Seriously though, what are the sexual benefits of genuine tantra? First of all, authentic tantra encourages evolution from animality to humanity and then to divinity. This evolution pushes us forward from being less conscious to more conscious, from seeking mere pleasure to longing for Divine Bliss (Ananda), from being self-centered to being God or Universe-centered. In the process of this evolution, human beings become increasingly aware of various habitual behaviors that imprison their spirit, mind and body in a state of less than their optimum functioning, optimum health and optimum happiness. Such awareness brings to the surface of ordinary consciousness the imperative to work on and work out all addictive behaviors.

What this means for your sexuality is the following: Authentic practice of tantra will make the nature of your sex drive clearer to you. It will make more obvious the role your imagination plays in relation to your sexuality. Genuine tantra will help you explore and understand the relationship between passionate desires, happiness and satisfaction in the clear light of first-hand knowledge. Authentic tantra may not necessarily lead you to a celibate existence but it will surely transform your passion for finite objects into the search for Infinite Being.

More specifically, authentic tantra will help you to become more tolerant and loving toward yourself and others by making you aware of shame and guilt based habits which were imposed in your childhood by your parents, friends, society, and education (socialization) and which you have imposed on yourself by yourself. Authentic tantra will make your sex life more enjoyable (and your orgasm longer) by encouraging you to be patient, to relax, to be clear and honest about what you want both sexually and otherwise. As the spirit of tantra is fundamentally against suppression and, especially, repression, it will teach you to control and properly express your passions. Yes, even enjoy them!

We should also mention that tantra encourages one to find a balance between all urges: physical, emotional, intellectual, social, sexual, spiritual. Uncontrolled, excessive or promiscuous sexual expression is a hindrance to your spiritual development because it is energy that is being misdirected. The best arrangement for healthy expression of sexual energy is a COMMITTED relationship, i.e., a monogamous marriage for heterosexuals, committed partnership for homosexuals or a formal monastic life, in which the sexual energy is totally redirected toward the spiritual path, i.e., a committed relationship with God—a marriage to God. If it is within your nature to follow it, the monastic path will permit you to spend no energy on pursuits irrelevant to the spiritual path.

When a tantric practitioner reaches the Divine Ecstasy (samadhi), his or her desire for anything other than the divine bliss within (Ananda) becomes greatly reduced. Meeting God face to face through a mystical experience is a major milestone on the spiritual path. After reaching it, life is experienced differently, in a new perspective. Once the Divine Ecstasy is experienced, a practitioner will no longer be fooled into seeking temporary pleasures and thinking that they will bring him or her permanent happiness.

If we compare the pleasure of sexual orgasm (sukha) to the infinite pleasure of divine ecstasy (Ananda), there is no comparison. What is orgasm anyway? It is merely a pleasurable nervous sensation due to stimulation and subsequent release of sexual energy. It is a nerve firing, a chemical reaction! How can it compare to the divine bliss that is beyond physical pleasures? Reach for Ananda and be truly and permanently happy!

To conclude, let me mention one more issue. When a person engages in an intensive meditation practice, as one is likely to do if serious about tantra yoga, his or her sexual drive may become greatly diminished—even extinct. I know of a few advanced yogis whose semen production completely ceased and a few yoginis whose menstrual periods stopped. Such spiritual ‘impotence’ is due to a process of sublimation of energy towards upper glands/chakras of the body. It is also due to the mind, which having experienced superior enjoyment (God), loses interest in sex.

So much for sexual benefits of tantra.