Cracking Open My Heart

My mother’s brain cancer seems to be progressing rapidly since we returned from our trip to Washington State. I took her to Washington to see her oldest friend. They had a wonderful visit. I then picked her up and took her on a trip around the Olympic Peninsula for a few days. I hadn’t been on a vacation with my mother since I was 14 and we backpacked into Big Sur on the California Coast. We had a great time being in nature and seeing the incredible beauty of the mountains, lakes, rain forest, lavender farms and beaches there. My mom was in good spirits and enjoyed herself.

Since returning to Sedona she has begun to decline. She is less engaged with the world and rarely wants to leave her room. She has developed a great love for Coffee Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream and potato chips which she eats while listen to CDs of Ekhart Tolle and Adyashanti. She still has a good appetite and for the most part eats healthfully.

I find myself walking the line between giving her what she wants and encouraging her to do what I think is good for her. My good friend, Jim, mentioned to her a few days ago that he has an electric key board and that he could bring it over and teach her to play the piano. She was excited by the idea. So yesterday, we took her up to his place in Oak Creek Canyon and got the key board. Last night, she began her first lesson. It was great to see her interested in learning something new.

Lately, I have become aware of the amount of stress I am dealing with in this situation. Watching her life force energy stating to wane has been a challenge. This morning I was listening to Adyashanti talk about the difference between courage and fearlessness. Courage is doing something in the face of fear. I have been practicing courage and it is exhausting work. Now, I am ready to face my fear and surrender fully into each moment. Fearlessness is just allowing everything to be as it is without wanting or needing to change it.

I feel deep gratitude for this opportunity to be with my mother as she approaches her transformation from being in form to being formless. It is allowing me to see where I hold on, where I contract and where I resist. She is at peace and enjoying each moment. Watching her, caring for her and loving her is a wonderful gift that is cracking open my heart in a new way.
Copyright 2011 Crystal Dawn Morris

Conscious Dying

A few days ago I was meditating with my mother. She was seating with her back to me. I sat and focused on my breath. All thoughts disappeared and deep peace filled me. I dissolved into Emptiness. “Emptiness,” with no up or down, no forward or back, no left or right, empty of form and yet full of Consciousness.

I opened my eyes and looked at my mother’s back. i felt incredible gratitude and appreciation for her being in my life at this powerful time. I closed my eyes and once again there was only Emptiness. I recognized that Emptiness doesn’t feel emotions. Only a human form can feel the love of a daughter for her mother. I became aware of my body’s desire to move, then thoughts came and went. I recognized that Emptiness and form are One, co-existing as this apparent me, called Crystal Dawn. I saw that life is a meditation. Every inhalation is an opportunity to awaken to the now. Every exhalation is an opportunity to surrender the past. As both Emptiness and form I was free.

My mother, Freda, was diagnosed with brain cancer on May 12th while having during brain surgery. The brain tumor had only been discovered two days earlier when I took her to the ER because she was confused and lethargic. During her week in the hospital, I spent many hours on the internet researching primary brain cancer and glioblastoma multiforma, which is the type of cancer she has. Friends and family helped in learning about possible treatments, both medical and non-medical. There is no cure for this type of cancer and the prognosis is poor.

On May 18th Freda was discharged from the hospital and moved in with me. It was the first time we had lived together in 40 years. Post surgery she became clear-headed once again. Our family came together and talked about the various treatments. Mom was clear that she did not want radiation or chemo. She wanted to die consciously and really be present throughout the experience. She felt all she needed was to eat healthy, meditate several times a day and avoid unnecessary stress.

At 78, she trusts life. She has been amazingly healthy. On entering the hospital I had to explain that she was taking no medications and her last hospitalization was in 1958 when she gave birth to my brother. It is an inspiration the grace that natural surrounds her as she goes about her life. She is surprisingly relaxed and happy. She reads and is creating a journal about her experiences. She is writing a novel based on a short story she wrote several years ago. Friends and family come to visit.
The first couple of weeks after she moved in I felt called to prepare myself to support my mother in dying consciously. I reread the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying and reviewed the Buddhist practice of Phowa , Conscious Dying, that I was initiated into in May 2006.

