Why Your Chakras Need to Get Freaky — Luminous Tantra examination

Eleven questions. Nine of eleven passes, and you can take it again as often as you like.

What does the chapter say is the likely reason a spiritual practice feels stuck?

The practitioner has not found the right guru The practitioner has read too little theory Meditation sessions have been too short, under most conditions The erotic body has been ignored or sanitised
How does the chapter use Georg Feuerstein's description of tantra?

As a purely contemplative path of renunciation, though this can vary As a modern Western invention of the 1960s As the tradition that dares to include everything As a technique for improving physical intimacy
Which two distorted versions of tantra does the chapter say emerged in the West?

Tantra as abstract philosophy, and tantra as ritual law Tantra as sexual technique, and tantra as spiritual bypassing Tantra as sacred dance, and tantra as a martial discipline, at least in some cases Tantra as organised religion, and tantra as folk medicine
What integral vision does the chapter say was lost in those distortions?

Desire must be fully transcended before liberation is possible Body and spirit, desire and liberation are aspects of one whole reality Body and spirit are opposites that must eventually be reconciled, at least at first Pleasure is a reward that follows a lifetime of spiritual discipline
What does Christopher Wallis's scholarship show about the chakra system?

Chakras were invented by twentieth-century Western psychologists The seven-chakra model is the oldest, most widely taught and only authentic version There was never one authoritative system; lineages counted chakras differently The rainbow colour associations come from the earliest tantric texts
How does the chapter propose chakras be properly understood?

As patterns of experience gathering in regions of the felt sense As abstract symbols with no relation to bodily experience As fixed, literal structures of an objective spiritual anatomy As physical organs that can be clearly seen on a medical scan, at least in some cases
Which theory does the chapter map onto the chakra system from lower body to head?

Jung's theory of archetypes Maslow's hierarchy of needs Stephen Porges' polyvagal theory Freud's structural model of the psyche
What did Wilhelm Reich call the chronic muscular tension that blocks energetic flow?

Body armour Kundalini The pelvic lock Somatic markers
How does the chapter define kundalini?

Sexual energy recognised and directed through the whole body-mind A separate mystical force, entirely unrelated to sexuality or the body A breathing technique used mainly for calming the mind A deity worshipped by practitioners in cremation grounds
What distinguishes tantric practice from ordinary sexual experience, according to the chapter?

The complete absence of any arousal during practice The use of special positions, sacred objects and ritual equipment A requirement for formal spiritual initiation first Not the energy involved, but the awareness brought to it
Using Wilber's framework, why can tantra be genuinely dangerous?

Energetic practices steadily weaken moral reasoning over time Strong states without the structure to hold them can inflate the ego States of consciousness always damage cognitive development Practising alone, without a guru, always leads to spiritual abuse, at least in theory