Tantra Thoughts

Jen and Dagda explore the true meaning of Tantra—far beyond its popular association with sex. This episode dives into Tantra as a holistic spiritual practice focused on self-mastery, balance, and weaving together all aspects of life.

#podcast #sexhistory #sexualwellness #TantraThoughts #Tantra #KamaSutra #SelfMastery #Meditation #Mandalas #Mudras #Mantras #Spirituality

Artwork:K3IST

Always a good time to be had...After Dark.

We truly enjoyed our time working on the brick and mortar side of the adult industry. We spent A LOT of time trying to satisfy and satiate many a curious mind while educating the 1st timers on some adult fun ideas!

We had a great employer who was not only the 1st fully licensed adult store in Washington , Momma D was the 1st FEMALE adult store owned in our state!

**Music: Burning Night by _NeutralMatrix_**

Transcript

Welcome

SPEAKER_06 0:05

Welcome to Everyday Life. This is our After Dark podcast. My name is Jen.

SPEAKER_02 0:11

And I'm Dagda.

SPEAKER_06 0:12

Here is your explicit content warning. The following episode includes adult language, content, and situations that is intended for entertainment purposes and mature audiences only. So sit back, relax, and take a listen. Ready for the journey, Dagda?

SPEAKER_02 0:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_06 0:32

All right, let's go. How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_02 0:38

I'm doing all right. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_06 0:39

I'm doing good. Uh the weather turned nice. There's a gentle breeze. The ice maker's working, so yay. No, well, you know, this is our second ice maker we have. And uh the first one, Ice, you know, I think we got more use out of the first one because it was uh, I don't want to say what brand it is, because everybody I've talked to that's had that brand of ice makers, there's like, oh, did you get two years or did you get two years and one day out of it? And it's like, wait a minute, everybody has the same story. Two years, two years and a day, two years and a week. Like everything's around two years. And I'm like, holy crap, it died two years and five days after we received it.

SPEAKER_05 1:23

Oh wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:24

So it's it's and and so when I so when I see it working at work, the same brand, I'm like, this is bullshit. And then I'm like, oh wait, that's a that's a whole different that thing's like pre-COVID, so like it's resistant to anything, like a Gen Xer, anyways. Yeah, so we just wrapped up our series uh about the Kama Sutra. Yeah, and you know, because everybody's like, ew, the sex book, it's not the there's sex in it, but that's not what it was, it's a guide for life, kind of right. So I don't remember what it was that you'd said a couple weeks ago about either Tantra or Tantric,

What is Tantra?

SPEAKER_06 2:00

but I thought you said Tantra. So I looked up Tantric because I was trying to understand a little bit, and that's so so it was really cool because do you know what Tantra actually means?

SPEAKER_02 2:11

I don't remember. Um, I do know that it is like a set of sexual practices, basically. It's a part of yoga, also, it's like a yogic tradition, but it's also incorporated into Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism. It's even incorporated into fucking um Shintoism. Um also I was kind of curious because there's a there's a sexual tradition within Taoism. Um and kind of along the same lines with the Tantra, um it's intended to lead you to enlightenment and eternal life.

SPEAKER_05 2:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:59

Um and so I'm wondering because a lot of things in Chinese tradition are actually Indian in origin, including a bunch of the martial arts that actually started in India.

SPEAKER_06 3:12

Right.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Um so I'm curious as to whether or not the Taoist sexual tradition is actually a tantricted tradition that they've incorporated. Um and like kundalini is also one of those things related. Anyway. Kundalini.

SPEAKER_06 3:33

Kundalini, okay. Well, you know, yeah, you you can research the Taoist side of it.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 3:38

Because it's I I do have a little bit of like it gets a little bit, it's interesting, but it gets a little bit boring.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Uh it's a fucking serious rabbit hole. I did see that um Tantra is actually one of the reasons that Hinduism and Buddhism specifically got more practice in the masses. Um because it was uh one of those things that this is meant to be practiced by everyone and it's meant to be a practical thing. Um, and so it actually caused, I guess, prior to the advent of Tantra, uh Hinduism and Buddhism in particular were very in monasteries, and monks were the only ones truly practicing those religions. Um the same thing kind of happened with Christianity, yeah, where it's the monks are the ones who are really serious about learning about everything and practicing everything.

SPEAKER_05 4:42

Oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 4:43

Um, and it wasn't, of course, part of that was like the information wasn't out there for everybody because only the elites had the book, right?

SPEAKER_06 4:54

Yeah, because books were people think books are expensive now. Yeah, you have no idea how many goats you'd have to trade for books back in the day.

SPEAKER_02 5:00

Back

Historical Context

SPEAKER_02 5:01

when a motherfucker had to sit there and handwrite everything.