Knowing that she may be only a few months left to live has made it easy to set aside the business I often get lost in. I have a new appreciation for each moment we share. Being with her at this time of transition is teaching me to slow down and revaluate my life.

The past few weeks are teaching me that birth, death and rebirth are always unfolding. I commonly call it “change.” Change may appear exciting, like a trip to Hawaii or scary, such as being laid off from work. When it is exciting I am attracted to it and want more. When it is scary, I contract. I want to deny, blame or resist what is happening. I find myself saying, “This is not my life.” Resistance causes me to suffering. Another word for resistance is control. Most of my life, I have believed that if I take charge and stay in control, I’ll be safe and keep my loved one’s safe as well. Of course this is just a belief. Control is an illusion.

Over the past few days I’ve been noticing when I resist what is. I can clearly see how my ego wants to be in control, to get “my way.” The ego, the ‘’I,” is the cause of the suffering. When I stop and let go of “I’ and recognize the Emptiness that is my true nature, there is no resistance, no fear, no need to change what is. There is peace, joy and love. My intention is to just stay present and empty and let everything be as it is.

Copyright 2011 Crystal Dawn Morris

A Future Based on Love or Fear ?

I am currently working on a project about the evolution of sex and consciousness. While doing research I found this very interesting video.
On YouTube- The Chalice or The Blade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYSstQSxjXs



The Video is inspired in part by the book, 'The Chalice and The Blade' by Riane Eisler. This video is a collaborative effort between Ife Aziz (http://www.youtube.com/PepperMintLIfe) and Aaron Moritz (http://www.theinfinityes.com/)
Category: Nonprofits & Activism Tags:

* Venus Project
* Zeitgeist Movement

Write a Love Poem for Your Valentine

February is a great time to be inspired by love, passion or beauty. Sit down and connect with your "Inner Muse." Allow words to flow through you. If your inner critic shows up, send it out for a walk. Breathe deep, settle in and enjoy the process. Read your poem out loud to a lover or friend. Let the words caress your mind and open your heart.

Here are a couple of my love poems. Enjoy!

Touching You I Open

Touching you, I open, no words spoken.
Breathing together, I see God in your eyes.
Flesh against flesh, beneath cool sheets.

Subtle – Waves – Flowing,

Dreams carry me a way, cool lips entice me back.
Your breath on my face, warm, sweet- as- cherries.
I inhale you into my heart, no words for this…

Ahhh – Letting go,

Moments of Oneness, merging together,
No you or me, even "We" disappears.
All that exists--Emptiness and Bliss.

Crystal Dawn Morris
February 4, 2011


CommUnion

Midnight communication
Your heart against mine
I slid into your eyes

A door slowly opens
Wide and Spacious

Our souls caress the Divine
Waltzing among the stars
Naked and Free

Union and Communion
Hearts and minds as one
Beyond Words.

Crystal Dawn Morris
August 12, 2007

July is Self Love Month!

Here are the 5 points of the Self-Love Star.

1. SELF-WORTH- Fill your own cup first. When you have a full cup you can be generous with others. Ask: Do I value my needs? Do I prioritize "me" time?
2. SELF-NURTURING- Nourish yourself. Ask: How do I love myself today?
3. SELF-EMPATHY- Have compassion for yourself. Feel and express your emotions. Trust your intuition.
4. SELF-EXPRESSION- What bold thing would you share with the world if the fear of judgment or rejection wasn't holding you back?
5. SELF-ACCEPTANCE- Forgive yourself. Accept that you are doing the best you can with the resources you have?

Tantra Tip of the Day - Passionate Living

What is your relationship to passion? Today, take some time to explore you relationship to passion and ways you can cultivate it in your life and in your relationships.

