A conversation with Swami Ravi Rudra Bharati [then Rudy Ballentine, MD] about Tantra and Altered States of Being by Agnes Dei RB, a holistic physician and past president of the Himalayan Institute (Yoga) authored or co-authored books on nutrition, meditation, breathwork, yoga and psychotherapy and later Radical Healing, Integrating the World’s Great Therapeutic Traditions [...]
In the 1940's when Agehaananda Bharati left his native Austria and traveled to India in search of a monastic life, he was initiated into the Dasanami order in Varnasi via a ritual performed on the Manikarnika burning ghat near a glowing flame said to be lit eons before by Shiva himself. For the ceremony, he [...]
One of the unique aspects of tantra is that it has deep, living roots in many worlds: that of magic and shamanism, that of subtle and sophisticated philosophy, that of ecstatic erotic experience, that of monastic austerity, and more. In an attempt to explain how this can all hang together, in our teaching we often describe tantra [...]