SPEAKER_06 5:04

Yeah, and then you want to bitch about it took me a month to write this book and you want to bitch about two goats. Come on now. Yeah, like people literally do not understand that that the printing press wasn't developed, like the printing, the typewriter, all of those things weren't and that's a rabbit hole in itself. Yeah, but it was like what the 1500, 1600s or something, something like that, yeah. But like when you 1600s, when you see these old movies and you see all of these people writing down what the guy's preaching, that's literally how it was. Yeah, but it it's not a oh, they're just trying to make up torturous things. No, where no, it is monotonous and it's irritating and it's frustrating. And if you screwed up, you had to start it all over again. There wasn't a dry erase, there you go, there were there wasn't whiteout, there wasn't any of that. Why do they think teachers use that as punishment?

SPEAKER_02 5:49

Yeah, also you gotta think your civilization needs to be at a certain point where you can have a motherfucker that does nothing but sit around, write shit and read books.

SPEAKER_06 5:59

Like you know, every writer's going, hey, wait a minute, and it's like, no, no, no, no. Think about if you had to like back when like Stephen King and Dean Kuntz and you know uh Patterson when they all started, they all like how I do handwritten notes, I can't stand tablets or anything at this point. I can't stand that, but it's the same for them. They would write everything down, and then everything would get written down, and then they'd put it to the typewriter and refine it. Yeah, you know, I mean, I I know I know the first time Stephen King learned how to use a PC, he was like, Woo-hoo! Because some of his books are thou, you know, like a thousand, you know, 800, a thousand pages.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

Oh yeah, think about fucking well, I was gonna say Homer, but Homer wasn't writing shit down.

SPEAKER_04 6:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:45

Um, it was an oral tradition at that time. But you think about like fucking Shakespeare and how much he wrote in fucking uh Tolkien, how much because that book is big.

SPEAKER_06 6:58

Like Tolkien, his was crazy because he he literally wrote it and and and put into it his whole life because he's got the entire story of everything, even down to the language.

SPEAKER_02 7:11

Yeah, he created his own language for the elves. Um, yeah, he fucking yeah, there's so much shit that he wrote down.

SPEAKER_06 7:20

Dude was a polymath and didn't even know it. So, well, so tantra. Okay, let's let's let's not have a conversation over squirrel, drink. Let's not have one of those moments. Uh let's so so tantra, it literally means weaving together.

SPEAKER_05 7:35

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 7:36

So it's weaving together, right? And then so it makes sense that it's practice with the sutras because the sutras sewing it together. So first you have the practice of bringing it together, and then you have the the practice of finalizing it together. So the tantra itself views the body as divine and it typically reflecting the union of Shiva

Shiva and Shakti

SPEAKER_06 8:01

and Shakti. So Shiva, for those who don't know, Shiva is the supreme lord who creates, protects, and transforms the universe. So it's the masculine principles of life. Because and and and and you, you know, it's fair. And I know there's gonna be somebody's gonna be saying they're going, cancel, because we're saying we're dividing it into masculine and feminine. Here's the reality: there are some things, yin and yang. It's yin and yang. And it's like maybe maybe you're stronger than your partner and he can't do the things you do, then fine, you can be, you know, Shiva, whatever. Don't care.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

You betrayed Shiva.

SPEAKER_06 8:41

That's all I can Shiva female, anyways. Um no, it's masculine. Yeah, sorry, my brain's just stupid right now, anyways. So don't take offense, it's just it's just sexual history, it's all good. So, anyways, and then you've got Shakti, and that's the universal power that um underlies and sustains all existence. So, what they consider the the female principles because guess what? You don't get here unless a woman gives birth to you. Although you can have test tubes, but you still need to get an ovum from somewhere. Just saying. So, so it's it's just how they played it out. So, tantra um in the Indian tradition also means to to the text, the theory, the system, the method, the um installment, the the techniques, or the provocative. You were the things that you do to loom and wrap and weave together all aspects of your life. So it which is really interesting because it doesn't, even though it's like talks about um Shita and Shitgi, or Shitki, Shitki. Wow, my speech is not so good today. Anyways, so even though it talks about it and it references a male and female, it it doesn't say you can't practice it by yourself. Yeah, yeah, and that's the thing people need to understand is is is it's literally looking at the yin and the yang of things. Yeah, you know, of how how are you going to protect this and how are you gonna nurture this?

SPEAKER_02 10:13

Yeah, and in fact, I would expect that it would have it. There's probably a whole bunch of different subgroups. I know there's at least two main subgroups. There's like the right hand and left hand uh paths to uh Tantra, and one of them is considered to be more dangerous than the other one for the practitioner. Um, but um there's probably a bunch of subgroups that have their own little because guruism is a thing, and so cultism is gonna be a thing. Um but I'm sure that there's probably some of the groups that teach how to basically do this practice by yourself specifically first

Loom and Wrap Your Life Together

SPEAKER_02 11:01

and then to do it with a partner, because chances are if they don't do it that way, chances are the wrong people will be doing it for the wrong reason to start with.

SPEAKER_06 11:11

You have to be disciplined in everything you do if you're gonna share it with a partner. So obviously, so there is actually a special one that it and it what they what is considered um so it's called um Siatantra.