Tantra Tip of the Day- Love Feeds the Soul

MAN NEEDS TO BE NEEDED. It is one of the most fundamental needs of human beings. Unless one is cared for, one starts dying. Unless one feels that he is significant to somebody -- at least to somebody -- his whole life becomes insignificant. Hence, LOVE IS THE GREATEST THERAPY THERE IS. The world needs therapy because the world is missing love. IN A REALLY LOVING WORLD, NO THERAPY WILL BE NEEDED AT ALL; love will be enough, more than enough.

HUGGING IS ONLY A GESTURE OF LOVE, OF WARMTH, OF CARING. The very feel of the warmth flowing from the other person melts many illnesses in you, melts the ice-like cold ego. It makes you a child again. Psychologists are well aware of the fact now that unless a child is hugged, kissed, he misses some nourishment. JUST AS THE BODY NEEDS FOOD, THE SOUL NEEDS LOVE. You can give the child all the physical needs, all the physical comforts -- but if hugging is missing, the
child will not grow into a wholesome being; he will remain somewhere deep down sad, uncared for, neglected, ignored. He was nursed, but he
was not mothered.

It has been observed that if a child is not hugged, he starts
shrinking, he can even die. Although everything else was provided for-- as far as the body is concerned every care was taken - - but if no love surrounded the child, he becomes isolated, he becomes disconnected from existence. LOVE IS OUR CONNECTION, LOVE IS OUR VERY ROOT. Just as you breathe... for the body it is absolutely essential -- stop breathing and you are no more -- in the same way love is the inner breath. THE SOUL LIVES BY LOVING.

Analysis won't do it, wit and clarity, knowledge and scholarship won't do it. You can know all there is to know about therapy -- you can become an expert -- but if you don't know the art of love, you remain
only on the surface of the miracle of therapy. The moment you start feeling for the patient, for the one who is suffering... OUT OF A HUNDRED CASES, NINETY PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT BEEN LOVED... If you start feeling the need for love of the patient, and if
you can fulfill the need, there will be an almost magical change in the condition of the patient.

LOVE IS CERTAINLY THE MOST THERAPEUTIC PHENOMENON!

HUGGING IS ONLY A GESTURE OF ONENESS. EVEN THE GESTURE HELPS! And if the hug is authentic and true -- not just a gesture, but your heart is also in it -- it can be a magical tool, it can be a miracle, it can transform the whole situation instantly. Hugging gives you an immediate contact with the child within. If you hug somebody with warmth, with love -- if it is not just an impotent gesture -- if it is meaningful, significant. .. If your heart is flowing through it,immediately you come in contact with the child, with the innocent child. And to contact that innocent child is therapeutic.

And the innocent child, surfacing even for a single moment, makes a tremendous difference -- because the innocence of the child is always healthy and whole, uncorrupted. You have reached to the innermost core
of the person, where no corruption has ever entered. You have reached to the virgin core. AND JUST MAKING THE VIRGIN CORE THROB AGAIN WITH LIFE IS ENOUGH. You have started, you have triggered a process of healing.

OSHO
The Wild Geese and the Water
Ch #4: Soul: Living by loving
I am in Buddha Hall

Tantra Tip of the Day -Live From the Heart

In Sky Dancing Tantra we begin and end every practice with the Heart Salutation. It is a way of calling ourselves present and entering sacred time.






When your heart is open, It is easy to feel connected. Love natural flows out into the world. The open-heart loves fearlessly.

The Heart Salutation
Extend your arms towards the earth, palms together. Inhale, as you bring them to your heart while keeping your palms together. Exhale, as you bow forward and acknowledge the Divine in with the Sanskrit salutation Namaste. "Namaste" means, “I see the Divine in you as a reflection of the Divine within me.” In this example you are acknowledging the world as a mirror for seeing the Divine within yourself. Inhale, as you straighten back up. Finally, exhale as you allow your hands to return to the starting position, pointed towards the earth.

