Energy Sovereignty: The Tantric Approach to Reality Transurfing

[The Lisbon sun streams through my window this morning, casting long shadows across the wooden floor. I've just completed my tummo practice, and that subtle inner heat lingers like a secret knowledge. My relationship with energy feels different this time around...]

The Cyclic Journey of Mastery

Six years ago, I found myself in a heightened state of consciousness. My spiritual practice was intense, focused, almost militant. I was "on a mission" — diving deep into tantric practices, pushing boundaries, experiencing mystical states that redefined my understanding of reality. My energy management was so refined that I could go 45 days without certain energy 'leaks' (haha) and not even notice the absence.

Then came a relationship that tore away my self-confidence and larger state. Showed me a weakness I hadn't known I had. Years later, here I am, climbing that mountain again — but differently.

[Just noticed a fly buzzing against my window, desperately trying to penetrate the invisible barrier. Reminds me of consciousness before it discovers its own nature — endlessly pushing against limitations that don't actually exist...]

Now I'm training under Lama Glen of the Nagpa lineage — a non-monastic, practice-focused approach to the Six Yogas of Naropa in the Vajrayogini tradition. We're also incorporating elements from the Ningpa yogas. But the approach is fundamentally different this time around.

Gone is the forceful push, the desperate striving for mystical experiences. In its place is a gentler invitation — I'm letting the images and heat arise on their own, exploring what happens with minimal effort. Less mystical fireworks, perhaps, but a more sustainable integration.

This oscillation between intensity and ease, between striving and allowing, isn't unique to my journey. It's a universal pattern that appears in both Reality Transurfing and tantric traditions. And it's the key to what I'm calling "energy sovereignty" — the ability to consciously direct your energy without becoming enslaved to the process itself.

The Quantum Dance: Two Truths in One Reality

Back in 2018, I wrote about how dualistic appearances can coexist — how light can be both a particle and a wave simultaneously, just as consciousness can be both individual and universal. The quantum double-slit experiment shows us that observation itself changes reality, that contradictory states can exist in superposition until attention collapses the possibilities into one experience.

[My tea's getting cold as I'm writing this. There's a metaphor here about entropy and energy management that's too perfect to ignore...]

This same principle applies to our energetic reality. In Two Truths: The Superposition of Ultimate and Relative Perspectives, I explored how seemingly contradictory viewpoints can both be true depending on your level of perspective. Reality Transurfing and tantric practices are essentially describing the same territory from different angles:

• Reality Transurfing speaks of alternative spaces, pendulums, excess potential, and life lines

• Tantra speaks of energy channels, deities, kundalini, and siddhis

Both systems recognize that reality is fundamentally malleable, that consciousness and energy are primary, and that our perception shapes our experience more than any external "objective" truth.

The genius of both approaches is their recognition that we need both perspectives. We need the relative truth of our everyday experience AND the ultimate truth of our energetic nature. When we try to operate exclusively from one viewpoint, we create imbalance.

Energy Leaks vs. Energy Sovereignty

Last week, I was walking through Lisbon's tourist district when I had one of those synchronistic moments that perfectly illustrates this principle.

Right after contemplating the nature of desire and pendulums, I looked up and saw two posters side by side: a Nirvana poster showing an angelic figure and light, and directly below it, a hyper-sexualized anime woman paired with a skeleton with a flaming eye.

[Still get chills remembering this moment. The universe doesn't just whisper sometimes — it shouts...]

This wasn't just random imagery. It was a perfect visual representation of the choice we face with our energy: transcendence versus consumption, sovereignty versus drainage.

Looking around Lisbon's tourist economy, I began seeing the same pattern everywhere — carefully designed webs of desire triggers around food, drink, and sex, all designed to extract energy and money in an endless cycle of craving and temporary satisfaction.

This is what Reality Transurfing calls "pendulums" — energy structures that feed on human attention and emotional charge. They're not inherently evil; they're simply energy exchange mechanisms. But when we interact with them unconsciously, we become batteries for systems that don't serve our highest potential.

