Pleasure, Pain & Love in the Tantric Garden

In conversation with Vijaya Jhothi. A brilliant writer, a transformational coach and most importantly a wonderful human being . In this interview Vijaya talks about her blog, her coaching sessions and her newly released book, Pleasure, Pain & Love in the Tantric Garden.

How would you like to introduce yourself to our readers?

 I am a transformational coach, author and speaker- with my primary focus in bringing Eastern Indian spiritual wisdom such as Ayurveda, yoga and Tantra to serving modern needs and times.

  Why did you name your blog site "My Artichoke Life"?

 Myartichokelife was the inspiration for the book itself as it was the metaphor used to look at all the layers we all put on as humans when we live from our mind and ego and what happens when you peel them back and live from your heart. Getting to the heart of the matter is when healing takes place and spiritual awakening is possible.

 When did you realize that you have a passion for understanding the human heart?

I remember when I was nine years old and asked my mother about dreams. When everyone else in the family was talking about marriage and boys, I asked my mother if I could be next mother Teresa and whether I really needed to get married when I grew up. I had the capacity to look at human suffering from a very young age but did not put that into practice until much later in my adult life.Writing the book “Pleasure, Pain & Love in the Tantric Garden” and consciously looking at my life experiences, made me realize that I had the gift of empathy from a very early age and was always a seeker of truth and something bigger than me.

  You have lived in Singapore, London, San Francisco...how do you think the life style/mentality of a common woman differs in each of these metros?

 Living in these countries made me appreciate and understand how diversity plays a very important part in understanding human nature and accepting different cultures and traditions.  Certainly environment plays a big part in the way a woman fits into a society as there are different demands placed in a thriving, fast paced city like London compared to San Francisco which still fits under the casual California style. However, spiritual life transcends borders, cultures and any environment. It is ultimately a connection to your inner Spirit that defines your style, your confidence, purpose and passion in life. If you are guided by that intuitive wisdom that is innate in all of us, you can be placed in any situation or experience and still be the same authentic person.

  You are also a professional coach/speaker what exactly do you offer to your clients? Tell us a bit about your coaching sessions.

For my personal one on one coaching and consultation, there are usually two different types of clients I see. Those that need immediate relief from physical ailments commonly associated with stress, lifestyle and a general state of being out of balance. My approach first during an initial consultation is to use Ayurveda as the science to balance their mind and body by making changes to certain foods, lifestyle and supplementing with Ayurvedic herbs when needed. Getting their physical body back into a healthy state is the primary goal. Yoga becomes a complimentary therapy following the consultation. I generally ask clients to commit to a minimum of 3 months of ongoing support to make sure changes are palpable.

As a healer, the second group of clients that I see are the ones I can intuit on whether they can be catalysts for spiritual work that takes them beyond their bodies and mind and work on fulfilling their Spirit’s destiny. This is a highly intuitive and energetic process that can only be done in person and very selective process of discernment.

I also teach couples the wisdom of Tantra and how to create lasting intimacy and love by connecting to their Divine Spirits. It’s about balancing masculine and feminine energies in the relationship that provides sustained happiness and bliss.

 My speaking engagements empowers individuals to live from their heart and in doing so, they can step into there most authentic, fearless selves- like Goddess Kali. I speak on topics relating to health, intimacy, parenthood, money matters, being feminine in a masculine world and yoga practices for opening the heart.

 Tell us about your newly released book "Pleasure, Pain & Love in the Tantric Garden?

The book is a biography of the power of Tantra and the calling to demystify this sacred philosophy of creating intimacy, love and connection to your highest Spirit.

I act as the bridge to share the wisdom of Tantra that can bring about the highest pleasure that humans seek. While the Western world has historically looked to Tantra for purely sexual pleasures, Eastern India has shared more of it spiritual teachings through mythology and scriptures. The message in the book is that humans are both sacred and sexual beings and the power of Tantra is the ability to transcend human suffering by mindfully engaging in relationships that are heart centered and can help heal one another.  In doing so, there is a balance in masculine and feminine energies and hence a natural balance on Earth.

The book symbolically pays tribute to Mother Kali as the Tantric Goddess with the most power to end human suffering.Her fiery wrath is necessary to destroy ego and illusions in a world that keeps us bonded to our own suffering. Her image is apropos when we consider the current world we live in, one that is filled with ego, and one that gives rise to human lust, greed, power and violence. She represents the Divine Mother and just as a mother admonishes her children when they misbehave, Mother Kali comes in a fiery form to admonish her children for letting their ego and illusions get in the way of creating peace and a sustainable Earth for future generations.

 Why and how do you think "Tantra" can influence our lives?

The major human suffering that takes place in today’s world is fundamentally around relationships, particularly relationships between men and women. The power of Tantra today is to balance what has been a predominantly masculine energy that has stripped the Earth of its Divine Feminine creative abundance, driven primarily by masculine ego and unconsciousness behaviors. Women have followed this pattern and the competitive ego model is obviously not working to balance the Earth. The wisdom of Tantra is that it allows a woman to come into her highest, most powerful state of being a Goddess, (and men as God too) by fully embracing her feminine gifts such as compassion and intuition. Only when a woman is in her fully non-ego based Goddess like state, can men be elevated to let go of this behavior pattern that has encouraged the imbalance we see today. If we want men to change, women have to teach them to put aside their ego so that men can protect and serve woman- not in a subservient way but a mutually sacred way that is also sexually fulfilling to both parties. Sex should not be seen as taboo to talk about in Tantra- if we are more open about this topic and really come from a place of mutually respecting each other and wanting to transcend human suffering with a partner, Tantra holds much wisdom for today’s times. The very topic that people are so secretive about (sex) is what causes so much human suffering such as lack of intimacy in relationships, divorces, infidelity, loneliness etc…. So Tantra is a needed pathway for spiritual awakening in a country where loneliness is the very epidemic and having a partner is more suitable for a spiritual practice.

  How can readers get hold of you or grab a copy of your book?

 Available of Amazon Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051AEMCQ

Kindle can be downloaded free at : :http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_mac_mkt_lnd?docId=1000464931--

for MAC http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311-for PC.

Printed versions available late July. For a copy please e-mail

 myartichokelife@comcast.net

Blog: www.myartichokelife.com

A message for our readers

If we want to see our world change with hope for a more sustainable planet for our children, the power ultimately now lies within women to change the course of history that has caused men to live out their ego based behaviors. The Earth and the Divine Feminine cannot tolerate the pain of women getting sexually violated and raped, forced into child prostitution, domestically violated, their sexuality suppressed by circumcision, female infanticide – all the different ways a woman’s voice and creativity gets suppressed. Women today have a key responsibility in shifting these energies by fully embracing their Divine Feminine powers.

My utmost inspiration comes from Goddess Kali- one that slays human ego with Divine knowledge. Only then can we restore the pain that women are going through and find pleasure of the highest kind in the Tantric state. Everyone has the capacity to become a Goddess or a God and in doing so, we become the human vessel to fulfill the calling of the Supreme Consciousness and liberate ourselves from ego and illusions- giving birth to Satya Yuga or the period of Truth and Enlightenment.

Vijaya in one of her Coaching Sessions:

Photo Credit : Vijaya Jhothi's pictures photographed by Ashima Yadav