Bring your palms together pointing to the earth, inhale up to your heart.
Bow and acknowledge the Divine in each other, as you exhale. You may choose to use the Sanskrit salutation Namaste. "Namaste" means, “I see the Divine in you as a reflection of the Divine within me.” Inhale back to your own heart.
Then exhale the heart energy back down to the earth.

Place your hands over your heart. Become aware of your heart center and breathe into it for a few minutes. Gradually begin to relax and open as you breathe into the center of your chest. Notice if your heart is open, closed or somewhere in between. Close your eyes and think of someone or something you love deeply and become aware f yourself as Love. recognizing that love is something you are not something you do. When you are ready open your eyes. How do you feel? Does the world seem different?

(C) Copyright 2010, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.

Hugs and Kisses Slash Stress

by Frances Amaroux www.lovecoaching.com

From the hallowed halls of science comes another excuse to get close: New research shows that hugs and kisses slash stress. Loving touches — and the resulting gush of good feelings — can cut the level of stress hormones coursing through your body by 7 percent, according to a recent study in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine. Anything from sex to holding hands can do the trick. You get calmer every minute you’re in contact. So go ahead: pop in a movie and spend the evening snuggling on the couch. You’ll be healthier for it.

The stress-snuggle connection was put to the test by Beate Ditzen, Ph.D., a psychologist at the University of Zurich in Switzerland who studied 51 couples for a week, asking them to record their activities and take saliva samples every three hours. The samples were analyzed for levels of the stress hormone cortisol. The results: "Intimacy reduced cortisol levels by improving mood," says Dr. Ditzen.

A Daily Dose
Every minute spent hugging, kissing, holding hands or having sex translated into a small decrease in stress. Every touch had the same power to soothe. In other words, the 20th hug or kiss worked just as well as the first, and 20 hugs generated 20 times as much stress relief as a single snuggle. Unfortunately, you can’t bank the benefits. Extra physical intimacy today won’t reduce your stress levels later this week. You’ve got to be "in touch" every day.

The benefits of loving touch do stick beyond the front door, however. Work-related stress doesn’t stand a chance if you’ve gotten a good dose of closeness, the researchers learned. Sure, a hug can erase the tension of a tough day on the job. But more than that, intimacy actually protects you from feeling work stress at all, whether you have a crummy office, bad manager, long hours, deadline pressure, interruptions or other job woes. So if the day looks like it has challenges ahead, make a date for a little kissing before or after work, or maybe even sneak some in at lunch.

Happily Ever After
The de-stressing effects of sex and snuggles may explain why happily married couples live longer and healthier lives. Studies have already proven that loving touch can reduce blood pressure and have other health benefits. Scientists have a number of theories about why intimacy is relaxing. For example, a hug can bring on a gush of the love hormone oxytocin, which floods the body and feels great.

Angry hugs don’t work, which might explain why unhappily married couples don’t live any longer than singles. Negative emotions seem to ruin the health benefits and de-stressing effect. So if you want to live happily ever after (and make it last), hold out for someone who makes you feel great.

Try This at Home
If you don’t have a mate handy for hugs, try getting the benefits from friends and family. While the couples in this study were all dual-income with kids, the researchers did not evaluate whether hugs and kisses from children, parents, friends or others might be just as good at scaring off stress. Other studies have linked friendship with good health, longevity and less stress. And Dr. Ditzen agrees that snuggling up to anyone who feels yummy might reduce stress levels.

http://lovecoaching.com/article_-_hugs_and_kisses_s.html

Remember You've Got Friend- You Tube

Tantra is about community and connection. It is about recognizing separation is an illusion and that we are truly all one breath and one heart. This song is one of my favorites! It is a great reminder to open are hearts and share the love! I want to thank my friend, Zannie, for sharing this You Tube with me.

Riding the Wave of Bliss- An Erotic Poem

By Crystal Dawn Morris

Moon grows bright,
Celebrate naked by firelight.

Open up heart strings,
Remember the way joy sings.

Entice a man with your feminine charms,
Melt into his strong, loving arms.

Be brave, Ride the wave,
Dance to Rock, Suck his cock.

