Sarita began by explaining that Tantra works with uniting opposites, and that we can see these polarities not as separate qualities, but more like the two banks of a river where they seem opposite but underneath the water they are one. I’ve struggled for years to reconcile the two different people that live inside of me – the wild, crazy, loud party animal and the much more quiet, insular and reflective self. Since discovering Osho’s work, I’ve been better able to accept all aspects of my personality and working with Tantra is happily reinforcing that for me. Tantra also teaches that the unity of sex and spirit produces a powerful energy for transformation and that there is no right and wrong, just opportunities for growth. I like this lack of judgement.

The faces of the group revealed eager anticipation from some and nervous trepidation from others – just what had they let themselves in for? To break down any barriers we were invited to dance individually from our sexual centres, connecting with that raw, potent, creative energy. Then as the music dipped to a slower, softer sound, Sarita encouraged us to dance from our spiritual centres and connect with source energy.

Next we performed the same exercise – dancing from our wild and passionate sides and then softly, meeting our partner’s gaze and connecting with their essence, changing partners as we moved around the room. After dancing with those dichotomies I already felt more alive with energy zinging around my body.

In pairs we were then led into the meditation of the five senses. This began with the male partner lying down and being blindfolded. To stimulate his sense of smell, the women wafted tissues under his nose that had been impregnated with different aromatherapy oils.

Taste was the next sense to be kindled as we fed our partners slices of apple sensuously and with great sensitivity. Sarita suggested that the guys explore their sense of taste by connecting with the tree the apple grew on, the orchard it stood in and the sunlight that gave it precious energy to grow. We are connected to everything and everybody on this Earth but we rarely stop and give ourselves time to appreciate these connections.

Playing with sound, the female partners were invited to hum, sing or whisper in our partner’s ear. I found this the hardest to do as I didn’t have any poems memorised or lines rehearsed. But looking inside my heart I found the words to say. Exploring touch we softly stroked hair and bodies from head to foot, from heaven to earth. And on removing our partner’s blindfolds we inspired their sense of sight by dancing for him like Shakti dancing for Shiva. I enjoyed this part the most as my body’s desire to move had been re-awakened by the dancing earlier, and there’s nothing like a seductive snaking of hips to bring out the goddess in me.

On switching roles, I was surprised at just how much stronger each sense became when I tuned into them. Skin was much more sensitive to touch when sight was “out of sight”.  And I really could taste the sweet rain that watered the apple tree.

Me and my friend Loan at Mind Body Spirit

I had to duck out of the workshop early in order to catch my bus back to Bristol but I left there feeling so much more juicy and alive. This valuable playtime was the perfect antidote to too much work lately and I wouldn’t want to be accused of being a dull girl now would I?

Sarah Shivani Williams

Sarah’s weekly radio show, Vivacity, is broadcast on Wednesday’s at midday on BCFM 93.2 in Bristol.  Tune in or go online to listen and podcasts are downloadable from: www.bcfm.org.uk.

Sarah’s blog is available at: http://vivacityradio.wordpress.com/

In recent times, many friends, family members and clients have expressed how life is seemly more difficult.  Many are concerned with issues of the environment, the financial outlook in the world and the general state of affairs on the planet.

I am no different from anyone else.  What I do have are some skills under my belt to help me stay balance, focused and continually loving through these times (in other words, not blame others for my life challenges).

For instance, during a busy and pressured workday, I would remind myself to stop and breathe, periodically.  A few minutes of deep breathing simply interrupts the mundane actions that I make and reminds my body to calm down and relax.  It brings oxygen to my eyes, and helps to bring clarity to my vision and my mind. Sometimes, I couple my breathing with some stretches and movement to help the body relieve any static tensions.

Another method I use often to help myself through any stressful times is the self-healing practice in Angelic Reiki.  It is simple, yet effective and helps to address any stress that may originate on a deeper level.  For instance, an issue around survival and having enough money, may be connected to the lack of self-worth and self-love.  Whether we are conscious of where the source of stress lies, Angelic Reiki will address the concern. Just a simple laying of hands on one’s self for about 5 to 10 minutes, gives a refreshed feeling of lightness in the body and mind and a renewed sense of strength and purpose to carry through one’s intentions in life.  One can use the self-healing method as many times as it is needed.

If a person has a deep-seated issue that they have been working on for some time, they may wish to receive Angelic Reiki.  In Angelic Reiki, the giver is simply asking the Divine Angelic Realm to be present and to help this person.  Angels have a higher perspective and the individual information of our human pain and suffering.  During a session, these Divine Beings, may help to intercept the ongoing pattern which may have its origins from a past life/karmic and/or multidimensional connections. Hence, true change may occur.

Since having been introduced to Angelic Reiki.  I feel that my own personal journey in life has been much smoother and easier.  The feeling of being alone in all my challenges is behind me and I feel profound love and nurturing that my guides give me and feel completely supported by them.  As I have built this amazing relationship with them, I feel at ease in making decisions and have much less negative thought forms and angst of the way of life on the planet these days.

Why not empower yourself today and experience the gifts of Angelic Reiki?  Here are a few ways:

For anyone who is curious and would simply like to have a “taste” of what Angelic Reiki is before investing too much into it, there are regular Angelic Reiki Share events in London.

