Caught up once more with the Western Idea of Tantra

By the end of the year 2005, after extensive travels in Europe and some time of rest at home, I started another journey, this time to the other side of the planet, to Australia. Funnily enough, just like on my previous trip to that part of the globe, I had an experience which made me feel once more totally naïve when it comes to sexuality. But let me start from the beginning.

I had received an email with an invitation to Australia. A woman told me that she had a center for spiritual workshops where she would like to offer my yoga workshops and meditations, too. I was happy to have a new connection and it was great that she had somehow found me online and invited me, so I accepted the invitation, agreeing on dates close to the end of the year.

I arrived in Sydney and was picked up by this woman at the airport. She took me to her center and told me that although it was not really designed as a residence, she had arranged the place so that she could live there, too. There was a toilet with an arrangement for showering but no kitchen. She explained me that it was not allowed, for insurance reasons, to cook there, so we would need to go out for food. It was all a bit strange, her behavior and the place as well.

I had been to many strange places in my life though and so I just accepted it as it was and decided to just see what would happen. She had scheduled a whole week’s program which would start the next morning, so we used that evening to sit down and get to know each other. After I had told her a bit about me and my life, she started telling me about herself, her center and her work. The moment she started, I knew that this was not really the right place for me.

She told me that she ‘worked a lot with Tantra’, explaining that she had been to India and had learnt Tantra with some gurus in Eastern India. I had enough experience in the west to know that when people say ‘Tantra’, they are most probably talking about sex. This impression was confirmed when she started showing me a power point presentation which she usually uses in her workshops. It was full of sexual content. There were illustrations on how to arouse each other, tips and tricks on how to reach the climax and more. Everything was focused on sex – in a modern, spiritual way but yes, focused on sex.

She then told me that she gave these workshops in this big hall while she rented out the smaller room to women who gave ‘Tantric massages’, special massages that are supposed to stimulate Tantric energy.

I was surprised, and not happily so, but tried not to show it. Inside I just thought that anybody who would come to my workshops or individual sessions by her invitation would most probably expect something that I would not be able, nor willing, to provide!

What followed made me feel even funnier – but that is a story I will tell you about on next Sunday.