Urban Tantra Quotes

“The truth is, men are not from Mars and women are not from Venus. We are all earthlings whose penises and vaginas came from exactly the same type of fetal tissue. This is why, in addition to penises and vaginas, we also have a wide spectrum of intersex genitals, which medical science is only now slowly coming to accept as 'normal.”
― Barbara Carrellas, Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century

“Your mind is either your most powerful ally or your worst enemy. The choice is yours.”
― Barbara Carrellas, Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century

“The person in New York is more likely to want and need a harder touch in order to crack through the armor they have built up to protect their hearts and other soft tender parts.”
― Barbara Carrellas, Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century

“The Buddha said that the human condition is like that of a person shot with an arrow. It is both painful and urgent. But instead of getting immediate help for our affliction, we ask for details about the bow from which the arrow was shot. We ask who made the arrow. We want to know about the appearance and the background of the person who strung the bow. We ask about many things—inconsequential things—while overlooking our immediate problem. We ask about origins and ends, but we leave this moment forgotten. We leave it forgotten even though we live in it. We must first learn how to journey into the now.”
― Barbara Carrellas, Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century

“When we haven’t yet mastered a lesson in love, we either resent the person assigned to teach us the lesson, or feel guilty and/or sad because we can’t fill all the needs of someone we love.”
― Barbara Carrellas, Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century

“Hear rustling leaves in the trees over your head. Listen to water falling into a metal pail. TOUCH Feel the rim of a cup of hot tea on your lips. Pull on a wet bathing suit. Stroke a long haired cat. Jump into a pile of leaves. Leap into a warm pool. Hold a handful of glass marbles. SMELL Recall the fragrance of your mother’s perfume. Smell leaves burning. Smell coffee brewing. Recall the aroma of your school lunch room. Smell a wet dog. Inhale the scent of a rose. TASTE Suck on a lemon.”
― Barbara Carrellas, Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century

“Try to imagine or recall each of the following items: SIGHT Visualize the largest drinking glass in your kitchen cupboard. Recall the interior of the last car you rode in. See your favorite flower in bloom. Visualize the spots on a leopard. Which of your friends wears the brightest-colored clothes? See your favorite actor on a movie screen wearing a very revealing bathing suit. SOUND Hear a dog barking in the distance. Hear a car alarm right outside your door. Recall the voice of your favorite grade-school teacher. Listen to a familiar melody.”
― Barbara Carrellas, Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century

“Consciousness. That was it! The difference between my ordinary urban life and my wooded Tantric retreats was consciousness. If I could be completely conscious and present in each moment, it wouldn’t matter whether I practiced Tantra in Bali or on the Bowery. Not only would location not matter, but neither would strict adherence to “traditional” Tantric practices. Anything I performed with complete consciousness would be completely alive, authentic, and transformative.”
― Barbara Carrellas, Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century