Spiritual Awakening: Tantric Techniques for Self-Realization

Spiritual awakening is a greatly misunderstood concept. In modern times, the term is used to describe a host of different experiences or mental states — which only adds to the confusion.

While spiritual awakening may not have an exact definition, looking at it from a tantric viewpoint can help clarify what it really is and what it means for anyone on a spiritual path.

This article will explore the true essence of spiritual awakening and share practical tantric techniques to help guide you on this transformative path.

In this article you will find:

• What Is Spiritual Awakening?
• What Is Enlightenment?
• How to Become Spiritually Awakened through Tantra
• Preparatory Practices for Spiritual Awakening
• Tantric Meditation Techniques for Spiritual Development
• Tantric Yoga Practices for Spiritual Awakening
• Personal Experiences with Spiritual Transformation

What Is Spiritual Awakening?

The terms “spiritual awakening” and “enlightenment” are often used interchangeably. However, at our school, we feel it’s important to make a clear distinction between these two terms.

From the perspective of traditional Tantra, spiritual awakening is the point where a person starts to move from a state of complete spiritual ignorance to one where they start waking up to the true nature of reality.

Almost anything can trigger this awakening initially, and this article will discuss many ways to support the process. But an essential part of a genuine spiritual awakening is that it sparks a desire to truly understand the deeper truths of the reality we live in. It lifts you into a more elevated state where you’re starting to ask questions about what you’re really experiencing and why.

This questioning of reality is actually a profound step in a person’s spiritual journey because in the Vedantic teachings of India, they say that the whole universe is, in fact, not real. Everything we see, hear, feel, touch, think, or experience is nothing but an illusion. Vedantic scriptures call this maya — which means “illusion” or “dream” in Sanskrit.

They go on to say that the only way to wake up from this dream is to realize the absolute truth — that there is something real that is not part of Maya. They refer to that absolute truth as Brahman, Atman, or simply the supreme consciousness.

Although, it is said that Brahman can’t be described in words because any words you use would come from Maya, which makes them meaningless by default. Brahman, or the supreme consciousness, is something that can only be experienced.

Therefore, spiritual awakening is in essence an internal shift where an individual may start to understand, intellectually at first, the concept of the existence of a higher reality. But over time, this shift will become more experiential than intellectual.

Kashmiri Shaivism states that the true understanding of Brahman is when a human being starts to realize that they themselves are Brahman, or the supreme consciousness. It’s a realization that needs to take place beyond the mind. In fact, there is no other way to truly realize (beyond the intellect) the Brahmanic reality.

This type of realization or opening is what most Indian and tantric traditions would consider a spiritual awakening.

Therefore, spiritual awakening is in essence an internal shift where an individual may start to understand, intellectually at first, the concept of the existence of a higher reality. But over time, this shift will become more experiential than intellectual.

What Is Enlightenment?

An important distinction to make is that a spiritual awakening is the first step on the path to enlightenment. It is not enlightenment itself, which could be considered as the final goal or destination.

This is a common misperception in modern day. Some people may have a profound experience of spiritual awakening where they catch a glimpse of the true nature of reality, or Brahman. But this is where they get stuck.

Simply out of ignorance, they think this glimpse of consciousness was actually full enlightenment. When, in reality, they have only just begun their spiritual journey.
A spiritual awakening experience can easily become distorted by the ego, and made to seem like you’ve already achieved high states of consciousness. However, this is a grossly mistaken view.

True enlightenment is the full realization of yourself as Brahman, or consciousness. And this is typically only reached after many years, or lifetimes, of spiritual practice of meditation and authentic yoga.

However, full enlightenment is the fundamental goal of nearly all spiritual traditions and practices throughout the world. It’s a very highly evolved state of consciousness that many would consider the ultimate achievement possible in one lifetime.

How Do You Know If You’ve Had a Spiritual Awakening?

If you’re reading this article, there’s a good chance you’ve already had some kind of spiritual awakening experience.

You’re likely already starting to question certain aspects of your reality, such as the meaning of life, why you’re here, and if there’s something that exists beyond our material world.

