Carlos Pomeda reveals secrets of tantric philosophy

Tantra doesn’t just refer to sex. Tantra is about making spiritual all things in life, even sexual, explains Carlos Pomeda on the first day of the Secrets of Tantric Philosophy workshop, presented from January 12th to the 16th, 2009 in Yogastudio in Usaquén, Bogotá. This is not just the first of Pomeda’s visit to Colombia but also the first time this subject is explained in Spanish in Colombia. Director of Yogastudio, Ana Muriel, has been trying to bring Carlos Pomeda for a long time and finally succeeded this year.

According to Pomeda, Tantra emerged around the 5th century A.D. Tantric inheritance is organized in 77 aphorisms, known as Śiva sutras, they appear around the 9th century A.D. in Cachemira, India. Śiva sutras are compiled in three chapters, as there are three approaches to understanding our being through yoga.

Tantra means: knowledge-expanding instrument. It is written without words, just with symbols. Most of its texts have not been translated yet. Initially, tantric people isolated themselves from community life. After that, by the 8th century A.D., Tantrics were no longer ascetics but family people, and space is opened for more feminine expressions and values. Then, Tantra turns toward the material, the sensual, to food.

Carlos explains how traditional yoga schools emphasize the search for the essential by renouncing the external. This is problematic when none of us is thinking of moving into a cave. Renouncing the external is difficult to harmonize with life as we know it. Tantra changes that conception and that’s why it is accessible for western people. It is not about renouncing but rather evaluating how we live, if it is a full life or not. Tantra seeks bhukti (enjoyment) and mukti (liberation). Therefore it says: don’t deprive yourself, enjoy whatever you’re doing such that it frees you. In this it´s clear that the problem is not in desire but in attachment. It is attachment that moves us out of our center. Tantra therefore provides techniques for remaining centered despite external things. It doesn´t deprive us of desire but rather allows us to enjoy it.

Carlos Pomeda born in Spain, has been studying, practicing and teaching yogic traditions for 35 years. He was a monk in the Saravasti’s order almost for 18 years, 9 of which he spent in India in the Sidha Yoga Ashram under the guidance of Swami Muktananda and Gurumayi Chidvilasananda. He combines his traditional experience with his academic training: Master Degree in Sanskrit at UC Berkeley and Master Degree in religious studies at UC Santa Barbara.

Nice and with a good sense of humor, Carlos can explain the most complex sutras in ways that are easy, clear and applicable in daily life. It is truly a privilege to be able to attend a tantric philosophy workshop in Spanish, and in the enjoyable way that Carlos explains. Especially if you are a student of Anusara ® Yoga, because it is based on tantric philosophy. Nowadays, Carlos is married to Suesi Pomeda and lives in Austin, Texas, but most of the year he is travelling around the world giving workshops. His schedule is full until 2011. So if you missed Pomeda on January, get ready for intensive course in tantric philosophy and the history of yoga in August 2009 in Yogastudio.

Translated by: Jesús Duque

Translation edited by: Patty Adams and Ana María Nieto