The Mantantra Letters

Philosophy or Pornography?
Two radical thinkers tackle the fundamental problems of passion between men and its relationship to spirituality. In a vibrant, erudite, and candid correspondence that spans the 1990s, these two old friends from Oxford explore how the ancient mysticism of Tantra can work in today’s world to bring about the transformation of sexual ecstasy into Self-realization. The writers are equally passionate about shadowy issues that are largely disowned by the mainstream and the gay community: sexual compulsion, self-condemnation, perversion, addiction, self-destruction, jealousy, and possessiveness. Drawing on their own raw personal experience and intense reflection, they use the philosophy and practice of Tantra to probe these enigmas and discover the highest purposes of their sexuality.

“... a revolutionary book .... a ‘must read’ for anyone, man AND woman, interested in spiritual awakening through the conscious cultivation of sexual ecstasy.”

--Margot Anand, The Art of Sexual Ecstasy

VICTOR BLISS is an American who studied Comparative Religion and Philosophy at Harvard, Oxford, and the Sorbonne, and Psychotherapy at the Jung Institute in Zurich. Since 1965 he has studied and practiced Tantra under several masters in India and the West. Based in California, he has a private practice, teaches seminars and leads workshops in America, Europe, and Asia. Victor Bliss has long been a philosophical critic of the anti-sexual prejudice of the Christian tradition. In view of the recent pedophilia crises in the Catholic Church, Bliss is active in initiating a new kind of critique and dialogue about spirituality and sexuality in the Christian tradition.

See the Victor Bliss website, which includes e-mail address, "An Open Letter to the Pope" and "The New 95 Theses": http://hometown.aol.com/victorblissmail/myhomepage/business.html

NATHAN JAMES was born in London. Educated at Oxford and the University of California, Berkeley, he received his PhD for a dissertation on homoerotic desire in the context of Freudian psychoanalysis. He currently lives in Paris, where he works as an art critic, therapist, and kickboxing coach.

Victor Bliss and Nathan James are creating a resource, The MANTANTRA Project, for men interested in evolving their sexuality to a higher level. For information, see: www.mantantra.com.