When I began this trip, I had jetted to the Best Western in Santa Cruz, California, to learn the secrets of sexual ecstasy. For a little over four years, I confronted dualities, and they confronted me. Hinduism versus Islam. East versus West. Male energy versus female. True spirituality versus false opportunism. I had to choose the values with which I wanted to live.
Tantrika tells the compelling story of a woman whose world travels and spiritual journey bring her face-to-face with the most fundamental dichotomy of her identity. Born in India and raised in the foothills of West Virginia, Nomani moves away from her Muslim upbringing to pursue the Hindu and Buddhist path of divine love.
What began as a professional assignment for the Wall Street Journal to write about America’s hottest new fad, Tantra, became a very personal odyssey. While Tantra is popularly conceived as an ancient form of yoga or as "sacred sex," the author's Muslim parents warn her it is a cult of black magic. In her search for the full story, Nomani travels from Santa Cruz to the feet of the Dalai Lama in Northern India, from meditation caves in Thailand to the homes of orthodox Muslims in Pakistan. Nomani's journey through the geography of her own spiritual conflict is a journey of self-discovery, of reconciling her Hindu ancestry and Muslim upbringing. She confronts darkness in ways she could never have imagined, but ultimately finds the path of the divine within herself and all women -- all "tantrikas."
It was supposed to be a light, human interest assignment for Wall Street Journal reporter Nomani: Write about the fad of "Tantra sex." Initially, Nomani's memoir about researching the Tantra tradition reads like a hilarious expose. Instead of meeting enlightened swamis, Nomani encountered a slew of smarmies-exploitative male teachers offering private sexual healing lessons and advanced tutorials in finding her G-Spot. Beneath this expos‚ on the Tantra sex racket in California and India, Nomani tells the deeper story of confronting her own ethnic and spiritual roots. The Indian-born Muslim Nomani was scolded by her now-American parents for researching the dark art of Tantra, an ancient and mystical tradition based in sexuality that's been woven into factions of Buddhism and Hinduism. Nonetheless, she persevered with the research, traveling to caves of Thailand, the doorstep of the Dalai Lama and Tantra boot camps of India. Along the way she discovered her own hidden Hindu ancestry as well as a deep fascination with the true spiritual teachings of Tantra. In the memoir, Nomani learns to live compassionately and fearlessly in the face of severe challenges, including the kidnapping and slaying of her close friend and Wall Street Journal colleague Daniel Pearl by Pakistani extremists. While Nomani is a talented writer and has strong material to work with, her memoir frequently loses focus. It staggers between a search for identity and a search for Tantra teachings and ultimately doesn't satisfy either theme. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
“This book is about true discovery....It’s about crossing boarders of a troubled world with eyes and heart wide open.” (Ron Suskind, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of A Hope in the Unseen )
“Nomani writes with searing honesty about journeys of the body and soul.” (Geraldine Brooks, author of Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women and Foreign Correspondence )
Asra Q. Nomani, a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal for 15 years, is a leading writer, thinker and public speaker on issues related to Islam, women's rights and religious extremism. Born in Bombay, India, and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, she is a courageous voice of reason and honesty, bridging gaps between the Muslim world and the West.
Nomani, 44, is the author of "Standing Alone: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam," challenging extremist interpretations of Islam in the Muslim community. Her community work advocating for women's rights and tolerance was featured in the PBS documentary, "The Mosque in Morgantown."
Nomani teaches journalism at Georgetown University, where she is co-director of the Pearl Project, a faculty-student investigation into the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Through this work, she is identifying issues of Islamic extremism in Pakistan that led to the rise of militancy in the country.
In 1988, at the age of 23, Nomani joined the staff of the Wall Street Journal as a reporter. In 2000, Nomani went on book leave to write "Tantrika: Traveling the Road of Divine Love," a journey into the corners of her identity as a Muslim, an Indian and an American. After September 11, 2001, while on leave from the Wall Street Journal, Nomani became a correspondent for Salon magazine, reporting in Pakistan. She earned an Online Journalists Award for feature reporting for her dispatches.
Nomani was inspired by tragedy and hope following the kidnapping and murder of her friend Daniel Pearl in 2002 in Karachi, Pakistan, where Pearl was staying at Nomani's home when he was kidnapped. Nomani was actively involved in the investigation to find Pearl. She is featured as a character in the movie, "A Mighty Heart," starring actress Angelina Jolie.
Nomani returned to her home in Morgantown, where she wrote "Standing Alone." She has written on issues related to Islam for the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time magazine, American Prospect, Slate and Sojourners magazine on Islam. In an effort to reach diverse audiences, Nomani has published her work in magazines including Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Sports Illustrated for Women, Runner's World and People. She has provided commentary on CNN, NPR, BBC, Nightline and Al-Jazeera, among others.