In the early stages of spiritual awakening, some people may become depressed or feel hopeless about their lives or the world in general. This is simply because they’re starting to perceive on a basic level the illusion, or Maya, for what it is. Their career, possessions, relationships, or various other aspects of their lives all start to have a sense of “unrealness” to them.

At this point, some people may try to throw themselves more deeply into Maya. They may get a new job, start a new hobby, change their relationships, or try something else to reaffirm to themselves that Maya is actually real.

But this will never work because the answers they seek cannot be found in Maya. And someone who is starting to awaken spiritually will eventually start looking for these answers elsewhere.

Their search often starts with seeking out information. They may search for reading material and spiritual books, perhaps study with one or more teachers, and develop a spiritual practice of yoga, meditation, or other techniques.

Over time, someone who is spiritually awakening will develop a stronger desire or hunger to know the truth of existence. It often becomes a type of obsession, where they’re willing to make larger and larger sacrifices in order to discover the ultimate truth.

Although, in reality, they’re not sacrificing anything because it’s all an illusion anyway. It just feels like a sacrifice to pursue a spiritual path because Maya is what we’ve known for so long. It will naturally keep drawing you back, but as spiritual awakening progresses, the desire for truth will become stronger than the pull of Maya.

At that point, spiritual awakening becomes your destiny and it can’t be avoided.

Over time, someone who is spiritually awakening will develop a stronger desire or hunger to know the truth of existence. It often becomes a type of obsession, where they’re willing to make larger and larger sacrifices in order to discover the ultimate truth.

How True Spiritual Growth Unfolds

Unlike what some modern “self-made gurus” may tell you, real spiritual awakening takes time, and it’s a progressive journey. You can’t simply go to one course or read one book and — just like that — you’re awake.

Spiritual awakening is a process, not a one-time event. Your awakening will deepen over time as you work with a teacher and commit to spiritual practices such as authentic tantric yoga and meditation.

Then, more and more realizations will slowly come as you move beyond your ego and start to see the true nature of reality. Eventually, you may even reach the beginning stages of enlightenment.

In the universe’s current cosmic cycle of spiritual evolution, known as the Kali Yuga, humans are naturally in a very low state of consciousness. Only a handful of people in any given generation right now could be considered fully enlightened.

But, it’s more than possible to raise your state of consciousness into much higher states in your lifetime. And for a very dedicated few, full spiritual enlightenment may be a possibility.

How to Become Spiritually Awakened through Tantra

Every person’s path to spiritual awakening will be unique. However, at one point, it will become essential to study with a teacher who has walked the path before you. Without skilled guidance, you won’t know how to avoid pitfalls and how to progress, as a result of spiritual ignorance.

How can you find something that is not part of your perceived reality or Maya, when Maya is all you’ve known in your lifetime? You need a guide or a teacher who has already experienced the true nature of reality, or the supreme consciousness. Only such an individual can show you where to look.

It also takes a certain humbleness or humility to be able to sincerely work with a teacher. You need to be able to accept their input and direction without your ego getting in the way.

This can be a challenge for most people in our modern age who have learned to place a high value on being independent and “self-made.” But this self-centered, ego-based focus must be overcome if you want to achieve true spiritual growth.

Tantric texts make it very clear that you need the guidance of a guru or teacher to make any progress toward spiritual awakening. Without an experienced teacher, it is very easy to either fall off your spiritual path, or start going in the wrong direction.

The teacher you choose to teach you can come from any tradition, as long as they have genuinely experienced higher states of consciousness. There are many spiritual traditions throughout the world that are able to help with this.

At the Somananda Tantra School, we feel tantric traditions hold the most effective practices possible for accelerating spiritual awakening. Rather than focusing purely on working with your awareness, as most ascetic traditions do, the tantric path utilizes spiritual practice with energy.

It starts with studying and understanding the ancient teachings of Tantra and the esoteric knowledge of the universal fundamental laws, learning to work with your own energetical structure, and then embracing the energy that is all around us. From here, the student learns how to harness this energy by working with it through yoga and other methodologies. Then, as that energy builds up within oneself, it starts pushing the practitioner more strongly toward spiritual transformation.

