Tantra

What does sex have to do with Tantra

2008-01-26T03:49:00.001-08:00

Tantra is an ancient path of meditation with roots in both Hindu and Tibetan Buddhist spirituality. It is called the "Royal Path" because, in ancient times, Tantra was the

spiritual path taken only by those who had mastered all other paths. Tantric writings date back over 5,000 years and are still used in many modern meditation teachings today.

Of these writings, perhaps the best known is the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra. The Vigyan Bhairav is a Hindu Tantric text which consists of 112 meditations designed specifically to center, to bring the meditator to a single point of focus, that point being this moment, and this moment only. It has been said that Tantra is the fast track to enlightenment by virtue of the sophistication required to practice its meditations. It is the Tantric's ability to surrender to the paradox of duality in every moment that hones him or her to the sharpness of adeptdom.
Of the 112 Tantric meditations given in the Vigyan Bhairav, only 3 of these are sexual meditations. So, why the focus on sex in Tantra?

Why are so many Tantric explorations begun in the sexual realm? If Tantra is a science of meditation that includes all of life and living, why do the teachers of modern times bring so much emphasis to the sexual aspects of the path?
It's true that Tantra views every facet of human experience, including sex, as potential for personal transformation and self-actualization.
For the Tantric, life is a meditation. Every activity . . .eating, drinking, breathing, dancing, making love . . . can be entered into with awareness, bringing a quality of meditation into even these simplest of acts. Yet, the

emphasis given to sex and sexual ecstasy within Tantra today is cause for much controversy. Yes, sex is a basic human experience; in fact, none of us would be here without it, but isn't all the focus on sex in Tantra today just a hedonistic indulgence for spiritual gluttons?
Truly, sex is a very important part of human life for the purpose of procreation, but sex as meditation? What does sex have to do with Tantra?

Because Tantra finds its momentum in surfing the abyss created by duality, what better more challenging - abyss than that of yin and yang? That chasm between action and receptivity? The basic duality of being alive. And what better place to dive in and experience it all than in sexual orgasm? No other human experience demands such a tenuous balance between focused activity and total surrender. And there is such power in it, so much of life and death in it. To enter this moment with total awareness, to taste the orgasm as meditation, is to invite the abyss within . . . to experience the chasm fully. Intimacy with reality brings to the meditator the direct experience of oneness. Not oneness as a concept.
Not oneness as an attainment. But oneness as a living reality, as the natural state of the universe, oneness felt through the human senses.

The meditations of Tantra center, for the most part, around the five senses: sight, smell, hearing, tastes and touch. It is through these five senses that we experience our world. Our senses bring the world "inside" us and make it possible for us to interact with it intimately. Each of our senses has yin qualities and yang qualities. In order to taste one must take a bite, in order to hear one must listen, to see one must look. Sensual, and very sexual. To enter and be entered, the weaving of the two bringing forth a third quality that cannot exist with out the other two. The flavor cannot exist without the meeting of the fruit and the mouth . . . the color cannot exist without the meeting of the rainbow and the eye . . . and orgasm itself cannot exist without the meeting of desire and fulfillment.
The polarity of the opposites reveals the single point of the center and delivers it to the Tantric via the doorway of the senses in every moment of living, in every activity of life. Tantra seeks not to encourage nor deny free sexual expression and sexual experience,

Tantra simply acknowledges that, as human beings, we are sexual beings. And that sex, as any other human experience, holds within it the mystery of life.

Regard

Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar

Contact : 0922 4399 275

WWW.DHYANSANJIVANI.ORG

What does sex have to do with Tantra

2008-01-26T03:49:00.000-08:00

Tantra is an ancient path of meditation with roots in both Hindu and Tibetan Buddhist spirituality. It is called the "Royal Path" because, in ancient times, Tantra was the

spiritual path taken only by those who had mastered all other paths. Tantric writings date back over 5,000 years and are still used in many modern meditation teachings today.

Of these writings, perhaps the best known is the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra. The Vigyan Bhairav is a Hindu Tantric text which consists of 112 meditations designed specifically to center, to bring the meditator to a single point of focus, that point being this moment, and this moment only. It has been said that Tantra is the fast track to enlightenment by virtue of the sophistication required to practice its meditations. It is the Tantric's ability to surrender to the paradox of duality in every moment that hones him or her to the sharpness of adeptdom.
Of the 112 Tantric meditations given in the Vigyan Bhairav, only 3 of these are sexual meditations. So, why the focus on sex in Tantra?

Why are so many Tantric explorations begun in the sexual realm? If Tantra is a science of meditation that includes all of life and living, why do the teachers of modern times bring so much emphasis to the sexual aspects of the path?
It's true that Tantra views every facet of human experience, including sex, as potential for personal transformation and self-actualization.

For the Tantric, life is a meditation. Every activity . . .eating, drinking, breathing, dancing, making love . . . can be entered into with awareness, bringing a quality of meditation into even these simplest of acts. Yet, the

emphasis given to sex and sexual ecstasy within Tantra today is cause for much controversy. Yes, sex is a basic human experience; in fact, none of us would be here without it, but isn't all the focus on sex in Tantra today just a hedonistic indulgence for spiritual gluttons?
Truly, sex is a very important part of human life for the purpose of procreation, but sex as meditation? What does sex have to do with Tantra?

Because Tantra finds its momentum in surfing the abyss created by duality, what better more challenging - abyss than that of yin and yang? That chasm between action and receptivity? The basic duality of being alive. And what better place to dive in and experience it all than in sexual orgasm? No other human experience demands such a tenuous balance between focused activity and total surrender. And there is such power in it, so much of life and death in it. To enter this moment with total awareness, to taste the orgasm as meditation, is to invite the abyss within . . . to experience the chasm fully. Intimacy with reality brings to the meditator the direct experience of oneness. Not oneness as a concept.
Not oneness as an attainment. But oneness as a living reality, as the natural state of the universe, oneness felt through the human senses.