In Morgantown, Nomani became a writer-activist dedicated to reclaiming women's rights and principles of tolerance in the Muslim world. In 2003, Nomani challenged rules at her mosque in Morgantown that required women enter through a back door and pray in a secluded balcony. She was put on trial at her mosque to be banished. The New York Times wrote about her "Rosa Parks-style activism." On March 1, 2005, she posted on the doors of her mosque in Morgantown "99 Precepts for Opening Hearts, Minds and Doors in the Muslim World." She was the lead organizer of the woman-led Muslim prayer in New York City on March 18, 2005.
In 2005, Nomani was a visiting scholar at the Center for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University and a Poynter Fellow at Yale University.
In October 2006, she received a reporting fellowship from the South Asian Journalists Association to report on a Muslim woman activist building a women's mosque in India.
Nomani has been recognized widely for her work. In 2008, the Interfaith Alliance awarded her the Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award. That year, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication awarded her and her co-professor at the Pearl Project its Best Practices in Teaching award. In 2007, the Association of University Women named her a recipient of its Women of Distinction award.
Nomani earned her bachelor's degree in liberal sciences from West Virginia University in 1986. In Washington, D.C., she received a master's degree in international communications from American University's School of International Service in 1990. She lives in the Washington, D.C., area.
20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 starsThis book is a thorough disappointment!, August 6, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Tantrika: Traveling the Road of Divine Love (Hardcover)
I just finished reading "Tantrika". I was very excited to see it at Barnes & Noble as I was about to leave for a 3 week holiday. Honestly speaking, I don't think I have ever been so thoroughly disappointed in a book. The writing is not compelling, to say the least. And the author has managed to reduce what seem to be extremely unique experiences to a series of meaningless, fragmented, and uninspiring stories.
Let me give you specifics. It is not at all clear to the reader what actually drew the author to tantra- was it profound or did she just pick this topic because she was told to write about it? Her experiences in Nepal where she meet her "guru" are bizarre and confusing. She narrates incidents without revealing their significance. What was the point of telling us about the fact that her mother never forgave her father for having sex with her? I do not get it. There are many references in the book that seem to be there for effect.
Also, the author will jump from topic to topic. One minute she is "digging deep into her dakini energy" on a train in India, the next minute she is on some Pakistani beach flirting with a guy who she claims to feel an instant sexual attraction to. How utterly frustrating.
Lastly, I was simply shocked to find 5 spelling mistakes in this book! Did the editor lose interest also? What about spell-check? That is unbelievable!
I really believe this book was only published because of Daniel Pearl. The last third of the book is about the disappearance and subsequent murder of Mr. Pearl. Not that this can justify the utter nonsense that fills this book.
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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 starsWonderful Read: Entertaining and Enlightening, May 28, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Tantrika: Traveling the Road of Divine Love (Hardcover)
Really enjoyed this book. She's a fantastic writer, quickly drawing the reader into an intimate and exotic world... the book is dramatic and inspiring and will definately provide the reader with much to contemplate. Her story enlightens. Her storytelling skills entertain. A great summer read.
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This review is from: Tantrika: Traveling the Road of Divine Love (Hardcover)
If one expects "Tantrika" to be a book on sex and sex-techniques, they definitely will not find this. It is not a "Kamasutra" book. It is a highly philosophical and serious book written in a simple and enjoyable way. One never gets bored. Actually one will get so much involved in reading they will hesitate to stop or take a break. One becomes one of the characters. One will feel that the author is describing the reader's own emotions and experiences.
It deals with the struggle of a young immigrant women. To read this book, one need not be young or an immigrant. Women and men of all ages, ethnic groups, faiths and race will enjoy the book and get emotionally affected. It will help in attaining peace within oneself and the environment - especially among people. It will help in better understanding one's religion and other faiths. The book helps us respect ourselves and other people. It will help in bringing harmony and peace in the world.
Modern day tensions and problems often lead to stressful married life and broken marriages. The book clearly demonstrates the strong relationship between sexuality and spirituality. Positive female and male energy will contribute to happy married life and the working environment.
This book is not a novel or fiction. It is a true story about the experiences of the author. The author is describing the real world and the shock of the hypocrisy and duality of people. The reader will discover how deeply people have forgotten the real message of their religion today.
Another dimension of this book is that it can serve as excellent reading material for college students in disciplines such as diversity programs, international studies, counseling and rehabilitation, sociology, social work, philosophy, psychology, religion and culture, English creative writing.
In summary, "Tantrika" is a deeply philosophical and very enjoyable book. It opens the mind of the reader. Everybody gets benefited in both their spiritual and real worlds.
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