Tantra, Desire, & Awakening: Secret Teachings of Sexual Energy.

Understanding Tantra and Sexual Energy

Tantra is often misunderstood and misrepresented in modern culture. Many people associate it exclusively with sex, picturing long, sensual encounters or exotic rituals. However, Tantra is a vast spiritual tradition that goes far beyond physical pleasure. At its core, it teaches the recognition of sexual energy as a transformative force for spiritual awakening.

In this post, we’ll explore what sexual energy truly means in Tantra, how it has been misinterpreted in the West, and the secret teachings of ancient Tantric masters regarding desire and spiritual growth.

What Is Sexual Energy in Tantra?

In Tantric philosophy, sexual energy is considered a vital life force, often called prāṇa. This energy is sacred and is not merely a physical urge or a means of gratification. Unlike the casual attitudes towards sex typically found in modern culture, Tantra views sexual energy as a powerful force for personal and spiritual transformation.

Tantrikas believe that sexual energy is one of the most potent energies within us. When harnessed correctly, it can be used to deepen our awareness, expand consciousness, and align our physical and spiritual selves.

Is The Kama Sutra Tantra?

One of the biggest misconceptions is that Tantra is all about sex. In Western culture, Tantra has often been reduced to a form of spiritualized eroticism, similar to the Kama Sutra. However, this is far from the truth.

The Kama Sutra, composed in the 3rd century CE, is a text on the science of pleasure and relationships—it is not a Tantric text.

Dr Imma Ramos, a scholar at the British Museum, says…

Contrary to Western misperceptions, Tantra had little to do with the science of pleasure outlined in the Kama Sutra, which was composed before the rise of Tantra and was guided by Hindu beliefs.
– Dr Imma Ramos (2020, September 23rd)

As Tantric scholar Christopher Hareesh Wallis (2015, September 15th) points out, classical Tantric texts do not describe techniques for better sex or enhancing pleasure. Instead, they emphasise the polarity of masculine and feminine energies and the role of sexual energy in spiritual practices.

The Tantric Life Podcast

Listen to the podcast episode of this topic on your preferred platform, here: E38 Tantra, Desire & Awakening: The Secret Teachings of Sexual Energy.

Ancient Teachings on Sexual Energy: The Secret Kula-Yaga Ritual

But there is at least one explicit mention of sex in an early Tantrik text, and it provides a really fascinating and enlightening view of how sex is, or can be, a part of Tantra.

In the 10th century, the Kasmiri non-dual shaiva tantrik master Abhinavagupta makes references to the spiritual power of sexual energy, in his profound Tantrik text, The Tantrāloka. In one section of that text, he describes the fascinating secret sex ritual known as the kula-yaga, and lays out the elements for preparation and performing this ritual. The word kula in this context means “the Power of the Supreme Lord”, and one of the attributes of this supreme power is virya… or virility, or sexual energy.

It is thanks to the translation of this text by the Tantrik scholar-practitioner Christopher Hareesh Wallis, that we are able to get a glimpse into this profound teaching of the use of sexual energy in Tantrik practice.

In Abhinavagupta’s description of this ritual it is clear that sexual arousal is an important ingredient, involving the interaction of two or more lovers.

Here’s a quote from that text…

This Kula worship can be done in six ways: externally [i.e., using a maṇḍala on the ground], involving a śakti [i.e., female partner], the couple, [one’s own] body, the path of prāṇa, or thought [i.e., mentally], with further sub-divisions in each of these divisions. || 7 ||
– Tantrāloka translated by Christopher Wallis (2018, October 30th).

We know that Abhinavagupta is referring to sex here because elsewhere in the text he mentions making a special offering of the “bodily fluids” which have come from the “union with shakti” and that the practitioner should not have any inhibition about offering and consuming these “substances which are forbidden” in the Vedic texts.

So here we see it explicitly mentioned that sex with another partner, or even as a threesome with a couple, can be part of a Tantrik practice.

But it should be noted that the physical sexual interaction is not necessarily the most important method, since that is only listed as two out the six variations for performing this ritual…. The others being the use of a mandala on the ground, the movement of prana, the use of mental visualisation, and one’s own body. So those other methods are clearly not sexual intercourse, but most likely still involve some aspect of sexual energy, either by visualisation, or maybe, and this is just my speculation, some sort of self-pleasuring stimulation, since one of those methods is with one’s own body. In any case, the practitioner is awakening and working with virya, virility or sexual energy, one of the attributes of kula, the Power of the Supreme Lord.

In other words the ritual practitioner can still harness the sexual power of virya, and perform this ritual, without having to engage in sexual intercourse.

Furthermore, we should also keep in mind what is mentioned in a previous verse from the text, that this sex ritual can only, or should only be performed by someone who has cultivated a deep enough sense of divine consciousness that they have become truly free of conditioning, inhibitions, doubt, or guilt, and are able to see all things as they truly are… neither pure nor impure, but expressions of the same Divine essence.

