Tantric Yoga Techniques

by Matthew Firestone

Zen is about as intricate, layered and complex as a lotus flower in full bloom, though the mysteries of this ancient Eastern philosophy are not as incomprehensible as you might imagine. On the contrary, the ability to calm the body and mind, and experience insight into the nature of your existence, is entirely within your grasp.

For starters, it helps to know that the fundamentals of Zen Buddhism lie in a practice known as zazen or literally ’seated meditation.’ Since practitioners of Zen believe that new perspectives and insights on existence will lead you down the road to enlightenment, meditation truly holds the key for unlocking your inner self.

On that note, today’s post is all about the 4 easy steps to blissful meditation.

Looking to discover the Buddha-nature within through meditation and mindfulness of daily experiences? Here are some quick and easy steps for reaching nirvana:

1) Assume the position. In Japanese seated meditation or zazen, there are three different types of leg positions: full-lotus, half-lotus and seiza (kneeling posture). All three have their varying degrees of pain and discomfort, though no one ever said that the road to enlightenment was easy!

2) Mind your posture. Your mother was right - a straight back and a strong spine really will serve you well in life. If your body is threatening to turn into a jellyfish, you can reinforce your posture by sitting on a small pillow or cushion. You can also fold your hands together over your belly, which is the body’s natural center of gravity.

3) There is no spoon. Start breathing deep from the belly, lower the eyelids halfway, and then find that sweet spot between conscious distraction and unconscious sleep. In the early stages of learning zazen, you need to develop your concentration skills by focusing on the natural rhythms of your breathing.

4) Reach nirvana. The fourth and final step in blissful meditation isn’t something you can expect to achieve in the first session, but it’s a respectable goal nevertheless. The key in zazen is to develop what is known as ‘one-pointedness of the mind,’ which allows you to focus all of your attention on a kōan or singular object of meditation.

Here is the cool part:

Kōan generally contain aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, such as the famous question, “Two hands clap and there is a sound, but what is the sound of one hand clapping?”

So, if you want to answer questions that are not answerable by mere intellectual reasoning, then practice these four easy steps to blissful meditation, and start uncovering the secrets of the universe.

Source: www.gadling.com

If you are a woman that dreams of a man who will worship you — who will feed you strawberries as you lie naked on satin sheets and massage your skin with scented oil as he dusts a feather up and down your body, then read on. If you are a man who wants to deepen your sexual pleasure and improve your love relationship (which includes having more sex) then tantric sex might be for you.

What is it?

The word tantra means a tool for expansion. The heart of tantric sex is learning to see your lover as truly divine and holy. During lovemaking the five senses are engaged and an intimate connection is created between lovers using breath, meditation, and body positions. The tantric sexual experience engages the body as a whole instead of focussing exclusively on exciting the genitals in order to achieve orgasm. Not that orgasm is left out of tantric sex—many participants describe the orgasms they experience, after connecting in such an intimate way with their partner, as bliss. In fact tantra teaches that harnessing one’s desire and using the energy of sexual arousal can lead to self-realization and enlightenment. Sex as a path to enlightenment—certainly sounds better than fasting and selling your worldly possessions!

There is openness, a revealing of oneself within tantric sex, which can feel a little threatening if you’ve been raised with the idea that sex is a physical activity with a goal in mind. So it may work best if the ideas and exercises are introduced slowly, with a sense of excitement and anticipation that are sure to peak your partner’s curiosity. There are some common elements — for instance one central tantric ritual includes these five items, alcohol, meat, fish, kidney beans and ritual intercourse. Aside from the kidney beans that doesn’t sound much different than our western view of a date, so how hard could it be to incorporate these erotic foreign practices into your usual bedroom routine? Not hard at all, here’s where to start. (more…)