SPEAKER_05 11:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 11:30

S-Y-A-T-A-N-T-R-A, unless I can't read my writing because half my research ends up getting done when I can't sleep. Um, anyways, um, there are a lot of people who are like that, and this actually applies to you because it is one who is self-dependent, one who who is his own master, and the principal for whom is himself, which is not saying, Oh, he's an he's an upper narcissist. That's not what it's saying. What it's saying is you're your primary nurturer, you're your primary protector, you're your primary person to get your principles and your life in order first. You understand in order to be an effective teacher, you need to master your own self. So it's it's kind of interesting because I I was reading through a few different things because yes, there's tons of it there. And it was a rabbit hole, and I was like, uh no, stop. It's now 4 30 in the morning and you have to work in six hours or whatever that day. I think I had like had been at like 10 30. Anyways, so yes, it is a rabbit hole, but I did find it very cool because you can't really have one without the other. So it's it's literally like it kind of should be like the Tatra Kama Sutra. So first you kind of learn how to bring it together and then you kind of learn how to keep it together and share it. My question is, did the if you ask chicken or egg, I'm gonna kick you.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

It's the egg. The answer is the egg. Um, the did the uh Kama Sutra come about first or did Tantra come about first? Uh you know, honestly they're in a fairly similar time.

SPEAKER_06 13:11

They're very they're they're they're together, they're literally together all about the same time. Um, because like with the Tantra, you know, rather than it being one coherent system, the Tantra is an accumulation of uh practices and ideas from different sources. Okay, so you know you've got different sutras, so you've got so it's pulling it, it it literally is weaving together the things that wholeheartedly fit for you and then cementing it with your sutras. Okay, so it's it's really interesting. So I didn't do this really a lot of it, because like I said, there's so much information. I just thought I'd grab the ones that you would find most interesting.

SPEAKER_04 13:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 13:52

So you've got um the Dakshina Tantra, and it is it is what they practice when you do this because

It's Not All ABout The Sex

SPEAKER_06 14:01

it's uh the donation or the gift to one's teacher. Yep, you saw that smile, so you know exactly what that means. Right. So then you've got the Gana Chakra, and it's uh it's a ritual feast in which a sacramental meal is offered. So a lot of people, so see, this is where I'm gonna pause for just a second. So all you dirty ass motherfuckers who thought the tantra was just about tantric sex, it's not. It's about practicing making yourself a whole, it's about being prepared so that when you find your sutra, you know, when you get to your sutra, you sew your lives together. It's not all about the sex, although it does make reference to anyways. Um, so you've got the mandalas, and that is how it's pronounced according to the pronunciation guide.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

No, they're not mandalas, it's mandala.

SPEAKER_06 14:58

It's mandala, okay.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

Or just like mandala.

SPEAKER_06 15:01

It's not mandala, yeah. It's not mandala either. It's mand M-A-N-D-A-L-A-S. Mandala.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

Yeah, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_06 15:10

Um, it's a symbolic diagram of forces at work in the universe. So it's really cool when I was reading a little bit about it, and it was talking about how you do this, and it's how you literally it's it's how you okay, you're organizing everything, and this is how you see your world working, and you're organizing it to perfect it. So that I thought that was really neat.

SPEAKER_02 15:33

And it's a visual means to focus.

SPEAKER_06 15:36

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

So it kind of helps you meditate because it kind of it narrows if you're looking at this thing, it narrows your focus in on okay, this is what I'm seeking. Yeah, instead of fucking uh your mind wandering so much. Yeah, it it's kind of also like the um what are they called? Uh the basically it's a phrase that you say over and over again.

SPEAKER_06 16:03

Oh yeah, don't ask me to say it because I only can say it when Tina Turner says it. Excuse me, Angela Bassett says it.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

Fuck, I can't remember the term. But anyway, basic uh a mantra. Yeah, the mantras. So that is meant for the same thing. Yep. I mean, even in Christian traditions, you more or less are doing that when you're saying the Lord's Prayer or whatever other parts of basically the same thing as a mantra. Um and then they have mudras, which are basically hand positions that are supposed to maybe they're additional body part to you, but I know them as hand positions that are supposed to also help you keep your focus.

SPEAKER_06 16:42

Yeah, and and the tantra itself, too, also is is is part of yoga practices, too. And that's to just help center your body, center your divine. Yeah, and so it's just it's really neat that well, first of all, everybody thinks everybody thought, oh my god, the Kama Sutra, that's the sex bug. Oh my god, tantric, sex. It's it's it's one part. How do we as humans get ourselves to be behave better? Rewards. What's our greatest reward we can give ourselves, or somebody else can give us, or we can give others? The little death. Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

Happy little accident for the French listeners out there.

SPEAKER_06 17:23

Um, and then of course, you've got the mudras, the hand gestures, uh, and the and so the and it is the hand gestures, and that is again to help focus yourself.

