Next Tantra Training:
22nd of december 2012 -
12th of january 2013 (South Africa)
(International Sahaja Tantra Teacher Training)
Introduction
Frequently asked questions about Tantra
I. Questions about Tantra in general
- Is Tantra just about sex and erotic?
- What is the difference between Tantra and Yoga?
- Do I need a partner to practice Tantra and what kind of relationship role model does Tantra advise?
II. Questions about Sahaja Tantra workshops
- Who is guiding the workshops and what are the teachers qualifications?
- How many participants are there in one workshop?
- What kind of people participate and how old are they generally?
- Is the proportion between male and female participants equal?
- Do I have to get naked during any exercises or rituals?
- How intimate are the tantric contact exercises?
- What if I find myself in an exercise with a partner who I do not really like?
- What exactly will we do in the exercises and rituals of the workshop?
Questions about Tantra in general
Is tantra just about sex and erotic?
Tantra developped as a counter cuture against the traditional anti-body religions. It is a way of completely saying yes to all phenomenas and encounters in the world. Tantra acknowlegdes your body, your sensuality, your sexuality, your thoughts, your feelings, your desires, your fears and dislikes. By this opening up and acknowledging a deep peace and a wide and open love starts growing in your heart.
There are two reason for why Tantra focusses on the body and its sensuality and sexuality:
For the first most spiritual traditions and religions condemn these parts of life.
Therefore Tantra makes it its mission to free, to enrich and to enlighten these aspects
in particular. For the second sexual energy is the strongest and most powerful energy
on this planet and it brings immense advantages and fullfillment for your own personal
and spiritual growth if you have liberated this energy and can use it.
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What is the difference between Tantra and Yoga?
Tantra and Yoga are pointing to the
same goal: the ultimate liberation of all suffering. The paths towards this goal
are diametrically opposite though. Tantra is the path of consciously going through
the world and through all experiences, Yoga is the way of consciously pulling away
from the world.
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Do I need a partner to practice Tantra and what kind of relationship role model does
Tantra advise?
Generally spoken you do not need a partner to walk on the tantric path,
because being in contact or being in relation happens all the time and everywhere.
In this moment as I sit here in front of this computer, a neverending flow of contact
and relating possibilities appear. My fingers are in contact with the keyboard while
I am writing. I meet the sound of the computer air circulation. I am in a relationship
with the warm air that is surrounding and embracing me. For all these forms of being
in contact with the world you can open up deeper and deeper. And with each opening
your life becomes freer, simpler and more joyful.
To use your sexual energy you also do not necessarily need a partner. You can also free it for yourself and then use it.
For the special man-woman-rituals of Tantra you need a partner of course though. This special form of coming into contact and relating to another human being brings a very special potential and is another major aspect of Tantra. Many experiences are much easier possible in being in contact with another human being.
To experience such a man-woman-ritual you do not necessarily need to be in a classic relationship though. You can also practice and enjoy Tantra rituals and exercises in different forms of open and free relationships. Tantra itself is a pretty rebellious path and does not favour any specific form of relationship. Only you yourself and the people in your life can decide wether you want to live in a classical relationship or wether you want to give each other the freedom of meeting other people in a sensual and sexual way as well. Tantra does not judge or favour any form of relationship. In the Sahaja Tantra tradition you also learn how to easily come into contact and connect with people you like in your daily life and how to build up sensual and fullfilling relations from that. That way Sahaja Tantra integrates its knowledge directly in your daily life.
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Questions about Sahaja Tantra workshops
Who is guiding the workshops and what are the teachers qulifications?
At the moment all the Sahaja Tantra - workshops and teacher trainings are guided and taught personally by myself (Nils Kriedner) and are assisted by one or more assistants and guest teachers.
My qualifications are founded in three decades of training and learning from different teachers and masters worldwiede. You can find a more detailled biography under „Director of institute“.
The team for assistance consists of women of different age who all have some years of experience in Tantra and mostly work with Tantra professionally in one way or the other. You can find the profiles under „Assisting teachers“.
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How many participants are there in one workshop?
The workshops have a number of 6 to 16 participants. In average we are about 10 to 12 people.
For the Sahaja Tantra teacher training we expect 10 to 20 participants.