Here’s another quote from that text…

Only that worship has such a nature [that it could properly be called a kula-yāga] which is [performed] by one who has dissolved the multitude of inhibitions & doubts and who is [thereby] seeing all created things exactly as they [really] are [i.e. not as pure or impure but rather as kula]. || 5 ||
– Tantrāloka translated by Christopher Wallis (2018, October 30th).

In other words using sex for spiritual practice shouldn’t be undertaken lightly, and requires a deep level of spiritual awareness, if it is to be a truly Tantrik practice.

And in fact the teachings of this Kula-Yaga sex rite were originally kept secret, intended only for advanced practitioners and gurus. And even though this section of the Tantraloka describes quite a lot of detail about the rite, the precise instructions for how to perform it are not included. That information was most likely only ever passed down by word of mouth only to those practitioners who were deemed ready.

Your Sexual Energy is the Key to Unlocking Your Spiritual Awakening

The key takeaway here, is that your sexual power, or your sexual virility, your creative life force, is an important energy to work with as a tool for spiritual awakening, and we can work with that energy in any number of ways that doesn’t necessarily have to be sexual intercourse. It can be with visualisations, meditations, mandalas, yantras, and mantras, etc. The physical act of sexual interaction with someone else, is really just one of many ways to work with that energy.

Transforming Desire Into Spiritual Awakening

In Tibetan Buddhist Tantra, we see this concept of transforming sexual desire into spiritual and personal growth. The Tibetan Buddhist, Lama Yeshe teaches that the desire we experience in any and all pleasures can be used for awakening our spiritual consciousness. In his book, Introduction to Tantra he describes the difference between the Tantric approach and the non-tantric approach of spiritual life. In a non-tantric approach the spiritual aspirant is often encouraged to repress desires and to stoically shun pleasure in any form. This is that typical image of the ascetic holy man, living a tough and spartan life alone in a cold cave in the mountains, denying himself of earthly delights while he meditates on the transcendental nature of God.

Whilst that particular path in itself is not wrong or misguided… of course there are, and have been, many many masters and sages who have achieved enlightenment like this… but it is not a path that is practical or suitable for most people living in today’s modern world.

Lama Yeshe teaches that instead, we can work with the power of our desires, including the most powerful desire of sexual energy, to live a spirituality that is embodied, that allows us to experience this physical and emotional reality of being human.

In his words…

The logic of Tantra is really very simple: Our experience of ordinary pleasure can be used as the resource for attaining the supremely pleasurable experience of totality, or enlightenment.
– Lama Yeshe (2014).

According to Lama Yeshe learning to channel our desires towards spiritual awakening is quite an art, and requires a lot of practice to develop the skill.

It starts from understanding what desire is, and how it affects us day-to-day. Ordinarily, our desires for pleasurable experiences mostly feed into habitual patterns of grasping and attachment. These habits lead us on a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows, as we look for fulfilment in the pleasure itself, and ultimately end up unfulfilled and dissatisfied when the object of our pleasure changes, or loses its novelty, or is taken away from us.

On the other hand, when we recognise these habitual patterns, and make an effort to connect more and more with our spiritual self, our Divine essence, we can start to live our life by experiencing incredible pleasure while remaining in a state of clarity and mindfulness.

Again in his words…

We must learn to allow pleasurable experiences to happen without grabbing on to them as “mine”. We can accomplish this by unifying our mind with emptiness, with non-duality.
– Lama Yeshe (2014).

How to Harness Sexual Energy for Spiritual Growth

There are many practices with which we can work with our sexual energy, and channel it and transmute it, to awaken a deeper connection to our spiritual essence, as well as a connection with others and the universe around us.

These include:

Visualization and meditation to direct sexual energy upward through the chakras.
Breathwork (pranayama) to balance and circulate prana.
Mantras and yantras to focus the mind and elevate consciousness.
Energy cultivation through movement, such as in Hatha Yoga.

But the first step really has to be rooted in establishing a solid spiritual practice that allows us to experience what that “non-duality” is like. Once we start to regularly dip into that vast ocean of blissful consciousness, then we can truly begin our Tantric practice and carry that consciousness of Divinity into our Earthly pleasures.

Conclusion: The Reality of Tantra and Sexual Energy

So, why is Tantra so strongly associated with sex? The answer is that sexual energy is an inseparable part of human experience and spirituality, and the early Tantrikas recognised and embraced this.

Sex is, or can be a part of authentic classical Tantra, not just Neo Tantra. But it is only a small part, and the focus is more on the energy of sex, virya, and working with that sexual energy with the goal of spiritual awakening.

You may also be interested in these other posts about Tantra…

About YuTantra / What is Tantra?

Tantra Basics Part 1: Meanings and Origins