William Schindler is the founder of Ashram West, and author of three books: Gay Tantra, Blood of the Goddess and Essays on Gay Tantra. Jason Clark, Gadhadhar Das, is a native Oklahoman who became a Hindu this year. He is an education major finishing his senior year. He is 29 and resides with his partner and dog. He leads a Hindu study group called Gita Satsang. Jason is pictured here his conversion

Jason: How did you come to be interested in Hinduism and the Tantric tradition?

William: My first contact with Hinduism came through my father who used to visit an Ashram called Ananda Ashram here in Southern California when I was a child in the early 1960's. Ananda Ashram was founded in 1919 by Swami Paramananda, a disciple of Swami Vivekananda, but the Ashram became independent of the Ramakrishna Order when the founder died. When I was fourteen, I started attending a meditation class at a local Unity church with my best friend from school. His mother had some books on Hinduism, which I borrowed, and which lead me to other books. I read Autobiography of a Yogi and visited the Self-Realization Fellowship, but I wasn't drawn to that path. In the summer before 10th grade I asked my father to take me to visit the Ramakrishna Monastery in Trabuco Canyon, which is relatively near my parental home. It was there that I first remember seeing a photograph of Ramakrishna.

The image of his meditating figure so captured my imagination, I asked my father to buy me some modeling clay so I could fashion a likeness of the photo. At the same time my father got Ramakrishna and His Disciples from the library, and I borrowed the book from him. I remember reading it in one sitting, and after I was done, I felt a great desire to visit the monastery again, but this time without my father and friend. After this second visit I decided I to become a monk of the Ramakrishna Order, and I began reading everything I could get my hands on about the tradition. I got spiritual instruction and then initiation from Swami Prabhavananda, the founder of the Vedanta Society of Southern California, and a disciple of a direct disciple of Ramakrishna.

Through my personal study, and later as a monk of the Order, I explored more deeply the tantric roots of the tradition. I learned the traditional tantric ritual from the chief ritualist of the Order at that time (1976).

Jason: Why did you write Gay Tantra?

William: Writing Gay Tantra was the culmination of over 30 years of personal spiritual practice, and personal and formal education. I perceived a great need in the gay community for a spiritual system that embraces and celebrates gay identities while at the same time tapping into the deepest currents of mystical spirituality. Although the Ramakrishna Order is a celibate one, I had learned that the broader tantric tradition allows and even encourages sexual relationships as part of a whole-life spiritual practice., but it took me most of 30 years to learn how the tradition could be effectively applied to gay-identified persons. One important facet of Gay Tantra is consciously addressing and healing the psychic and spiritual wounds inflicted on gay persons by homophobic cultures and religious institutions. Gay Tantra is a textbook for applying the teachings of traditional Hindu Tantra to modern gay lifestyles.

Jason: What would you say is the overall message of this book?

William: A fully developed and well-integrated gay identity is a positive asset in deeper spiritual life, the goal of which is, of course, enlightenment.

Jason: People in the West tend to think that Tantra is only a sexual system, how would you describe the Tantric path to someone who does not know what it is?

William: The word Tantra is best translated as "spiritual technology." Tantra is a system of spiritual practices designed to help one attain enlightenment. The general approach of Tantra is to integrate all experience in one's spiritual practice and leave nothing out, in contrast to ascetic systems that teach one must give up certain types of experience to attain enlightenment. The goal of the tantric practitioner is to cultivate awareness of the divine in every activity during every waking moment. Tantric rituals and other practices are designed to help one cultivate this kind of continuous awareness of the divine. The goal of Tantra is to spiritualize the whole of life. To the extent that sex is part of one's life, Tantra teaches how to spiritualize sex as well.

Jason: You lead a spiritual community, Ashram West. Tell the readers a little about it and your ministry.

William: I see Ashram West as a spiritual community founded to inspire and guide gay-identified persons to personal fulfillment and spiritual enlightenment. Although at present I am the only resident, I envision a time when other gay men and women may choose to dedicate themselves to spiritual practice and service to the community. Ashram West is ideally a training center for aspiring gay mystics. In my ministry I combine my background as a monk, teacher, and psychotherapist to offer a comprehensive approach to spiritual development and psychological health, the latter being an adjunct to the former. I have chosen to take the message of Gay Tantra into gay bars, still one of the most important social institutions in gay urban communities, through events that raise the community's awareness of our work at the same time raising money to support it. As a member of the Los Angeles Leather Coalition, which I cofounded in 1999, Ashram West participates in community functions such as Pride festivals and leather contests that provide important points of contact for gay people, many of whom have been rejected and otherwise traumatized by mainstream religious groups.

I have chosen to adopt the dress of my peers rather than more traditional monastic garb, in the tradition of many monastic orders whose founders who adopted the simple dress of their time. It is extremely important, I believe, for gay persons to see their lives and lifestyles reflected in their spiritual leaders as a way to imagine themselves as part of a greater spiritual tradition. The Ashram West community in a broader sense ecompasses the whole world connected by email with the Ashram West web site as a hub of information. There are students of Ashram West in Australia, Europe, and Africa, as well as in many parts of the United States.

Jason: What would you say is your overall message to people?

William: Know yourself fully by embracing the totality of who and what you are.

Jason: What prompted you to write the fiction novel, Blood of the Goddess?

William: The love relationship between two of the main characters reflects in some important ways my own relationship with one of my spiritual mentors. Writing the novel gave me a way to express my longing for an ideal spiritual companion and guide who never grows old and never dies.

Jason: What do you believe keeps gay and lesbian people from following a spiritual tradition and how do you believe it could be remedied?

William: As I've mentioned, most traditional religions and spiritual groups are blatantly homphobic. I encounter many gay men who reflect the wounding they've suffered from these traditions by recoiling at any mention of spirituality. At the same time I see a great spiritual longing and aptitude among gay people in general. Ashram West opens a gay-centered window on a deep, psycholgocially sophisticated spiritual system that may enable many gay people who might otherwise not be able to connect with religion or spirituality to do so without having to give up anything of who they are as gay people.

Jason: How can the average reader help the ministry of Ashram West?

William: The greatest help is to put the teachings into practice in one's own life, especially to adopt a daily spiriitual practice. Those who have material resources can dedicate some of that to the work. We need a facility to house residents and guests and to hold retreats, classes, and celebrations. We need money to maintain facilities and promote our work. People can oraganize groups in their locality and sponsor visits from me. In time more teachers can be trained to take over the work. Those who live near Los Angeles can volunteer to help at fund raisers and offer their talents in ways I may not even be able to imagine yet. Gay people in general are an intelligent, resourceful, and creative lot, and we can accomplish anything, if we can focus our attention and energy on a goal.

Information on contacting the Ashram...