Tantra
We often teach the things that we most need to learn. I have resisted Tantra with every fiber of my being. Tantra teaches me to see myself as I truly am. What frightens me about Tantra is that it confronts me with the reality of my heart’s desire. Desire is the magnetic force that draws forth the reality I am creating consciously and unconsciously with my thoughts and beliefs.
Tantra teaches me that I can do nothing wrong and that there are no mistakes. I can take the path of restraint and ultimately be led to the same revelation I might find on the road of abandon and debauch. All roads lead to enlightenment. That is the cosmic irony of Tantra. No matter where you go, there you are. Eventually, you will find yourself, because the road isn’t the journey. You are the journey.
If the path you choose is the dream, and you are the dreamer, then the dream and the dreamer are one. I heard the story once of a man who went to his teacher and said, “master, I dreamed last night that I was falling. As I fell, it occurred to me that it was only a dream. Realizing this, I sprouted wings and began to fly.”
The master was amused by this, and said, “If you realized it was only a dream, why were you afraid to fall?” Perhaps falling and flying are one and the same. It is just a matter of perspective. I would like to suggest that it is simply a matter of choosing love over fear.
All roads lead to enlightenment. Falling and flying are one.
It is difficult to come to terms with the complete meaninglessness of our existence in the third dimension. Death is the simple fact of life. There is an amazing freedom in meaninglessness. When nothing matters, life isn’t heavy. We can travel lightly in meaninglessness. We can choose to add unnecessary weight to meaninglessness by assigning meaning to it. For instance, if meaninglessness means, “I am completely insignificant, and insignificance is powerlessness, and powerlessness is bad, and bad means unlovable, therefore, I am fucked!” then meaninglessness is very heavy, unless you decide that being fucked is cosmic perfection and learn to roll with the punches and laugh as you tumble along.
It is all a matter of perspective. A true miracle is just a change in perspective. “I’m fucked.” Could be a negative or positive assertion. In the negative, being fucked could mean the same thing it means in the positive, and the charge of being fucked could be wholly dependant on the way you decide to proceed with the information.
On the one hand, being “fucked” could mean that life isn’t measuring up to your expectations. On the other hand, maybe life isn’t measuring up to your expectations because your expectations are fucked. If you can imagine for a moment that your expectations of life are fucked, then being fucked could really be freedom from fucked up expectations. Perspective is the key.
Tantra is a irrational and nonlinear approach to life. To me, that’s an appropriate response to life, because, from my perspective, life is irrational and nonlinear. Life contains patterns that are rational and linear in their progression. It is not contained by them. The universe is bigger than that.
Life is in motion. Death is a part of life. Death cannot contain life. A part cannot contain the whole, but the whole can contain the part. Therefore, death is contained in the circle of life. Transformation is inherent to life. Death is a transformation. Transformation is an aspect of change. Change is inevitable. Change is the dance of chaos in motion. Life is in motion. We are always changing. The changes happen within us and without us.
Love is constant. Love is. The stillness and constancy of love create the constant chaos of transformation and rebirth. If transformation is the dancer, love is the music that inspires the dance. All roads lead to love. Love is true enlightenment. All return to love.
We are always in love. Love is all there is to know.
We are all lost. We are all already home. There is nothing to fear. Love will never leave us. Life is not an illusion. Our perspective on life can be an illusion. We can live in truth. Love is truth. The truth will reveal itself as love reveals itself. Love reveals itself within the heart. Truth speaks from the heart. The mind will follow.
The truth will set you free. Your truth is personal. The truth doesn’t require meaning. It just exists. Love doesn’t mean anything. Meaning has an agenda. Love has no agenda. Love is the stillness of being.
We teach that which we most need to learn. My journey to love is still in progress, and yet, love is complete within me. The miracle of love is that I am contained within love and love can be contained within me. Our hearts have the capacity to contain the universe. We are made in the image of love, and we are free.