Tantra and the courage to walk alone
Traditional Indian Kundalini Tantra Yoga is the art of letting go. Tantra is the science or system that allows us to do that through practical philosophies and techniques to connect us to consciousness (called Kundalini Shakti). Here we don’t try and change the world; we change ourselves by recognising that the system, Tantra, is us.
From the perspective of traditional Indian Kundalini Tantra Yoga we are not trying to find freedom, we are freedom. The freedom we think we are seeking is not to be found at some point in the future; but by letting go we come to recognise the freedom we already have. What we are looking to do is express this true freedom that we are. We don’t do this by going or getting anywhere, but by being aware that we are already there.
Tantra then is, at its heart, about feeling our own presence. This is about being completely aware in the moment; living in harmony with consciousness. This can have significant implications when we realise this is not about living, necessarily, in harmony with those round about us who are unaware. Tantra, then, asks of us to engage in a level of courageousness that inevitably limits those willing to persist on its path. This is why traditional Tantra is an individual rather than a social/group path.
A key question is, are we able to accept our own sound with full awareness?
Everything is vibration, from the cosmic to the individual. We use sound, often thought to be the first form of vibration, (in the form of mantras and chanting) to enter soundlessness, pure consciousness, often called the silence of samadhi. We all have our own sound. Our spiritual practices are, above all, about being authentic to our own sound with awareness; to oneself first. This also can have implications difficult for many people to maintain. To live in this world we must focus on survival. Our spiritual path is based on awareness. Both survival and awareness must work together. The trick is to not get lost in one or the other.
Using Tantra techniques we work across three levels to do this, to go beyond our limited self, to our Pure Self of Being, where we vitalise our senses (which is not the same as becoming attached to them). We work with the body, the mind and the emotions; dropping the body, dropping the intellect, dropping judgements, to go Beyond. Most people though, in the West, are stuck in survival, especially in the form of pleasure seeking, where the emphasis is on more, more, more. This grasping for pleasure translates as pain. The more we seek, the more lost we are.
Coming to understand this allows us to free ourselves from the limitations imposed on us by ourselves. We are more able to live with moment to moment knowing. We can see the impact of this on the disappearance of grasping, seeking, questioning. There is a saying, when you are alive most questions disappear. Compulsions and attachments begin to drop away. Lightness and fun, in loving presence, becomes more prevalent.
The implications of this take us back to our willingness to let go. Yet few people are willing to let go of the known, to step into the unknown. This requires great courage (as mentioned above). And yet there are practical things we can do to support the development of our courage (our Fire), such as, working on our Naval Chakra. Indeed, we can’t move beyond survival and pleasure without a strong Manipura. It is here our spiritual journey truly starts. It is here we truly start to gain the courage to walk alone.
Bringing it all together
Traditional Tantra scriptures are one-to-one not group orientated. Letting go, or surrender, needs to incorporate a going inwards as well as connecting to a surrounding (higher) frequency / vibration. But above all, walking the path of Tantra necessitates recognising the need for the courage to walk alone, to experience the true bliss of life, and freedom, that is already there.
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