The meditations of Tantra center, for the most part, around the five senses: sight, smell, hearing, tastes and touch. It is through these five senses that we experience our world. Our senses bring the world "inside" us and make it possible for us to interact with it intimately. Each of our senses has yin qualities and yang qualities. In order to taste one must take a bite, in order to hear one must listen, to see one must look. Sensual, and very sexual. To enter and be entered, the weaving of the two bringing forth a third quality that cannot exist with out the other two. The flavor cannot exist without the meeting of the fruit and the mouth . . . the color cannot exist without the meeting of the rainbow and the eye . . . and orgasm itself cannot exist without the meeting of desire and fulfillment.
The polarity of the opposites reveals the single point of the center and delivers it to the Tantric via the doorway of the senses in every moment of living, in every activity of life. Tantra seeks not to encourage nor deny free sexual expression and sexual experience,

Tantra simply acknowledges that, as human beings, we are sexual beings. And that sex, as any other human experience, holds within it the mystery of life.

Regard

Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar

Contact : 0922 4399 275

WWW.DHYANSANJIVANI.ORG

Yogini Tantra

2008-01-26T03:48:00.000-08:00

You will be see new article soon !

Regard

Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar

Contact : 0922 4399 275

WWW.DHYANSANJIVANI.ORG

The Philosophy of Tripura Tantra

2008-01-26T03:39:00.000-08:00

Proportionately slight effort is enough for erasing slight vasanas. He whose mind has been made pure by good deeds in successive past incarnations, gains supreme results quite out of proportion to the little effort he may make - Tripura Rahasya, XIX, 65-66, Ramanashram edition

This is another article from the Sarasvati Bhavana Studies series, written by the eminent tantrik scholar Gopinath Kaviraj, which is out of copyright. Here, he deals with the Tripurarahasya, and more especially with the 36 tattvas of the Kaula Shri Vidya and Trika systems. Words which were in Sanskrit in the original have been put into iTrans format.

The Tripurarahasya exists in several English translations.

The Philosophy of Tripura Tantra
It is a truism that every system of theocratic culture in India has behind it a consistently evolved system of philosophic thought. It is difficult, in the present state of our knowledge, to give a definite idea of the number of such systems in ancient and mediaeval times and even of the extent of literature comprised under each. Continued progress in researches in this field is likely to yield fresh materials favourable to the better understanding of the true history and philosophic value of these systems. The work known under the name of "Tripurarahasya" (Jnana Khanda) forms indeed a highly important document in the history of Indian Philosophy, so far as the system of a section of the Sakta Tantra is concerned, and should be appreciated from that point of view.

The systematisation of Tantric Philosophy, on its Sakta side, does not, seem to have yet been seriously attempted. The Sarva Darsana Sangraha of Madhavacharya ignores the Sakta School altogether. So do the other compendia, earlier and later. (e.g. Saddarsana Samuchchaya of Haribhadra, Sarvasiddhanta Sangraha of Sankaracharya etc.). There are different lines of Sakta culture still in existence and we have reason to believe that some at least of these have preserved the philosophical tradition. The literature associated with the third Mahavidya, named Sodasi or Tripura Sundari is very extensive and presents several interesting feature of Tantrik literature. It is possible to construct a regular philosophy of the school out of the materials available to us and in this work of reconstruction the present treatise will, it is hoped, prove to be substantially helpful.

The Tripurarahasya, which claims to treat of the secrets of the Tripura Culture in all its aspects, is said to consist of three sections - viz. Mahatmya, Jnana and Charya. The Jnana Khanda has been published at Benares in a new edition1. The Mahatmya Khanda, of which (as of the Jnana Khanda) we have an original manuscript in the Government Sanskrit College, Benares, was entrusted for publication to the publishers of the Chowkhambha Sanskrit Series, Benares. The third section is apparently lost, no trace of it having yet been found. It is an extensive work of which the first two sections contain 2163 and 6687 verses.

The work is attributed to one Haritayana and the commentary called Tatparyadipika is from the pen of one Dravida Sri Nivasa, son of Vaidyanatha Diksita, resident of the village of Mahapuskara in the Dravida country. The commentary was composed in 4932 Kali Era (1831 A. D.). The text is in 22 chapters.

The book is in the form of a discourse delivered by Haritayana to Narada. This discourse professes to be a reproduction of the teachings of Dattatreya to Parasurama and claims to be based on personal realisation and reason.

The plan of the work may be thus summed up. Parasurama having heard Dattatreya's lectures on the greatness of the Supreme Deity Tripura Sundari as embodied in the Mahatmya Khanda expressed a desire to the Master to be enlightened on the methods of worship for propitiating the Goddess. He was subsequently initiated in due form into the mysteries of Tripura worship and practiced penances for 12 years, under instructions from his tutor, at a hermitage on the Mahendra Hill in the South. In the course of his spiritual exercises the ultimate problems of life and reality began to trouble his mind, and being unable to reach a solution himself be betook himself to the feet of his Guru for light and guidance. He has already heard a teaching on the subject from Samvarta, the great Avadhuta, on his discomfiture by Rama Chandra in the Treta age, but he had not been able to realise it at the time. He requested the master to explain to him the secrets of Samvarta's lessons, so that his doubts might be dispelled for ever. Dattatreya's response to Parasurama's question, interspersed with Parasurama's cross-questions here and there, constitutes the body of the Jnana Khanda. It would thus appear that the text of the Tripura Rahasya, which embodies the teachings of Haritayana to Narada, represents an old traditional lore of secret science originally revealed by Samvarta and subsequently expounded by Dattatreya to Parasurama.