Laugh till you cry,
Never lie.

Merge into the deep blue sky and
Disappear into Buddha's Eye.

Written February 12, 2010

(C) Copyright 2010, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.

Read My February Newsletter

Read my February Newsletter here.
http://campaigns.ratepoint.com/campaigns/ac96ac99931c348f37139d8c905bca35

Subscribe at www.TantraForAwakening.com

Tantra Tip of the Day- Write a Love Poem

Poetry can be powerful way to connect to the Divine. Write a Love Poem today. If you are single write a love poem to yourself or a friend. Here is one a wrote last summer.

Touching You

Touching you, I open.
No words spoken.
Breathing together,
I see God in your eyes.

Flesh against flesh,
Beneath cool sheets,
Subtle waves flowing.
Dreams carry me a way.

Cool lips entice me back,
Your breath on my face,
Warm, sweet as cherries,
I inhale you into my heart.

There are no words for love.
Moments of no separation,
Melting together beyond form,
On a sea of emptiness we ride.

Crystal Dawn
June 21, 2009

Learn about Crystal's events at www.TantraForAwakening.com

Tantra Tip of the Day-Harvesting with Grace and Gratitude

The monsoons came late this year to Sedona. A rain squall just went through a few moments ago. The air is fresh and the sky is full of billowing white clouds. The first dusting of snow covered the San Francisco Peaks over the weekend. The Aspen trees ate beginning to turn golden. Autunm has come to Sedona.

I grew up in the midwest and fall was harvest time. At this time of the year I pay attention to the seeds I planted in the spring and I ask, "What are you harvesting now?" By seeds I mean my vision for the year- intentions and desires. I look to see if what I am harvesting matches with what I thought I planted. If they don't match I examine where my thoughts, beliefs and actions were out of alignment with my vision.

When my desire, intent, thoughts, words and actions are in alignment with my heart then my harvst is bountiful. That does not always mean that it looks the way I imagined it would. Harvest time is receiving with grace all that is being given.

Tantra has taught me how to be more conscious and aware of my desires, words, thoughts and actions. I continually practice being in the moment as much as possible, living authenticly and loving what is arising as a precious gift. I offer gratitude for all I recieve. This practice helps me stay connected to my heart and to Source.

What are you harvesting? How does it relate to what you planted? How gracefully are you recieving your harvest? What is your relationship to gratitude?

www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com
www.TantraForAwakening.com
(C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.

Tantra Tip of the Day - Send Love into the World

Today my heart is open and flowing with love. There is no particular reason I can point to. I planted some flowers in my garden today and just digging in the soil felt good and now rain clouds rolling in to water my new plants. I realize just how blessed I am to be alive. I feel so much gratitude for my life.

As I think of all the things I am grateful for, a long list rolls out before me, to long to put here. I feel connected to so many wonderful people. I feel I am giving my gifts to the world. I am blessed to have good relationships with the people I love. I live in a beautiful place. I have a healthy body. I’m aware of my connection to Source.

When you focus on what is flowing in your life and feel appreciation for it, love naturally flows out of your heart. When love flows out, it naturally attracts love back. If you need love, then give love. The fastest and easiest way to get anything in life is to give it to others first. Be open to receiving what flows back even if it doesn’t look the way to thought it would. If you don't much flowing back to you make sure you are open to recieve.

Try this: Breathe into your heart for 5 minutes and imagine that your heart is a "Love Star." As you breathe into your heart this star gets brighter and brighter. Allow your whole chest to feel warm and brightbefore you send the love out into the world. You can send it either to a particular person, group of people or to the planet in general. Do this three times today and tomorrow. See what happens. How do you feel? How do people feel about you.

www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com
www.TantraForAwakening.com
(C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.

Tantra Tip of the Day - The Self-Love Inventory

The world is a reflection of your own inner landscape. If you want to create a better world rather than focusing on the problem “out there,” begin by changing what is going on inside of you. The journey begins by accepting all aspects of who you are. How much and how often do you love yourself?

