Abstract

The practice of Tantra is believed to have started in the middle of the first millennium CE [common or current era] in what is now India. What we know of Tantra today has been primarily preserved through the works of the Kama Sutra and the Ananga Ranga. It was not until the 1960s, however, that Tantric practices became more well known in Western societies, and have become increasingly popular since. What is troubling about the predominant Westernization of Tantra is that it has frequently taken on a form of appropriation rather than application from a positionality of cultural genuineness or humility. For instance, much of the aim of Tantric practices in Eastern cultural contexts has focused on spiritual growth, however, in Western contexts the focus has been more on sexual improvement. This kind of misunderstanding ends up minimizing the powerful part that Tantra can play in people’s relational lives. Despite the value placed upon Tantra by practitioners and professionals alike, there is very little scholarly literature supporting its use, and there have been few updates to the understanding of Tantra since the waves of Westernization that have previously occurred. To address these identified gaps, the author, who has been studying Tantra-informed practices and hosting related workshops nationally and internationally for over five years, will discuss Tantric-informed practices through an informed position, including: the scholarly-based brief history of Tantra, Westernization and related waves of Tantra, a reflection on ideas of appropriation versus application, describing and discussing modern applications of Tantra that are rooted in the original intention of connection, integration, and relational communication, including an overview of the techniques and strategies shared in the author’s workshops, as well as how such practices can be modified and applied for informed use in the practicing of sex therapy.

摘要

密宗的实践被认为始于公元第一个千年中期 [共同或当前时代] 在现在的印度。我们今天对密宗的了解主要是通过《爱经》和《阿难经》的著作保存下来的. 然而，直到 1960 年代，密宗修行才在西方社会变得更加广为人知，并且从那以后变得越来越流行。密宗西方化的主要问题在于，它经常采取挪用的形式，而不是从文化真实性或谦逊的立场应用。例如，在东方文化背景下，密宗修行的大部分目标都集中在精神成长上，然而，在西方背景下，重点更多地放在性改善上。这种误解最终会削弱密宗在人们的关系生活中可以发挥的强大作用。尽管从业者和专业人士都重视密宗，但支持其使用的学术文献很少，而自从之前发生的西化浪潮以来，对密宗的认识几乎没有什么更新。为了解决这些已确定的差距，五年多来一直在研究密宗知识实践并在国内和国际上举办相关研讨会的作者将通过知情的立场讨论密宗知识实践，包括：基于学术的密宗简史、西方化和相关的密宗浪潮，对挪用与应用思想的反思，描述和讨论根植于联系、整合和关系交流初衷的密宗的现代应用，包括对分享的技术和策略的概述作者工作室，