The Ebb and Flow of Ecstasy

by Mark Michaels, Patricia Johnson and illustrations by Kim Scafuro, November 28, 2007

There are many, many techniques for inducing ecstasy, and spiritual traditions around the world have developed and refined these techniques over millennia. They include everything from fasting and self-flagellation to dancing, using psychoactive substances, and, in Tantra (and a few other traditions), sexual activity. The ancient Tantrics understood the universe as a sexual process, the union of Shiva (the masculine principle) and Shakti (the feminine principle). In Tantric cosmology, the universe itself is seen as throbbing with ecstasy, so it is possible to think of every human sexual encounter as a microcosmic reenactment of that macrocosmic process. Thus, human sexual activity is a way of tapping into this universal pulsation. In orgasm, the mind stops, the ego melts, and we can experience a sense of union (or yoga) with all that is. And ecstasy dwells in that momentary cessation of thought, in that experience of merger.

For this reason, ecstasy is the word most closely connected with Tantra in the popular imagination. The abundant references to ecstasy in Western writings about Tantra have become a way of marketing the tradition. This emphasis on ecstasy is both understandable and somewhat unfortunate. Our own teacher, Dr. Jonn Mumford, titled his book on sexual Tantra Ecstasy Through Tantra. Margo Anand has created a virtual industry based on the word with her books The Art of Sexual Ecstasy, The Art of Everyday Ecstasy, and The New Art of Sexual Ecstasy. One of the most popular videos on Tantra is Ancient Secrets of Sexual Ecstasy. Ecstasy sells, and there is no denying that Tantric and Neo-Tantric practices, both sexual and nonsexual, can lead to ecstatic states.

So what is ecstasy? It is a state of rapturous delight, sometimes considered synonymous with bliss. However, unlike bliss, ecstasy often has a sudden, unexpected quality. Ecstasy is both “an overpowering emotion or exaltation” and “a state of sudden, intense feeling” (as Webster’s defines it). Ecstasy often manifests both as an intense and an unexpected experience of elation or a “high,” the likes of which a person has never, in many instances, felt before.

By their very nature, ecstatic feelings are often fleeting. Nonetheless, they may briefly free a person from the emotional confines of mundane life. This is implicit in the original Greek meaning of ecstasy: to be taken outside of one’s self or to be put out of one’s wits. At their best, ecstatic experiences can also produce lasting change—an expansion into new psychic territory through exposure to new sensations, emotions, and states of consciousness. Such experiences can be a blessing, since ecstatic states often afford us the opportunity to recognize something different and new, a potential for experience in life that we had previously been unable to perceive. For example, when a person suffering from depression has an ecstatic experience, that person can sometimes discover a new range of emotional possibilities.

When expansion takes place too rapidly, though, contraction may follow, and it may take a while to regain equilibrium. For this reason, we generally think it best to explore and expand gradually, with the goal of discovering subtleties, rather than to pursue major breakthroughs and ecstatic, transformational experiences.

There are simple ways to experience this process of expansion and contraction directly. Just as human sexual activity involves an intimate interplay between relaxation and arousal, aggression and gentleness, tumescence and detumescence, Tantric practice is all about exploring life’s processes: ebb and flow, sound and silence, solitude and union. The more fully you recognize the nature of these processes and know them in your own body, the easier it is to embrace and accept the conditions of life.

Preparing for ecstasy can begin with the breath. A simple exercise you can do at home will show you how the breath opens you to awareness of your physical self and can stir changes that may help you discover the ecstatic potential of any given moment. For this exercise, you will need to have within reach a watch or clock with a second hand, a notepad or journal to record your experiences (we advocate keeping a “spiritual journal”), and a pen or pencil.