The Self-Love Inventory

How do you love your body? Do you feed it good food? Do you give it enough exercise? Do you touch it in pleasurable ways? Do you wear clothes that feel good? Do you appreciate all your body does for you?

Are you kind to your mind? Do you recognize the mind is addicted to thinking? Are you able to witness your thoughts without taking them seriously? Do you meditate and create space between your thoughts? Is your mind at peace or do repetitive critical thoughts haunt you? Do you offer loving words to yourself each day?

Do you appreciate the emotions flowing through you? When emotions arise do you accept and feel them fully? To you find healthy ways to express both positive and negative emotions? Do you deny, judge or put limitations on certain feelings?

How do you honor your Essence? What is your spiritual practice? Do you meditate or pray regularly? Do you have a spiritual community that supports your spiritual life? Do you feel alone in the world? Are you one with Source?

Notice where you limit love and how you can be more generous and loving to yourself. You can’t give to another, what you are unable or unwilling to give to yourself. First fill up your own cup, and then you have plenty of love to give to others.

www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com
www.TantraForAwakening.com
(C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.

The Tantra Tip of the Day- The Dance of Ego and Essence

Original Art by Paul Heussenstamm www.Mandalas.com

This was sent to me this morning by a friend. It speaks beautifully about the struggle of the ego to be loved and why it is never satisfied.

Today notice when your ego judges others. Notice when you don't allow the love in. How do you create separation? Are you being present in the Now? See if you can open to Essence and love each moment just as it is.

From Choosing Love: How to Find True Love and Keep It Alive by Gina Lake
INABILITY TO COMMIT
(Edited for lenghth)

The ego doesn’t want to commit to anything—a place, a relationship, a career—because it believes that something better may be possible, and it’s willing to forgo what is present for the possibility of something better that isn’t present. Essence, on the other hand, is committed to whatever is. It doesn’t commit into the future because all that exists is the present, so it commits itself to that. This is the essential difference between the ego and Essence: The ego dreams of something better in the midst of whatever is, while Essence simply enjoys and commits attention and love to whatever is. In fact, committing attention to anything that is present results in enjoyment. This is why the ego enjoys so little—it commits attention to what isn’t present and to what it doesn’t have, and suffers over that, rather than committing attention to whatever is. It loves its fantasies, dreams, and desires more than it loves reality.

To love, we have to fall in love with reality—with what’s true right now, not with what might be true in the future or with what we want to be true in the future. Love happens in the now (like everything, really). That’s why the ego doesn’t know about love—because love is the experience of being in the now, or the present moment, and as soon as the ego experiences the now, it runs from it. Commitment takes a willingness to fall in love with reality—with the real partner who is in front of you—rather than seeking something else, either actually or through fantasy. What you commit to is what’s here right now. Who knows what will be here next? All you ever really have is what’s here right now, so it makes sense to commit to that, in other words, to give your full attention—your love—to that.

Essence experiences “the one” in whomever is showing up, and that’s the difference between Essence and the ego. It’s possible to love whoever shows up in your life. In fact, it’s very wise to do that if you want to be happy. If you don’t want to be happy, you will reject whoever shows up in your life. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be discriminating. Loving and saying yes to those who show up in your life doesn’t mean getting sexually involved with them unless you want to. Essence says yes to them—is open to them—because it is curious. And then it is very wise about getting more involved with them. Essence commits itself to someone only when love is flowing in both directions and the relationship is rewarding on many levels. The ego, on the other hand, may commit out of sexual attraction or because some other need is met through that relationship, which is not a good basis for commitment.

Commitment only makes sense when there is love, but the ego isn’t capable of love. It forms relationships based on needs, and that’s when commitment falters. As soon as someone’s needs aren’t getting met, then the commitment is questioned. Those who are identified with the ego much of the time have a very difficult time committing, while those who are identified with Essence are able to love and therefore able to commit. Eventually everyone learns to love, but relationships can be pretty volatile when egos are in charge. Even so, because relationships provide the ego with many of the practical things it values—sex, security, affection, companionship, support, and help—people who are in relationships for egoic reasons often end up discovering love. This is how life draws people out of the ego and into Essence.

