The Tantric Shaman

Continued from Mind-Altering Practices...

From an Asian perspective, there are certain classes of non-physical beings that thrive on the energy that is generated by warfare and killing. The Tibetans have up to eight classes of beings that affect humanity in different ways. Epidemic disease is associated with a specific class of being which feeds off of the energy of the dying.

In many of the traditions of China, India and Tibet, the tantric shaman has the ability to fulfill any of these aforementioned functions when fully trained. These shamans become mahasiddhas who have united the Three Bodies. This is the highest level of power. In many civilizations, the first king or ruler was a tantric shaman. In China, this includes the Yellow Emperor and Lao Tzu.

Tantric shamans have attained power through successful practices that often include fasting and sensory deprivation, as well as sexual yoga. This type of shaman employs dreams, visions, and inter-dimensional travel in order to retrieve useful information from other realms for all the members of the tribe, clan, or community.

Shamans serve as intermediaries between the worlds of the dead and the living. Shamans have the ability to guide the souls of the departed to their next destinations. Shamans translate the inner meanings of dreams for the benefit of the tribe.

The majority of descriptions of ascending or descending (journeys to an "upper," "middle" or "lower" world) are based on shamanic intervention on behalf of a student or patient. A shaman's journey is the defining practice of shamanic visionary experience.

In many tribes in Siberia, the shaman has to have experienced eight dismemberments of the subtle body. This is one of the key characteristics of shamanic initiation. This experience of dismemberment is also the basis of the Chod practice of Tibetan Buddhism, wherein the practitioner visualizes dismembering him/herself and offering the body parts to various "guests” at the ritual feast.

Until the latter decade of the twentieth century, Western science did not include the concept of multiple worlds, but this has been the basis of the shamanic worldview for thousands of years. The Western physicists' discoveries that echo Buddhist billion-world theory have confirmed the essential shamanic worldview: there are many parallel dimensions, and our waking reality obscures our perception of these other worlds. They are always present, but most of us cannot observe or visit them. Shamans can.

Tantric Sex

It is said that the tantric path can be a slippery slope without proper understanding and guidance. Without the amount of preparation, self-cultivation, and deep understanding of the principles involved, one will only be indulging in low-level desires and not truly experiencing the tantric path of ultimate freedom and awareness.

In ancient tantric texts from India we see that sex is viewed as having three distinct purposes — procreation, pleasure, and liberation. Spiritual seekers are able to use this most fundamental of human expressions to facilitate greater communication and trust levels with their partners, and are able to improve their health physically, emotionally, and psychologically. They can also use this powerful form of energy cultivation for further spiritual growth.

In India many types of sexual rituals were practiced. Some of them involved elaborate preparation and purification rites. In these rituals, the male and the female were seen as living embodiments of the primordial aspects of the universe—Shiva and Shakti. When they are joined physically these Shiva and Shakti energies are fused, resulting in a powerful energy field. This energy field then allows both the male and female to achieve higher states of consciousness as well as greater levels of health and spiritual insight.

An important part of this practice was seminal retention. It was believed that semen, being full of life-giving properties, was too precious to be lost.