SPEAKER_02 17:34

And then you've got the the poo ja, and it's so just a worship ritual, and it can be you can worship anything, yeah, they can take many different forms, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 17:47

Yeah, so so despite what everybody thinks, it is not primarily sex, it is the rituals of music or dance, um, ritual purifications, singing, ritual sacrifices, and ritual visualizations. It's not all about the sex, but the the sex is better. But the whole idea is once you understand more about yourself, once you focus, all that becomes a greater reward. Yeah. Which is really interesting because like the thing about the mandalas is first of all, you have to focus in on it. So you're putting your energy on it, and it wants you to have complete balance in your life. So that's why when you're looking at these mandalas, it's not like it's it's like, no, you're supposed to do these patterns, and it's supposed to be like I I don't think I could make one because I'd have to count it because I don't like uneven numbers. I don't, I hate them, uh, which is really it's it's my OCD. When I rinse a glass out, it's not just rinse and done. I have to do it a certain amount of times.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

I mean, I'm not as bad as somebody who has to one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three.

SPEAKER_06 19:01

Well, yeah, their their thing was three sets or nine sets of three. I, you know, that's excessive to me.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

And that's why it's called OCD.

SPEAKER_06 19:11

Yeah. I mean, but my I always thought my OCD was bad with having to count everything and have even numbers of things. Like, you know, I mean, I'm not gonna lie. I mean, I'm smarter now that I'm older, thank God. Because I remember my mommy, I love you, mommy. Stop listening. Hi, mommy. Hi, mommy. You're not supposed to listen. I remember when I was younger, I couldn't stand the thought of an uneven number of toilet roll papers, toilet rolls in the house. I couldn't stand it. So luckily, we didn't keep them all out where we could see it. But they, my stepdad had one of those stupid holders that only held three rolls in it. I could, I could not stand it. There was many a times I would go to the bathroom with the lights out because I couldn't see it because it was wrong, and I'd want to waste a roll of toilet paper. Which, although back in the day was only like 25

Mudras / Mantras

SPEAKER_06 20:01

cents a roll.

SPEAKER_02 20:01

Actually, I think it was 49 cents for a four-pack. I actually like having things in threes, and it's probably uh holdover from the military.

SPEAKER_03 20:10

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

Um not that we had most things in threes, we usually didn't, but it's from the one is none, two is one thing. And I'm always like, well, three is better. Three means you got one to trade.

SPEAKER_06 20:23

Right. Which is understandable. However, three is actually a very bad number in the military. Way back in World War II, when they were smoking cigarettes in the trenches, you had enough, you could light two cigarettes, and then you had to put it out because it would draw attention with that third one. So I remember my grandfather actually telling me that. And I was just like, Grandpa, are you serious? He goes, Yeah. He goes, he goes, You gotta be, he goes, you gotta be that, and they had to space it out. You know, and it was so funny because my grandpa was telling me that one time in the tunnels on Iwo Jima that he really wanted a cigarette, and he was just like, he was he said that they lit it and there was like four or five guys there, and they were like, ah, fuck it, we're in here. And all of a sudden, an enemy came around the corner. I'm like, okay.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

Well, uh fair I got a little bit of pushback for you on the three is not a good number, and here's why. So our battalions in the army are set up. Each battalion is three infantry company, or each battalion is basically three companies of whatever that job type is, and then there's a fourth company, but that's support people. So three three companies make a battalion, and then three battalions make a brigade, yeah. And that's kind of the basic breakdown of the army in general.

SPEAKER_06 21:43

But I that it that that's that's fine. I'm talking about things in your interpersonal space. Yeah. So you're just you're just being a bit gregarious about it. But you know, I think the things I think the thing for you is that you just have that logic.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

And now they're doing a thing where And it makes sense, but it also kind of annoys me. But logistically, I understand why they're doing it. Basically, they've created a new kind of um a new sort of classification.

SPEAKER_06 22:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

Um, they did it a while back, but they're going deeper into it now. And basically, the um uh squads are gonna be nine-man squads.

SPEAKER_04 22:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:28

And the reason they're doing it is because uh in these particular units, I can't remember what they're called, it's basically like a rapid deployment unit. Uh-huh. Um the squads are gonna be based around vehicles, and these vehicles have nine seats.

SPEAKER_06 22:44

That's interesting.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

And so yeah.

SPEAKER_06 22:46

They ain't rescuing nobody.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

Well, yeah, they're not there isn't really room. I I guess you could like strap a dude on top of the vehicle.

SPEAKER_06 22:56

Uh shut on my lap, let's go.

SPEAKER_02 22:59

Yeah. Um, but

Mandalas / Balance

SPEAKER_02 23:01

these vehicles, there were a bunch of people that there was a bunch of pushback because they're like, these aren't armored vehicles. And it's like, that's not the point. This the point is you don't have to walk for fucking 20 miles. Instead, you get in the vehicle and you drive really fast, and then you get off of the vehicle and you walk the last 20 miles.

