Originating in India some 3,000 years ago, Tantric Sex is called by practictioners "The Science of Ecstacy". The word "Tantric", derived from the sanskrit word "Tantra", roughly translates as "to extend".
Tantric orgasm in excess of ten minutes have been documented by sexual researchers.
Although many of the concepts and practices of Tantric Sex - controlled and synchronized breathing between partners, as well as visualisation exercises and the deep, incessant eye to eye gaze - appear foreign to Westerners, they will agree readily with one concept - the idea of the G-spot.
Considered by practictioners a sacred spot of the female body, tantric stimulation of this area will cause a woman to produce liquid known as "armita", or "the sweet nectar". As a woman is stimulated by tantric techniques, she experiences what tantrics call "The Wave of Bliss".
Men learn to not ejaculate immediately, since this would cause a loss of sexual energy. Instead, after mastering a series of exercises which teach them to gain control of certain muscles, they learn to orgasm multiple times without a release of fluid.
In Western culture, as esposed by the Masters and Johnson model of human sexuality, the act is always characterised and culminated by male ejaculation, regardless of the state of female arousal or orgasm.
Tantric sex distinguishes between and teaches the separation of orgasm and ejaculation. Tantric philosphy counters the Western notion of causality, teaching males a finer degree of control over their body and its response to stimulation.
As previously mentioned, breathing is an important concept for Tantric practictioners. The breath has four counts: long inhale, holding the breath for a time, long exhale and again holding the breath.
Partners learn to and concentrate upon synchronising their breathing, with the male and female taking alternating breaths.
The initial training in Tantric Sex involving some 50 exercises takes about 100 hours to master.
Male initiates are taught the four phases of sexual activity.
Phase one is arousal; the Western equivalent of foreplay. Phase two is realised when the male approaches orgasm. Phase three is orgasm itself, while phase four is ejaculation. Note that in the Masters and Johnson three phase model of sexual response there is no differentiation between orgasm and ejaculation.
By learning to distinguish between the four states, Tantric practictioners are able to maintain and repeat phase three indefinitely. Given the slower to arouse sexual responses of some women, this should be perceived as a good thing.
There are many benefits of ejaculatory control. First and foremost amoung practictioners is the elimination of what they consider to be a male orientation to something that (in heterosexual couples, at least) is an act between men and women.
Another, perhaps more pragmatic benefit, is the simple fact that without release the male does not immediately drift off to sleep - something that has long frustrated women from all cultures.