For those who are attracted to Angelic Reiki and would like to book a session, there are available practitioners around the UK who are ready to give and share the work.

In order to do your own self-healing, you would need to receive the Angelic Reiki Levels 1 & 2 attunements.   This is achieved over a weekend workshop.  After the course, you may give Angelic Reiki sessions either for your own personal interest or professionally.  A certificate is given at the end of the course.

For any questions regarding any of the above for Angelic Reiki, please contact:

Tanja Gower

Email:  tanja@schoolofawakening.com

Over the summer and fall I have been teaching a series of Tantra groups. What follows is a peek into my world. It is almost non-stop activity, nourished by the still centre of meditation in the centre of the cyclone.

Since May, I have taught 9 groups, with my beloved friend and co-teacher Shiva and a wonderful team of apprentices. Some of the groups were 6 days, some 7 days and one lasted 11 days. (This doesn’t include the shorter, one day events, conferences and festivals, of which there were a few.) The groups were held in various countries, England, France, Greece Norway and Sweden. Some of the comments people have made about their group experience are:

“It has helped me to open more, to allow what is to be, to experience being in my body and with spirit, to open to more joy and ecstasy.”
Penny

“It has been an incredibly healing and transformative experience for me. I was able to accept myself fully despite my fears and move through it. This course has opened up many new possibilities in my life. The teachers created a space where everyone felt safe and were able to open up.”
Dharma

“Sarita is ever so present, true to herself and infinitely caring and loving. I enjoyed Shiva’s wisdom and light heartedness. I found it good that the apprentices facilitated bits and did demos.”
Fiona

“Enjoy using the energy of your own desires to transform yourself, your love relationships and your spirituality to undreamed of heights. An incredible, beautiful, sensuous journey, indescribable, incomparable!”
Fred S. Mendes M.D.

Usually, when teaching, I am fully present with the group in one way or another from 7:30am till 10:30pm for the duration. On many occasions I have several groups in a row with perhaps one or two days off in-between. Intensity and totality is the name of the game. People often ask me such questions as, “how do you do it?” or, “what keeps you going?” “Where do you get all that energy from?” “What is your secret?”

I will share with you my open secret. It is passion. I am utterly passionate about my work. I feel I am following exactly what my soul came to this earth to do. It is deeply nourishing being a witness to the many miracles which happen on a regular basis during the groups. The more I share from my fountain of bliss, the more it goes on overflowing, till it has become a river, and the river is pouring into a boundless ocean.

When I discovered my spiritual master, Osho, in India, at the age of 17, I had already lived more anguish than many are privileged to know in a lifetime. This intense suffering became a backdrop for powerful transformation. Osho gave me the name, Ma Ananda Sarita, meaning, ‘Mother of the Universe, River of Bliss.’ I heard him say, “if you continue with meditation, you will become this.” In the light of his compassion, I spent 16 years simply going in, using Tantra meditations alone and in relationship to cleanse, heal and uplift my being. Osho is such a master, that I never realised I was undergoing a training to eventually be able to support others in their transformation. I was only concerned about my own enlightenment.

Cleaning Osho’s house for 8 years functioned as a deep cleaning and purging of my ego. Working in the press office for 7 years taught me to be comfortable with public speaking and the refinement of cognitive awareness. Learning to apply meditation in action through work became the foundation for living bliss in everyday life.

As an added bonus, the hours spent simply sitting in Osho’s presence as he gave discourse or receiving his Shaktipat transmission during Energy Darshan, gave me a direct download of multifaceted spirit, in human form. Naturally, I soaked it all up like a sponge, receiving and receiving more, till I was simply drenched and dripping with grace from the master. Being a rascal master, Osho offered his spiritual transmission with a tremendous sense of humour, letting us know that spiritual awakening doesn’t have to be a serious and tortuous process, but can be a celebration of all that we are.

One night, I had a dream that I had drilled a well so deeply into my being that I had hit a crystal clear fountain of water, which began spouting up out of the earth. Osho appeared beside me and said, “You have become your name. Now people will come to drink from this source.” Soon after this dream, he gave me a certificate with a title. The whole name with title was: Mahasatvaa Ma Ananda Sarita M.M. Arihanta. The meaning of Mahasatvaa was given as, ‘one who looks after the esoteric roots of his work.’ Literally it means, ‘great wisdom.’ M.M. means ‘Master of Meditation.’ Arihanta is a particular category of enlightened being who sits on their mountain, calling out to the people in the valley below, “come, it is wonderful up here!” However, the people in the valley, may not be able to understand how to reach the mountain top. Therefore, the challenge for the Arihanta type is to find ways and means to indicate the path.

Mysteriously, after this event, a steady stream of people began coming to me asking for one on one sessions. I was taken aback since at that time I was doing press office work and had no session giving skill. People became more and more insistent, till finally I found myself offering psychic healing sessions.

As soon as I began offering sessions, methods and trainings in various healing arts came towards me as if I had become a healing magnet. I dived totally into this work, and soon found myself in a teaching role. I trained with genius healers, Peter Mandel, (inventor of Colorpuncture) Kohrogi Sensei, (Master of Ito Thermie, Japanese healing method) and David Wagner, (inventor of the Tachyonization process.)

