by James A. Beeby (Author)
Tantra is the fast path to enlightenment. Tantra in Sanskrit means "to weave," as in to interweave your thread of life with that of others to create a tapestry, an integrated whole that serves a purpose or tells a story. The essence of tantra is to use everything you have to transform yourself from an unhappy limited mortal to one who is in contact with what we call the eternal and infinite. Tantric practices date back to the Hindu religion and probably have roots further back in time than that. This is ancient tantra, not the modern neotantra that has no relationship to true tantra. True tantric techniques can be used to supplement any religious or non-religious practices. Tantra is famous, possibly infamous, for its sexual practices, and we will cover those in this book. But tantra extends far beyond the sexual arena and can encompass all aspects of life.The term Western Tantra as a specific practice is the universal aspect of the traditional forms of tantra practiced in the Eastern religions, stripped of its Eastern cultural trappings and reframed and repopulated with the cultural foundations of the Western nations. Why reframe tantra? Eastern tantra is tailored to the Eastern nations which have different histories, mindsets, and traditions that seem very foreign and unrealistic to Westerners. Stories of flying statues, magic jewels and such make us question other concepts which may be true. This book adapts Eastern tantra for use in the West by those of any faith, or those with none.
Author Biography
James Beeby is a new author, but an old, experienced tantric practitioner. He was raised Christian in the post-war American Midwest, but became an atheist as a young science student, because Christian dogma seemed to conflict with logic and his science education. But a series of profound events in his life forced him to realize that science does not explain everything. Searching for answers, James turned to the mystical practices of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism. After far more than twenty thousand hours of tantric training, practice, and Highest Yoga Tantra initiations from more than twenty tantric Buddhist masters, including His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, not only did tantra make sense, so did Christian dogma and the tenets of other religions. James joined interfaith organizations for dialog with followers of other faith traditions, learning that at the esoteric level, there is no conflict between religions, or science for that matter. James also continued his education in science and technology as a safety and health professional for a large Silicon Valley research and development company and as an emergency responder for one of the federal search and rescue teams. Using his professional experience decoding arcane government regulations, James realized that esoteric jargon was obscuring the message of the various mystical traditions, and that the core teachings are actually fairly simple. Because the tantric practices of personal transformation from mundane to gnostic awareness are actually working for James, he discovered tantric instructions can be both easier to understand and can be applied to any spiritual or philosophical practices, including ethical atheism. There are many fine translations available from realized tantric masters, but James found they are very challenging to understand. If you would like to see what tantra looks like from a Western author who has spent about four decades writing clear instructions as a safety and health professional, then this book is for you.