There is a teaching saying in Zen that says, “…it would be better to be deaf, blind and dumb from the very beginning.” This is not a literal statement, wishing one to be without vital senses, but rather a teaching tool. Tantra practice, simply put, is the weaving together of vital energies within nature and the advanced, engaged consciousness humanity possesses. It is the same awareness existing within all beings, but humans have a noticeably greater potentiality and ability to rapidly advance in evolutionary process at will. Where then does the animal aspect of our being come into play?

Nature puts one into life in accordance with universal energy and law. It is the ability to study these laws that is the difference. This study, when open and somatically scientific, separates itself from dogma and enters into ‘yoga,’ or divine union between study and student, between energy and form.

In this era of vast information available to us at the click of a button, the limits of the mind are exposed in our individual explorations. Knowing and knowledge – the gap between the two comes down to this union, this embodiment, this leaving behind of the past and future and entering into the moment. Tantra is this weaving of oneself back into the fabric of eternity. With society and knowledge full of separating and divisive paradoxes (collectivism and it’s service to further separation from nature; capitalism and it’s dividing of classes and individuals, one from another; digital entertainment and it’s destructive effects on awareness and spiritual development), the methods of tantra are ultimately pointing back to a method-less state of being – the Original Self, untouched by priests and politicians’ manipulation and greed.

My experience of gnosis is the unveiling of the unseen world around us from the eyes. Experiencing the energetic world and Spirit beyond as forefront and center in the material world. My tantra mentor talks often of the “knowing within the natural world.” While animals may not be studying scriptures and meditation, they are also living in alignment with the Whole naturally, not needing answers or questioning ‘why.’ This universal Mind, just dancing through all the exists, is the meditation that is without method itself.

Stepping out of ego, we bring with us the deeper, true awareness and, holding the Witness, go for a ride in the sexuality that nature includes in all it’s aspects. The birds singing, the wind blowing, the ocean crashing – all are mantras that single of a sensual unity on this planet, in this universe and in this very body.

Firstly, I recommend starting a meditation practice in your life. Meditate daily in a style that feels natural and good to you. Try out several, but once one feels good, try for a bit … don’t go hopping around forever, least you never gain any ground at all in going deeper.

Then, seek a teacher. Same principals as the 1^st step – do not force yourself to love a teacher who does not fit but give yourself to teaching with an open heart and use your intuition to determine where you are and what you want out of the relationship.

The teacher, the tantric partner – in time, these manifest with dedication and goal-less immersion in the practice. Well, a goal is okay – but in a completely non-attached way. If you are spiritually greedy, it is much like material greed; you will be unsatisfied and unhappy in your being.

This will make sense as you progress. Pranayama breathing practices are a great way to get oriented with the movement of natural sexual energies in the body. Look some up or ask a yoga or meditation teacher for some that you trust.