During 7 years of total immersion in the world of healing, my Tantra experience began creeping into the foreground The more I practiced Tantra methods in love union, the more I felt compelled to offer the possibility of such divine experience to people everywhere. I had become aware during my healing work that the root cause for many physical, emotional and mental problems stems from unresolved sexual and relating issues. Tantra is the perfect antidote, since it offers transformation on all levels, accepting the human being as he or she is and using this as a door into expansion of consciousness.

The moment I began teaching Tantra, something very mysterious occurred which can best be described as a download of thousands of years of Tantra research. It is something like what happens when you click on google and a long list appears, relevant to the subject you have typed. Tapping into the Tantra experience opened me up to the Akashic Records of Tantra. The whole Tantra path became illuminated in crystal clear detail. Such an awakening is beyond the mind, and therefore I call it mysterious. It relies purely on trusting the moment. If I am in a group, and there is a discourse to be given on a subject, or there is a situation which needs attention, or a question to be answered, I simply become empty and wait. At this point, the Akashic Records takes over and a download appears on that subject. I may not know the next word out of my mouth, but rather reside in a state of deep trust, love and devotion. The words and ambiance arise through each pore of my body in response to being in atunement with source.

My love partner and I developed a Tantra training of 7 levels for couples and a series of Tantra groups for singles. After 11 years of sublime cocooning together, we separated. This was a very painful process of emerging from the crysilis of love as a relationship, into a love affair with life itself. Our creativity and individuality shifted so dramatically that we simply found ourselves moving in different directions. He left the School of Awakening we had founded together and later formed his own style of Tantra teaching. I continued teaching the School of Awakening program with the support of my beloved friend Shiva and a devoted team of apprentices, with the unwavering love and skill offered by co-director and office manager, Supragya.

My School of Awakening in the U.K. is helping to shift the popular misconceptions around Tantra. In general, people hearing the word Tantra think, “sex, orgies, nudity.” They are completely unaware that it is actually a deeply refined path to enlightenment using methods of meditation, mantras, yantras, and all encompassing wisdom in the art of life. In Tantra, all aspects of the human being are accepted as divine, from sex to spirit. People have taken the fact that Tantra includes meditations on sexuality to try and stuff it into a box labelled ‘sex.’ This is because our society as a whole tends to divide sex from spirit. Bringing them together is revolutionary, and yet when we do so, our long suffering of dividing ourselves in parts comes to an end. We become whole, discovering our true joyous nature.

Tantra has always been taught as a transmission, direct from master to disciple. This is because it is not a series of rules, or commandments, or code of ethics. It relies on methods. The teacher will create situations and the correct ambiance for the student to discover transformation through direct experience. As the student practices each method, he or she will sooner or later discover the nectar hidden there. Just as bees find the honey hidden in the flower, the practitioner of Tantra discovers ultimate wisdom through tasting deeply of the methods.

The realisation of each individual is unique, and therefore, each Tantra teacher has their own particular way of passing on what they have learned according to their deeply lived experience. This is why there are many styles of Tantra throughout the world. Each one reflects one or many facets of the vast body of wisdom offered by the Tantra path.

One of the potent teachings offered by Tantra is the union of opposites, bringing about an alchemical transformation as the two become one. This can happen with any two opposites. When such union happens it becomes an exogate through which Godliness is experienced. This can happen with a man and woman, night and day, sex and Samadhi, birth and death and also inside oneself. Since we are all made of male and female aspects, each person has the opportunity of experiencing ‘inner union.’ Such a state of being is called ‘Ardanareshvara. It is the unveiling of god as half man half woman.

My Tantra experience spans phases of personal evolution and transmutation:

1) Loving and accepting myself as a microcosm of the macrocosm.

2) The Soul Mate: diving so deeply into love with a man that my individuality disappears, and I became one with my lover.

3) Universal Love: expanding from one on one relationship into love with the whole of life.

4) Ardhanareshvara. The meeting of the right and left hemispheres of the brain, creating an androgynous experience of life, sensing my inner man inner woman to be in ecstatic union.

When I am teaching, offering conferences, giving sessions or writing, I am in ecstasy, sensing my body/mind to be a hollow flute through which the music of life is played. I am not there as a person, but simply holding the space as a presence for Tantra to manifest.

After a conference, or group, there is a subtle shift, as I come back to being my simple self. In my resting phase, I like to shift gears by watching funny movies, or shopping, or walking in nature, going to spas or swimming in the sea. I love to be in ecstatic communion with my lover, or gather with friends, cook meals together, laugh and tell jokes, and exchange sessions or receive massage. Each day, I do yoga exercises and sit in silent meditation. I eat organic vegan food and use Tachyon, Colour Light Therapy, herbs and Acupuncture to remain in a balanced physical state.

I am sharing all this so that anyone who would like to receive Tantra training with me knows from where my teaching has arisen, and can sense something about me as a person and as a teacher.

Trusting the inner flute is my way of life.

Love and Blessings,

Sarita