According to Osho, tantric sex is the meditative use of sexual energy as a doorway beyond ego and separation—a ‘small death’ consciously prolonged into deep, timeless orgasmic awareness. It neither indulges nor represses; it transforms the brief peak of sex into abiding presence, creativity, and union with ultimate reality. Thus sex becomes a key to transcendence, turning instinct into one of the highest forms of meditation.
It’s using sex as a calm, aware practice to gently melt the “me” feeling so you feel peaceful, connected, and creative—instead of just chasing thrills or avoiding sex.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
What is tantric sex? After 'monkey sex' and after 'love-bliss sex', before the highest cosmic and religious sex in which no partner is needed, in which the cosmos is the partner, isn't there tantric sex in which two partners are involved, a sex act which is a meditation based on certain techniques?
Many things will happen to the world. First, wars will become impossible. 'There will be no Vietnams and no Israels, because people will never accumulate so much anger in them that they have to kill, and kill millions. Many things will happen to the world if people are natural. Then they will not shout so much as you think they will shout. Right now they are allowed to shout they will shout -- but for how long? If they are given complete freedom, shouts and abusing and condemnation and fights will start disappearing from the world. It is a vicious circle. It is as if you have been starving a person and you don't allow him to go close to the fridge. And you say 'If we allow him he will eat too much. ' And you have been starving him -- and now you are afraid if you allow…
At the start of sexual union keep attentive on the fire in the beginning, and so continuing, avoid the embers in the end.
WHEN IN SUCH EMBRACE YOUR SENSES ARE SHAKEN AS LEAVES, ENTER THIS SHAKING. EVEN REMEMBERING UNION, WITHOUT THE EMBRACE, TRANSFORMATION. ON JOYOUSLY SEEING A LONG ABSENT FRIEND, PERMEATE THIS JOY. WHEN EATING OR DRINKING, BECOME THE TASTE OF FOOD OR DRINK, AND BE FILLED. Once you know this, even the partner is not needed. You can simply remember the act and enter into it. But first you must have the feeling. If you know the feeling, you can enter into the act without the partner. This is a little difficult, but it happens. And unless it happens, you go on being dependent, a dependency is created. For so many reasons it happens. If you have had the feeling, if you have known the moment when you were not there but only a vibrating energy had become one and there was a circle with the partner, in that moment there was…
"how often should one indulge in sex in order to help and not to hinder the meditation process?"
The tantric love act can be done as much as you like. The ordinary sex act cannot be done as much as you like because you are losing energy in it, and your body will have to wait to regain it. And when you regain it, you will only lose it again. This looks absurd. The whole life is spent in gaining and losing, regaining and losing: it is just like an obsession. The second thing to be remembered: you may or may not have observed that when you look at animals you can never see them enjoying sex. In intercourse, they are not enjoying themselves. Look at baboons, monkeys, dogs or any kind of animals. In their sex act you cannot see that they are feeling blissful or enjoying it -- you cannot! It seems to be just a mechanical act, a natural force pushing them towards it. If…
Verse (Sanskrit): ओशो, काम-ऊर्जा को ध्यान व समाधि की दिशा में रूपांतरित करने की साधना में तंत्र का क्या-क्या योगदान है? कृपया इसकी रूप-रेखा प्रस्तुत करें। Transliteration: ośo, kāma-ūrjā ko dhyāna va samādhi kī diśā meṃ rūpāṃtarita karane kī sādhanā meṃ taṃtra kā kyā-kyā yogadāna hai? kṛpayā isakī rūpa-rekhā prastuta kareṃ| Translation: Osho, in the sadhana of transmuting sex-energy toward meditation and samadhi, what are Tantra’s contributions? Please present its outline. Tantra is nondual. It accepts the One alone. That which is called evil is also a form of that One. That which is called inauspicious is also a form of that One. In Tantra’s mind there is no condemnation of anyone—condemnation simply is not. G. N. M. Tyrrell has written a book: “Grades of Significance.” In the Tantric vision the differences in life are differences only in degrees of significance.
Isn't tantra a way of indulgence?
But Tantra is not indulgence at all. The repressive people have always thought that Tantra is indulgence; their minds are so much obsessed. For example: a man who goes to a monastery and lives there without ever seeing a woman, how can he believe that Saraha is not indulging when he lives with a woman? Not only lives but practises strange things: sitting before the woman naked, the woman is naked, and he goes on watching the woman; or even while making love to the woman he goes on watching. Now, you cannot watch his watching; you can see only that he is making love to a woman. And if you are repressive, your whole repressed sexuality will bubble up. You must start going mad! And you will project all that you have repressed in yourself on Saraha -- and Saraha is not doing anything like that; he is moving…