The nature of awareness as tantra: a phenomenology

Introduction

Tantra is easily misunderstood and not easy to understand. The nature of Tantra is the continuity of awareness within our own self and continuity of awareness with others, continuity within the world and continuity within the cosmological universe. Tantra is the continuity of the experience of non- duality within duality. Tantra is the continuity of the experience within duality of non-duality.

Oneness and Difference

Tantra is the experience of oneness and difference simultaneously being held by us. Tantra is the experience of the continuity of the union of mind and awareness within our own self, within our own being. Tantra is the direct inside to inside extension of the field of awareness between our self and others. Tantra is true inter-subjectivity as within to within, inside to inside. Tantra is the directness of the experience of non-conceptual knowingness between us and all phenomena, between us and all appearance. Tantra is the connection and continuity between the light of our own awareness and the lucidity of phenomena. In the language of Jung, Tantra is the Mysterious Conjunctio.

Transmission

Tantra is a transmission beyond words and language. This transmission does not belong to any tradition. This transmission is the nature of human awareness, and this nature is the Buddha, or this nature is Shiva or this nature is the Christos. Buddha, Shiva, and Christos are archetypal metaphors of luminous awareness. Human awareness is the manifestation of primordial awareness as our very own subjectivity and as the manifestation of our mind and our embodiment.

Tantra is the experience of primordial timeless awareness manifesting in time. Tantra is us, holding simultaneously timeless awareness and time. Not to hold timeless awareness and time simultaneously creates a caricature of time and a caricature of human existence.

Some traditions value timeless awareness alone, foreclosing the actuality of time. Some traditions value time alone, foreclosing the actuality of timeless awareness. This existential splitting destroys the possibility of experiencing duality within non duality and non- duality within duality. One view devalues essence and the other view devalues appearance.

This luminous nature of awareness is our very own subjectivity, our very own personhood. Tantra is the capacity to extend this luminous awareness field into others and into the lucidity of all phenomena. Tantra is our openness, Tantra is our energy, Tantra is our light.

The Power of the Metabolization of Experience

Tantra is the power of the metabolization of experience. Awareness is not mere cognition but awareness is the power to digest and dissolve experience. Abinavagupta the 10th century Kashmir Shavite master would describe awareness as being the Fire of experiential digestion, a violent digestion. Through awareness experience is metabolized and becomes luminous energy. Through the power of awareness both positive and negative experience is dissolved within the embodied field of the light of awareness. The fire of Awareness extracts the luminous essence of all experience. This capacity of awareness to metabolize everything and anything is the foundational power of self-liberation.

Tantra Dissolves Dissociation

Tantra dissolves dissociation, both personal dissociation and cosmological dissociation. Tantra requires us entering into our awareness of awareness and our sustaining awareness and being sustained by awareness throughout the unfoldment of our life. Tantra brings forth the integration of mind and body within the light of awareness field. Tantra is the simultaneous embodiment of the dimension of our mind and the embodiment of the dimension of our body. Being in both our mind and in our embodiment, simultaneously unifies mind and body as personal non duality within duality.

Tantra brings forth the power of resonance, vast unbound resonance. Tantra is access to the life force both within our body and within our surrounding world and the vast cosmological universe. Tantra is resonance within the various dimensions of existence. These dimensions are Nirmanakaya, Sambogakaya and Dharmakaya. Nirmanakaya is the ordinary life of existence. Sambogakaya is archetypal dimension of existence, and Dharmakaya is pure potentiality of Being. Being which is not a being or thing in itself, rather Being which manifests Being in everything and anything as beings.

Tantra embodies the elemental-ness of phenomena and Tantra is the experience of all appearance as elemental-ness. Tantra embodies fire, earth, wind, space, and water within the world that we are. Tantra is spontaneous openness that gives us accessibility to the subtle dimensions of elemental-ness. Tantra is the transmission of elemental-ness. Tantra opens the alchemical doorway of experiencing the unfolding of elemental-ness and the infinite configurations of the elements. Tantra allows us to experience and relate to the elemental dimensions of our innermost experience of the vital-ness of life, the vital elemental-ness of phenomena.

