Peter's 'Tantric Journey'

My name is Peter Littlejohn Cook.

I'm passionate about investigating the depths of human nature and uncovering human potential.

I believe we won't be at peace, until we truly get back in touch with the creative force that animates us.

What does this mean?

This means aligning with the creative flow and fulfilling our potential.

I'm trained in Life Coaching and Applied Emotional Intelligence, I'm a Permaculture teacher and specialise in Social Permaculture.

I am also a Tantra teacher and coach/mentor for teachers. This part of my 'career' began with deep soul-searching, the quest for 'Enlightenment', many years of meditation and many blessed encounters with Enlightened teachers.

My two decades (half my life) of formal spiritual practice has given me the insight into what works and why.

Just as importantly, it has become clear to me why people struggle for lifetimes frustrated in their spiritual practice.

After spending years working as a therapist with several modalities (trained in Rebirthing Breathwork, Vortex Healing, Ayurvedic Massage, several forms of Reiki, shamanic energy-work and even ancient Egyptian bodywork techniques), and having worked with yogis, shamans, Taoist masters, Tibetan monks and teachers from more obscure lines claiming to go back into pre-history, the teachings became clearer when seen in the light of each other and the 'spiritual awakenings' that I experienced began to mature.

This led me to focus more and more on teaching meditation as I was increasingly clear about the nature of consciousness and the mind.

This even became my 'comfort zone'...

But eventually I felt called to bring light to and enable healing in the taboo area of sexuality - first for my own deeper awakening into full integrity, to 'embody enlightenment', and then to be able to help others to bring light and peace into this area of their lives.

Choosing to explore and become a teacher of Tantra has brought incredible challenges and joys, and has without a doubt revealed some of the most potent techniques for bringing about profound self-knowledge and Liberation.

So, essentially, that's what I'm here to assist you with - helping you find your way along the path of Tantra, to find the deepest fulfilment - what is known as 'Atma Siddhi' or 'Self-Realization'.

Let me make it clear, when we approach Tantra expecting to just find 'heightened pleasure', we're playing with fire.

Real Tantra takes us far beyond the pleasure-seeking and into the primordial realm of the Self.

'Fulfilment', in Tantra, is really not about gaining something, in the usual sense of the word.

Modern Tantric practitioners who just provide an arousing experience of 'sacred sexuality' may or may not be working with genuine Tantric methods. Sometimes Tantra is completely mixed up with 'Kama Sutra' - which relates to a completely different set of practices.

It could be said that Tantra is a path of reconciliation of the world of the senses and of the spirit, but the fulfilment, or 'Self-realization' which Tantra is designed for is not of a 'worldly nature'.

There are wonderful side-effects... Tantra can bring you 'groundedness', it can help you reconcile your physical impulses with your spiritual longings, your passions with your desire for detachment... and yes, it can transform your experience of sex, turning into a means for spiritual communion.

But ultimately Tantra is about embracing the fullness of who you are.

This embrace of your Self encompasses what in modern times is referred to as 'Spiritual Enlightenment' (what is traditionally called 'Moksha', meaning 'Liberation').

This does not depend on working with a partner, and it has very little to do with people's exotic ideas of 'Tantric sex'.

Please be aware that 99% of what you come across as 'Tantra' - sexual techniques to heighten your orgasmsic potential - is modern 'pop-Tantra' and at best just scratches the surface of the tradition.

What skills do I bring to this work? ...

As well as being a Tantra teacher and the training that I referred to above I am also a meditation facilitator, Qigong instructor, personal development coach, workshop leader and public speaker.

I'm passionate about helping people achieve their potential, and to experience peace and transformative self-knowledge.

Am I a 'Guru', you might wonder...

Some consider me to be a self-realization 'Guru'.

For some people the word 'guru' is a dirty word, and for others it is used with the greatest possible respect. I've mostly learnt not to mind either way.

Traditionally, spiritual masters and Gurus have had the function of 'enlightening' those who were seeking their true Self.

Whether or not I call myself a 'Guru', guiding those who seek their true Self is my work.

It's a controversial issue... Gurus are traditionally considered to be 'perfected beings'.

However, I am certainly not in all respects a 'perfect being'. This life is a work in progress and there's much for me to learn in many areas.

But when someone who is truly seeking Liberation seeks my guidance, I am usually called into a state of expanded understanding that encompasses what they need to see in order to experience a breakthrough, a glimpse or even a powerful experience of their unlimited Self.