SPEAKER_06 23:17

If you're moving fast, they can't they can't get you on a moving target unless they're really good.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 23:22

It's it's it's crazy because everybody's got their their mantra, everybody's got their meditation, everybody's got their mandala. Mine just happens to be I like even numbers. Yeah. I I and I, you know, and I don't have a problem with three. Three's fine because you know, there's for me, in me, in my life, it's my wherever I live usually has a a number of three around it. Myself, a partner, one animal.

SPEAKER_04 23:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 23:50

So that's fine. But my obsession really with getting even numbers is so where I used to live, not where I currently live, where I used to live, if you put it all together, if you add up all the numbers, 11, 12, 13, 14, you get 14. That's an even number. And if there's two people who live in the house, you get seven, which is a lucky number. So, you know, it got really there. Was houses my ex-husband and I were looking at, and I was like, no, the numbers don't add up right. Yeah, it's it's nuts. So where I live now, right? I'm not that crazy.

SPEAKER_02 24:29

Uh-huh. You're making me think of that movie. I think it didn't the movie's called 13 or something like that. It was oh with Jim Carrey. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 24:36

Based on the writer. Yeah. Well, the the numbers have to add up, right? Yeah. And look, this is this is my mantra. It always has to add up. And it doesn't matter whether it's physical money or it's emotional states in life. It's like if A plus B doesn't equal solace, peace, joy. What did you say?

SPEAKER_00 24:59

I said D. I don't even want no D right now.

SPEAKER_06 25:03

I don't want D.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

Any fucking one.

SPEAKER_06 25:05

Anyways, but anyway.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

I wasn't even talking about that.

SPEAKER_06 25:09

But where I live now, I get to see my birthday quite a bit. So that's good with me, numerically speaking.

SPEAKER_02 25:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 25:16

Yeah, because I'm here and it's there. So I get to see it visually a lot. Well, not anymore because they like everything's overgrown. But, anyways, um, so I really liked the thought of trying to do a mandala, but I was just like, I don't have that much patience.

SPEAKER_02 25:33

I mean, you can just buy one off the internet.

SPEAKER_06 25:36

You can, but I looked at a couple, I'm like, no, that's not a perfect circle. No, that's not a perfect circle. And that's the kind of the point of making your mandalas yourself is to focus that energy into it. So you put your time, you put your energy into it, and it's it's a better reward for yourself because you've taken it and you can use the mandala every dot. It can be a negative thing, like I'm shedding this, I'm getting rid of this. You know what I mean? So I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

I can be a positive thing. I am gaining this in my life.

SPEAKER_06 26:07

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 26:08

It's probably actually better.

SPEAKER_06 26:09

It would be better for you, but a lot of people can't think like that. Yeah. You know, like you know, learning uh how to care for yourself more if you're not somebody who's focused on yourself. It it's tantra's very hard. I don't know. He jackass.

One is None, Two is One

SPEAKER_06 26:31

Um, no, I mean it's very difficult. That better.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

Sure.

SPEAKER_06 26:37

It's difficult because it starts with a capital D.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

Okay, continue. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_06 26:45

It's a little D difficult, okay? Because if you if you have been raised or coached or told that you are less than, and and you believe that, and then you start kind of fighting back for yourself, and you're you're trying to get into that headspace of hold on, I have to make sure home base, which is yourself, is good before anybody comes to visit. It's it's a lot of work because you you will time and time and time and time again, you will stop your progress to let somebody else progress forward.

SPEAKER_04 27:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 27:22

Because you're always like, well, mine can wait because they really need this because they're lashing out like this or whatever. And me, like I meditate every fucking day. Every night when I go to bed, I meditate. I don't care. I just had this conversation with somebody the other day at work. They were they'd found, what the hell did they find? They found something, and it was a piece of decor, but they could hold it on the hand. They're like, this is gonna be my new focal point for my meditation. I'm like, oh, that's awesome. They were like, yeah. And and she's like, I don't really care that it's kind of I don't really care that it's kind of soft here. I don't, it was, it was a covered item. Whatever it was, it was like covered with fabric. Okay, it was a handmade piece of decor. Okay, anyways, and it was covered with fabric. And I was just like, oh, but that's cool. I was like, who says that you have to have? And she brought up uh mandalas.

SPEAKER_04 28:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 28:16

And I'm just like, well, you can make your own, but I was just like, it doesn't matter what you meditate with. And she goes, What do you mean? I was like, look, I am redacted years old. I was just like, every night I go to bed, I was like, I meditate because I struggle with sleep paralysis demons. It's a real thing. And I said, I have real trouble with sleep paralysis, and it doesn't take a lot to set it off. I was like, so when I go to bed, I greet my dog. She goes, Oh, so you have a dog? I said, No, no, it's a stuffed animal. I was like, it's a stuffed animal, it's about this big, you know, it's about as big as both my hands together.