Tantra brings forth the experience of soma. And Tantra brings forth the experience of psyche. Tantra brings forth the experience of the indivisibility of psyche and soma. Tantra is both physical and deeply beyond the physical, deeply subtle. Tantra is both gross and most subtle. Tantra requires the awakening of awareness. Tantra requires us to become aware of awareness within us and beyond us. Tantra requires us to experience all phenomena as primordial ground awareness manifesting itself as phenomena. Tantra is the experiencing of the manifestation of primordial awareness as everything and anything.

Tantra is the power of the extension of awareness, the power of amplification of awareness, the power of pacification of awareness and the power of the magnetization of awareness. Tantra is neither simplistic sexuality nor simplistic celibacy.

Tantra Integrates

Tantra integrates the masculine and feminine elements within human beings. Tantric experience is the invocation of the feminine dimension as gnosis, as jnana, as direct perception. Tantra brings forth the anima dimension within human love. Tantra brings forth the anima mystic foundation of human existence. Tantra embraces the feminine within us and the feminine surrounding us. Tantra liberates us through the grace of the feminine dimension.

Tantra is both sublimation of and the integration of our primal and primitive energies. These energies are both personal and cosmological. Tantra integrates both Eros and Thanatos. Tantra integrates the sexual instincts and survival instincts into the essential light of awareness, into the essential embodiment of awareness. Tantra integrates Thanatos and leads us into deathless awareness. Tantra allows to us to experience the appearing and disappearing of everything and anything. Tantra is pure self- manifestation of ground awareness.

The powerful instincts of humanness are not easy to integrate. The primitive instincts control much of human experience. When there is only ego functions, superego structures and the id or libidinal instinctive impulses there is constant conflict both within the person and within the person world configuration. Freud’s magnificent work and understanding is the great western step to understanding Tantra. Without awareness, without the presence of the field of innate awareness, the ego, the instinctive id, and critical conscience of the superego configuration creates the realm of endless extremes. The person is both tormented by extremes of driven-ness and torments others by extremes of chaotic driven-ness of demandingness. These extremes are the extreme of abstinence and extremes of deprivation and the extremes of driven-ness and extremes of relentless discharge!

Instinctiveness

The sexual instinct is often located at one extreme, a sphere of extreme. As the dynamic sexual Eros instinct is repressed, foreclosed and dissociated from human experience, there is a gradual loss of vital-ness and a deep constriction of range of experience, the range of knowingness and the range cosmological relatedness. There is the eventful minimization and disappearance of Eros and vitality.

At the other sphere of extreme, is the person possessed by the sexual instinct and has no power of integration of the power of vital force of sexual instinctiveness. The person is integrated by and into the sphere of instinct alone. The person and their functions are taken into the sphere of instinct, controlled and subsumed by the instinctiveness. The person is possessed and completely preoccupied by the demands and the endless and ceaseless requirements of the instinct. Instinctiveness organizes everything and demands everything of the person and those around him or her. Instinct creates things and thingness of oneself and others. Everything is organized to gratify the driven-ness of the instinct. Instinct objectifies everyone and everything. Instinct objectifies the world. Instinct limits humanism to a mammalian dimensionality. Instincts cathect to cathartic expression alone and to discharging relentlessly and compulsively. Instinctiveness in its extreme invokes the vigilance of a predator.

Without the unfolding of sublimation, instinct becomes the central focus and central mechanism of the mind body continuum. Instinct becomes the singular mechanism to dissipate unbearable anxieties and unassimilated trauma. Instinct does not integrate but discharges painful and un-assimilated experience. Instinct becomes the anchor and base against foundational annihilation and deprivation anxiety as well as the primordial terror of ontological void-ness and lack. There is no awareness within the sphere of instinct itself. Instinct can foreclose the opening of awareness.