The name Parasurama stands eminent among the votaries of Tripura. The Kalpa Sutra, treating of the secrets of the Tripura worship in ten Khandas and containing 335 Sutras, is attributed to Parasurama who is described as a scion of the family of Bhrgu, a disciple of Shiva and the son of Jamadagni and Renuka. This description of Parasurama implies that the Parasurama of the Tripura Rahasya is believed to be identical with the author of the Kalpa Sutras, though Pandit A. Mahadeva Sastri has, perhaps rightly questioned this identity2. The tradition has it that Dattatreya was the author of a Samhita work in 18000 verses which was known under his own name (viz. Datta Samhita). Parasurama studied the extensive work and, to bring its contents within easy reach of students, summarised it in a body of Sutras distributed into 50 sections (Khandas). This contained 6000 Sutras, The Samhita and the Sutra were both summed up, in the form of a dialogue between Dattatreya and Parasurama, by Sumedha (pupil of Parasurama). This tradition is found recorded in the Tripurarahasya, Mahatmya Khanda.

It is evident that the work of Sumedha, who was of the Harita family and consequently known as Haritayana, is really to be identified with the Tripurarahasya itself rather than with the Kalpasutras of Parasurama as Laksmana Ranade has done3, because the Parasurama Kalpa Sutra is not in the shape of a dialogue between Datta and Parasurama and is not attributed to Sumedha, whereas the Tripurarahasya has the form of a similar dialogue) 4and is ascribed to Sumedha Haritayana.

The line of Tripura worship is represented by several teachers. We have already referred to Dattatreya, and Parasurama. The names of Durvasas, Agastya, Lopamudra and several others may be added in this connection. Durvasas is associated with the authorship of a mahimnaH stotra of the Goddess, where he is described in the colophon as sakalAgamAchArya. Nityananda, who wrote a commentary on the above Stotra, says that Durvasas inter alia, Krodha Bhattaraka is really identical with Siva Himself, who is the Master of the teachers of all the Agamas (sakalAgamAchAryachakravatI.m), as born from the womb of Anurapa.

The Supreme Goddess is variously named - as Tripura, Sundari Lalita, Sodasi, Sri Vidya, Kamesvari, etc. She is called Tripura, in as much as Her Body consists of three Saktis, viz. Brahma, Vaisnavi and Raudri.5 The Tripurarahasya speaks of Her in the following terms:

tripurAnantashaktyaikyarUpiNI sarvasAxiNI .
sA chitiH sarvataH pUrNA parichChedavivarjanAt.h ..

The partial appearance of the Self as thus occurring is known as bAhyAvabhAsa, because such appearance implies the manifestation of what may be described as empty space which is other than the Self. Remembering that Chaitanya is all-embracing and can have nothing outside it - for if there were any such thing it would not shine out and would therefore be non-existent - what is popularly called the external is indeed only a reflection on Chaitanya as on a mirror. When the universe comes into being it does so as only an image within the unique Self. The universe as such is varied but underlying it is the pure and simple unity of Chaitanya revealing itself to the eye of diligent search (anusandhAna). The manifestation of the universe, due to the Free Will (svAtantrya) of the Absolute, is thus a process of Abhasa, - and for the initiation of this process nothing beyond the play of the Will is needed. The material and efficient causes, supposed to be necessary for every product, are held unnecessary.

The peculiar metaphysical position of the Tantra consists in the theory of Abhasa, which is consistent with this position. It rejects the Vivartavada of Neo-Vedanta, because the world is not originally a false appearance due to Error. It is real in the same way as an image is real, but it has no existence apart from the medium in which it is manifested. Its existence is only the existence of the medium. To the Vedantist the world appears as such to the ignorant owing to his ignorance and in the last analysis it is resolved into Maya which is not identical with Brahman and is material; but to a Tantrist the world is real and is expression of the Chit Sakti or Free Will of the Lord and is really spiritual in essence like the Lord Himself. In the last resort it turns back into the Chit Sakti which is never withdrawn, for the Will (svAtantrya) remains, even after the world has disappeared. The Vedanta system has had to fall back on the doctrine of Vivarta, because it denies in a sense svAtantrya to Pure Chaitanya. The first stadium of creation is thus an Abhasa. The second stage which represents the subsequent condition shows how the Chit Sakti, already appearing (AbhAsamAna) in the Pure Chaitanya, further progresses. Maya emerges on the scene now and the Vivarta is the logical outcome. The third stage marks how Maya becomes productive. This is the Parinama or Evolution which gets on till the bhutas spring into manifestation. The fourth stage which represents creation out of the bhutas is known as Arambha or physico-chemical process of genesis. From the supreme stand-point of Tantra, however, the entire Creation is an Abhasa.

As thus realised She is the Eternal and supreme Truth beyond all limitations consequent on time and place. She is the essence of Chaitanya and is called Lalita owing to Her transcendent charms. The Sakti Sangama Tantra observes that it is this Lalita which assumes the form of Krsna as Purusa. 6

Sundari is one of the ten Mahavidyas (Mundamala Tantra, Patala 1). It is said (Ibid) that the ten Vidyas combined form a Mahavidya, but Sodasi is a Mahavidya by Herself. The Todala Tantra (Patala 1) calls Maha Tripura Sundari by the name of Panchami with Siva (five-faced) as Her Bhairava. The Sakti Sangama however (Purascharyarnava, pp 13-14) makes Lalitesvara Her Bhairava. This is different from Tripura Bhairava (or Vikarala, the companion of Chhinna) and Ghora Bhairava (i. e. Kala Bhairava, the companion of Dhumavati).

