Author Archives: DonBothell

SPIRITUAL MOUNTAINS

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This time last year, two friends and I where getting ready for a trek in the Himalayas. Oct. to Nov. is considered a sweet spot between the monsoon and the snows. The air is clearest, none of the haze common in Spring. The Himalayas are the spiritual center for traditional Eastern teachings. I had the pleasure of washing my spirit in the icy waters both Buddhists and Hindus agree are the origin of Holy Mother Ganges, spitting from 108 brass cow heads in the desert alpine village of Muktuena in Nepal The pure white of the surrounding snows mirroring the clear silence of my peaceful soul.10653653_535975129882485_7140998959927369161_n

Tomorrow I’m leaving for a month in Europe. A personal quest to sites honoring the 11th century Cathars. I’m visiting sites where they were burned in southern France — a homage to the sincerity of their conviction — that man can, with work and steadfastness, climb out of the darkness and into the white light of spiritual completeness — perfection — as our divine birthright. [Posted two years ago]

CATCHING MY BREATH

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SO HIGH, SOMETIMES IT’S HARD TO BREATHE… Sometimes you have to walk very slow and occasionally stop to catch your breath. OH! THE BEAUTY…  Surely, LOVE IS ALL!

GOD IS ALL

October — November 2013

Trekking the Annapurna Circuit, Nepal. A subset of the Himalayas, you feel ‘High’ is really a high, and closer to God.

time… Time… TIME NOW

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Since trekking the Anapurna Circuit in the Himalayas two years ago, a major earthquake has destroyed much of our route and last fall over 60 people were killed in a snow storm crossing a 17,200 ft. pass, the same day we crossed, one year later. It reminds me of the fleeting nature of this incarnation, the mountains, the earth, galaxy, universe. Yet consciousness is here now… eternal now.10653653_535975129882485_7140998959927369161_n

HIGHER time… Time… TIME

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DSCN0091My dear friend and climbing buddy Steve passed away recently and I’m thinking of the adventures we shared. I miss our conversations honoring our dogged persistence. I feel he made it to a summit first, where we, his friends, will join him soon and we’ll celebrate the climb. Time will surely yield to Now.

YOGA AND SENSUALITY

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The closer we are to god, the more pleasurable our experience is. When the body is toned and tuned it vibrates waves of wellbeing. Just as pain is the body’s means of letting us know something is wrong, joyous physicality signals when things are as they should be. When we are balanced and healthy, being is a sensual experience.

The practice of yoga awakens the sensual being that is in each of us. Being able to love one’s self is necessary in order to love others. Loving others is necessary to be able to love one’s self. Each of us can work with what we have—the power to change our self—and every life that touches ours will be affected by our love.

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TANTRA 8

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67942_10151147811016430_1600453385_nSo, while Tantra is associated with sexuality, it is essentially a merging with oneness, using the physical plane as a launch pad. We create our own reality says Tantra, and this reality can be in the here and now–in the body through Tantric orgasm. While it is possible to study Tantra for years, learning technique, meditations, and nuances, of the Tantric lifestyle, the very essence of Tantra assumes you already have all the knowledge to become enlightened immediately. DO IT NOW! Life wasn’t meant to be a struggle.

Simply available as a path to experience full enlightenment, Tantra does’t ask you to believe in anything. In fact, it says let go of all belief systems. Seek out a teacher that can guide you through the essential experience. In the experience itself you will discover your oneness with the universe.

courtesy: givinggallery, 2008

TANTRA 7

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DSC0080-webTantra, the art of spiritualising your sexuality, offers practical tools to transmute fear and attachment into love and universal power. Jealousy, possessiveness, guilt and other negative emotions that drain your life-force energy, drop away.

While most fundamentalist religions—even Eastern, Moslem and Christian philosophies focus on the elimination of sensual pleasures, Tantra welcomes the full expression of body pleasure, recognizing that in the body is hidden the “bodiless,” or the spiritual. The body is only layers of invisible energy in form, and it can all be awakened if we let go of the sexual energy.

The art of Tantra should not be mistaken for material hedonism. Perhaps it could be called “spiritual hedonism,” which says, eat, drink and be merry, but with full awareness.” Remain awake as you enter into sex before the old habits come and take over. Just remain conscious of the energy. Tantra says Yes! to sex, Yes! to love, and Yes! Yes! Yes! to unconditional love.

If you can learn to be conscious of the body and the breath, you can become conscious of the Universe. What Buddha said can be said of Tantra, “The truth of the Universe can only be realized within the framework of the physical body.”

TANTRA 6

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DSC0018-webThe basic difference between unenlightened sex and Tantra, is that Tantra declares “the kingdom of God is within your heart.” In Sanskrit it is called Pinde So Brahamande, “the physical body is the temple of God, and the body is the replica or representation of the entire Cosmos.”

Contemporary society considers neurosis and deviant behavior normal, no more a problem than the common cold. Our present social and cultural structure supports separation and has created division among individuals and nations, manifesting in violence, war and in general a world without beauty and love. Western (and now even Eastern) culture uses sex for manipulation—sexy models being used to sell cars, soap and other products—while the same time suppressing sexual expression. With sex being such a powerful force, we have created the perfect environment for neurosis, and sexual violence.

Tantra says we can celebrate life when the idea of separation, or otherness, disappears from the body and mind, allowing people to meet on all levels of consciousness—physical, vital, mental, intellectual and spiritual. In fact, Tantric partners often consider themselves “soul partners.”

TANTRA 5

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735059_455442857856487_1423115393_nOn the Tantric path, we learn to use sexual energy in an extended way, not denying the physical (though nothing is really physical), but going further…deeper…higher. We dance with the electromagnetic force field of our partner, and that dance leads to cosmic oneness. When energy is matched and balanced correctly through a loving surrender with a partner, the sparks fly. In that moment of sexual embrace and energy exchange, a couple may achieve a cosmic orgasm, with their essential selves exiting the body. Those who claim to read auras can often tell if people are Tantrikas. In Tantra we learn to open ourselves to others, not only on the physical but on all levels. “Yes” becomes more prominent in our vocabulary…