Guest interview for Orchid Tantric Massage – Raj
How long have you been a member at ETM?
“It must be coming up to about four years now!”
And what was your first impression of Tantric Massage all those years ago? :)
“I kind of found it by accident… but it totally blew me away. The sensuality of it was just something I hadn’t experienced in a very long time, and it was just amazing. And this is why I’ve been coming back almost every week since!”
How do your experiences with Tantric massage at Orchid Tantric Temple compare with other massage experiences?
“This is a lot more intimate and profound. Other massages, like deep tissue sensual massage for example, will just be purely physical. Whereas here you feel it goes deeper and into the subtle bodies. There is more emotion involved. I feel like even though I’m being massaged, that I’m participating in the massage. Whereas other types of massage work on the muscles, here at the temple the massage works on even the subtle tensions that you have, unblocking emotions and awakening certain states. It just goes a lot deeper.”
Are there benefits in your personal life since regularly receiving massages at the temple?
“Yeah, I think there is a greater harmony between myself and women in general. I seem to connect better with them and get along much more easily. I feel this greater sense of harmony has been noticed – though perhaps subconsciously – also by the women I interact with regularly, such as the women at work. I think it’s also because I feel more comfortable now in my own body and in my own sexuality than I was before coming here.”
People often have the idea that Erotic Tantric Massage is just for frustrated, single guys. What is your opinion about that, and what sort of people do you think would benefit from experiencing a tantric massage at Orchid Tantric?
“I think frustrated single guys would definitely benefit! But in the way that it would harmonize their energies rather than be an outlet for them. But then this effect of harmonization can help anyone, male or female, whether they are in a relationship or not. You can never have too much harmony in your life! So I think everyone could benefit to be honest.”
What role do you feel Tantric Massage can have in peoples lives, whether they are on a Tantric path or not?
“There’s a saying in Tantra that, ‘the touch is the silent gate to the heart’, and I think that applies to everyone whether they are following the tantric traditions or not. It’s a way of getting more in tune with the senses. You experience more out of life and feel a greater aliveness. So regardless if they have an active interest spiritually, they will feel more alive and more connected to other people – through this sense of touch. I think it’s probably the sense that we use the least. People are too scared in case it could be interpreted as something else, when in fact touch can be a very genuine way to communicate.”
Can you tell us about one of your most overwhelming experiences at ETM?
“The most overwhelming experience I have had, so far, is the raising of my Kundalini in a massage. It was quite early on. I understood what Kundalini was and I could understand what was happening to me but it was the first time it had ever actually happened. Because I was with the masseuse she was able to guide me through it properly and explain how to try and control those energies with my breathing. But that was the first time I ever experienced the awesome power of Kundalini Shakti. And that was here. I don’t think I would have experienced it so much outside of the temple since if I hadn’t been coming here. I feel that throughout all the massages I’ve had there is always a lasting effect and impact. I’m not just dropping back to zero again once I leave. There is a certain incremental change every time that is building up and building up…”
Can you describe a little bit more this experience of Kundalini awakening?
“The physical attributes were that I felt my spine was burning hot, but not painful. When you think of something that burns it sounds painful, but it wasn’t at all. Just extremely hot. And then I felt the energy shaking me all over almost as if in spasms, but again there was no pain. Because my body was reacting I was hyperventilating, and that’s when I was told to try and control the energy by controlling my breathing – in through the nose and out through the mouth – which allowed the energies to calm down. On the subtle level, I found that I was able to stay perfectly in the present moment. It’s like all the thinking stopped afterwards and for the next day or even two days afterwards, I just felt centered and grounded. After a time the energies slowly dissipated but it definitely left a lasting change.”
Can you tell us how the Tantric approach has influenced your life in other areas? Is it a spiritual practice for you?
“Other than the improvement in my relationship with women, I feel much more comfortable in my own skin and I can appreciate my own body more! Most people have this, kind of, aversion to their own body. They’ll look at everybody else’s as a reference of shape or size. But I realized in fact to be grateful that I am the way I am and for the things that make me uniquely me.
It is also a spiritual practice for me… understanding the nature of meditation, and practicing meditation as a way of staying more centered and grounded. But also understanding that tantra is about saying Yes to life and it’s pleasures, though not in an obscene egotistical way. It’s not about going crazy and doing things that may be seen as pleasurable but that are ultimately detrimental. Rather using all the pleasures and the things that make you happy as fuel for the journey.”
