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We will post on this page articles from recent Ipsalu Tantra newsletters. If you would like to register to receive our newsletter, please do so on the right.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
January 2011 - Cobra Breath -
 
What is the Cobra Breath? And What can it Do for Me?

A key practice of Ipsalu Tantra is the Cobra Breath. This practice has a transformational effect on the body and can open us up to higher spiritual experiences. It is a safe way to awaken Kundalini energy, a very powerful source of energy in the body, centred at the base of the spine. We will discuss Kundalini energy in a future newsletter.

We work with the Cobra Breath through seven different levels. The first four of these levels are taught through initiation. The final three levels are received intuitively through meditation. The first level of the Cobra Breath is designed to do a number of things. First, it opens an energy channel in the spine and allows energy to rise from the base of the spine to the head. In the head, brain cells which have been dormant are activated, increasing our perception, sensitivity and creativity. We can began to experience life more fully and act more powerfully. It also opens the third eye, which can increase our psychic powers and our 'witness consciousness' ... our ability to experience our emotions and observe them at the same time. This will be important as we progress through higher levels of the Cobra Breath. The first level breath is also a very effective way to transmute sexual energy into forms that can be absorbed into the body for good health and spiritual evolution.

 The second level of the Cobra Breath opens a second energy channel in the spine and energy is circulated through this channel and the channel opened in the previous level of the breath. At this point we are balancing these 2 channels, which are considered masculine and feminine respectively. This balancing is key to progressing to the next level. We also open the three lower Charis with the second level. It is in these chakras that unresolved emotional hurts are often stored. So opening these chakras can release these old emotions for healing. This can sometimes be a difficult experience but it is really liberating to finally let go of these old, confining emotions. Witness consciousness, developed with the first level of the breath, helps us to deal effectively with this transformation.

The third level of the breath opens a third channel in the spine and allows the powerful Kindling energy to rise. it also opens the heart and throat chakra and connects all of the first 6 chakras together. Up to this point, we have been working within our own energy bodies.

With the fourth level of the breath, we open the crown chakra and connect to the wider energy of the universe. As I said earlier, the higher three levels beyond this are received individually through meditation.The journey we take through the four levels of the Cobra Breath is very significant. In Ipsalu Tantra, each level of the breath is presented through a class where you will learn and experience a series of practices appropriate to the changes you will move through during your practice of that particular level. And you will take away a CD with a structured practice which will enable you to consolidate what you have learned on the class through regular practice.

The gifter of the Cobra breath is Babaji, who is also the gifter of all Kriya Yoga practices. The Cobra Breath is traditionally taught only through word of mouth by an accredited and initiated teacher to ensure that both teacher and student have been properly prepared. There are different versions of the Cobra Breath which have been handed down from Babaji through the various Kriya Yoga traditions and you will be drawn to a version which is most appropriate for you. We will cover Babaji and the Kriya lineage in a future newsletter.




In future newsletter articles we will discuss Kundalini awakening, Cobra Breath, the value and form of a daily practice ... and various other topics. And if you would like to suggest a topic, please feel free to do so.
 
 
April 2011 - Is this Ipsalu Tantra about Sex? And is that all it is About?

Many people who contact us have heard about Tantric Sex and are both drawn to that (most of us would like to improve our sex lives and have better relationships, wouldn't we) and are a little concerned about it too. So let us explain a little. The answers to the questions above are yes and no respectively.

 A key aspect of Ipsalu Tantra is really coming into our bodies and experiencing the joy of really living there. And probably the most important and vital energy in the body is sex energy. It is this energy primarily that gives us our life force and zest for living. So a key aspect of this work is working with sex energy. We learn how to work with it for good health, for spiritual development and, yes, for good sex lives. And you don't need a partner to begin this journey. In fact, it is usually important for most of us, even if we are in a relationship, to learn how to work with sex energy purely within our own bodies. People sometimes say 'Do I need a partner to come on a workshop?'. And the answer, very clearly, is 'no'. Most people come on these workshops as singles and even couples will need to work on the practices we teach on their own to start with. But if you are in a relationship the practices you learn will help you to understand your partner better and build a better relationship. And they will also help you to improve your lovemaking and become a better lover.

