In Tantrism, the sense of touch is considered the sense closest to consciousness (Shiva). It invites us to immerse ourselves in sensation without the interference of mental concepts.
To look at life in slow motion
is to see a thousand and one things
that normal speed would never allow us
to perceive.
Massage as an Act of Presence
In a world where everything moves fast—when the mind races, when thoughts overflow—the body can sometimes feel distant. Sensations withdraw, emotions freeze. Massage remains one of the rare spaces where time can truly slow down.
The art of touch allows us to reconnect with the present moment through our senses and to open a pathway toward inner reconnection. Through breath, the meeting of sensations, and the reawakening of vital energy, it invites a gradual return to a subtle unity: body, heart, and mind can come together once again. Time seems to pause, everyday reference points fade away, and each person can settle safely, welcoming sensations, emotions, and the body itself, without judgment.
Being present in massage does not simply mean focusing on what one is doing. Presence is an inner state: being fully here—body, heart, and mind—aligned, without projection or anticipation. It is not about “doing” a massage, but about inhabiting the gesture, listening with one’s hands, accompanying rather than imposing.
Touch Is a Language
When presence is absent, touch becomes routine and intrusive. When presence is there, every gesture becomes a silent conversation between two people. The hands perceive tensions, resistances, and movements. Pressure becomes more accurate because it is felt. Presence invites the body to relax because it feels safe; it allows itself to release what it has been holding onto for a long time.
Presence is not only beneficial for the person receiving the massage. Massage practiced with presence also respects the posture and body of the giver. Movements become economical, the breath supports the motion, and posture adjusts naturally.
This massage is a ritual, a ceremony, an act of devotion. It is in no way intended to awaken or fuel eros. The aim is to encourage the circulation of sexual energy within a respectful and meditative framework, without activating erotic desire. Meditative massage does not seek to treat muscular tension or address specific physical issues. Rather, it is an invitation to anchor ourselves in the present moment, to explore sensations in a space of deep relaxation, without any expectation of results. By directing our attention to physical sensations, we draw the mind away from daily concerns, which can help reduce stress and anxiety. By cultivating awareness of our sensations, we can also develop greater understanding and compassion for ourselves and others.
The Technique Is Very Simple
It is important to adopt the correct positions, and the massage traces the figure of an eight—or infinity—over the entire body, a very powerful symbol in terms of energy. It is a touch of pure love coming from the heart. The direction used on the body follows an energetic flow. Slowness soothes and deeply relaxes both body and mind because it respects the body’s natural rhythm.
For the massage to be a positive experience, trust from beginning to end is essential. It is important for the practitioner to be present with themselves and with the other person, to be aligned in order to accompany them on their journey toward themselves. There is nothing to do to the person, nothing to take. It is a progressive practice that requires great presence in listening—with one’s own heart and the heart of the other.
Energy without consciousness is like water without a channel: it is there, it flows everywhere, but it has no purpose or direction. Consciousness without energy is like an empty glass: it has intention, but not the means to fulfill it. It seems very important to me that massage practitioners learn correct positioning so they can be comfortable, aligned, and remain connected to their energy.
The massage is given on a thin mat or on a table. The practitioner checks their own posture, presence, and listening, and also ensures with the person receiving the massage that what is happening feels right for them (pressure, intensity, whether the person appears tense or frozen). The essential point is that the person should never feel subjected to the massage. For this reason, it is helpful to invite them to express themselves, to move at any time, as if it were a dance—without forcing or holding back.
By Ingrid Deva Loka
Osho answers a question:
I’ve been working as a diplomat but thinking I might study something like massage because I like working with my hands, and I know it’s a job where one can be open and receptive.
It’s very good. To do something with the hands is always good.
Rather than to be a head, it is always good to be hands.
It will make you more alive and more in contact with life. It will make you more grounded. Massage is perfectly good. It is better than to be a diplomat! It is very very good to forget all about that nonsense.
Get more into your body. Make your senses more alive. See more lovingly, taste more lovingly, touch more lovingly, smell more lovingly. Let your senses function more and more. Then suddenly you will see the energy that was moving too much in the head is now well-divided in the body.
The head is very dictatorial. It goes on taking energy from everywhere and is a monopolist. It has killed the senses.
The head is taking almost eighty percent of the energy, and only twenty percent is left for the whole body. Of course the whole body suffers, and when the whole body suffers, you suffer, because you can only be happy when you are functioning as a whole, as an organic unity, and every part of your body and being is getting its proportion; not more than that, not less than that. Then you function in a rhythm. You have a harmony.
Harmony, happiness, health – they are all part of one phenomenon, and that is wholeness. If you are whole, you are happy, healthy, harmonious.
The head is creating a disturbance. People have lost many things. People cannot smell. They have lost the capacity to smell. They have lost the capacity to taste. They can only hear a few things. They have lost their ears. People don’t know what touch really is. Their skin has become dead. It has lost the softness and receptivity. So the head thrives like an Adolf Hitler, crushing the whole body. The head becomes bigger and bigger. It is very ridiculous.
Man is almost like a caricature – a very big head and just very small limbs, hanging.
So bring back your senses. Do anything with the hands, with the earth, with the trees, with the rocks, with bodies, with people.
Do anything that needs not much thinking, not much intellectualization.
And enjoy. Then your head will by and by be unburdened. It will be good for the head too, because when the head is burdened too much, it thinks – but it cannot think. How can a worrying mind think? For thinking you need clarity. For thinking you need a non-tense mind.
It will look like a paradox, but for thinking you need a thoughtless mind.
When the mind is burdened too much with thoughts, you think too much but to no purpose. It comes to nothing; there is nothing in the head. You go round about, round about; you make much noise, but the end result is zero. So it is not against the head to disperse the energy into all the senses. It is in favor of it, because when the head is balanced, in its right place, it functions better; otherwise it is jammed. It is such great traffic. It is almost a rush hour; for twenty-four hours a rush hour.
So start doing something…whatsoever you feel. Massage is very good. The body is beautiful…anything to do with the body is beautiful.