The system teaches that the Supreme Reality is of the nature of Pure Intelligence, which is self-luminous and unaffected by the limitations of time, space and causality. It has absolute freedom (pUrNa svAtantrya) in as much as its Power or Will (sa.mkalpa) is unrestricted. This Power is really identical with the Essence of Chaitanya and remains either involved in it or expresses itself as its inalienable property. In the technical phraseology of the Shastra it is known as Vimarsa or Krpa, and is an eternal attribute of Chaitanya. The freedom referred to above implies that the Essence of Consciousness is free from vikalpas and is fundamentally distinct from matter. The Chaitanya is free, as it does not depend on anything else for its own revelation of matter.

The Power exists in a two-fold condition. What is generally known as creation or dissolution is in reality consequent on the manifestation of this Power or on its abeyance. It always functions, but its function is sometimes (e. g. during the creative period) expressed as the manifestation of the Universe till now absorbed in and identified with the Essence of Reality and at other times expressed as self-manifestation alone.

The Supreme Reality of the Agamas would thus seem to differ in a sense from the Brahman of Vedanta. Though both are essentially of the nature of Intelligence there is a fundamental distinction between the two. The Absolute of the Tantra is endowed with Power which is held to be identical with Itself and by virtue of which It is described as the Free Agent (svatantrakarttA). Freedom to act forms the essence of Chaitanya. In other words, according to the Tantric viewpoint, Siva and Sakti are aspects of one and the same Reality. But in the current non-dualistic school of Vedanta Brahman, which as in this Tantra is described as of the nature of Pure Consciousness, is no better than an action-less Locus (adhikaraNa), on which the Power, which is attached to It mysteriously and is neither identical with nor distinct from It, plays. It is conceived as a Pitha or passive background in relation to the active power operating on It. The Sakti, called Maya in the Vedanta School, is not thus of the nature of Brahman but is material (anirvachanIya), though it is held to be, of course mysteriously, subservient to it. But as conceived in the Tantra Sakti or Pure Freedom is absolutely non-material. The term Chit Sakti used to denote this power implies its spiritual essence.

What in the Tantras is known as vAhyAbhAsa or the manifestation of a non-ego (anahambhAva) within the Pure Ego (shuddhAtma) but appearing as external to it is tha Radical Nescience (mUlavidyA) of Vedanta. This non-ego is the so called Avyakta (Unmanifest) or Jada Sakti (Matter). But the Freedom or the Spiritual Power (Chit Sakti) of the Lord, as described in the Tantras, is beyond the Nescience referred to above, and to this Power the Advaita Vedanta seems to be a stranger.

In as much as the Avidya itself or the Material Power is a product of the Spiritual Power which is the ultimate source of all existence there is no discrepancy in the statement, often found in Tantric Literature, that this Power has three distinct states of its existence: -

(a) During the universal dissolution when the Self is free from all vikalpas the Sakti exists as Pure Chit Sakti or Chit Prakrti.

(b) When the vikalpas are on the point of merging - when though there is no vikalpa as such there is yet a tendency in the direction of vikalpas - the Sakti is called Maya Sakti or Jada Prakrti.

(c) But when the vikalpas are fully developed and materiality becomes dense the Sakti appears as Avidya.

It has already been observed that the appearance of the universe follows upon the self-expression of the Divine Power and the Cosmic End follows from the withdrawal of the self-same Power.

After the period of Cosmic Night is over the Will of the Lord, in co-operation with the mature adrsta of Jivas, manifests only partially, as it were, the Essence of the Self, whereby the Self is revealed as limited.

The appearance of limitation is thus the emergence of not-self, known as Avidya or Jada Sakti, called also by the name of Void (shUnya), or Prakriti or Absolute Negation or Darkness (tamaH) or Akasa. This is the first stage in the order of creation and represents the first limitation imposed on the Limitless. 7 The erroneous belief, generated through the Freedom of the Lord - the Self - that the Ego is partial (ekadeshika) and not full and universal (pUrNa) is responsible for the appearance of this Something which being a portion of the Self is yet outside of it and free from self-consciousness and is described as not-self or by any other name as shown above.

Thus the Supreme Reality splits itself spontaneously, as it were, into two sections - one appearing as the subject and the other as the object. The Purnahanta which is the essence of Supreme Reality disappears after this cleavage: the portion to which limited egoism attaches being the subject and the other portion free from egoism the object. The object as thus making its appearance is the Unmanifest (avyakta) Nature from which the entire Creation emanates and which is perceived by the subject as distinct from itself.

It has been observed that Chaitanya is of the nature of self-luminous Light (sphurat.h prakAsha), which may shine on itself (svAtmA), in which case it is known as Ahanta, or I-ness may rest on the Non-ego (anAtmA) and express itself as Idanta or This-ness. The essence of Chaitanya consists in the fact that the light (prakAsha) is always confined to itself. This universal Ego or 'I' stands, behind all dualism. The Supreme Ego is universal, as there is nothing to limit (parichCheda) or to differentiate (vyAvR^itti) it, and the entire visible universe exists in identity with it. But this characteristic by its very nature is absent from Matter (jaDa), which is not self-manifest. Just as light and heat co-exist in fire, in the same way universal Ahanta and Freedom or Sakti co-exist in Chaitanya. This freedom is Maya which though essentially identical with Chaitanya (chidekarUpa) brings out varieties of an infinite kind, but in bringing out this variety it does not in the least swerve from the Essence.