So while I make no claims of being in all respects complete and perfect, 'perfect Being' however is something that I have come to know as my very own nature - and also yournature. Through a form of 'satsang' as well as through sharing some of the most powerful techniques for consciousness-expansion, and most importantly, through divine Grace, I can facilitate this 'knowing'-experience-'realization' for others.

Depending on your previous conditioning (or 'karma'), your ability to maintain that realization, or 'Beingness', will vary and the practices that would be most appropriate for you will vary accordingly too.

But while I can help you 'experience' this Beingness, it is more important ultimately to stop seeking yourself in any specific 'experience'. What you are, simply Is, independently of any transitory experience or state.

For most of us there is far more 'unlearning' than 'learning' that is required for our peace of mind and our Liberation.

So, although I can help with guidance and teachings, more importantly, you can learn to access your deepest states - you deepest Flow - for yourself.

My work as a teacher is to support and assist you to become joyfully responsible for cultivating your own Self-realization, ever receptive to the potent mysteries of Grace.

Part of my journey has been to unveil the real meaning of this word - 'Grace', outside of any dogmatic context. It is one of the gifts that I have been given to share.

But when I am performing this 'Guru-function', I am a mirror of what you are - a mirror of what Is.

It says as much about your identity as mine.

If you're looking for a traditional Guru you may not find what you're looking for here.

If you're looking for someone who will tell you that all gurus are useless and you don't need one, you may also not find what you're looking for here.

It's not a 'black-and-white' situation.

A true Guru is one who is free from power games and wishes above all for the humanity's Liberation from suffering and - as the Buddhists would say - "the Liberation of all sentient beings".

In the West it is difficult for us to even conceive of a true 'Enlightened' Guru and in any case, the idea of submitting to someone else's spiritual authority is either too scary for our ego, or it is too tempting to our ego as a way to maintain our disempowering beliefs about our limitations.

A true Guru will wake us up and give us the means to keep us 'awake'. He, or she, will not wish for us to remain dependent on them.

A true Guru is not afraid to have a disciple become equal to them or even more 'advanced'...

We each have our purpose in relationship to each other, and what would a 'Guru' be without a student? Just a happy soul... no one 'special'.

We see examples of this in the Sufi tradition.

My role is not more important than yours, and I don't ask or expect to be called 'Master', or Guruji.

Do I teach individuals and couple to have 'better sex', or to apply Tantric techniques for heightened orgasmic pleasure?

Sometimes I am called upon to answer the typical pop-Tantra questions about orgasm, ejaculation and sexual techniques... I can give guidance on these subjects, and some of my courses cover these subjects too, but above all if you are sincerely yearning for Liberation - aching to experience the depths of Absolute Divine Love - also known as 'Grace', then it would be my greatest pleasure to work with you and support your journey.

Helping you get in touch with this 'Force' - this 'Flow' - this Love,is my gift, because knowing this Love was the gift given to me.

How did I become a teacher of teachers?

It was around 20 years ago that I called with all my heart to the Divine and asked to be a vehicle for Peace and Divine Grace.

Somehow in spite of all my imperfections, this gift is given.

It comes through in many ways... As the simplest forms of meditation... It comes as the deepest heart-opening Silence... and it comes as the mystery of the intelligent Life-force that people call Kundalini-flow and 'Shaktipat'.

My life has consisted of much seeking of knowledge and understanding, but ultimately it is when I am empty of old ideas and concepts that I am filled with Understanding - an understanding that transcends time and space and which I really must put at the service of others, for it is useless, and stagnant if not flowing.

This is one of the messages I carry for you. You too have gifts to share. I'm sure of it. And I'm sure you're suffering if you're not sharing them.

For me it is a great challenge to create 'courses' and 'programs' because my 'understanding' is for the most part not really a solid idea or teaching - it is a liberating message that only takes definite shape when I hear a call for Freedom - when I hear you suffering and in need of clarity and empowerment.

So, my courses have some flexibility... some spontaneity. They cannot be totally pre-defined.

The courses tend to become shaped according to the needs of the participants - according to your needs, if you feel called to work with me.

This having been said, I must add that my experience has been specially in the tradition of Kriya Kundalini Yoga and Taoist practices. Both of these lines are traditionally initiatic - in other words there are teachings that are not passed on without formal permission from a Master of the lineage.

Am I a Master of a Tantric lineage?

Not in a formal sense.

I have received permission to share some elements of Kriya Yoga practice. Some elements have become a part of my teaching work as a result of accepting my 'inner guidance' and some teachers have confirmed that my work has been divinely guided.

