What is Tantra?
Tantra is an ancient body of practices and philosophy that chart a path of personal transformation and spiritual attainment. It is sex and body positive, honoring the physical along with the spiritual.
Emerging from the mists of prehistoric South Asia, it has, over the millennia, woven together threads of the highest and most abstract of Vedic wisdom with the magic and earth-based intuitions of tribal shamans.
About Pǎo Shan
Păo Shan is enthusiastically committed to integrating life energies. He spent two and a half years living full-time in a Zen Buddhist Monastery in Michigan, and was lay-ordained as a Sotō Zen Monk in 2021.
The mind-training Păo Shan received throughout his time at the Monastery allowed him to discover a clarity of negotiating with his existence as consciousness, simultaneously experiencing both itself and the mind and sense perceptions of the human vessel it hosts. He discovered his practice also needed to include this innate, human, sensual and erotic life-force energy and joy.
Pǎo's direct connection with Indic (Himalayan) Tantra began in 2020, when he met Swami Ravi Rudra Bharati (formerly Rudolph Ballentine, MD), founder and spiritual leader of Dancing Shiva Tantra Monastery & Healing Center in Black Mountain, NC. Pǎo became a student of Swami Ravi in 2022, and is currently completing a three-year Tantra Teacher's Training Program.
Pǎo is the director and lead teacher of the Himalayan Tantra Men’s Healing Tribe, a group of gay and bi-sexual/curious men, exploring the connections between the spiritual and the erotic.
Dancing Shiva Tantra Monastery & Healing Center
Dancing Shiva Tantra Monastery and Healing Center is the home of Pǎo Shan's teacher, Swami Ravi Rudra Bharati. It is nestled in the misty Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, just east of Asheville. Its focus is authentic classic tantra, emphasizing the inner marriage between each person’s inner Shiva (“masculine”) and Shakti (“feminine”).
“Sacred Intimacy” can mean many things, depending on the practitioner.
For me, it is a conscious space where we explore the integration of body, mind, prana, spirit, and erotic energy—together.
This is not therapy, and it is not a replacement for therapy. I do not work within a licensed or clinical modality. What I offer is presence, awareness, and a consent-centered space for honest exploration.
At the heart of this work is the understanding that our sensual and erotic energy is not separate from our spiritual life—it is part of it. When we bring awareness to it, rather than suppress or avoid it, it becomes a pathway to clarity, connection, and expansion.
We begin with a simple conversation.
You share where you are, what is arising for you—physically, emotionally, erotically—and what you are seeking. From there, we shape the session together. The work is always guided by your intention, and by what feels aligned and possible in the moment.
Sessions may include breath-work, meditation, somatic awareness, movement, conscious touch, or the exploration of erotic energy in a grounded and intentional way. Sometimes the work is subtle. Sometimes it is deeply activating. The focus is always on awareness and integration.
This is a space where you can speak freely—about desire, confusion, resistance, longing, or disconnection. Nothing is forced. Nothing is assumed. We move at a pace that supports your nervous system and your capacity to stay present.
I only step into what I feel I can hold with clarity and integrity. This is a collaborative process, and we continuously adjust based on what is true and useful for you and your healing process. Confidentiality and boundaries are essential. We create a clear container at the beginning of each session and close it intentionally at the end. What is explored within that space remains private and respected.
Find all of Pǎo's Online and In-person Events in one place - your one stop protal to nude Meditations, Yoga Sessions, and erotic practice and tantra explorations