Tantric practice offers a different relationship with these same energies. Rather than suppressing desire (which creates what Transurfing calls "excess potential"), tantra teaches us to recognize the energy of desire as a neutral force that can be redirected toward liberation.

The Six Yogas of Naropa, particularly tummo (inner fire), teach practitioners to generate and circulate this energy consciously rather than leaking it unconsciously. Instead of having energy pulled from you by external pendulums, you learn to become the sovereign center of your own energetic field.

Non-Resistance: The Forgotten Key

The first principle in mastering this energy sovereignty is a paradoxical one: non-resistance.

In Balance: Don't Fight Your Addiction, I wrote about how fighting against unwanted patterns only amplifies them. Just as trying to balance on a Bosu ball by rigidly resisting the wobble only makes you fall faster, fighting against energy patterns creates the exact resistance that strengthens them.

[Just had to pause as my neighbor's music started blaring through the wall. Rather than resisting the interruption, I'm letting it become part of the creative field. The bass line is actually helping me feel the rhythm of these words...]

Reality Transurfing teaches the same principle through different language. Zeland explains that excess potential — the energetic charge created when we place too much importance on something — always seeks to be neutralized. The more desperately you try to control an outcome, the more forcefully reality pushes back in the opposite direction.

This connects perfectly with what I discovered about dropping desire rather than fighting it. The key difference between repression and transformation is awareness. When we bring full consciousness to our desires instead of either indulging OR suppressing them, we create the space for natural evolution.

In my current Six Yogas practice, this principle manifests as allowing the heat and energy to arise naturally rather than forcing it. When tummo practice becomes aggressive, it creates precisely the tension that blocks the channels it's trying to open.

The Evolution of Practice: From Force to Flow

My current approach to practice represents an evolution from my earlier "on a mission" intensity. The poem Diving Down Vajra Yana I wrote in 2019 captures that transition:

"Standing on the edge
This cliff that has no bottom
Fly or fall, are the thoughts.

...

Time to arch the back
Let's turn this fall
Into a dive."

[Just caught myself holding my breath as I re-read those lines. The body remembers these state transitions...]

This evolution from striving to flowing mirrors a fundamental principle in both Reality Transurfing and tantra: the shift from inner intention to outer intention, from forcing reality to dancing with it.

In Reality Transurfing terms, inner intention is the direct application of will and effort to change external circumstances. It works, but it's exhausting and limited. Outer intention is the alignment with the flow of alternative spaces, allowing reality to move for you rather than you pushing against reality.

In tantric terms, this is the difference between the spiritual materialism of seeking specific experiences or powers and the natural unfolding of the energetic body through consistent, surrender-based practice.

The irony is that my earlier forceful approach created mystical experiences but couldn't sustain them. The gentler approach I'm practicing now creates fewer fireworks but more lasting transformation. Less force, more sovereignty.

The Formless State: Beyond the Doer

In 2019, I wrote about a profound experience of the Formless Realm where the sense of being a "doer" completely dissolved. My body moved, fulfilled its needs, and functioned perfectly without a central controller directing the show:

"It really all came together (upon reflection later) when the notion of 'thirsty' came into existence. There was no subsequent thought patterns that would have identified what 'thirsty' was, just the sensations occurring. Subsequent to this, 'arms' and 'legs' materialized into existence, and began to move."

[The sun has shifted position now, casting my desk in a golden glow. Even as I write about formlessness, nature reminds me of the beauty of form...]

This state represents the ultimate aim of both Reality Transurfing and tantric practice — the transcendence of the separate self that believes it must control reality through force.

In Reality Transurfing, this corresponds to the surrender to outer intention, where you become an observer of the flow rather than the controller. Zeland describes it as a state where reality itself moves to align with your frequency rather than you struggling to change reality.

In tantric terms, this is the realization of emptiness (śūnyatā) in action — the direct perception that there is no solid self pulling the strings, only the dynamic play of consciousness taking form moment by moment.

Both traditions recognize that this formless awareness isn't a passive state — in fact, it's the most dynamic and effective state possible because action happens without the friction of a separate self getting in the way.