I can tell you a little more...

During a time in my life when I was questioning my lack of formal earthly 'authority' to work with Kundalini Shakti activation/initiation (which is a great responsibility), I sought guidance and received blessing for this work from the lineage of Sri Alakh Puriji, through Swami Maheshwarananda.

(This was not a formal affiliation or Guru-parampara transmission. I do not represent the lineage. I have not even effectively been a student within this line.)

My inner guidance had become so 'bold' at that time that I appeared to be able to spontaneous perform Shaktipat Kundalini awakenings (transmissions of 'Divine energy').

This was something I believed at the time to be reserved for the formal Guru-disciple relationship and which was only made possible as a 'skill' passed on by one's own Guru.

None of my Earthly Gurus had formally given me this permission or training in person, so I approached Swami Maheshwarananda who was known as a master of Kundalini Yoga who co-incidentally was visiting London at this time (around 2004) because I wanted to get clarity from a Master who was part of a formal lineage to be sure that I wasn't just 'playing with fire'.

I received a blessing to work with the Shaktipat method of transmission and awakening of Kundalini two years later in 2006.

In spite of this blessing, I have not given 'formal initiations' into Kundalini Tantra. My teachings have been in great part intuitive and energy transmissions take place spontaneously at a relatively subtle level.

Why have I not taken on the traditional role of a 'Guru'?

There is some doubt about whether 'Western' students are capable of taking on the 'Guru-disciple' relationship in an effective and healthy way and even whether the 'Guru-role' can be practised effectively in the West by spiritual teachers.

The amount of scandals relating to gurus is disheartening and has only served to lead to mistrust or the expectation of total 'Avatar-like' perfection.

I seek neither to disconnect people from the traditional approaches, nor to encourage Westerners to adopt the 'Eastern' traditional approach. The ancient Eastern ways may or may not be applicable today in the West.

Before a Westerner can effectively engage in the traditional guru-disciple relationship, there must be a capacity for surrender to the divine instead of arrogant 'independence' and instead of childish dependence on an outside authority. It's a delicate but fundamentally important balance.

My approach has been to connect people with the full guiding power of the Divine within in the form of Kundalini-Shakti, that is traditionally considered to be the real Guru.

This should not be understood superficially as 'becoming our own guru'... Only Infinite Intelligence can effectively be Guru.

Some form of 'submission' - whether we like it or not - must be effected if we are to become free of the limited understanding of the ego.

That 'submission' may be to the Divine principle within, but even for learning how to do that a guide may be necessary. This is part of my work.

Much of what I teach helps those who are already practising some form of Yoga, Tantra or meditative practice to better understand and to practice more effectively.

I have received feedback from seasoned practitioners who have 40 years of meditation behind them and who have studied with spiritual masters saying that for the first time, as a result of their experience with me, they have truly understood the nature of their practice and experienced meditation without inner struggle.

This gift is partly a result of having studied such a wide range of traditions with living masters of those traditions. It is partly as a result of my own grace-filled experience through applying the practices.

Perhaps the main key in my approach is not the 'special techniques' but the ability to listen from the heart to discern the true nature of the struggle that you are experiencing and to thereby give the right key at the right time.

This is one of the reasons why it is still useful, if not fundamental, to have a living teacher - even in this day and age when practically all the teachings have been published and are available to the general public at the click of a button.

Despite the individualized nature of much of what I share, I do make some of the recordings of classes and courses available for people to access, whether they work with me personally or not.

We all often have the same key questions, struggles and needs.

Just a few more words about me for those who are curious...

I am a father and a husband, a gardener and a yogi and - when inspired - I am a poet of sorts.

I was born in London and live in the magical heart of Portugal, in Sintra.

My family is multicultural... If I were to include the story of the last 3 or 4 generations it would take us to Brazil, Scotland, Russia, Sweden, Germany, the Island of Madeira and the indigenous people of the Andes. The name 'Littlejohn' goes back to the ancient Vikings.

My teachers have been numerous and would make a far more interesting story to share.

I could write a whole book, or 5, about who I've been and what my blessed teachers have shared, and indeed I will... but for now, I'll just thank you for this meeting.

I'm grateful for this encounter, because across time and space we have connected, and that is a beautiful mystery. Life is like that :)

I hope to hear your side of the story too.

If any of the courses call to you, I'll be very happy to work with you.

I do put aside some time for personal consultations, so if you would like to speak with me in person I would be glad to support you with whatever I can.

With love,

Peter