That energy is like a springboard that catapults you to higher states of consciousness, and eventually, to enlightenment. Compared to other spiritual traditions, Tantra has the most advanced knowledge of the human energy system and how to use it for spiritual development and awakening.

This is why tantric practices can significantly accelerate, and shorten, your awakening process.

At the Somananda Tantra School, we feel tantric traditions hold the most effective practices possible for accelerating spiritual awakening. Rather than focusing purely on working with your awareness, as most ascetic traditions do, the tantric path utilizes spiritual practice with energy.

Preparatory Practices for Spiritual Awakening

Physical, mental, and emotional purification is an essential part of spiritual awakening. In order to have a real shift in consciousness, we need to clear out everything that’s holding us back — whether that’s emotional baggage, physical impurities, or unhealthy mental patterns.

It could be said that the whole point of spiritual evolution is purification of your complete energy system. This is what will allow you to advance spiritually. All your energy bodies need to be vibrating at a higher frequency in order to perceive the similarly higher frequencies of supreme consciousness.

Tantra emphasizes the importance of specific practices to ensure that an individual is fully ready for the deeper stages of spiritual growth.

1. Cleansing Techniques

Cleansing techniques are important for purifying both your physical and energetic bodies. Colon cleansing, for instance, can help detoxify the digestive system by removing accumulated waste and toxins that may be blocking energy flow.

Whereas, energetic cleansing practices, starting from specific yoga asanas, pranayamas, and more advanced techniques, are very effective in preparing your physical and energetic structure for purity levels that support spiritual progress.

Smudging with sage or incense can also clear stagnant or negative energy from your personal aura and your surroundings. Cleansing all aspects of your body and your environment make it easier to focus on spiritual growth and higher consciousness.

2. Fasting

Fasting gives your body a break from digestion so it can naturally flush out toxins and impurities and detoxify. Abstaining from food also redirects energy from physical digestion to deeper mental and spiritual processes.

For beginners, a good place to start is with intermittent fasting, such as restricting eating to an 8-hour window daily. This method is gentle yet effective, and it gradually prepares the body for longer fasts while cultivating self-discipline — a key component of spiritual growth.

3. Meditation

Meditation is a very big part of the tantric teachings. It does help with purification of the emotional and mental bodies, but it’s important to understand that these are only the beginning levels of meditation.

In Tantra, meditation is a very advanced practice, especially tantric meditations such as Laya yoga meditation practices, special music meditations, and the variety of advanced meditation methods from the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, a very advanced and misunderstood ancient text from the tantric tradition which includes 112 advanced tantric meditation techniques.

4. Yoga

The tantric form of yoga is far more advanced than any other style of yoga known today. The Tantra yogic techniques — among which are asanas, mudras, bandhas, pranayamas, and many more — can lead in the beginning to the purification of the body, mind, and spirit, and then take the practitioner to very high levels of spiritual evolution and spiritual transformation.

We teach about these practices and how they affect your body in more detail in our Tantra Yoga Levels.

Tantra Yoga Level 1

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5. Cleaning Up Your Lifestyle

Your day-to-day habits have a profound impact on your overall state of consciousness, and the best place to start uplifting your habits is with your food choices. Make sure you have a clean diet rich in whole, unprocessed foods, while minimizing junk foods, sugar, additives, and harmful chemicals.

Avoiding drugs and alcohol is also crucial, as these substances disrupt energy flow and cloud mental focus. Prioritize getting adequate sleep each night to allow for physical restoration and incorporate regular exercise to strengthen your body and reduce stress.

Additionally, cultivate mindful habits, such as reducing screen time and spending time in nature, to create a daily routine that supports you through the spiritual awakening stages.

Tantric Meditation Techniques for Spiritual Development

Meditation is one of the key components of any authentic spiritual journey, and a vital stepping stone for spiritual growth. However, unlike many modern styles of meditation, authentic tantric meditation is 100% based on energy.

