For some years, I lived in a small retreat house at a Tibetan Buddhist center, nestled in a quiet, wooded landscape. It was a new, meticulously clean space with no rotting food or garbage. There was nothing that should have attracted swarms of flies. Yet, there they were: clinging to the screens on the front of the house, a dark, buzzing mass that never seemed to disappear. It didn’t matter the season, the weather, or my efforts to get rid of them.
At the time, I was undergoing what many in the spiritual world would call a Kundalini awakening, an intense, often overwhelming process where powerful spiritual energy rises through the spine, the chakras, and the channels of the subtle body. But there was nothing peaceful or transcendent about what I was experiencing. Instead of clarity and enlightenment, I suffered intensely. My body burned, my mind was tormented, and I felt under siege.
During that time, I was receiving visits, both physically and astrally, from various gurus and deities associated with Tibetan Buddhism. They would appear in dreams and visions, and in ways that were difficult to explain in rational terms. Despite these encounters, my suffering deepened. My body felt like it was being torn apart, my mind filled with fear, and my energy drained to the point of collapse.
As I struggled, I began to suspect that the flies weren’t just a coincidence. In spiritual traditions across the world, flies have long been associated with decay, demonic forces, and sorcery. In Christianity, Beelzebub, one of the chief demons, is known as the “Lord of the Flies.” In some indigenous shamanic practices, swarms of flies indicate spiritual corruption or an entity feeding off suffering.
Tibetan Buddhism, for all its outward beauty and mystical allure, is deeply entwined with tantric and shamanic practices that most Westerners don’t fully understand. Tantric rituals involve elaborate visualizations, empowerments, and the summoning of deities. But these deities are not mere symbols but are powerful spiritual forces. When a practitioner takes part in these rituals, they are essentially opening doors to these entities, inviting them into their lives, their minds, and their bodies.
I came to realize that I was not simply experiencing the effects of Kundalini awakening, nor was I being guided by compassionate, enlightened beings. Instead, I was being attacked, manipulated, and drained by forces I had unknowingly allowed in. The gurus I had once trusted, who claimed to be working for my spiritual liberation, were not what they seemed. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, they had unleashed something dark into my life.
The flies at my retreat house were more than just a physical nuisance. They were an omen, a manifestation of the unseen forces at play. They clung to my house as the spiritual attacks intensified, seeming to feed off the energy of my suffering. Eventually after two or three years, the flies dropped off, but my troubles had only begun.
For those drawn to the mystical allure of Tantra and Tibetan Buddhism, I offer a warning: things are not always what they seem. Beneath the beautiful rituals, the elaborate thangkas, and the poetic teachings lies a world that can be deeply dangerous. The spiritual forces summoned in these traditions are real and they do not always have your best interests in mind.
If you find yourself suffering inexplicably, if you are experiencing intense spiritual distress, and if strange phenomena, like the endless buzzing of flies, begin to manifest around you, pay attention. Sometimes, it’s a warning that demons have been summoned to destroy your life.
Tantric Deception 