A beautifully written article by a new friend/comrade:

Fully understood, Tantra is devotional work. Fundamentally, the intention is to encourage experiences that offer a glimpse into our own connection with the Divine. The focus is on healing and wholeness – not as in “being fixed or changed,” but as in cleansing, clarifying, and nourishing oneself. Key aspects of the experience:
• Quieting the mind
• Expanding the heart
• Building the energy/raising the vibration of our cellular vessel
• Surrendering to spirit

You are inviting an experience and appreciation of your own innate perfection and possibility, demonstrating your willingness to trust life, trust energy, trust the divine in yourself and others.

Each connection is entirely unique, entirely perfect unto itself and each person’s experience. No one can promise any specific experience or result. Having said that, one can anticipate that by intentionally inviting the energies of the inner Masculine and Feminine into sacred dance, there will be an exchange of affirmations and healings beyond any specific intention or attempt to control. Tantra is an unconditional celebration of aliveness.

Also, there are certain themes that emerge on a consistent basis (beyond, yet related to, the four things mentioned above).

• Increased clarity. I am not speaking of intellectual clarity (although that might come along for the ride!) I am speaking of a kind of innate resolution that seems to occur afterward, where tantric participants have a deeper sense of knowingness and trust in their own sense of who they are and what they want to manifest in life.

• Increased sense of personal courage. In this society, it is a brave and rebellious choice to consciously explore one’s own sexual energies. It is an act of personal empowerment. There are so many obstacles to and imprecations against intimate exploration, affirmation, and celebration … the mere choice to open to the experience naturally infuses one with a sense of personal affirmation and encouragement that remains beyond any one moment.

• Suspended judgment. The focus of the work is so clearly on sacred intention, that there is no need, nor is there room, for all the habitual chatter about expectations, obligations, responsibilities, or implications regarding the individuals (or everyday relationship) involved. This is a chance to dive deep into your own physical and energetic expressions unconditionally, and without thought or concern about what’s going on “out there.” There is no need for the “hall monitor” to provide a running commentary on the experience … and there is a great sense of liberation in knowing this “unconditional self” is actually available to you at all times …

• Permission. This is actually closely related to suspended judgment but is so distinct and significant an outcome that I wanted to give it its own space. You are invited to have the experience of giving yourself “permission as you have never given it before” to BE. In this place of permission, you may have glimpses of the openness, expansiveness, and resource that are ALWAYS within you, waiting to be invited.

These outcomes require trust and courage – vulnerability and an openness to at least glimpsing a life lived unconditionally. Truly tantric work is most effective when explored in a container of conscious safety, groundedness, and unconditional love. Without clear intentionality, this container is easily compromised by the personal agenda of individuals involved in the negotiations (both conscious and unconscious) of “relationship.” One helpful approach is to create a ritual, signifying a clear beginning and end. This heightens the sense of sacredness, and allows the “ego mind” of each person to step aside long enough for the exploration to unfold.

People don’t generally give themselves/each other conscious access to the mysteries of the deeper, more intimate energies. I believe this is where the full richness of awareness and spiritual awakening awaits our attentions. And each person much approach the gates with their own sense of appropriateness, trust, integrity, and innocence.

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