Ashram BaMidbar and My Foray into the World of Tantra

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The tantric ceremony, or “puja,” reminded me of an ornate mating dance that peacocks or any striking beautiful animal might perform. On the last night of the retreat, we were invited to participate in a puja where men and women were cast in the roles of Shiva (Gods) and Shakti (Goddesses). Through chanting, spinning and meditating, the participants were seemingly transformed into powerful and attractive incarnations of themselves. With this transformation, they were freed to dance with complete abandon.

Parts of the ritual were scripted and even resembled a short play. Each goddess made for herself a temple (a designated area with pillows and so forth), and each “shiva” presented his goddess with a red rose, a white rose, a glass of wine and – finally – the gift of fire before being honored with a seat in her temple domain. This role play seemed to elevate each person into the tzelem elokim that he or she was. Following this ritual came the sincere recitation of scripts:

“Enter the Caress, Sweet Princess, of Everlasting Love…”
“Enter the Caress, Sweet Princess, of Everlasting Light…”
“Enter the Caress, Sweet Princess, of Everlasting Life…”

With each line, the shiva took a rose and traced its petals down the face or torso of his shakti. The respect, admiration, care and consideration in the room – in each palace – truly made each person a stage name for the divine. It might sound hokey, but it just…wasn’t.

As the participants danced around the room and subsequently moved around the fire, chanting and breathing in the incense, I realized that these practices are totally the avodah zara that our forefathers spoke about. But it makes sense: Sexuality can be intoxicating and all-encompassing – even the sensuality of just breathing. If the first weekend was that powerful, imagine the effect that the second and third weekends (combined with a “foreign” religious practice) could have. No wonder the Tanach wanted us to stay away..

As someone who was raised in a traditional Jewish home, I appreciated the tremendous presence of ritual in tantric practice. While Judaism does have rituals that pertain to sexuality such as mikvah, many of them come off as legalistic or preparatory rather than explicitly connected to enhancing sensual and sexual acts. Judaism has few rituals that directly speak to sex and sexuality. Perhaps this is our way of upholding modesty and privacy and perhaps it is a good thing to have less regimentation and more potential freedom in this area, but one of the things that I love about Judaism is that it creates a structure for our intentions. My foray into tantric practices felt notable precisely because it creates a vessel in which to hone, elevate and play with sexual energy.

On my last afternoon at the retreat, I took some time to reflect on the sessions and wander around the ashram. There were beautiful grounds, delicious food and the weekend was powerful. However, when I looked at our sessions honestly, I realized that – despite the presence of kabbalat Shabbat on the schedule, the Jewish background of the organizers and the fact that I wanted there to be a connection to Judaism – there was not much inherently Jewish about the retreat.

Nevertheless, my induction into the world of tantra helped me to understand that there can be tremendous value to mindful sexual rituals and practices. Sensual and sexual practices can enhance many a person’s sex life, and that is holy work. So – in the coming weeks – I will be curating pieces from Kabbalists and Rabbis across the denominational spectrum that speak to enhancing and going deep without sexuality and sensuality in a mindful and spiritual Jewish way.

So, if you are in Israel and are curious about this tantra stuff, reach out to Ben and Efrat to learn about what’s going on near you. If you are in England and dare to go beyond comfort zones, feel free to contact Hanna Tantra for a deep-dive into her world. And – whether tantra seems exciting and exotic or heretical and unappealing – if you want to contribute to articles on how to increase mindfulness and pleasure in a Jewish context, please be in touch!

And who knows? Maybe you’ll get a deeper glimpse into this world at next year’s Tantra-Meets-Kabbalah Spiritual and Sexual Jewrotica Retreat. You’ll want to register early for that one… 😉

Light and Love,

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