Six Remarkable Effects of Tantric Sex

Tantra has a reputation for extraordinary sex, but what exactly does that mean?  In interviews with more than fifty experienced, long-term Tantric couples, six effects show up repeatedly:

• Prolonged and much more pleasurable pre-orgasmic phase
• The “Tantric high,” a wave of pleasure verging at times on intoxication
• Extended/repeated/different/better/more intense orgasms
• Intense emotional bonding with one’s partner
• Extension of the sense of self to include the partner/“becoming one person”
• Transcendence of self/feeling at one with the world or cosmos

Four of these were described by all of the couples I interviewed as happening always or almost always during Tantric sex.  The fifth happens at least half the time for everyone and always or almost always for the majority, but it is clearly related to the amount of time available for Tantra and how long the couples have been practicing Tantra.

The last one is described by most as happening sometimes, but not all individuals have experienced it even once.  Only a few said it happened usually or most of the time, and no one said it happened always or almost always.

I think you can see from this list why those with a spiritual bent have always been either so proprietary about Tantra or so hostile to it.  Religions have always been intensely interested in activities and substances (like intoxicants, psychedelics, and hallucinogenics) that create intense pleasure and have the potential for triggering feelings of transcendence.  What they can't incorporate, ritualize, and control, they generally try to ban.  Tantric sex is no different.

In the posts to come, I’ll be sharing with you what I have learned about each of these phenomena, how the Tantra ritual contributes to each of them, and what is happening inside our brains and bodies to trigger these experiences.