The appearance of the Universe in Pure Chaitanya is the action of Avidya, which has three distinct stages:

(a) The first is the germinal state (bIjAvasthA), when the material power, which is still in its earliest phase of manifestation, is pure. Matter does not assert itself at this stage and consequently there is no differentiation in experience. In other words, it does not yet appear as distinct from Chaitanya, though potentially it exists. This stage is represented by the five pure Tattvas, viz., Siva, Sakti, Sadasiva, Suddha vidya and Isvara.

(i) The Avidya, which has been described above as being the Chaitanya in its limited appearance as an object external to the subject is called Siva. In pure Chaitanya, owing to the play of Its own Will, an infinite number of limited aspects (spA.msha) arises. These are mutually distinct. From this point of view to every limited aspect of Chit there is a corresponding object external to it (bAhyAbhAsa), but to the Unlimited Chit or Pure Self (pUrNashrAtmA = parashiva) there is no externality. The universal (sAmAnya) common to all the pure and limited Chit aspects referred to above is called Siva Tattva. This Tattva is thus a Samanya holding within it all the Visesas, but Para Siva or Pure Self is transcendent and above both Samanya and Visesa. Hence Siva Tattva may be more properly described as Pure Chaitanya in its general but conditioned form, free from all Vikalpas and is to be distinguished from the Absolute proper.

(ii) The appearance of Siva (parichChinna nirvikalpachit.h) as aham.h is called Sakti. Although this self-presentative character (aha.mbhAsana) is in the essence of Chit, so that there can be in fact no differentiation between Siva and Sakti as such, the Chit is nevertheless known as Siva in so far as it is free from all visesas and as Sakti by virtue of its characteristic self-awareness (aha.mbhAsana).

(iii)When the self-presentation (aha.mbhAsana) is no longer confined to the Self but is extended to the not-self or the object (mahAshUnya) external to the Self it is known as Sadasiva. This state marks the identification of the Self with the not-self in the form "ahameva idam.h" and indicates predominance of spirit over matter.

(iv) But when matter prevails and the consciousness assumes the form "idam.h aham.h" the state is technically called Isvara.

(v) The term Suddha Vidya is reserved for the state which represents an equality in the presentation of the subjective and objective elements in consciousness.

(b) The second stage in the evolution of Avidya, described as a~nkurAvasthA, represents a further development of difference or materiality, when the subtle products of matter and spirit make their appearance. In this mixed condition both spirit and matter are equally predominant and the seven mixed (mishra) tattvas, viz, Maya, Kala, Vidya, Raga, Kala and Niyati reveal themselves.

(i) The confirmation of difference due to the Free Will of the Supreme, which characterises the second stage, has the effect of reversing the normal relation between spirit and matter. Thus while in the first stage described above Spirit or Chit Sakti dominates matter or Jada Sakti which exists in a rudimentary state, merged in spirit or Self, the second stage shows the preponderance of matter over spirit. Consciousness loses its supremacy and becomes a quality inherent in the material subject. All this is due to the emergence and development of bhedasa.mkalpa in Chaitanya. This material subject - which is matter prevailing over spirit and related to it as a substance to its quality - is called Maya.

(ii-vi) The five aspects of Maya are the five so-called Kanchukas which are the five eternal Saktis of Para Siva in a limited form. The obscuring power of Maya acts is a veil as it were upon the Omnipotence, Omniscience, Self-contentment, Eternity and Freedom of the Supreme Self and thus acting is known as Kala, Vidya, Raga, Kala and Niyati respectively.

(vii) The Pure Self as obscured by Maya and its fivefold activities appears as Purusha with its limitations of action, knowledge, contentment, eternity and freedom.

(c) The third or grossest stage in the evolution of Avidya is represented by the dense products of the mixed tattvas, where matter is overwhelmingly strong. This stands for the group of the twenty four tattvas, from the Primary Prakriti down to Prithivi, constituting the material order.

Prakriti, with which the lower creation begins, is indeed the assemblage (samaShTi) of the Vasanas of all persons with various and beginningless Karmans: it may be fitly described as the body of the Karman Samskaras of the Jivas, considered as inhering in Chit Sakti or Self. This Karma vasana or Prakriti is threefold according as the experience which is the moral outcome of this vasana is pleasant or painful or of the nature of a comatose condition in which neither pleasure nor pain is felt.

The Vasanas exist in a twofold condition, as Avyakta when they lie unmanifest in dreamless sleep or as Chitta when they manifest themselves in dreams and wakeful states. In the dreamless state there can be no experience of pleasure and pain, because the mature Karmans having been worked off through experience the others which are not yet ripe are not ready for fructification. It is a fact that Karmans, when they are matured by time, cause the Jnana Sakti of the Conscious Self to move outwards and have contact with the objective world. In a state of sleep such movement is naturally absent. But the process of time during which the sleep continues acts on the Karmans and matures some of them, so that the Jnana Sakti is allowed to come in touch with the external objects or with their eemblances and sleep is over. The Sakti as thus qualified by the body of Karma-Vasanas leading to contact with the objects and consequent enjoyment (bhoga) is known as Chitta.

The Chitta differs according to the difference of Purusa but it is one with Prakriti in dreamless sleep. Thus the Chitta may be viewed as Purusha or as Prakriti according as the conscious (chiti) or unconscious (avyakta) element prevails in it. It is not therefore a distinct category, but falls either under Purusa or under Prakriti.

Notes

1. This section was originally published in open leaves. But the edition became scarce and the growing interest in Indian philosophical thought rendered a republication of the text necessary.

