sensual pleasure

In traditional spiritual paths – non-tantric paths – sensual pleasure is something of a difficulty. It is seen as a distraction from meditation, leading us away from silence and stillness. And so, most classical paths urge us to suppress the pleasures of the senses. This is difficult though. These senses, these sensory pleasures, are in us whether we like it or not, and to suppress them is a subtle violence against ourself. It takes a lot of discipline, and deep down my feeling is there is a little corner of us that resents it.

In tantra, all the sensory pleasures are acceptable – not just acceptable, they are to be celebrated, rejoiced in and encouraged. They are here for us to play with, and through playing with the senses, we, if we are lucky, can begin to forget about the thinking mind, with all its complex ideas about life. This is the real obstacle to simply being in the world, not the pleasures of the senses.

So in tantra, we play with taste: tasting the most delicious food that you have come across. Perhaps it’s a strawberry dipped in chocolate. Whatever it is, bring all your awareness to this taste, and you will be in ecstasy in the moment. And this goes not just for taste of course. Smelling a rosebud with all your awareness on the smell will be equally divine. Seeing a leaf fluttering in the wind, again with all your awareness, will give you the same bliss, ecstasy even. Hearing the sound of raindrops dripping from the roof will also take you into that magical, mystical realm of ecstasy. And, of course, touch and bodily sensations: in tantra, we rejoice in these, the flesh with its senses of touch and internal feelings of energy. This is the greatest gift and we play with it to our heart’s content in tantra.

In tantric practices, we bring all the awareness to one of the senses. And if you notice, what happens normally is that your attention is drawn by one of the senses – perhaps the sight of a bird flying through the sky, or the sound of a dog barking. For a moment, there is that primary sensation of sight or sound, without any recognition and labelling of the sensation, the perception. But very quickly the mind jumps in, identifying and labelling: that is a bird; that is a dog barking, and judging whether it might be a threat to us, or something that can help us. This is the way most minds are working, unconsciously for the most part.

So for tantra, first of all, become aware of how much time you spend with your awareness on your thoughts rather than the senses, and also take note of which gives you greater pleasure. Thoughts, concepts are dry. Once in a blue moon you might be excited by one that pops into your head – some realisation coming in words – but the rest of the time, the thoughts are mundane, very boring. They are not juicy at all. Whereas, every one of the senses is juicy, and if you bring more of your awareness to the senses you will feel more alive. You too, in your whole life, will begin to radiate juiciness, aliveness. You will start to love life, and this is really the fundamental aspect of tantra; that it’s all okay, enjoying everything that life has to offer is perfectly okay. Better than okay: it is to be rejoiced in, celebrated. So start playing, yourself, with your own senses, really tasting food, really seeing what is around you: the colours, the forms, the shapes, in the present moment, without analytical thought kicking in. Just keep bringing your awareness back to the beautiful, alive sensation: that primary sensation. This is the way of tantra.