Tantra

Tantra like Yoga or Zen, is a path to enlightenment, which has its roots in India. It is nicknamed the "science of ecstasy" and focuses on heightening and prolonging the special awareness and rapport that exists between lovers during lovemaking. This view holds that the greatest source of energy in the universe is sexual, and places high value on ritualized intercourse. Sexual orgasm is seen as a cosmic and divine experience.

Tantric philosophy also teaches that everything is to be experienced playfully, yet with awareness and a sense of sacredness in every gesture, every sensory perception, and every action. The path of Tantra is a spiritual one, which includes and appreciates the experience of our sexuality and sensuality as a conscious meditation, as a flowing together of the physical, sexual and cosmic energies.

If you were a devoted student of tantric philosophy, you would go through an extensive program of physical, sexual and mental exercises to heighten your sensory awareness. Through slow and thoughtful practice in lovemaking techniques you would learn to comfortably extend the time of lovemaking. In this way you would train yourself to be aware of not only your own feelings but also those of your partner. The spiritual part of tantra is to use your sexual energy to merge ecstatically with your partner and through him or her to become one with the cosmos or god.

A heterosexual couple practicing tantric intercourse seeks to prolong their sexual arousal. Following slow sensual touching a couple might move to having very slow intercourse. The man might place his penis just an inch or so inside his partner's vagina and without thrusting allow it to remain in this position for a full minute. Then he may gently withdraw from her vagina and rest his penis softly on her clitoral area. Usually the clitoris is the most sensitive part of a female's genitals and it is located just above the vaginal opening. After resting in this position for another minute the couple may decide to have him again slide his penis back in. During subsequent cycles of resting and entering the vagina, the male would rest outside the vagina and then eventually rest just inside the vagina. During the rest times, the couple might just lie silently together, or gently caress each other as they focus on the experience of their union. Throughout this experience both partners may be highly aroused, hovering close to the point of reaching orgasm on several occasions.

The art of prolonging the pleasures of lovemaking without reaching orgasm is described in the Kama Sutra, the Hindu sex manual written in the 4th century. "Karezza" is the term used to define a male's practice of pleasuring his partner and prolonging their intercourse by perpetuating his state of climax without actually ejaculating. These so called "dry orgasms", orgasms without ejaculation, are pleasurable, and still allow the sexual act to continue. The art of Karezza incorporates breathing control, meditation, work with postures, and finger pressure into the sexual act. Though sexually biased in its description as written (remember it was the 4th Century), the original focus of Karezza, prolonging the state of climax for a couple's mutual enjoyment, easily translates to both partners actively participating in learning to prolong their enjoyment before reaching orgasm.