Unconditional love and Tantra

Unconditional love and Tantra

I began this work, this way of walking the path of Tantra, with an overwhelming urge to express unconditional love to those who have forgotten what it is – to those who have not experienced it, those who do not allow it into their lives.

In thinking of this, my need to express this love and to offer it to others, I wondered if it ran contrary to some of the teachings of Tantra. In particular the teachings of the school with which I am associated, the Advait School of Tantra, views the Dakini as she who “throws stones”. Swami Rahasya teaches in stories and riddle which provocatively lead the listener into awareness by constantly, consistently, challenging the foundations of one’s beliefs. This is what the Dakini does in her work: she challenges the seeker to confront his shadow, to shake down into the depths of his being and drag up that which hides there, to awaken that which sleeps, to open that which is sealed, to collect, to connect, to gather the soul-bones and breathe life into them.

Before agreeing to show the Seeker the way to soul through sacred sexuality, some Dakinis may, at first, “throw stones”. When she does this she is asking: “How badly do you want this?” She may appear capricious, wilful, wayward and obstinate – she can be many things, and all things – she represents that from which the Seeker is running. She mirrors your shadow-self in the ways in which she offends, repels or chases away. The Seeker comes back for more, his thirst for soul leading him through those experiences which he perceives as dirty, dry and difficult. Then the Dakini can begin the work of showing, opening, connecting body, mind, emotions and spirit...

How does unconditional love fit into this, I wondered? Perhaps in this way: the unconditional love that I express has its tenderness and warmth, but, as everything in this existence, it has its polarities. It is a love offered completely and relentlessly, with an intensity that many a Seeker finds uncomfortable, sometimes impossible, to face. It is uncompromising, accepting nothing less than complete surrender to truth. In the absence of a game, the Seeker is forced to give up his game plan; a space is created where there are no rules or requirements; strategy and manoeuvring are obsolete. This love has an implacable availability which forces confrontation with perceived desire by offering no resistance. In the blazing light of this love, the landscape is bleak: the rocks of denial are thrown into sharp relief in a desert dotted with excuses; cacti of conscience, watered by piety and pity, drop their thorns to prick the soles of the feet; and everywhere lie the bones of regret, the skeletons of betrayal, the remnants of what might have been.

This, then, is part of what I do. In the offering of this unconditional love, I ask the Seeker to drop all pretence, to receive in his truth and naked soul-beauty, to release the story and dance with me in the wildish ways of the stars.