Of all the methods of awakening,Tantra is perhaps the most exotic and at its initial ritual levels certainiy the most erotic. A Tantrika raises all the latent energies of the body, and channels them into such a sensual and emotional charge that it literally "blasts" its way through to the higher functions of the organism. It is rather like a seven stage space rocket, escaping the Earth's gravitational pull. The first stage is gross, but each subsequent stage becomes more sophisticated and refined.

The first stages of the rocket are raw sexual energy and the seventh is the ultimate subtlety of "Samadhi" (Enlightenment.) Tantra is perhaps the most richly variegated method of transforming man to be found anywhere on the planet. It is a synthesis of the major devices of Indian religion and philosophy. But Tantra is also outrageous at its initial levels, shocking its orthodox Brahmin and Buddhist counterparts, for it demands total severance of any identification with the everyday world. Tantrikas often perform their elaborate and sexually based rituals close to cremation and burial grounds. This is a constant reminder of death which destroys everything. For the Tantrika, time is the great illusion. It is time which gives the appearance of birth, death, all objects and all space.

Fundamental to this view is that the world of events and objects is constantly being projected from a present moment which issues forth in all of us. All the Tantrika has to do is to turn around 180 degrees and look back up the projector from which it all comes, to be one with the Source. Tantric meditation turns the mind around, to witness the whole creation of existence continually spewing forth from the mystical cosmic Yoni or the female vulva: a result of the orgasmic and ecstatic union with the male seed.

The Tantric adept focuses on the Female Divine Form as the true creator of all time-enslaved events. In fact the woman is the teacher, the "power holder," who instructs the seeker. It was so for the Tibetan scholar-sage Saraha who was finally instructed by a common arrowsmith woman. It was true for the great Indian reiigious genius Shri Ramakrishna who was initiated by Bhairavi Brahmain in the last century.

Hindu Tantra

Hindu tantra focuses attention upon the arousing energy of the coiled kundalini which lies asleep at the base chakra. This metaphorical snake is the individual's projecting world aspect and is coiled around the inner lingam, covering its mouth with hers. That mouth is the entrance at the bottom of the spinal cord. Once awakened the kundalini uncoils, straightens and in a wild rush penetrates the central canal running along the spinal cord. It enters each of the lotus chakras, activating each in turn, to burst finally through the thousand-petaled lotus at the crown of the head.

Buddhist Tantra

The Buddhist tantra, both Indian and Tibetan, ignores kundalini altogether and does not include the lower chakras. It does, however, identify the ascending energy of consciousness with that of sexual energy. What is peculiar in the Buddhist approach is the importance given to the heart as a field of energy. Here, it seems, resides the true Self, the Buddha Nature, and while the conscious energy must flow upward in its course to the crown chakra, it then blossoms as a fountain to fall back into the heart for the final ultimate union.