SPEAKER_03 28:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 28:48

And and it's so, and it's weird to be sharing this because it's something that works for me. Try it yourself. You might like it. And then I go forehead of my stuffed animal to my forehead. I think of my animal as my big giant protector, and I blow him up as big as the world. And then I imagine him, just like when you see a dog going to sit down, sometimes they spin in the circle. So I imagine him shrinking and shrinking and shrinking until he covers the entire property. And I am in the crook of his chest by his arm. Okay, and he covers after he's laid down in my mind. Yeah. And but he covers the entire property. So there's nowhere they can get into me at.

SPEAKER_05 29:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 29:32

And it works. I I type it works 95% of the time.

SPEAKER_05 29:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 29:36

And when it doesn't work, it's horrible because when I'm calling for, I've I've learned it's it's the weirdest thing. So when you have this happen enough, you learn how to make things happen, especially if you're having a very painful one. If you're having a very painful, and it can be I've shown you bruises, I've shown my partner bruises. When it's extremely painful, you have to make it stop. And there's nothing worse than feeling like you're laying there being tortured over and over and over. Because it's not like somebody's just pinching your arm. It's not like your elbow gets a cramp or you get a muscle cramp. It literally feels like somebody is taking their knuckle. And you remember when we were kids and people would give you, would people give you noogies? Do you know what I mean? Where they would just grind their knuckle over and over into your skin. I have woken up with, and it's not me, because if because I sleep with my hands above my head, and I've woken up and I've had some very but the other day I learned that I'm just better off meditating because I remember calling for help and my partner called back, no, and I swear he said I should have you should have come back to bed. But I can hear myself audibly do it. It's not, you know, like a lot of times when you're in a dream state, you're kind of you're hearing yourself, but it's kind of like in a third-person perspective. Okay. When I'm yelling, I can actually hear it. I can hear the difference between being in a dream and when I'm audibly doing it.

SPEAKER_05 31:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 31:08

So, yeah, anyways, I love meditation. Yeah, it doesn't save me from heartache, it doesn't save me from stress, but it does help me at the end of the day kind of refocus, recenter.

SPEAKER_02 31:23

Yeah, I mean it's one of those things that can help alleviate things and speed up the process of dealing with stuff. Um, and make you more resilient to further experiences, let's say.

SPEAKER_06 31:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:40

Um and like anything that you want to use that helps you, um, whether it be mandala, mudra, tantra, fucking whatever, um is useful. It's just whatever works for you, um, provided you're not harming anybody or whatever. Right. I'm gonna be dexter, and um my mudra is the blood splatters of your fucking cuts that I put on your chest or whatever. Um that's not so great.

SPEAKER_06 32:14

Yeah, you know what scares me is so my partner's gone from going, sometimes I worry about you. And I get it because you know, I I get it, and because I do watch a lot of serial killer stuff. Um, but now like he's defending himself. He's like, I'm not a psychopath. Wait, this literally happened in very recent, like in the last three days. God, Jen, I'm not a psychopath. Wait, hold on. I'm not a sociopath. I'm like, you need to pray, you need to pray on that. The fact that he's been thinking about what he labeled psychopath or sociopath, he would be labeled a sociopath, but so he's always got to defend against it.

SPEAKER_05 32:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 33:00

I'm like, he's just like uh uh uh he's like, I'm a psychopath. I would be a psychopath, no, you're not. What do you mean? I was like, you'd be a sociopath. He goes, why? Because you know it's wrong and you just don't care.

SPEAKER_04 33:10

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 33:11

And that's and that's the thing. And he's like, but what if I didn't feel like it was wrong? No, see, that's the thing. You know, in every legal sense of the word, in every moral compass, in every moral code, uh, it's not okay. Yeah, and you just don't care because you want to do it anyways.

SPEAKER_05 33:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 33:29

Well, I'm not a sociopath. Okay. That's what he would be labeled if he got labeled. But, anyways, so I've told him I think he should meditate more. I think it would be helpful for him. Yeah. Not sit there and click the video game and being like, I know you're I I it just happened.

SPEAKER_02 33:47

I wonder if there's a video game.

SPEAKER_06 33:48

I know you're gonna what's what's the word I'm looking for? I know you're gonna freeze up on me again. You better not do it, or it'll make me so mad. Praying that kind of a chant doesn't work. You know what I say in my video game when it's been difficult? All right, so today we're gonna get along and we're gonna be friends, and this is gonna be great. And I'll just go, I need to, oh, oh, you're acting funny. Oh, I need to slow down a little bit, honey. You ain't ready for it. I mean, you know, yeah, I mean, the chant I do before I go to work is dear Jesus, please don't let me kill any motherfuckers today. I actually told somebody on Saturday, one of the gals on my production side of things, she goes, she goes, You look a little stressed today. And I said, Well, you know, I don't have the bail money, so I kind of have to make it work. And she looked right at the problem child, and she was just like, Oh, I know, I feel that way. I was like, Oh, I wasn't even talking about that. She goes, Oh, yeah, we never had this conversation.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

What are we talking about again?