2. Preface to the edition of the Kalpasutras of Parasurama as published in the Gaekwad's Oriental Series, No. 22, in 1923 (P. VIII).

3. Preface to Parasurama Kalpasutras, P. X.

4. P. Laksmana was well aware of the weakness of his arguments, for he admits that the Kalpa Sutras is not in a dialogue form. He adds however that the concluding passage of the work shows that it is a dialogue between the Master and his pupil (Ibid.) (P.X). But it must be pointed out that there appears to be nothing in the text of the Sutras to warrant this inference.
iha khalu sakalAgamAchArya kravartI.m sAxAt.h shiva eva .
anurUpAgarbhasambhUtaH krodhabhaTTArakAkhadurvAsA mahAmuniH, etc.

5. See Puraischaryarnava, Sundarl Stava P. 20).
kadAchidAdyA lalitA pu.mrUpA kR^iShNagrahA . etc.

6. This is the view of the Sakti Sangama Tantra. But in the Vaisnavism associated with the name of Sri Chaitanya, Lalita is represented, not as identical with Krsna - which position is reserved for Radha -but as a Sakti, whose function is to preside over Nikunja, where the eternal sport of the Divine Couple takes place and from where all are shut out. Cf. Radhatattvasudhanidhi for further particulars.

7. It should always be borne in mind that the Absolute suffers no change, not even when through its power it assumes limitation. It remains always pure and undivided, although to those whose vision is dimmed it appears as multiple.

Regard

Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar

Contact : 0922 4399 275

WWW.DHYANSANJIVANI.ORG

Tantra yoga

2008-01-26T03:28:00.000-08:00

The Sanskrit word TANTRA literally means "warp (on a loom)", or "extension". It proceeds from the verbal roots TAN - "to stretch, expound", and TRA - "to save", which give further hints upon the other meanings of the word TANTRA.

This name is applied both for a certain category of texts of the Oriental spirituality, and for the doctrine, and teachings which they contain. However, the Tantric texts, the TANTRA-s - and there are several hundreds of them: proper TANTRA-s, SHIVA AGAMA-s, VISHNU SAMHITA-s, SHAKTA NIGAMA-s, etc. - are written in a kind of "code language", so that without an oral explanation from a competent GURU, a lot of passages are bound to remain unclear. Moreover, there are still many untranslated, and secret Tantric texts under the dust of forgotten, or private libraries. All these, plus the extremely varied, and complicated nature of Tantrism renders the manipulation of a single definition almost impossible. That is why, it has been found useful to sketch some of the main features of the Tantric system in a detailed manner.

CHARACTERISTICS OF TANTRISM

1. TANTRA YOGA offers an alternative, and practical individual road to salvation, called a SADHANA, beside the Vedic one which is often deemed to be antiquated. It is important to remark here that the true Tantric SADHANA is accessible to people of any caste, social status, age, women as well as men, householders as well as ascetics.

2. The TANTRA-s are presented as the most fit form of teaching for the men of KALI YUGA, that is for the people of the "dark age", in which we live today. KALI YUGA is often connected with the "iron age" of the Greek mythology, and with the "age of the wolf", of the Northern Edda, deemed to have exactly the same meaning. Therefore, nowadays, when the spirituality is declining while man is desperately trying to reintegrate himself in a spiritual reality, it is stated that TANTRA is the last, and best way of salvation.

3. TANTRA has a rigorous metaphysical basis, of a very non-dualist nature. However, according to its opinion an intellectual knowledge is not enough, but there is need of direct, personal experience, which becomes possible only through the agency of SHAKTI, the power, the intense energy. The concept of SHAKTI, the feminine energy is the specific colour of the entire Tantric system.

4. TANTRA recognizes, and expounds mundane aims besides spiritual emancipation, as a lawful goal for a practiser. Its aim is to transform the adept in a kind of super-man, who not only has liberated himself of the Universe, reaching Enlightment, but also - alike the Supreme Lord Himself - is able to rule over it, and control its secret forces. This involves that Tantric methods are applicable for various sorts of practical accomplishments, including astrology, medicine, parapsychology, alchemy, and magic. Many written sources are pre-occupied with the description of supernatural abilities (SIDDHI-s), and the ways to attain them. There remains however, always a connecting thread between the magical, and the spiritual.

5. The eminent place given to the energy entails a brilliant revalorisation of the body. This is not meant with the sense of object of idolatry, like in the contemporary world, but as necessary instrument, unavoidable premises of the spiritual realization. This is due to the perpetually reminded analogy between the macrocosm, and the microcosm, which is the human body: "What is here is everywhere, what is not here is nowhere". A consequence of this fact is the appearance of the HATHA YOGA system in the Tantric schools; system which has as goal neither the "health", nor the "well-being", as it is commonly believed.

6. TANTRA teaches the practice of a special variety of YOGA, destined to transform the animal instincts and functions, by creating an upward movement in the body, along the energy- channels, NADI-s, and through the centre-s of force, CHAKRA-s. The process is most commonly expressed as "raising the KUNDALINI". Connected with this YOGA is the elaboration of a subtle physiology, in which the microcosm of the body is homologized with the macrocosm, and the world of the gods.

7. TANTRA emphasizes the metaphysical, and operative importance of the feminine principle. The Woman, the Goddess, SHAKTI represents for the TANTRIKA-s the universal Power, the energy of bondage and Liberation, who veils and reveals, blinds and illuminates; the world is her toy, and her mirror. Therefore we encounter here a genuine revalorisation of the woman, and perhaps the only spiritual path that acknowledges a total equality between the two sexes, at all levels. The importance of the female manifestations extends on all the levels of the experience, from daily life, till metaphysics.

