The use of breath is deeply important across many different aspects of the path. When we chant, when we recite mantras, and when we work with the voice, we are actively utilizing the voice, the prana (life force), and the breath.  There is a real science to this: The Mixing of Sound: Cultivating breath that is intimately mixed with vocal vibration. The Mechanics of Life Force: Utilizing distinct ways to inhale, exhale, and hold the breath with precise, conscious intention. Emotional Alchemy: From Release to Integration Sound is directly connected to our emotional landscapes. Through specific practices, we learn to navigate our emotional bodies across three distinct stages: To Free and Express: Allowing blocked energy to move and clear. To Transform: Changing the raw energy of an emotion into a catalyst for awareness. To Integrate As It Is: Meeting the emotion without judgment, allowing it to rest in its natural state. We discover this inner alchemy both alone and together as a group, creating more space within our being. This space gives our true nature the possibility—the absolute potentiality—to reveal itself without any veils. Whatever residual energy remains that prevents the full expansion of your true nature and the full expression of the Shakti (creative energy) will be lifted through these practices. Dancing the Totality of Existence Once the veils begin to dissolve, we learn how to dance life. Every single plane of existence is integrated by the presence and awareness of our true nature: From sexual life, to mundane life, to spiritual life. We explore the main facets of these infinite expressions to gain a direct experience of how it feels to integrate and dance freely with both the masculine and feminine energies. This is the real sense of tantra. Love and presence remain completely unchanged, no matter what type of experience you are moving through. Effortless Presence and the End of Projections When we speak of these twin forces on the path, they are defined by a state of complete ease: Unconditional Love: A love that requires no external conditions to exist. True Presence: An awareness that exists entirely without effort—no concentration or mental forcing required. Even if you are experiencing intense physical or emotional pain, when you are connected to this essence, the sensation may remain, but a profound relief abides underneath it. This is what makes a real difference in your life; it allows you to carry on with less suffering and vastly more freedom. You are here to learn how to be fully yourself, stripped of all veils. You are here to discover the truth of who you are—not the person created by the ideas, projections, and education of society, or the limitations you have placed upon yourself.

In the dark, I try to use the knowledge of the mirror. To help us understand and gain this knowledge, we use specific practices. But what is this mirror all about? Is it outside of us, or is it inside us? The Symbol of the Flame In the same way we use the mirror, we also use the symbol of the flame as a representation of our true nature. We must ask ourselves the same questions: What is this flame? Is it outside? Is it inside? To truly work with these symbols, we must understand the nature of secondary causes —the external conditions, relationships, and challenges that we meet in our daily lives. What are secondary causes? What do they do? And how do we work with them? By learning to recognize how these external reflections (the mirror) and internal realities (the flame) interact with our daily circumstances, we transform every condition into a tool for awakening. We use the symbol not as an abstract concept, but as a direct doorway to the natural state.

In the first level of tantra, we are opening to bliss, love, and presence. While we use different tools from various types of yogas and traditions, they are all oriented in the exact same direction: discovering our true nature, awakening the love within, awakening the bliss, and awakening the presence. Our true nature, we could say, is composed of these three distinct qualities.  To understand how these qualities function together, we can look at them through the lens of energetic alchemy: Presence: This is the masculine aspect—the steady, aware container. Love: This is the feminine aspect—the radiant, flowing essence. Bliss: This is the expression of the alchemy when the tantric union, the yin and yang, takes place. Bliss is not separate from the others. It is simply the color of love and presence when they merge as one. Once this inner union is realized, your practice ceases to be a series of exercises and becomes a living experience of pure essence.

It is not a question of being Christian, being Muslim, being Buddhist, or whatever else. It is a question to be . It is about finding the depth to be within being Christian, being Buddhist, being Muslim, or being Zen or Sufi. The teaching I am bringing forward is about how you can remain in pure being within whatever belief system you hold. The path can be expressed in any situation, in any form of belief, as long as your belief does not put you inside a box. The Expression of the Heart If your practice is an expression of the heart and pure essence in relation to your culture, then there is no problem. The ultimate path is simply your natural state—your true nature. It is already present in everything. You do not need to change your culture or your background. You just have to gain the knowledge of this presence. You have to gain the recognition of it. 

