The word Tantra comes from the ancient Sanskrit word meaning "to weave." The concepts of Tantra express the thought that each of us is, first and foremost, living a spiritual existence which weaves and connects with everything else.

Although there is no actual book of Tantra, Dr. David Frawley, in his book Tantric Yoga and the Wisdom Goddesses, explains Tantra further, saying, "Tantra primarily means a compendium of various sorts of spiritual and occult knowledge particularly those dating from the medieval times in India."

Concepts of Tantra were first written about in ancient scriptures, and evolved into two forms -- Buddhist Tantra and Hindu Tantra. Hindu, which we will be discussing here, is much more about ancient and centers in stories about Shiva, the supreme Godhead known as the destroyer, and Shakti, the Goddess and supreme creative power. When the God Shiva (pure consciousness merged into sexual union with the Goddess Shakti (pure creative energy) the universe was created. With this explanation it is said to become apparent that the cosmic dance of the Universe exists only between the attraction of polar opposites.

It is the union and love between the equal male and female that creates new life and showcases the dynamics of the universe of paradoxical -- that opposites create wholeness and unity.

Tantra, as a life practice according to the ancient writings such as the Upanishads, promotes deep acceptance and honoring of everything in existence. It teaches that every path is to be embraced and accepted and encourages each person to find their own way. The practice of Tantra invokes the presence of spirit in all that occurs in life, and looks to feelings, emotions, thoughts, and actions as raw material to be processed into the gift of awareness.

Tantra allows the saint and the sinner to coexist and even understands that they are two aspects of the same single energy. It encourages self-realization and understands that individual intelligence is part of the cosmic consciousness -- it is our inner wisdom.

Many followers of the Tantra have focused on the sexual aspect of Tantra because sexuality, in all its best and worst aspects, has such a tremendous grip on our culture. We are born out of this energy, according to Tantra script, through the union of spirit with itself. Consciously or not, we recognize sexual energy as our own, and so we want to accept it and transform it. We want to move into full consciousness and indulge with awareness so we can experience it and then transcend it.

Possibly, the current popular focus upon the sexual aspects of Tantric philosophy is an effort to find a healthier expression for sex. Tantra recognizes that sex used as a form of release and performed only at the physical level creates depletion and exhaustion rather than nourishment and energy. This culture carries a lot of guilt and shame surrounding sex because of our sex suppressed, sex starved, society. Many people crave intimacy and ecstasy but are afraid to let go towards complete love and total union.

George Feuerstein, Ph.D., in his foreword to the book Tantric Yoga ways Westerners have been drawn to the Tantra since the 1960's psychedelic revolution in response to the sex-negative attitude prevailing in the Judeo-Christian tradition. "Western seekers think of Tantrism solely in terms of its sexual practices and (there are) not a few who actually immerse themselves in Tantric teaching...merely for hedonistic reasons," Feuerstein writes. "Tantrism, however, is not about selfish pleasure but about ego transcending bliss, and it is not about sex as much but about the transmutation of sexual energy."

In order to experience love and total union, Tantra scripture explains that we must first go within, surrender, and allow our whole being to be engulfed in the divine.

While we are in the act of lovemaking, if it is Tantra lovemaking, the mind no longer exists, the ego is lost, time transcended. Through the act of surrendering, the partners simply become part of the cosmic dance of Tantra in eternity.

Margo Anand, in the Art of Sexual Magic, writes that the Tantric vision is vast, "stretching far beyond the realm of love and sexuality, embracing body, mind, heart, and spirit, and, indeed, the whole universe and all its mysteries. Tantra is perhaps the most all-encompassing spiritual path that has ever existed."

So, Tantra is not just for sexual pleasure but for transcending in spirit. In Tantra concepts, we are all spirit in different disguises and the spirit wants to experience union with itself. Certainly, great heights of ecstasy can be reached through a Tantra sexual union, but we can also transcend and achieve ecstasy through just the simple act of being aware and present in the moment, extending ourselves with love.

We each author all the various dramas that exist everyday within our own lives, and this is fun for the spirit, but Tantra says -- be in activity with awareness. Another way that we can transcend in awareness is through meditation. We connect with our source and then we can bring the quality of the spirit with us so that we aren't so overwhelmed by the different dramas we are involved in. This takes some of the anxiety out of living. We can be observers and not be overshadowed by the experience because we know who we really are. Meditation allows us to feel the bliss of spirit through all life's dramas.

Many philosophies promote resistance to our desires. Tantra says to give in to our desires, but with awareness, as desires are the motivating factor behind creation -- in fact they are considered in Tantra as the force of life. Through Tantra we are assured that life is most completely expressed through the individual who knows themselves, not according to someone else, but by going within.