SPEAKER_06 34:46

What was it? No, uh, so the Tantra. Anyways, squirrel, that's what we do. I I thought Tantra was really cool because even though a lot of people do incorporate it into the sex, it's not about, oh, I want to have the best orgasm error ever. It's about completely, when you look at the sexual side of it, it is about completely finding what really brings your mind and your body and your soul joy. And once you know how to be joyful within yourself, you can share that joy. Now, having said that, I don't agree, they don't do it anymore. But the gifts to the master principle, shh, it's not those kind of gifts no more. And and it did scare me that that they still do some some places still do uh the animal sacrifices,

Meditation

SPEAKER_06 35:30

but they don't just give it up for not. But like if it's supposed to be a lamb sacrifice, like basically they'll do a lamb feast and they'll do you know.

SPEAKER_02 35:40

I think that was pretty common back when animal sacrifices were common. They would fucking, okay, I sacrifice this animal and then they'd eat it.

SPEAKER_06 35:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

I mean, I'm sure some of them would just burn the animal or bury the animal or whatever.

SPEAKER_06 35:53

Well, the the whole thing for a lot of the animal sacrifices is they would look for the weakest, like they would look for the runt and they would look for the weakest for anything that you wouldn't eat. Now it's more of a practice that when you're doing an animal sacrifice, it is done in a feast. So, which is really cool because back in the day, yeah, they're loud. Um, but back in the day, they would just look for the weaklings.

SPEAKER_05 36:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 36:15

And that would usually be done, you know. A lot of people go, oh, an altar. You know what? Your bathroom sink can be an altar if you're hanging on for dear life and you're looking at yourself in the mirror going, dear Jesus, don't let me kill nobody today. That can be your altar, it doesn't matter. But yeah, it would be displayed for everybody to see. We're sacrificing, we're sacrificing.

SPEAKER_02 36:37

We're sacrificing.

SPEAKER_06 36:39

We're sacrificing, we're sacrificing. But I thought it was really cool when they were talking about like some of the feasts. I'm like, oh, this is the origination of the potluck. That's cool. No, I'm serious because when it when it would talk a little bit about it, it talks about everybody bringing and sharing and enjoying. And I'm like, oh, that's just big ass potluck. That's cool. Like, I don't like look, I'll do family potlucks. If you and I want to do potluck cool whatever, um, I won't, I won't eat in a work potluck again. No.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 37:11

I will not. Not after not after the last one and seeing walking into the break room and seeing how people were grabbing food. Nope. Nope. Because there are two people who never wash their hands.

unknown 37:25

Never.

SPEAKER_06 37:26

And I am so sorry to say that, but no. Anyways, uh yeah, because it was funny, you'd said tantra or tantric, and I don't remember which one. So I thought it was Tantra, so I looked it up and I was just like, oh, this is perfect. We just finished doing the Kama Sutra and the Tantra and the Sutra to go together. And if we had done it the right way, had I known, we would have talked to Tantra first and talked about being your own divine being, your body is your divine temple, and you need to master yourself, make sure you're whole before you can share others and explore with others. So it's kind of it's it's kind of, I don't know, it's it's interesting in the fact that you're not hearing that around the Kama Sutra, but it but when you're reading about the Tantra or Tantra, however you want to say it, when you're you're I'm having a tantra right now, um I do find it interesting that it references the sutra would work hand in hand with the tantra. And I'm like, oh, but not just the there's other kind of sutras, you know, it's all about completing that gap.

SPEAKER_02 38:30

Yeah, because yeah, sutra is a term that's independent of the Kama Sutra.

SPEAKER_06 38:36

Yes, and a lot of people don't realize that.

SPEAKER_02 38:39

Um also like I think it's very it was kind of a very common thing within Buddhism specifically, that because like namaste is basically like saying hello, but it's something deeper than that. It's like saying, I see the uh divine in you, and please recognize the divine in me, or something along those lines. Yep. And so like your body this is also common in uh Christianity, but they don't talk about it super often. And that is the fact that your body is a temple, right? Yeah, and that's kind of the same uh sentiment in Buddhism, yeah. Uh is that your body is sacred and you should treat it as such.

SPEAKER_05 39:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:30

Um and the disconnect between the two, however, is in how you move through the world with it.

SPEAKER_03 39:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:39

In Christianity, typically it's seen as okay, sin is a thing of the body, largely.

SPEAKER_06 39:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:47

And so in Buddhism, they don't really have that.

SPEAKER_06 39:50

Christianity really teaches the absolute opposite.

SPEAKER_02 39:53

Yeah, it's like your body's a temple, but don't play with it.

SPEAKER_06 39:58

Don't, don't, don't sweep your floors, yeah, don't take down the cobwebs, don't shine it up, don't get it wet, don't play with it after midnight.

SPEAKER_02 40:08

Yeah, whereas in Buddhism specifically, they're like, experience life.

SPEAKER_06 40:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:15

And you start Christianity, they're like, deny most of life. Be very careful.