Tantric meditation uses various aspects and forms of energy, such as sounds, colors, mantras, yantras, and visualizations, to achieve deep transformative effects within the human mind and body.

For the true spiritual aspirant, tantric meditation represents the “fast track” in evolution. It is systematic and precise, providing results that can be predicted and replicated.

As we’ve touched on already in this article, the guidance of a skilled teacher is an absolute requirement to learn how to meditate effectively. A book or a short course simply cannot provide enough information to understand the subtleties of proper meditation techniques.

Also, a guru or teacher will be able to suggest practices that would suit you best at any given moment in time. As you progress on your spiritual path, your needs and your state of consciousness will naturally change. An experienced teacher will be able to observe these changes and help tailor your spiritual practice to what you need at that time.

14 August Aug 2024 Blog article

Tantric Meditation: Powerful and Effective

These are a few common tantric meditation techniques.

1. Visualization Practices

Visualization practices in tantric meditation involve creating vivid mental imagery to channel energy, focus the mind, and deepen spiritual awareness. These techniques often include envisioning specific deities, symbols, or energy centers, such as the chakras.

Through repeated practice, visualization helps break through mental distractions and guides practitioners toward greater inner clarity and stillness.

2. Mantras

Mantras are sounds of high energetic resonance, and they serve as powerful vibrational tools to enhance tantric meditation. These sacred sounds are repeatedly chanted or internally recited to invoke divine energies and create resonance with higher states of consciousness.

The repetition of mantras helps quiet mental chatter and fosters deep concentration and focus. Each mantra also carries specific vibrations that align with certain chakras, which helps activate and harmonize subtle energy centers within the body.

3. Yantras

Yantras are sacred geometric patterns used in tantric meditation. During a meditation, practitioners will either gaze at a yantra with their eyes open, or focus on it in their mind’s eye.

Each yantra represents a specific universal principle of energy, and meditating on it helps to activate corresponding energies within the practitioner. And as an individual’s energy aligns more closely with universal energies, it will also naturally start to align with higher consciousness and support spiritual growth.

4. Breath Control (Pranayama)

Pranayama, the practice of breath control, is a vital component of tantric meditation. It offers numerous techniques to channel life force energy (prana) more effectively. Techniques such as Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing) help to balance energies by purifying subtle energy channels (nadis) within the body.

Kapalabhati (skull-shining breath) energizes the body and clears mental blockages, while Bhramari (bee breath) induces a calm and relaxed state. Consciously using breathing practices like these during meditation can enhance focus, calm the mind, and elevate spiritual awareness.

For the true spiritual aspirant, tantric meditation represents the “fast track” in evolution. It is systematic and precise, providing results that can be predicted and replicated.

Tantric Yoga Practices for Spiritual Awakening

Tantric yoga practices are not just for physical health — they encompass a whole and complete system designed to support spiritual development.

The original, authentic form of yoga is considered an incredible curative system that can heal all aspects of your being — physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and even karmic. It’s this level of healing and purification that will allow you to reach higher states of consciousness and deepen your spiritual growth.

Tantric yoga offers tools to transcend ego, dissolve inner blockages, and connect with the divine. However, like any practice for spiritual awakening, tantric yoga should be practiced under the guidance of a skilled teacher who can lead you through the many different branches of yogic study.

Two of the most important branches of tantric yoga are asanas and Kundalini yoga, which we’ll introduce here.

1. Yoga Asanas

Specific asanas, or physical postures, are used in tantric yoga to facilitate the flow of energy within the body. These postures are practiced using concentration and mental control, with the aim of opening and balancing your chakras and energy channels.

Tantric yoga acts as a catalyst for spiritual awakening by helping to transcend physical and mental limitations, remove energetic and karmic blocks, and connect with higher states of consciousness.

To experience tantric yoga firsthand, try these free guided classes in the comfort of your home:

• Guided Tantra Yoga Class Vol. 1
• Guided Tantra Yoga Class Vol. 2.

If you’re interested in learning about tantric yoga in more depth, check out our Tantra Yoga Levels program.