Integrating knowledge of the natural state in all aspects of life. This is the true path of Dzogchen. Why? Because your natural state is the only thing permanent, its aware presence remains in everything beyond life and death, day and night, shadow and light. One of the most difficult aspects of integration, meaning remaining undistracted from your true nature in daily life, is when you're living a Pawo Kandro relationship, or a spiritual love relationship. In this type of relationship you are challenged at all moments of life. Those challenges are a great opportunity for you to see where you stand as a Dzogchen practitioner. Are you able to recognize, to be aware of your primordial condition (natural state), in the most difficult conditions? Like emotional crisis, going down in deep shadows of your being, extreme bliss, joy, all of those experiences. If not then to have the awareness of when you are becoming distracted. At this point we have two main levels that go from concentration to contemplation. The first one is easy, just focus more into whatever you are doing, come back to the present and relax. The second one, apply the methods that suit you best to reestablish the recognition of your natural state. Once the recognition is present all the diverse energies, experiences that have been creating tensions, suffering will dissolve by themselves. They become like a big play where you are feeling every thing that is happening in the moment without being distracted by being stuck into them. Your awake love presence shines without flickering. The display of emotions, sensations, visions are just a reflection of the light of the five elements that form your physical matter.

Sexuality is a means to experience our natural state at a deeper level, a very incarnate level, within the physical body. Why is that? Because when we are having a sexual relationship or cultivating the sexual energy that brings you towards the physical orgasm, at one moment just before the pre-orgasmic expression, or release, there is a point where you are directly experiencing your natural state or, let's say, meeting with God within. In this teaching we are becoming aware of this space or state and developing it. First of all, we are becoming aware and present within this space, and recognizing this space of pre-physical orgasmic energy, this space of alertness, awareness, pure bliss, and we could also say Love. At the highest level, it is very present, and we can really touch it directly, in the sense, experience it directly. When we are having casual sex, we are not aware of this space. So we are developing practices, especially in Vajrayana and higher Tantras, where you are working with the sexual energy and driving this life force within the central channel. You come to some space of a different type of bliss, where you are present in it and you are aware of what is going on. You are able to see the benefit. It's like meeting with God within. The practices are helping you to recognize this space. So when you do are in a Tantric union, in the yab-yum with your partner, and then you are coming to this point, you're trying to preserve that space, in the sense that if you are having a physical orgasm and release, then you lose this space. So the ultimate is not having a physical orgasm, is to be in a pre-orgasmic moment. And then you experience another type of orgasm there. It's like total satisfaction, in the sense that you are fully nourished by your being, because you feel this tremendous bliss, you are totally alert, 100% shining, your heart is opening more and more, if you are able to stay in this space. And that's what we are developing in the teaching. And by developing this, then it helps you to integrate even more in daily life. This moment is one of the hardest things to integrate in life. Because of how easily you fall into the downfall of the pleasure and put in your energy and mind into the sexual organs, and the pleasure that is there, and then you lose everything at the end.

Many people in tantra today, especially in new tantra, are doing different types of practices to generate various experiences, single or as a couple. But most of the time, they don't know why they are doing this. Where is it taking them? Is it just for the sensation, the pleasure, and the connection with each other? But why, at the end? Does it take you to some kind of evolution? And where are you directing the practice towards? Where are you directing this exchange towards? This is very important because otherwise you are still wandering around in the infinite field of manifestation and experiences, and not growing, not growing humanly and spiritually. It's the same if we do non-tantric practices. Any type of practice, you say, "Oh, we are doing that," but where does it take us? What is the objective? So we must be very clear. In tantra, what I teach, it is very clear. We are there for the full development of the human being towards their total liberation. And the view is non-dual. So sometimes we use transformation practices, but not if it’s not required. Most of the time, we use self-liberation. This is the empowerment of love, presence. And we are always developing, clearing the different veils, so we can be like a crystal that has become pure. When the light shines through it, it radiates the light, the pure light, like the rainbow's light. So the tantric way of practice, when we do it in a couple, especially if we are exchanging sexual or other energies, with love and presence, then it's empowering. It is amplifying everything. The inner crystal is getting magnetized even more. So things are going to reflect even more, from the impure vision to the pure visions, in a sense; but the crystal has become so clear that only pure vision manifests. And there's no place to hide anymore. At the most advanced stage, we use these means towards the realization or the manifestation of the rainbow body. So alone, we have practices like being in the dark or working with the light, with the non-dual intention. Then, those practices have methods we can apply as a couple. And because everything is amplified, then everything can come to the final stage more easily. But also, because everything is amplified, everything can become very intense. So we need to grow our capacity for integration. Everything is not just beautiful and nice, the universe is created from duality, Yin and Yang, two aspects. To integrate these two aspects, it's only the non-dual approach that works. Then there's no differentiation between light or dark. Whether we have pain and suffering, or we have joy and love, we integrate both energies. The more we grow on the path, the more we gain knowledge and stabilize in our practice, then we integrate both manifestations more easily and don't get lost in them. Everything is becoming a vehicle of liberation.