FINDING MY RELIGION: Leading practitioner of Tantra on sexuality as a spiritual path

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 4/24/06 | David Ian Miller

[TFFKAMM]

Tantra has intrigued Westerners since the 1960s, when patchouli-perfumed shops sold little bottles of body oils and "Joy of Sex"-style manuals jazzed up with a bit of Eastern flair, products that were marketed as spiritual aids that would catapult users into heretofore unknown realms of sexual ecstasy.

And yes, according to Tantric practitioner Margot Anand, satisfying sex is indeed one of Tantra's sacraments, but not as an end in itself. Tantra teaches that giving and receiving pleasure helps people get past fear, ignorance, desire and false beliefs while bringing them into harmony with the divine.

Anand, author of many books, including the best-selling "The Art of Sexual Ecstasy," spoke with me last week at her home in Larkspur.

What sparked your interest in Tantra?

The first time I made love. I was 18, and I had a satori (enlightenment) experience in which I went beyond my body to a place of light and complete bliss -- a place that was one with the divine.

From then on, my passion was, "How can I recreate the conditions that allow this blissful state to happen?" Since it happened during lovemaking, I understood that was going to be a doorway for me to reach my spiritual fulfillment as a woman.

Did you know what Tantra was at the time?

No, I had no idea. I was studying at the Sorbonne in Paris, doing my philosophy and psychology degrees. It was the time of Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and existentialism, which promotes the idea that there is nothing after death...

[TFFKAMM]

Tantric practitioner & author Margot Anand.

(Sorry I could only post part of the article, due to copyright constraints. Read the whole thing; it gets particularly interesting when she starts talking about her background in Orthodox Christianity...)

[SteveMcKing]

I levitate in my sleep. My whole body floats 2 feet out of bed.

You can only do it on your back for some reason... perhaps the floor gets in the way when you're lying face-down.

[skandalon]

Those chest wrinkles turn me on....Aaaaaahhh!

[Flavius Josephus]

I used to take off at great speeds when in a state between waking and sleep. Used to terrify the heck out of me because I couldn't break out of it, or at least not without great difficulty.

[Dark Skies]

The religion of "me" has an active god (who is also a practitioner of self-worship). Unfortunately, unlike the religion of Love...the religion of "me" comes down to whom the number one "me" is.

And I think we all know his name! BTW, notice the cresent moon and the star...

[kerryusama04]

We come from a Judeo-Christian tradition that has separated flesh from spirit. And we are taught that the flesh is the abode of evil instincts that will take us to nowhere but bad results.

A Gnosticy-Diana goddes worship? Seperating the spirit from the flesh through orgies? Not really a new concept.

[SteveMcKing]

I once sensed a fire in the state you describe. It was nothing but a lamp (no fire), but the reflex was ungodly. One giant leap across the room from lying dead flat... it took the heavy covers with me and I slammed into the wall. I felt like a total ninja.. I could never repeat it now.

(I am much more certain of this story than my "floating in mid-air" theory.)