2. Kundalini Yoga

Kundalini Yoga is a very powerful branch of yoga that can catapult a practitioner to the next realm of evolution and spiritual development.

Kundalini, or what’s known as kundalini shakti, is a type of energy that is located in the root chakra of every human being. It lies completely dormant for most of us, but it is the essential means for reuniting us with the supreme consciousness.

However, kundalini is another area that has become misunderstood in modern times. Many people speak of “kundalini rising” or having a “kundalini awakening.” But the vast majority of these experiences have nothing to do with real kundalini shakti.

Even just a 1% activation of true kundalini can feel completely life-altering. It’s an extremely potent energy, which is also why authentic Kundalini Yoga teachings are kept safeguarded by the few experienced yogis and teachers who know them.

In fact, practicing Kundalini Yoga before a practitioner has taken the necessary steps to prepare his or her mind, subtle energetic bodies, and spirit can be quite dangerous. A genuine teacher will caution practitioners of this fact and encourage them not to stretch their practice beyond their capacity.

At our school, we do not teach Kundalini Yoga until the later stages of our Tantra Yoga Levels program, after a student has typically spent two years or more studying and practicing yoga.

The preparatory practices to awaken kundalini energy are the same as all the other practices we’ve covered in this article. Purification of the body and mind, and ongoing meditation and yoga practice will set the stage for your own eventual kundalini awakening.

Tantric Rituals for Spiritual Growth

Tantric rituals are a unique opportunity to accelerate your spiritual progress. Participating in tantric rituals can greatly enhance the results of your meditation, yoga, or any other spiritual practices you engage in.

Although, tantric rituals are not for everyone. Some rituals involve certain erotic elements that not all people will be comfortable with. But these erotic elements are not included simply for the sake of sexual pleasure or eroticism. They are meant to trigger the sexual energy within each participant, which will help ignite and deepen their spiritual practice and awareness.

Using the polarity of divine masculine and feminine energies in the ritual, and even the beauty of nude male and female bodies, can create a very impactful experience. As ritual participants strive to see the divine presence in each other, it naturally leads to seeing the divine within themselves. This can bring incredible transformation for everyone involved. 

If you’re interested in joining a tantric ritual, be diligent in your research and ensure it is facilitated by a credible guide who is backed by an established lineage. You may also want to explore our Tantra Rituals workshop, where you can experience a variety of authentic tantric rituals in person.

How to Integrate Tantra into Daily Life for Ongoing Spiritual Development

As we’ve discussed in this article, spiritual awakening is a process that unfolds gradually over many years or lifetimes. There may be times when it moves faster or slower, but the key to your own self-realization is to consistently keep taking steps forward on the path.

These consistent steps will go much farther than trying to do too much at once, which can be overwhelming and counterproductive.

It’s your daily habits and routines that will bring true spiritual realization over time. These are some excellent places to start making spirituality a part of your daily life.

1. Reading Spiritual Books

Reading spiritual books is an excellent way to keep spirituality and consciousness at the top of your mind. Respected spiritual texts provide timeless wisdom that can address deep existential questions and offer practical tools for personal growth and transformation. Engaging with spiritual literature can also inspire greater presence and help remind you of your spiritual aspirations.

For a curated selection of impactful books, explore our Recommended Reading List to find resources on yoga, spirituality, healing and purification, and many other topics.

Revelations of the Bhagavad Gita

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2. Enhancing Your Sexual Polarity

Understanding the energetic polarity that exists within each of us is a fundamental tantric teaching. In Tantra, it is said that a person born in a man’s body should cultivate the qualities of the divine masculine, such as being centered, decisive, altruistic, and highly moral.

Whereas, a person born in a woman’s body should cultivate divine feminine qualities, which are a blend between receptive qualities like softness and intuition, and emissive qualities like strength, stability, and concentration.

We teach these sexual polarity principles in much more detail in our Vira Training and Ultimate Tantric Woman courses.

However, when two people centered in their respective polarity come together for tantric practice, it’s like nuclear fusion. When combined, their oppositely charged energies will create an intense force that propels each person much farther than they could go on their own.