The practices of the Six Yogas, particularly the illusory body (gyulu) and dream yoga practices, systematically dismantle the solid sense of self while maintaining full functionality in the world. They train us to experience reality as both empty AND appearing simultaneously — the ultimate conjunction of form and formlessness.

Practical Integration: A Unified Approach

So how do we actually integrate these two powerful systems — Reality Transurfing and tantra — into a practical approach to energy sovereignty? Here's my current synthesis, born from both traditions and my own experimentation:

1. Energy Generation Practices

Start with the foundation: conscious energy generation rather than unconscious energy leakage. The tummo practices from the Six Yogas provide a systematic approach:

• Vase breathing to build energetic pressure

• Channel visualization to direct energy flow

• Seed syllable focus to purify the energy

The key insight from Reality Transurfing here is to reduce the importance level as you practice. Don't strive for specific experiences or outcomes — this creates excess potential that blocks the very states you're trying to access. Instead, approach the practice with playful curiosity and detachment from results.

2. Pendulum Awareness

Train yourself to recognize energy-draining structures (pendulums) in your daily life:

• Notice when your emotional state suddenly changes in response to external triggers

• Identify recurring thought patterns that create strong emotional charges

• Pay attention to situations that leave you feeling depleted

The tantric contribution here is the practice of deity yoga — seeing yourself as already-enlightened. This creates a buffer of awareness between your essential nature and the pendulums trying to hook your energy. When you recognize yourself as Vajrayogini or another deity, pendulums lose their automatic grip.

[Just had a flash of insight: the deities in tantra are essentially energetic archetypes that help us navigate specific energetic terrains. They're personifications of different ways consciousness can organize itself...]

3. Slide and Deity Integration

Reality Transurfing teaches the concept of "slides" — visualizing yourself already in the desired alternative space. Tantra teaches deity visualization — seeing yourself as already embodying enlightened qualities.

The integration is powerful:

• Create a slide that represents your sovereign energetic state

• Integrate deity qualities into that visualization (clarity, compassion, wisdom)

• Feel the emotion of already being in that state

• Release attachment to the result (reduce importance)

4. Heart-Mind Coherence

Both systems recognize that fragmented consciousness creates energy leaks. The heart and mind must align to create coherent energy fields:

• Use the chöd practices of offering to transform emotional resistance into acceptance

• Apply Transurfing's importance reduction techniques to emotional triggers

• Practice heart-centered meditation to create coherent heart fields

• Maintain awareness of energy patterns without judgment

The Sovereignty Spiral

What I'm discovering in this second climb up the mountain is that energy mastery isn't a linear progression but a spiral. Each cycle takes you through similar territory but at a different level of awareness.

My intense period in 2018-2019 wasn't wasted, even though the relationship that followed seemed to erase the progress. That foundation is precisely what allows me to take a gentler, more sustainable approach now. The forceful push created the space; the current flow is filling it.

[Looking out my window at the city below, I can see so many people caught in pendulums they don't recognize. Not judging — I've been there too, still get caught sometimes. But now I can see the larger pattern...]

The universal pattern in both Reality Transurfing and tantric practice is remarkably similar:

1. Generate coherent energy through conscious practice

2. Direct that energy intentionally without attachment to outcomes

3. Allow reality to reorganize around your new energetic state

4. Witness the results with curiosity rather than grasping

5. Repeat at progressively subtler levels

This isn't about perfection or reaching some final state. It's about sovereignty — the capacity to remain conscious of your energy and its impact on reality, moment by moment. Sometimes you'll get caught in pendulums. Sometimes you'll leak energy unconsciously. But with each cycle, your awareness deepens and your sovereignty expands.

The ultimate revelation of both systems is this: reality itself is a projection of consciousness interacting with energy. As your relationship with energy transforms, so does your experienced reality.

What pendulums are you feeding unconsciously? What energy practices help you maintain sovereignty? How might your reality transform if you approached desire not as something to indulge or repress, but as raw energy to redirect?

Until next time, keep bending light and hacking minds,

Cian