Choosing Love will be published by Hampton Roads in 2010.

Read Gina’s full blog post at, http://www.radicalhappiness.com

From Choosing Love: How to Find True Love and Keep It Alive by Gina Lake, which can be purchased through http://www.facebook.com/l/;Amazon.com

www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com
www.TantraForAwakening.com

Tantra Tip of the Day- Love, Sex, & Enlightment

This article is reprinted from Margot Anand's Website. http://www.margotanand.com/margot_articles_love-sex-enlightenment.html

Love, Sex, & Enlightment

Many people mistakenly believe that Tantra is a spiritual bastardization of sexual therapy, an excuse to indulge in sexual games or orgies, an addiction to hours of sexual orgasms. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Tantric path teaches us to embrace and unify the ordinary, the erotic, and the sacred dimensions of life, all of which have their roots in Spirit.

The beauty and wisdom of Tantra is that it enhances sexuality as a doorway to the "ecstatic mind of great bliss". Truly, at the peak of orgasm, we pierce through the illusion of fragmentation and separation, and glimpse the unity and interconnectedness of all beings. And through the other--our partner--we fall in love with life.

Because sex holds this great potential for opening our being to the experience of ecstasy, Tantra has for millennia taught the cultivation of sexual love as an art, as a skillful spiritual practice. Then, as now, Tantra challenges the belief promoted by most spiritual and religious paths that we must suppress or transcend out sexuality to practice meditation or awaken our Spirit.

Tantra arose in rebellion against the repressive orthodoxy of the Hindu priesthood, the Brahmins – especially against the idea that one had to be celibate to gain enlightenment. Tantra acknowledges that sex is at the root of life and that to make human sexuality and erotic union a form or worship and meditation is to practice reverence for life, leading us directly through the pleasure of the sense to spiritual liberation.

Cultivate Ecstasy
As a therapist, I knew that the process of healing emotional wounds by focusing on the past to find their source was limited. Although it can bring about healing, it all too often promotes a fascination with the problematic. Furthermore, when we focus obsessively on our problems and pains, the ecstatic potential in most of life's moments goes unrecognized and unacknowledged, and our lives are emptied of a sacred and joyous dimension. Life appears problematic rather than ecstatic, more a puzzle to be solved than a pleasure to be cultivated.

I realized that existential or psychological pain was actually the absence of ecstasy. It was the outcome of being cut off from the source of one's being, the source of life. On the other hand, cultivating ecstatic states of consciousness and learning how to integrate them into our lives can have profoundly healing effects. I have come to believe that our suffering has its roots in the loss of ecstasy and that reclaiming our natural ecstasy holds the key to our healing and our liberation.

SkyDancing
Over the years, all that I had discovered coalesced within me into a new shape and meaning. I called the body of knowledge and the ritual practices I had developed over many years "SkyDancing Tantra: The Path to Bliss". This path came to me as a revelation rather than a tradition. Yet the path of the SkyDancer is indeed one that goes back to eighth-century Tibet, when Yeshe Sogyel, the consort of Buddha Padma Sambhava, was called the "SkyDancer". Together they developed Tantric Buddhism.

Originally, the SkyDancers were wild, free ecstatic "dakinis", also called feminine buddhas or female awakeners. The word dakini means "woman who dances in space" or "woman who revels in the freedom of emptiness". SkyDancers were, and are, women of passion who were profoundly devoted to spiritual awakening. The path of the SkyDancer is a path of spiritual partnership that teaches the complete reciprocity of male and female practitioners as they learn the art of integrating ecstatic states and ecstatic practices in their daily life. It reintroduces in our world the understanding that to heal the world, we need to rediscover and respect the fact that women can be and are awakeners and initiators and enlightened teachers.

