There are some specific Tantric and Daoist cultures that seek to explore the power of sexuality and sexual energy to develop a prominent spiritual state of awareness and attain immortality. These practices, known as Taoist Tantra are believed to have been invented in India and China and have been passed down through ancient texts.
At a later period, they were discovered to have extended to Tibet as well as other parts of Asia. Both Daoism and Tantrism are experimental approaches to life that harness the life force and explore the transformative potential of sexual energy. They share comparable micro-cosmic and macro-cosmic ideologies of the human body as an internal mirror of the outer Nature.
This experiential human body-focused cosmology of ideologies has brought forth a wide spectrum of sexual acts that range from celibacy followed by a conscious subtle act of body lovemaking to ritualized physical sexual intercourse.
Both Daoist and Tantric cultures hypothesize a multidimensional cosmos controlled by the divine and pervaded by polar energies that are recognized in Daoism as yin-yang forces of Earth and Heaven or Tantra as Shakti of Shiva deities.
These identified forces, which encompass the concepts of sexual energy and life force, come from a mystified sole unity whose place in the physical plane tracks a five-fold pattern of harmony controlled by the five-phase principles, also known as the five families of deities.
The two forces, sexual energy and life force provide alchemical maps which are usually hidden in the interiorized mandalas located within the human body; I Ching (Yijing) patterns in Daoism and yantras in Tantra.
This ancient knowledge, found in texts, can be completely understood by only the initiated adroit.
The subtle bodily maps enable the adroit to harness and direct the obvious chaos of contradictory sexual and physical desires, utilizing sexual practices and Taoist practices, to discover the way to true self and self-actualization at the center of creation.
In spite of the fundamental comparisons in their cosmology, the Daoist and Tantric techniques of sexual nurturing, both subtle and physical bodies, are fundamentally different.
They aim to cultivate sexual energy and life force through neo-tantra and Chinese Taoism, going against the customary sexual and social values which were subjugated by the overtly anti-female values of Confucianism in China and the strict caste system of India.
In addition to this, Daoists and Tantrics were known to be early experimenters who explored external alchemy, including the utilization of mind-shifting of natural materials, to hasten the spiritual evolution of an individual.
By harnessing sexual energy and life force, practitioners seek not only better health but also spiritual growth and self-actualization.
Over and beyond the physical and sexual derivative values inherent in both ideologies, the place of true self-actualization cannot be underplayed in Daoist and Tantric cultures.
Chinese Taoist Tantra nowadays
The practices of Taoist Tantra and neo tantra continue to intrigue and inspire individuals on the path of self-discovery and spiritual enlightenment, allowing them to tap into the profound potential of sexual energy and life force.