8. Important are also the speculations upon the mystic nature of speech, and its constituents; the existence is assumed of a phonic creation, parallel to the material phenomena. These revelations are connected with the sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet.

9. This has been developed concretely in the very frequent use of generally short, unintelligible formulas, called MANTRA-s and BIJA-s, correlated with various supernormal powers, and levels of consciousness by means of definite Yogic procedures, and which make the object of cosmic symbolism. Actually, the MANTRA-s are the most efficient instruments, according to TANTRA, and therefore the overwhelming majority of the Tantric texts deals to some extent upon this topic, and its secrets.

10. The general use of other concrete devices, like geometrical designs (YANTRA-s), symbolical representations (MANDALA-s), gestures (MUDRA-s), for the practical accomplishment or expression of metaphysical principles. The supernatural worlds are approached by specific methods of meditation (DHYANA), visualization, worship, etc.

11. The Tantric teachings are structured on several levels, depending on those to whom they address; the traditional texts assert the existence of three different human types: the "divine" one (DIVYA), that practically doesn't exist any more in our age, the "heroic" one (VIRA), which is the best for the Tantric initiation, though rare, and PASHU, "the herd of the Gods", the "animal", that swarms in our dark age. Only the VIRA-s, say the tantric texts, the heros liberated of fear, hate, and absurd shame are qualified for receiving the full of the Tantric revelations, while the others receive an adequate SADHANA, which will first gradually bring them to the heroical condition.

12. Addressing to heroic beings, TANTRA is not so very concerned with theology, or common moral. It is not a trite anarchism that we are talking about, but the need for transcending some of the appearances of the illusory world, for reaching the strongest awakening. Very often the Tantric texts themselves over-emphasize this side, for banishing the narrow-minded aspirants, by the use of a symbolical language: "to pet the breasts of your sister" means to arouse the SHAKTI in ANAHATA CHAKRA, "to put the LINGAM (penis) in the maternal cavity" means to pierce the root-CHAKRA, and so on.

13. Most of the Tantric lines are SHIVA-ite, because of the exceptional aspects of SHIVA: Benefactor, and Terrible, Healer and Destroyer of the evil, Supreme Androgyne.

14. TANTRA emphasizes the absolute necessity of initiation by a qualified spiritual guide, or teacher (GURU), and on constantly following his (or her) directions for spiritual practice. That is why, the Tantric texts use a special set of terminology, inaccessible for the outsiders, and whose "key" is handed over orally by the GURU.

15. In TANTRA there often appears an ambivalence of the divine and human existence, as complementary aspects of the same awesome, grandiose reality.

16. There is also a far-fetched categorization of the reality, especially in the symbolism of the numbers, and speech, which leads to the mysterious science of the breath, and TATTVA-s, and to connections with the ancient alchemical processes of the SIDDHA-s, and the body culture of the HATHA YOGIN-s.

Regard

Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar

Contact : 0922 4399 275

WWW.DHYANSANJIVANI.ORG

Shri Tara Devi

2008-01-26T03:06:00.000-08:00

In the centre [of the island of gems] is the wish fulfilling tree. Under this, a sadhaka should meditate on himself as being one with Tarini, as bright as the rising sun, the utmost sphere of light, in a place surrounded by beautiful maidens with fans and bells, wafted by a gentle breeze bearing the odour of scent and incense - Todala Tantra, IV
Tara is quite well known to the West through Her Tibetan manifestations, but some are unaware of the important position She occupies in the Hindu tantrik pantheon. She is the second of the ten Mahavidyas.
The major sources used on this page are an important Kaula tantra called Brihad Nila Tantra (see below) and the Tararahasya (Secrets of Tara) of Brahmananda Giri. The first deals with the exposition of Nila Sarasvati -- the Sapphire Blue Sarasvati. Sarasvati is the Brahma-Shakti, or spouse of the Supreme Deity in his Creative aspect. The other aspects are Vishnu and Mahesh -- all three symbolised in the three heads of Lord Dattatreya, patron guru of the Natha tradition.
Some have attempted to separate the Hindu Tara from the Tibetan Tara, but there is little doubt that She is the same Devi. This is shown in a reference to Tara in the Hindu Tantrarajatantra, where Her mantra is given as Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha -- identical to the Tibetan version. Here Tara takes her form as Kurukulla.
The various other forms are given in Brihad Nila Tantra and Devirahasya, under the names Nilasarasvati, Aniruddha Sarasvati, Ugra Tara, Tarini. Nilasarasvati gives as the fruit of worshipping Her poesy and eloquence. This, aside from clearly relating Nilasarasvati to White Sarasvati, also points to this Goddess being the Shakti of the Letters of the Alphabet, the Matrika Shakti.
She has an important role in Tantrik cosmology because mantra, words, music are considered to be the very source of the cosmos. As Matrika Shakti She deludes the entire human race with Her Maya of letters, and words. This has been expressed in a Tantrik form, but, practically speaking, it is sufficient to say that much hypnosis (Maya) comes about via the medium of words. Millions of people have lost their lives through this power.
Thus Her power and place in the Tantrik pantheon is quite justified, and Her mantra is described as a Siddha-Vidya, the cause of Maya and Englamouring. The background GIF here is the bija mantra of Sarasvati, Aim.