SkyDancing Tantra is a unique path that weaves together traditional Tantric, Hindu, Buddhist and Taoist teaching with my studies in humanistic and transpersonal psychology, bodywork therapies, sexology, yoga, music, and metaphysics.


All of this works with human energy systems through the use of light, music, movement, visualization, and particularly (and primarily) the energy map of the chakras. The tantric
chakra system offers a perfect map for the transformation of energy and consciousness, from raw lust to love, a visionary power, and finally to awakening.

SkyDancing Tantra teaches us that when we learn to approach life with a relaxed body, an open heart, and a peaceful mind, we can access ecstatic states and learn to weave them into the daily fabric of our lives.

Sacredness of Sex
It is crucial to understand the sacred dimensions of sex. Sex lies at the root of life, and we can only learn reverence for life when we learn reverence for sex. People in this culture need training in the art of love. They need to understand that sexuality is a very natural instinct, and there is nothing wrong with it. The damage to human society caused by the condemnation of sex is incalculable. Instead of celebrating sex as the creative force it is, we have turned sex into a furtive, guilt-ridden affair. This has misguided and influenced our entire world view. There is a tremendous effort being made to heal the planet, save the rain forests and to bring peace to warring ethnic and religious factions and yet how can any of this happen when the very source of human love is poisoned?

There is a powerfully creative force associated with our sexuality. It is possible for each of us to become a magician and use that force to heal our life and transform our vision--to realize our dreams. We have all sorts of programming blocking the flow of our sexual power. We need to be open to be able to face those demons, to look at the shadow with all honesty, knowing that truth is erotic. The more you can share your truth, the deeper and the more erotic it will become in the long run.

©Margot Anand. All rights reserved.
Vist Margot Anand's website to:http://www.margotanand.com/index.html

Tantra Tip of the Day - Be a Love Artist

What does it mean to be a love artist? Be love. Celebrate love. Create acts of love, for no reason at all. Know love. Appreciate love. Share love. Surprise the world with new and unexpected forms of love. Stretch yourself and discover new ways to love as you never have before. Be a canvass for love to play upon. Know you can not fail as a love artist. Humans are love in form.

Today share a moment of love and know you are a love artist.

Original Art by Paul Heussenstamm,
www.Mandalas.com

C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.
www.TantraForAwakening.com
www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com

Tantra Tip of the Day- Authenticity and Intimacy

You are in the arms of your lover, passion is flowing and your body is feeling good. Suddenly something happens, he says something, she seems distracted or you find yourself lost in thought and your lover reacts. What you do in the next few minutes will determine if you tell the truth, lie or go into denial.
Commonly, when a moment like this arises people choose to stifle their truth, believing if they are authentic they will be judged. This is the moment when you can choose intimacy or separation. If you are making love and you find yourself disconnected from your lover, the first thing is to become aware that you have disconnected. Then see if you can get present again. Let your partner know what is happening. You don’t have to get into a story about it just share the facts.

“I just noticed I am not fully connected to you. Will you breathe with me so I can tune in to you more fully?”

Ask for what you need to be present. It may be to stop for a few minutes and breathe together, to eye gaze, to cry or kiss… Take the time you need to arrive and be fully presence. By showing up and being transparent your lover sees you for who you truly are, not a false projection. By noticing that you had created separation and choosing to reconnect consciously you are deepening the intimacy between you.

What if speaking your truth disrupts the lovemaking and it turns into a discussion? If you find the energy going in another direction then trust the moment. Let go of attachment to outcome and be in the flow. If there is a desire is to deepen intimacy then trust that being open and authentic is more important than an orgasm. As you both learn how to be present, truthful and accepting of what is arising you will discover that the sex improves because aren’t trying to make love and instead are allowing love to flow naturally between you.

What if your lover has a strong reaction and doesn’t appreciate your desire to be authentic and transparent. Isn’t better to discover this early in your relating rather than later you are more invested in the relationship?

Original Art by Paul Heussenstamm,
www.Mandalas.com
(C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.
www.TantraForAwakening.com
www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com