It’s been my experience that there is a deep yearning for this knowledge in the BDSM/fetish world – knowledge of how to take BDSM further, to make it more whole, perhaps even more spiritual. I’ve given educational presentations on this very topic to various bdsm clubs & organizations and it’s been very well received (for example, at Black Rose in Washington D.C. they had over 200 people for this topic when the normal attendance at other topics was under 100, and because of the deep yearning this topic tapped into and the demand from the audience, they scheduled a 2nd talk to continue the dialogue just weeks later, which they generally never do).

Many people are exploring BDSM because they are looking for more – more than the boring, vanilla world offers, more than the surface values of life, more awareness, more energy flow, more expansion, more bliss…

I’ve seen that the BDSM world is one of most systematic, developed bodies of expertise in creating high energy levels, flow, expansion – but mostly in the first 3 chakras or energy centers in the human body.

1ST CHAKRA
at your perineum (between genitals and anus) – where life energy enters the body, up from the Earth. If this center is closed we are not alive. It deals with life/death, pleasure/pain, survival (food, clothing, shelter, avoidance of danger/pain).
BDSM: when we play with S&M – giving and receiving strong (even painful) sensations, or with fear, we are playing with the 1st chakra.

2ND CHAKRA
at your genitals. It deals with sexual pleasure, sensuality, eroticism, reproduction, masculine/feminine polarity.
BDSM: when we play with gender identity, sexual energy, sexual fetishes, sensuality, and polarity, we are playing with the 2nd chakra.

3RD CHAKRA
at your abdomen. It deals with power, “guts”, will – and their opposites (acceptance, surrender, devotion).
BDSM: when we play with D&S – dominance and submission, or power exchange, we are playing with the 3rd chakra.

WHERE TANTRA COMES IN

Where tantra comes in is to show us how to take all that great, powerful energy that we’ve stimulated in the first 3 chakras in our BDSM play, and raise it through the remaining 4 chakras – bringing it to it’s natural conclusion or completion.

Real tantra – from the ancient spiritual tradition – is not what you see in modern tantra workshops and books. I’ll call that “New Age tantra”, which focusses on how to have more spiritual sex. Certainly that’s useful. But real tantra wasn’t about sex, per se. The sex chakra is just 1 of 7 chakras, 7 different flavors that life energy can take. Real tantra was about asking these questions: How big am I, how vast, how ‘divine’? How much life force can I conduct, how much energy, awareness, pleasure/pain, ecstasy can I handle? How deeply can I peer into the workings of the laws of nature, into the very pulsations at the core of life, and live those?

Real tantra teaches how to raise that energy through all the chakras – how to open and clear that “pipeline” – how to be an energy conduit between earth and heaven – how to vibrate with infinite life force (“may the force be with you”).

4TH CHAKRA
at your heart. It deals with love, nurturing/nourishing. It is the center, the balance point, of the whole system – from it emerge the 3 above and the 3 below.

5TH CHAKRA
at your throat. It deals with communication, creativity, self-expression, education.

6TH CHAKRA
at your forehead (3rd eye). It deals with intuition, insight, refined perception, healing.

7TH CHAKRA
at the crown/top of your head. It deals with awakening, Self-realization, spirituality. It is the gate through which we release energy up to heaven.

BODY, MIND, SPIRIT

1st–3rd chakras = body – physical field
3rd–5th chakras = mind/heart – mental/emotional field
5th–7th chakras = spirit – spiritual field

WHEN ALL THE CHAKRAS ARE OPEN

So when all 7 chakras or energy centers are open, flowing, coordinated with each other, we become integrated, whole (holy). We live the full potential that this body was born with but has been lying dormant. We live life in tune with the laws of nature.

Once this life force is flowing, unimpeded, up through all our 7 centers and out the top of us, up to heaven, we see it shower down all around us back into the earth, and we draw it up again through our 1st chakra (perineum/base of the spine), creating a huge egg-shaped energy flow. Then we find that we are just energy tubes – black hole sucking the energy up into us from the Earth, up through our perineum, up through our central channel, out through our crown, our white hole blowing the energy up to heaven, and then the energy showering back down all around us into the Earth, only to be drawn up through us again – in a never-ending circle.

You could call this energy flow ‘kundalini’ or ‘chi’ or ‘life force’ or ‘shakti’ or whatever.

WHEN DONE WITH A PARTNER

When done with a partner, this flow becomes yab-yum, the connection of Shiva flowing up through Shakti and Shakti flowing down around Shiva – where both practitioners encourage this flow to get bigger and bigger, to expand out beyond their skin boundaries, out to divine unboundedness.

Then BDSM – supercharged with tantric knowledge – can create vast, ecstatic states of profound fulfillment – infinite silence paradoxically vibrating with unbounded dynamism.

HINTS

• When you play, do your best to step out of your own perception, feelings, desires, experiences – and connect with your partner.
• Pay very close attention to these elements (in yourself and especially in your partner): breath, movement (even if tiny), sound, intention/attitude.
• Pay attention to creating sacred (safe) space, honoring polarity, making play into sacred ritual, following energy movement, and completing circuits.
• Any one of these, followed to it’s ultimate depth, can transform the scene (and life) into something even more marvelous.
• See what happens. Let us know.

Questions are welcome.

Namaste,
Michael

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

For more info on this and related topics, please go to Dr Michael Dean Goodman’s profile page on FetLife, go to “writing” in the left column, and click underneath that on “view all” to see his other essays.

Dr. Michael Dean Goodman (Maheshvara)
Boca Raton, FL
561-350-3930 • tantra@cheerful.com

Well-known, published performance artist and educator in the BDSM world
Former elected S.P.I.C.E. board member – education director

Ph.D. in Counseling
Founder & Director: The Relationship Institute
Relationship Coach (“The Relationship Doctor”) – specializing in working with non-traditional lifestyles (bdsm, polyamory, tantra, etc.)
Sex Educator • Author • Speaker

Founder & Director: PARA – The Center for Realization
Initiated Spiritual Teacher: raja yoga, Turiya Meditation (TM), ayur veda, tantra
International Workshop Leader: Tantra (ideal relationship – unfolding god/goddess in each other)

Performing Musician • Partner Dance Teacher • Photographer of
Beauty in Nature & Women • Published Performance Artist

Copyright © 2015 Michael Dean Goodman, 561-350-3930. All rights reserved. No reproduction, copying, preparation of derivative works, distribution (whether by sale, rental, leasing, lending, or giving away), public display or posting, storage in any medium (electronic or mechanical) accessible to others, or other non-personal use is allowed without express prior written permission from the copyright holder, per Section 106 of the U.S. 1976 Copyright Act, & other applicable international law. Rev: 2Feb15 MDG