Tantric Quest: An Encounter with Absolute Love (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An eye-opening intro to a powerful, much misunderstood tradition."
(

Natural Living

)

"Daniel Odier's story is the stuff of dreams for the spiritual seeker. Until this book, we have had few (if any) modern first-person accounts of a Westerner's initiation into tantrism. Tantric Quest fulfills our longing to understand this mysterious method and does so admirably, describing a path where sensual delight is married with full attention to re-create our birthright of life in the garden of the Goddess."
(

Holly Hammond, Yoga Journal

)

Product Description

The author reveals his passionate experiences with a female Tantric master who taught him the suppressed practices of her ancient order.

In 1968 Daniel Odier left Europe for the Himalayas, searching for a master who could help him go where texts and intellectual searching could no longer take him. He wanted everything: the wisdom and spirituality gained from the life of an ascetic and the beauty, love, and sensuality of a life of passion. He found both in Shivaic Tantrism, the secret spiritual path that seeks to transcend ego and rediscover the divine by embracing the passions. In an isolated Himalayan forest Odier met Devi, a great yogini who would take him on a mystical journey like none he had ever imagined. At times taking him beyond the limits of sexual experience, at times threatening him with destruction, she taught him what it is to truly be alive and to know the divine nature of absolute love.

This is the personal memoir of one of France's most honored writers. 

Tantrism is the only ancient philosophy to survive all historical upheavals, invasions, and influences to reach us intact by uninterrupted transmission from master to disciple, and the only one to retain the image of the Great Goddess as the ultimate source of power. 

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Inner Traditions (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892816201
• ISBN-13: 978-0892816200
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,584 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book about the spiritual love of Tantra, April 11, 1999

By A Customer

I have to say that most books on Tantra have been a disappointment to me. For this reason I have been more interested in Taoism. So it was a pleasure to read a book called "Tantric Quest" by Daniel Odier published by Bantam Books 1997. Which to me was more about what I feel that Tantra should be.

Daniel Odier is a Frenchman who went to India in 1968 to search for enlightenment. While there he became intrigued by stories of secret Tantric masters. He set out to find such a master but didn't find one and in the end gave up. Then by chance he stayed at a remote village to find peace a quiet and discovered a Tantric female master lived on the outskirts of the village. He then managed to persuade her to become her pupil.

The sub-title of this book is; "An Encounter with Absolute Love". And I found it to be a very good book in expressing spiritual love. It reflects the teachings in the Tao-Te-Ching that we cannot find spiritual love and understanding from books, traditions, dogmas or rituals. We have to search for this within ourselves.

I have always been attracted to Tantra because it says we can make sex into a divine and sacred act. Although I found this sexual initiation into Tantra with the Female master interesting. I still feel there is more that can be understood about this. The Female Master did say that as Tantra has no set rituals and dogmas, every Tantra initiation is different. So I personally feel that different lovers working together are able to create their own Tantra. By listening to the voice of the Goddess within themselves, and finding ways of meditating together or using different spiritual exercises during the sexual act.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeper into life, August 18, 2006

By	Toby Earp (Montreal) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It says a lot about the personal qualities of Daniel Odier that he was accepted by a skilful teacher from a true tradition of Tantra, and was also able to pursue the teaching, over years of practice, to its realization.

Mystical sex is certainly a part of this book -- Odier makes no secret of this interest as he begins his quest -- but as his learning continues, he and his search grow beyond it. The story is both fascinating and inspiring. When finally he is given his sexual initiation, he has abandoned the sexual quest, so that what he actually receives is an initiation into absolute love. Paradoxically, it is only at this point that he can truly enter the sexual experience -- and truly enter, as well, every other experience of human life.

Although some may wonder if it all really happened, the story rings true because it continually relates the struggle to overcome the ego. The absolute love of Odier's teacher allows her to place her willing but unsuspecting student, time after time, in exactly the situation which will push his ego to its limits. He must give up grabby goals, self-preservation and mental chatter each time. His ultimate reward is the awareness of this love: the great goal of the mystic, a union with all that exists. There are parallels with Buddhist meditation teachings, and the story also recalls certain words of the Bible, for example that perfect love casts out fear, or that we must lose the world in order to gain the Kingdom.

Through it all, the key is perfect awareness of the present moment, inner and outer. There is certainly sex in the book, including a wonderful (and discreet) description of a Tantric sex act which demystifies the subject for Westerners who have only had the works of non-initiates to read up to now. (Western students of tantra-sex who have attended workshops will recall learning to become more fully present to themselves and their partners.) Daniel Odier's story offers this and far more, not only sex but also the constant partners of sex: life, death and above all love.

I read the original French version, but the English translation is also very clear.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Calming and seems authentic, April 17, 2000

By	amy k stocker (seattle, wa) - See all my reviews

I read this book while commuting on the bus and it was like going into a peaceful bubble amidst the chaos of traffic and noise. It was very refreshing and the translated version has free-flowing verbage that recalls meditation. The best part of the book is the end when the author tells of his reintegration into "normal" society and his problems adjusting leading to eventual overcoming of these problems. This made the ideas in the book less unattainable by people who cannot seem to get enough vacation time from life to travel to Tibet and become enlightened.