SPEAKER_06 40:21

Give us your tie tithe and and and and be on with your quiet self. And it is, it is completely interesting to see those two different dynamics in order because Christianity is all about the no no no no no no no.

SPEAKER_05 40:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 40:38

And Buddhism and Hinduism is all about the yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 40:43

Although I don't, I kind of doubt that Jesus would have seen it that way, right? Yeah, I don't think that was his intention. That's kind of more. I mean, some of that is because they have still baggage from Judaism. Um, so there's some of that background, whereas Buddhism doesn't have that baggage.

SPEAKER_06 41:07

Yeah. Um well, you know, and they probably got a good gander at what happened with Jesus Christ and went, whoa, that guy still died and didn't enjoy licking nothing. Yeah. You know, and I'm not, and I'm not saying that as a pun. I it's not it's not a matter of being a non-believer, and it's not, I'm not, I'm I'm not a non-believer, I'm not an atheist, I believe in a universal whole. So for for me, this the whole topic of conversations uh hits a little bit better because where Christianity is about literally, here's your rules, you must follow them. Don't do this, don't literally, it's the no, no, no, no, no, no, no, constantly over and over, and not in a good way, not in a self-empowering way. It's you're doing my bidding. Oh, you, oh, you would like another glass of water? No. You're still hungry after one piece of bread? No. Everything is about in Christianity, you must do what's in their control. In Buddhism, there, and and Hinduism, in the Tantras, in the sutras, they're trying to teach you if you want a better universe, you need to play your part. How can you play your part in having a better universe? Well, first you need to see what aligns with you, you need to see what makes you feel good about the person you are and bringing joy to yourself and joy to others because you have to have a harmonious body, mind, and spirit to share joy, enlightenment, and love. You have to have them, they all go together.

SPEAKER_04 42:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 42:38

And a lot of people are just like, oh no, they just want to get freaky deeky and have these orgies. Orgies are just so you just FYI, orgies in in this following have not been religiously practiced since like 691. Like after 691, like, because you know, you've got your whole pregnancy things, you've got your people wanting to save virginity for somebody special. So they kind of took that out, but there's a lot of you know, finger and mouth play. I mean, that's fine, it's all good. Take care of yourself, anyways. Yeah, I don't know. I I like I well, that's the thing is orgies were not all about like penetrats with sexual units, it was a lot of fingers and let me down and hands. I saw the pictures, I saw the pictures.

SPEAKER_02 43:27

I never got that deep into it. I didn't assume that there were orgies in Tantra.

SPEAKER_06 43:33

Yep, there were there were there were group once everybody reached a certain level of enlightenment, you would get together with the master, and orgies could transpire if the joy brought you to that. I I and so that's why it's the tantric sex yoga that's all part of that's all tied together.

SPEAKER_02 43:51

Well, this is one of the issues I have with guruism, and that is that it very easily leads itself kind of like cult, certain yeah, very easily leads itself to a cult. Um kind of like certain forms of government very easily lead themselves to dictatorships. Um it's basically only a step or two away from becoming a cult if you have a guru. Yeah. Not not to say that all of them end up that way, because a lot of them realize this and work very hard to prevent that from happening.

SPEAKER_06 44:27

They're very much being like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm leading. Like, listen, when I the next time I see anybody being a little cultist and they're trying to get me to say yes to something I don't want to say yes to, I'm gonna tell you right now, I'm gonna look them dead in their fucking eye, and I'm gonna say, you are not Jim Jones, and I'm not drinking your fucking Kool-Aid.

SPEAKER_02 44:46

Yeah. Or I'm not somebody who should be being worshipped. I'm just a dude. I got some ideas. You like those ideas. Do not try to suck my dick.

SPEAKER_06 44:55

Right, exactly. Because you yeah, I mean, I

The Wrap Up

SPEAKER_06 45:01

it's so funny that, you know, we're gonna have to talk a little bit more about the power of no next time because we're running long in the truth today. But the tantras, it was really interesting because I wasn't sure what it was gonna say, what it was gonna read as, what it was gonna say. And then it's really cool to basically have this practice, this principle out there that's like, hey, you need to bring joy to yourself first. You need to understand yourself first. And it doesn't talk about how, you know, a lot of times when you look at different practice and everything, it talks about you must do this to maintain that. No, it talks about you don't know, and you can't find your right path in the universe if you can't find your own joy. And and I think that's really interesting because I way back once upon a time, I used to be a very happy person, positive petunia, just like all and now I'm just like, I just don't give a fuck. So I have to I have to go back to happy, but we'll talk about the power of no uh because it's it's an interesting topic. No, but no, well, you know what? Right now, I'm hoping everybody has a good day. No, bye later.

SPEAKER_02 46:11

Later, bye. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 46:28

Thank you for joining us on our After Dark journey today. Please follow, like, subscribe, and share. Until next time.

SPEAKER_02 46:37

Later.

SPEAKER_06 46:38

Bye.