The gathering is based on the ancient tantrik notion of “kaula chakra” – a circle of community. The kaula chakra ceremony creates a safe, boundaried space for experienced tantrikas to expand into blissful connection and tenderness in a way that is playful, non-hierarchical, accessible to householders and held as a sacred commons.
This last point means that we are not doing this to sell techniques, knowledge or experience, nor to generate income, but to create a sacred context for sharing among peers and to weave intimate connections of trust and care to cultivate a community of tantrik practitioners.
Who can attend?
The ceremony entails advanced practices that can trigger profound emotional processes and energetic activation. It is therefore aimed at experienced yogins, dancers and tantrikas who have participated in workshops or bodywork sessions and are willing to engage in embodied spiritual practices aimed at liberating and empowering us to move with truth, spontaneity and love while maintaining a compassionate recognition of our interdependence and mutual responsibility for wellbeing. Singles and couples may attend, and we encourage transparency, informed mutual consent and regular check-ins if one or both parties of a couple participate.
What is the purpose of Kaula Chakra?
The practices are ultimately aimed at enabling us to rest in expansive, non-conceptual states of bliss. To this end, the ceremony is designed to arouse shakti-kundalini in the energy body and encourage us to activate and circulate this energy in paired practices modelled on the various stages of karmamudra (sacred union) practice – gazing, voice, touch, embrace, union. The movement of shakti through the energy body, and the witnessing of this happening in others in the circle can activate samskaras – traces of emotional and mental attachments and traumas.
This can trigger powerful emotions across the mandala of consciousness – desire, aversion, pride, shame, jealousy, dissociation. As a kaula, we aim to hold these strong emotions collectively with compassion and curiosity so that instead of becoming toxic through suppression and avoidance they can be transmuted into medicines.
Nudity, intimacy and hygiene
This practice involves partial nudity and a range of intimacy – from eyegazing via hand contact to full yabyum or supine full-body sensual touch. It is recommended that men initially wear boxers and a kikoi, and women underwear, a kikoi and optionally a bikini top if that feels safer. Depending on levels of comfort, partners may wish to progress to full nudity during an exchange. The degree and pace is initiated by the feminine, the masculine receives to the extent that they are comfortable. Note that the masculine/feminine represents an idealised polarity and is not identical with a person’s gender identity or biological sex. Clear check-ins before and during each exchange are encouraged. We will begin each exchange with a ritual cleansing.
What does the ceremony entail?
The format of the ceremony is continually evolving, but entails most of the following practices.
- Dancing Eros: We will allow spontaneous dance to carry us into a space of embodiment, familiarity and relaxation to prepare us for the exchange of touch. This dance will entail elements of deity yoga – recognising each other as embodiments of the divine.
- Check-in: We begin with a round of introductions, sharing how we are feeling about the gathering.
- Intention, boundaries, consent: We collectively establish a shared intention, express our respective boundaries, and explore ways to invite intimacy and communicate consent.
- Primordial mantras of bliss: To facilitate blissful opening of breath and voice, we will share a foundational practice of sounding desire and pleasure as the primordial mantra of ecstasy which guides awareness and energy along the central channel.
- Yoga of Delight: After a brief demo of transitions between positions of increasing intimate contact, we move into a free-flow exchange of sensual touch among partners matched randomly in couples. To limit the risk of transgression, men are encouraged to remain receptive while women set the pace and degree of intimate exchange. We will rotate in several rounds of approximately 30 minutes each, to ensure that we develop an expansive state of bliss, experience a range of flavours and textures and avoid fixation on a single partner.
- One Body: Spontaneous and free-flowing sharing of touch with a group of participants, where we expand into blissful merging of breath, voice and bodies.
- Shakti Flow: To integrate and digest the experience of connection and allow us to disentangle and re-individuate, we will expand into gentle spontaneous movement inspired in part by tandava – slow, contemplative solo dance.
- Feast and Checkout: To allow ourselves to finally settle and ground, we will share a feast of fruit, berries, nuts and juice. If words arise, this will be a time to express anything that wants to be spoken.
- Integration: The group remains in touch collectively to hold and integrate processes.
What is the cost?
As this is a devotional spiritual practice, there is no fee to participate beyond covering the costs of venue hire where required. However, participants are encouraged to bring offerings to share.
What to bring?
- Yoga mat / sheepskin / camping mattress
- 2-3 Kikois/Sarongs
- Blanket
- 2-3 Pillows
- Unscented coconut oil
- Offerings (eg Candles, smudge, flowers)
- Snacks: fruit, nuts, berries, juice, cacao