People also sometimes have a question, spoken or in their minds, if they will be asked to have sexual intercourse with someone on the workshop. In Ipsalu Tantra there is no explicit sexual activity on our level 1 and level 2 classes. There is a sacred Maithuna ritual on an advanced class where there is an opportunity to come into sexual union with a committed or chosen partner, but even here the union can be an energetic union rather than a physical union and this is an optional part of even the advanced class. The practices are all very respectful and nurturing.

And in answer to the second question in the heading above, yes there is very much more to Ipsalu Tantra than sexual practices. Tantra means 'liberation through expansion' and the implication here is that we achieve liberation by expanding our consciousness. We live in a very small reality, where we define ourselves in terms of our limitations. These limitations are imposed by our society and accepted during conditioning in childhood and through life. As we learn to identify with a larger truth, we begin to live more freely. In an expanded state, you will find your true Self.

 

July - 2011 - Meditation Practice


We continue here a series of articles on different aspects of the Ipsalu Tantra work. Here we describe a very specific meditation practice taught in Ipsalu Tantra. The articles published here can also be found consolidated on our website, www.ipsalutantra.eu.


Along with the Cobra Breath, another key aspect of this work is the meditation practice we recommend which incorporates the Cobra Breath. This is an active form of meditation with the following steps:


First: Activate energies in the body

Second: Still the mind

Third: Arouse sexual energy

Fourth: Transmute passion

Fifth: Enjoy the blissful state.


Activate energies in the body: We teach a number of practices designed to activate body energy and to draw energy into the body. These are simple but powerful yoga techniques, such as the Rishi Isometrics. These are described in the recommended books and taught on the level 1 weekend class. However, if you have your own favourite practices for activating the body, this can also be used instead.


Still the mind: With the body activated, we focus on stilling the mind. A still mind allows the ego to step aside and cosmic energy/ consciousness to enter the body. Doing this practice with the body active, allows us to go into a deep meditative state without leaving our body. Practices such as watching the breath work here and we teach more specific breath exercises on our various classes.


Arouse sex energy: Within this infinite stillness, the rhythm of the earth is called forth. In this context the juicy creative force takes on an extraordinary quality. You feel the primal energy which manifested the physical universe. We teach a series of practices including specific yogic practices and more fun, playful practices.


Transmute passion: In this step we lift and refine that creative force and blend it with heavenly consciousness. The first level of the Cobra Breath does this and the reference books contain other, simpler ways to do this.


Enjoy: the blissful state we have created. This might include some grounding exercises such as singing, dancing and drumming … or just moving into our day in this state.


Further details of this practice can be found in the book 'The Ipsalu Formula – A Method for TantraBliss by Bodhi Avinasha.

 

Heart Magic
This short piece is taken from the book 'Tantra Bliss' by Bodhi Avinasha. See if you resonate with it ...

When you are in your heart, your desires are not for personal gratification. You want what is best for all, realising that you are one with all. You make yourself available as an instrument by which changes can be wrought, in service to the greatest good. True satisfaction comes only when Ego subordinates its agenda to Soul.

When ego is in a state of surrender, when your heart is attuned to the Infinite, you automatically find yourself in a magical place. On many occasions your thoughts manifest, almost instantly. You think of someone and they call you, or you encounter them in an unlikely place. You become aware of the need for some item, and someone offers it to you. Small miracles happen so frequesntly, you begin to take them for granted. The 'magic' happens not because you are efforting to impose your will on existence, but rather because you make yourself at one with Existence and it totally supports you.

Surrender requires enormous trust, a surety that Existence will always give you what is in your best interests, even if it isn't what you thought you needed.