What a practitioner of the Tantric path quickly feels, and sometimes the very first day, is that the benefit or reward—the state of joy, space, and freedom—is not subsequent to the practice of awareness. It is, on the contrary, an integral part of it. All I have to do is be present to any aspect of my inner life or to any event—it does not matter which—and I am right then and there in communication with what the teachings promise: openness, relaxation, ease, joy, love.