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What kind of people participate and how old are they generally?
The average age is from 25 to 65 years. Younger and older participants are exceptions who are as heartedly welcomed.
To define the type of person that participates in our Tantra workshops is not really
possible. There are students and pensioners, workers and self employed people from
a wide variety of professions, down to earth people as well as hippie type and spiritual
people. We are always happy about the unique mixture of the groups.
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Is the proportion between male and female participants equal?
First of all you do not "HAVE TO DO" anything in our Tantra workshops. There are some general rules so the workshop can run smoothly but there is no rule that forces you to do every exercise or do undress you. But you "MAY" undress and open up if you want to. I encourage every participant to open up on all levels: the body level, the heart level and the spiritual level.
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How intimate are the tantric contact exercises?
First of all you do not "HAVE TO DO" anything in our Tantra workshops. There are some general rules so the workshop can run smoothly but there is no rule that forces you to do every exercise or do undress you. But you "MAY" undress and open up if you want to. I encourage every participant to open up on all levels: the body level, the heart level and the spiritual level.
Tantra is a very body affirming, sensual and passionate path. And many of the massage
and love rituals are therefore done undressed. But it is no problem at all if you
have any negative conditions or fears about that. Then this is a wonderful opportunity
to slowly and in your own timing expand your limits, become free of your fears or
adapt the exercise to your current conditioning. If you do not want to expand your
horizon at all though then we would not really reccomend you to join a Tantra workshop.
There are many other wonderful spiritual pathes that are much less bodily.
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How intimate are the tantric contact exercises?
That depends on the workshop theme. The contact exercises in the basic workshops
(which currently only run in Germany) are all very beautiful and easy sensual exercises
of body and energy contact. The are chosen so that you can do them with people you
like or dislike as well. During the exercises or rituals you are not guided to engage
in sexual union or anything alike. At the end of the rituals though you have of course
the freedom to further engange in and share any sensual or sexual contact that you
both like. This is wonderful if it just naturally happens in the flow of your energies.
Between the tantric contact exercises there are also many other elements in the workshop, like dancing, sharings, silent meditation, yoga...
The very intimate rituals of the Sahaja Tantra path are generally only taught in the Sahaja Tantra - teacher training where we have the time to slowly build up the right atmosphere or in special workshops for couples.
In any case for all the exercises and rituals there is always the "stop"-rule. Whenever you hear your inner voice clearly saging "No" to any exercise, do not rape it. You always have the freedom to say "no" to an exercise and thus say "yes" to yourself. As in life as well...
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What if I find myself in an exercise with a partner who I do not really like?
Then this is a woderful opportunity to learn something.
If you cannot stay with the person at all then you just give him a very polite "Sorry, I cannot do this exercise with you at the moment." and then you pause for this exercise. That is especially advisable if you are conditioned to usually always agree and do everything you are asked for in life.
But maybe you are more the strong kind of person and already have the clear will to live and act exactly like you want. Then this might be the chance to practice devotion and acceptance and see what happens if you open up to this person regardless of your personal like or dislike. Myself I have made some surprisingly wonderful experiences in such cases.
However you decide you can learn from the disliked partners as much as you can learn
from the liked ones.
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What exactly will we do in the exercises and rituals of the workshops?
One female participant once gave me the feedback: "If I had known what kind of exercises
we would do I probably would not have come to the workshop. But I am very happy that
I did not know because then I would not have come... The structure of the exercises
and the slow and clear guidance made it so easy for me to open up..."
I hear similar feedbacks again and again and they confirm me to not tell the participants all the details in advance. For one thing it will lose a lot of excitement by giving to many details and for the other thing what really happens in the workshops cannot really been explained in words at all anyway. This is generally so in Tantra. Everything is completely different than any words can describe. It is like reading a recipe in a cooking book. You may try to imagine how the food might taste but to really know you have to cook it and taste it yourself.
And I would also ask you: Why do you actually want to know what will happen? Most
probably you want to feel safe. You want to feel safe by having a clear concept of
what will happen. A truly spiritual path is not for people who are looking for safety
in any external concept though. True and living safety you will find only if you
let yourself fall into the great unknown...
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