The anti-pleasure movement in self-discovery is very strong. I have big news for them, if they ever get to enlightenment, which is unlikely the way they're approaching it, they're going to find that enlightenment is very pleasurable.
The issue is not what you're doing with your body; it's what you're doing with your mind.
Fasting is as sensual as eating. Being celibate is as sensual as having sex. They're just different choices, different videos that you've selected to view tonight.
You're thinking that you shouldn't have sex because you're celibate. So you just keep thinking about sex instead of enlightenment.
The tantric path involves taking the mind and directing it beyond the senses.
Obviously there is a lot more ecstasy in the spirit than in the flesh but the flesh has its moments!
What is Tantric Zen? Well, I don't think I can give you a straight answer, since I don't happen to be a very straight Zen master.
In Tantric Zen you can be humorous and make fun of anything or you can be very serious.
Tantric Zen leads to illumination and fun right here and now, which is why I like it.
What I term Zen, old Zen, the original face of Zen, new Zen, pure Zen, or Tantric Zen is - Zen in its essence.
In Tantric Zen there is no rule. There is only your immediate experience.
Tantric Zen is the exploration of everything, since everything is a part of enlightenment.
There's a place where everything comes together and where it's all the same. That state of mind, in which all things are the same, is the state of mind of Tantric Zen.
It is necessary to have a very liberal and simultaneously very conservative mentality to practice Tantric Zen.
Tantric Zen is the original Zen, Zen without rules, Zen without form. Zen can certainly take rules and form. So Tantric Zen might have some rules and form, but it would remain formless even though it had rules and form.
Tantric Zen is a state of mind
Tantric Zen is all about the practice of zazen meditation. If you meditate well, you'll be in very powerful states of mind and then it really doesn't matter what you do.
Tantric Zen is the awareness of the infinitude of all things. To gain that awareness, to be it, is enlightenment.
Tantric Zen, at first, does not appear to have a method. In Tantric Zen, you could meditate on a Brillo box or you could meditate on the clear light of reality.
Your immediate experience is Tantric Zen. How aware are you of your immediate experience? - Probably not that aware.
Tantric Zen is for the individual who is in love with both the finite and the infinite, who gets a kick out of this weird transitory world and at the same time, wants to step beyond it.
Tantric Zen is more suited for this age that we live in. It give you rules, but in a gentle way. It's not as demanding.
Tantric Zen is not being kinky; nor is it being conservative and austere. It is eclectic. It is a real mixture of all things.
Tantric Zen, and the people who practice it, of course, make some people feel extremely uncomfortable.
Tantric Zen is for someone who is really broad-minded. It is Bodhidharma's Zen, your Zen, my Zen. Which doesn't mean I have a problem with Japanese Zen. Most Japanese Zen is minding your p's and q's.
