We know that a good massage can rejuvenate us when feeling low. It helps us stay connected. It ensures a balanced nervous system. It gives us life. And yet, for many men-who-love-men it also brings issues of guilt and shame through its very sensual nature. It can be a quick fix, a happy ending. But if approached from a more spiritual perspective it offers the opportunity to connect to our divine nature, to vibrate in harmony with absolute consciousness. Massage is a central tool in our journey from egoist to Tantrika.

Connect on Twitter / Facebook / JustFor.Fans

Email me direct if you are interested in mindful, trauma-informed, intimacy or spiritual coaching, or if you would like to join my new Pink Tantra Towards Awakening group for chat rooms, video channels and in-person workshops around tantra and intimacy practices 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 a bit of light reading, see my first historical fictional novel Fermented Spirits published through Austin Macauley Publishers, 2022. ISBN-13: ‎978-1398437159