Breaking Social Constructs

Before deciding to document my eco-tantric practices on social media (@ecotantric on Instagram), I was worried that it would encourage egotism and vanity, and the promotion of "likes" and "followers" certainly has the capacity to do that.

But Tantra is about breaking down the social constructs that form your identity. Part of this process involves replacing previous identity constructs with new ones, new stories that you use to define your self - so, rather than holding onto an old personal narrative, such as, "I hate my body and I fear rejection", you replace it with something along the lines of, "I am the physical embodiment of divine energy and my body is a means of knowing the divine".

Ultimately, the aim of Tantra is to move beyond all constructs. Rather than re-affirming yourself through spiritually aligned narratives you learn to live those narratives as an ongoing experience. So, instead of recognising your self as the physical embodiment of divine energy at an intellectual and spiritual level, you feel it - always, in everything you do. The constructs become unnecessary.

But before you can discard the constructs altogether, you have to test them, to know that they are more closely aligned with true reality than your previously held constructs. In practice, this means pitting your newly constructed (tantric) self against your former socially constructed self. This is done through a process of "re-socialisation". You place yourself back into your former world, you expose yourself to the scrutiny of society and see how comfortable you feel under its gaze. Does your new vessel - your newly constructed tantric identity - survive the social storm that had previously shaped and defined you?

Entering onto social media and promoting this blogsite has been a large step in that direction. I've been forced to be more active. Previously, whenever I had taken my practice outdoors, I'd kept my clothes on or else gone out in darkness, when I couldn't be observed. But in order to document my practice and to share it online I was forced to venture out (and undress) during the day.

This prompted new revelations. If anything, I felt even more connected to my environment as I studied it with a fresh set of eyes, seeking out places of peace and solitude. I've also found that the images I capture help me to visualise myself as part of the environment - a feature of the landscape, part of the same unbroken spiritual eco-system, rather than an intrusive vandal - and it seems to actually assist my meditation.

The obvious danger with image based communication is of course objectification. The danger that images are judged by how they look and how they compare to other similar images, rather than the message they convey or the purpose they serve. Hopefully though, by encouraging people to engage with eco-tantra on a visual level, some might also be encouraged to engage at a spiritual and experiential level too. Indeed, Tantra has always been communicated visually, in the form of statues, frescoes and even yantras.

Going forward I hope to extend my practice (although this would require more time!), to become increasingly aware of myself - my naked, vulnerable, connected, tantric self - immersed within my environment. To develop a deeper sense of harmony with the natural world and to share this with others of a similar disposition - so that together we can learn that we are all connected, all the same simply playing at being different, and that we can use this knowledge to build a more sustainable future.