Chapter 9: From Theory to Daily Life

Tantra is not just a technique practiced in the bedroom. It is a way of being, a philosophy of life that brings joy and awareness into every moment. Joy should be the standard. This means maintaining a relaxed awareness and a celebratory mood in daily activities such as walking, eating, and working. For example, when eating, you must eat correctly at the right time and in the right way. You must discover what suits your body and what is nutritious. This in itself is an application of Tantra: not fasting, nor overeating, but eating with respect and awareness for the body. In work, it is not about mechanically completing tasks, but about being fully focused, letting creativity flow, and enjoying the process.

This is the most direct and challenging application of Tantra. It requires a radical shift in our view of relationships. Society teaches us the "love-marriage" model, but Tantra says this is doomed to failure because it's a poetic phenomenon, an illusion. The end of the honeymoon means the end of the illusory part of your love. The application of Tantra in relationships advocates for a free, present-real connection. Two people want to share their energy, and if they both want to, there will be no barriers. Love should never become an obligation—but simply joy. When it becomes an obligation, it is dead and heavy. This means being honest in relationships, not clinging out of fear of loneliness. When love is real, celebrate together; when love fades, part with gratitude. This requires immense maturity and courage. It destroys possessive love but creates space for truly vibrant, breathing love. In such a relationship, there are no police or priests, only two free souls dancing together.

Work is often seen as drudgery, a means to earn a living. Tantra brings joy to the realm of work. In a better society, there should be various communities: a community of painters, male and female painters—living together and enjoying their gatherings. Similarly, a community of poets, a community of carpenters, a community of goldsmiths, and all sorts of different communities, where people live together like family. This means that work should be combined with your interests and your joy. You should do things that make you feel energetic and creative. In your work, you can apply Tantra's focus: complete immersion in the present moment, becoming one with your materials, your colleagues, and your task. This is not an anxious effort to pursue results, but a flow and expression of energy. When work becomes an expression of joy, it is no longer a burden, but part of life's celebration. Your profession is no longer a label, but a manifestation of your unique energy in this world.

Does an enlightened being dream? Can you tell us something about the quality and nature of an enlightened being's dreams? No, an enlightened being does not dream. If you love to dream, you will never become enlightened. Note! Dreaming is part of sleep. The first prerequisite for dreaming is that you must enter sleep. For ordinary dreaming, you must enter sleep. In sleep, you become unconscious, and when you become unconscious, dreams can occur. They only occur in your unconscious. An enlightened being is conscious even in sleep; he cannot become unconscious. Even if you give him an anesthetic—chloroform or something like that—it can only induce sleep in his surroundings; he remains conscious. His consciousness cannot be disturbed. Krishna says in the Gita: "While everyone else is sleeping, the yogi is awake." This doesn't mean yogis don't sleep at night; they do sleep, but the quality of their sleep is different. Only the body sleeps. Therefore, their sleep is beautiful, a kind of rest. Your sleep is not rest; it may even be an effort. You might feel more exhausted in the morning than at night. How can you feel more exhausted in the morning after a whole night's sleep? You're truly a miracle! The entire night is a period of internal disturbance. Your body isn't resting because your mind is still active, and mental activity necessarily requires physical effort or operation, because without a body, the mind cannot function. Mental activity implies corresponding physical activity. So your body has been moving and active all night, which is why you feel more exhausted in the morning.

What does it mean for a person to attain enlightenment? It means only one thing: that he is now perfectly conscious. He is aware of everything that happens in his mind. When you are conscious, certain things completely cease, simply through awareness. It's like a room that's dark, and then you bring in a candle; the darkness disappears, but nothing else disappears. These bookshelves will remain, and if we sit here, we will still be here. By bringing in the candle, only the darkness disappears. When someone attains enlightenment, he has inner light, and that inner light is awareness. Through that awareness, sleep disappears. Other things don't disappear, but because sleep disappears, the quality of everything changes. Thus, whatever he does, he is in perfect alertness, and those things that require unconsciousness as a prerequisite become impossible. He cannot be angry, not because he decides not to be angry, but because he cannot be angry. Anger can only exist when you are unconscious. Now that unconsciousness doesn't exist, that foundation doesn't exist, therefore anger is impossible. He cannot hate, because hate can only exist when you are unconscious. He becomes love, not because he made any decision on his part. When light exists, when consciousness exists, love flows; it is natural. Dreams become impossible because the first requirement of a dream is the unconscious, and he is not unconscious.