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Tantra Was Never About Sex, So Why Does Everyone Think It Is?
Behind the scenes of Neo-Tantra
There was a time I called myself a Tantra teacher. But when men repeatedly emailed me asking for “erotic massages with a happy ending,” I knew exactly what version of Tantra they believed in.
That’s why I no longer use the label “Tantra teacher” because it’s been stripped of meaning. What used to be an initiatic, spiritual journey is now a public show, marketed through workshops with moaning, overly stylized breathwork, and endless social media content that turns Tantra into clickbait.
Neo-Tantra, they call it
To me, it is the West’s latest costume, a glittering reinterpretation of an esoteric path, reduced to sex entertainment. My guru might say, with soft patience, that all expressions, when held with love, are divine. And perhaps he’s right. But I’m not as enlightened. How did we end up here? How come?
Well, there were three men who helped shape this mirage. They were marketing geniuses, each in their own right. But make no mistake, what they cared about most wasn’t the people they led, but themselves.
Their charisma served their ambition. Their so-called teachings were vehicles for self-promotion, not transformation.
