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TANTRA? WE'RE TOTALLY CHELAS!
Re: a “'goddess' practicing tantric yoga —the latter with its promise of multiple and/or full-bodied orgasms, ejaculatory control, increased blood flow to the penis and general well-being” (Stephen Lemons' “Have Faith,” April 6). Good Lord, where do I start? The woman you interviewed obviously has her very own unique idea of what tantra is, but to call what she does “tantric” is an insult to our religion. The word tantra translates as instructions or a text for instruction, indicating the tantric canon of scriptural texts delivered by the great saints, sages and by God/dess Him/Herself. The religion and philosophy of tantra coming out of the greater body of Hinduism is made up of a tradition of disciplic succession in which the teachers (or gurus) instruct their students (or “chelas”) in the salient views and practices given in the tantric scriptures. These practices may or may not include direct “sexual” practices, and most do not! The vast majority of tantric saints and actual tantric gurus were/are completely celibate.
New Age philosophy is big in America these days, and there are people who borrow a smattering of various faith traditions and call it what they want (which they have every right to do, thanks to freedom of/from religion). But I was deeply saddened to realize that the vast majority of your readership (and obviously the interviewer) had zero grasp of what the tantric faith and practices actually involve and will walk away with a very incorrect and skewed view of this ancient and beautiful tradition. For a magazine that serves an area of the world with a larger population of Hindus than almost anywhere else in the world outside of India, I was disappointed to say the least.
Bhairav
via e-mail Editor's note: Due to a production error, the last six words of the story—”not,” “prostitutes,” “we're,” “teachers,” “and” and “therapists”—were cut off. To read the complete ending, log onto www.ocweekly.com/ink/01/31/weekly-lemons.php. YUCKS
Congratulations on the outstanding piece by Alison M. Rosen describing her love for the “art” of Thomas Kinkade (“Aaaiiiiiiiieeeeeee!!!” April 6). I started reading it without checking to see who the author was, and it was so good I assumed it was written by Rebecca Schoenkopf. It's not often I read something that makes me laugh out loud. More like that, please.
John McGraw
via e-mailDON HAD BALLS
Re: Jim Washburn's “Clear-Cutting Sherwood Forest,” March 30: I, too, wonder what happened to Don Elder and the Sherwood Forest bookstore. I met Don at Disneyland during the summer of 1966; we drove submarines for several years and partied too hardy. Unlike Don, who had the balls to be a conscientious objector and run an underground bookstore and paper, I got stuck in Alabama and Georgia doing Army reserve time during much of the Amerika 1970 debacle you mentioned. Don was also a math genius. I was once with him in line at a Tustin supermarket check-out, and he already had the sweet young checker dialed-in to his politics. He handed over about $10 against about $40 in food and booze purchases —a real steal. I only hope Don's liver has held out. I can visualize him surfin' in a Mexican sunset—Mazatln and the bug-ridden beaches of the San Blas jungles were a favorite haunt.
Bruce Boycks
Labeena Gooch
Like Washburn, I was in a troubled, transitional period in my life when I was reading From Out of Sherwood Forest (in 1970, I was 21 years old and in my junior year as a chemistry undergraduate at UC Irvine). If you need access to all of the issues of From Out of Sherwood Forest, you might check out the Special Collections area of UCI's general library. I did this myself 10 years ago. The UCI library staff does not advertise this fact and some craftiness may be necessary in order to gain access: at that time, I was permitted only to review copies of From Out of Sherwood Forestwith a pencil and notepad; no pens are permitted nor any photocopying. I suppose a Minox camera might be handy for this type of situation.
Steve Lange
Long Beach
Washburn writes, “Something that's easily forgotten, however, in this time when youth is co-opted, anesthetized and raised in a climate of overriding cynicism, is just how betrayed one felt then to be in that first generation who discovered that everything they'd been raised on was a lie.” Pardon me, Jim—the “first”? Tell that to the World War I generation of any combatant country. Tell that to the Civil War generation. Tell that to Thoreau in his prison cell, protesting the Mexican-American War. And that's just in America—don't get me started on Europe in the 14th century. I really wish sometimes that Boomers were secure enough in themselves to not make these “We invented 'blank'” (whatever “blank” might be) statements. Read some history and realize you've been fighting some good fights, but fights that stretch back through time.
Hal O'Brien
Costa MesaDept. of Corrections
In the “As Seen At” column on April 5, the photos were taken at the Boogie, not Club Rubber. We apologize for the error. How could we have thought that was Club Rubber when it was so cleary the Boogie?! Damn photo editors!