Cultivating your individual polarity will naturally help deepen your own self-awareness and spiritual development. But it also opens the door to profound awakenings when you work with a tantric partner.

3. Using Relationships as a Means to Spiritual Growth

As you begin to awaken spiritually, you start to develop a strong love for the divine. It often feels like a deep attraction, where you yearn to be close to something you may not even understand yet. But you know it feels amazing and very magnetic.

That’s why, in Tantra, it’s said that the way to the divine is through the love between a man and a woman. It’s through worshipping each other as manifestations of the divine, and loving each other unconditionally, that each person can discover the true love of the supreme consciousness.

If you can cultivate true love in a relationship, a love without ego or possessiveness, then it helps you realize that love is greater than yourself. It’s the love of something higher, and that love attracts you like a magnet to the divine.

A true tantric relationship is based on this understanding. By using practices such as mindful communication, engaging in tantric rituals together, and nurturing physical intimacy with intention, couples can build a deeper, more spiritual bond that aligns with the essence of Tantra.

Our Tantra of Relationships course explores how to create a loving, enduring relationship that supports the spiritual awakening of both partners in more depth.

Cultivating your individual polarity will naturally help deepen your own self-awareness and spiritual development. But it also opens the door to profound awakenings when you work with a tantric partner.

Personal Experiences with Spiritual Transformation

At Somananda Tantra School, we have seen countless examples of our students having truly inspiring and heart-opening spiritual awakening experiences.

Yossef was one such student. He grew up in a spiritual home, and had become well educated in the knowledge, practices, and rituals of diverse spiritual traditions. But after many years of following these practices, they started to no longer resonate with him.

He knew there was something he was missing, and through a series of synchronicities, he decided to take our Tantra Massage Therapist Training course. He soon realized how his former practices had been highly mental and spiritually based, without ever recognizing the supporting role of his physical body and the prana (life force energy) that sustains it.

Yossef experienced a profound awakening during the course, where he felt a much deeper understanding of unconditional, divine love. It was like a type of spiritual rebirth.

Laila is another one of our students who had been on a spiritual journey for many years before she found Tantra. She grew up in a mixed religious home where one parent was Christian and the other Muslim, and from a young age she soon realized that all religions and spiritual traditions were really talking about the same ultimate consciousness. As she grew up, Laila explored different religions and New Age movements, but she only felt more confused by spirituality and her relation to it.

In an effort to understand her own psychology, Laila got a Master’s Degree in neuroscience. However, soon after she started the PhD program, she realized her heart was being called elsewhere. So she quit the program and in 2020 took her first course with Somananda Tantra School. Laila loved how Tantra is a science — she could easily relate to how it lays out exact systems and processes for personal and spiritual development.

After taking our Tantric Remote Energy Healing Training, Laila started her own remote energy healing practice. This has allowed her to build a prosperous career while being able to stay home with her young daughter.

Thanks to the tantric teachings and practices she has learned over the years, Laila said:

“I just have more passion for life overall. I get up and I’m excited to go further in this direction, and I have a more consistent relationship with the divine consciousness. I’m enjoying myself and I’m enjoying my experience of life more than ever before. And I know it’s only going to get better.”

These are just two of the amazing stories of spiritual awakening we have witnessed at our school over the years, and experiences like this are available to everyone, from all walks of life.

The only thing that’s really needed is a sincere desire to realize your true nature. That desire will propel and support you through your individual awakening process.

The Path to Spiritual Evolution

Spiritual awakening is a deeply personal and transformative process that allows individuals to experience higher consciousness and uncover profound truths about their existence.

It is not bound by age, background, or previous experiences — it is accessible to anyone with an open heart and a genuine desire to know the divine. The practices taught through Tantra, such as Tantra Yoga and Tantra of Relationships, serve as powerful tools to ignite this awakening and cultivate a harmonious integration of body, mind, and spirit.

If you feel called to explore this path, consider taking our 2-day weekend workshop Taste of Tantra. It gives a practical overview of the many different branches of Tantra, and which one might be the best next step for you.