Abstract of Brihad Nila Tantra

Chapter One

The tantra opens with a request from Devi to Mahakala Bhairava to reveal the Nila Tantra. Bhairava states that this tantra is the secret of all secrets and revealing it will cause lack of sccess. Having it in one's home is like having Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. It protects against all misfortunes and its specific virtue is that through it a person can become a miracle worker. It is the king of all tantras and is the core of the quintessence. Bhairava summarises its contents, which include daily worship (puja), the king of mantras, the rules of puja and preparation of its mantra, optional and occasional rites, the secrets of magical restraint, the rules of Kumari puja, hymns, meditations, how to become eloquent, rites of sacrifice (homa), the attainment of poesy, the secret sadhana, the secret mantra, alchemy, preparation of miraculous ashes (bhasma) and everything related to the six magical acts (satkarma).
Firstly, Bhairava deals with the Devi Tarini, which he says is a siddha vidya, causing Maya and englamouring. Her mantra is Om Hrim Strim Hum Phat. This vidya is said to be the heart of Nila Sarasvati. Its appliction is the attainment of poesy. It is to be pronounced facing north and meditated on as being like a lotus fibre extending from the base of the spine to the 1,000 petal lotus, like ten million fires, suns and moons.
Next the rules of bathing in the morning are described. Again, a sadhaka should face north, visualising the guru in the 1,000 petal lotus. Offering must be given to the rising sun. Then the gayatri or twilight mantra of Tarini should be pronounced, which is given as Tarayai vidmahe mahograyai dhimahi tanno devi prachodayat.

Chapter Two

This covers the daily puja of Nila Sarasvati, in the usual way. It should be done in isolated places including cremation grounds, hills and forests. This puja also appears in the Todala Tantra, translated as part of the Magic of Kali.

Chapter Three

Describes initiation and the characteristics of guru and disciple, as well as the right times for performing diksha (initiation).

Chapter Four

Contains a description of purashcharana, the method of preparing a mantra so that it becomes successful. Tara's rosary is made of human bone and must be purified and made carefully.

Chapter Five

Optional rites are the topic of this chapter, as well as the pithas or sacred spots. Kamarupa, where the yoni of the goddess fell after being sliced into fifty parts, is the most important.

Chapter Six

Covers Kumari Puja, the worship of a maiden. This is preceded by an offering to jackals, implying that the rite takes place in the cremation ground (shmashana). As in the Kulachadamani Tantra, there is reference to the eight Kula trees, which must also receive their share of worship. A day is the same as a year. Wine must be used when worshipping Kalika but has to be purified first, because Shukra placed it under a curse.

Chapter Seven

Covers the satkarma, or six magical acts, as well as worship of the kumaris. A most interesting section deals with Maha China Krama, which is, essentially left hand tantra (vamachara). The rule here is that of Svecchachara, the path of acting according to one's own will. In this, there is no need for external worship. All can be performed mentally. There are no rules as to the time the puja should be performed, no rules about the place, no need for preparation. The conjunction of yoni and lingam is the essence of the rite. During intercourse, the partners should mentally recite the Tara mantra. It should be performed in the cremation ground.

Chapter Eight
Describes the yantra of Tara (see above). In the centre she and Mahakala are in sexual union. The yantra should be engraved on copper, smeared with kundagola and svayambhu flowers (menstrual blood) and scents including camphor. The practitioner meditates in the heart on Tarini and then draws her, by vital breath, using a flower, into the centre of the yantra.

She is then considered to be present in the yantra and various offerings (upacharas) are dedicated to her and to her attendants in the different parts.

Chapter Nine
Heroic worship is the subject of this chapter, which I have translated on the site. Vira Sadhana.

Chapter Ten
Continues the subject of the previous chapter and expands on Lata Sadhana (creeper sadhana), a synonym for sexual worship.

Chapter Eleven
Gives the Tara mantras, the foremost of which is Om Hrim Strim Hum Phat. Ugra Tara's seventeeen letter mantra is Om padme mahapadme padmavati maye svaha. Nila Sarasvati mantra is Aim Hrim Shrim Hsaum Shauh vada vada vagvadini Klim Klim Klim Nilasarasvati Aim Aim Aim kahi kahi kararim Svaha.

Chapter Twelve
The origin of Tarini is the subject of the chapter. She was created by Mahakali to destroy the demons and bring the gods back to their former position.

Chapter Thirteen
This chapter covers the worship of Mahakali and has been translated in full in the Magic of Kali.

Chapter Fourteen
Kamakhya and Tripura worship. The devi Kamakhya dwells at Kamarupa and has a yantra wherein the 64 yoginis receive honour. Tripura's mantra is Aim Klim Sauh, and the tantra says that she represents the triple Kundalini, her puja being triple in every way.

Chapter Fifteen
A geographical chapter describing mountains, streams and springs sacred to the worship of various devis and devas.

Chapter Sixteen
This chapter outlines the specific festivals of Tara and the things to be done during the twelve solar months, as well as the kinds of offerings which please the goddess.

Chapter Seventeen
Outlines and continues details about worshipping Kali. Her favourite time is on the fourteenth day of the dark moon in the month of Kartik, when she should be worshipped at night. The dhyana (meditation image) of Kali is described with details of the types of pits in which to do homa. This chapter also gives puja details of Sandhya (Twilight) Devi.

Chapter Eighteen
The thousand names of Tara.

Chapter Nineteen
The armour and the secret mantra of Tara are described.

Chapter Twenty
The hundred names of Tara.

Chapter Twenty-One
A most interesting chapter which deals with alchemy. Copper and lead can be turned into gold. Adepts can create a powerful, magical ash which creates miracles. The chapter also describes the divya (celestial), vira (heroic) and pashu (beast-like) characteristics of tantrik practitioners.

Chapter Twenty-Two
The 1,000 names of Kali.

Chapter Twenty-Three
The hundred names of Kali.

Chapter Twenty-Four
Describes the worship of Devi Annapurna (Full of Food) and gives her mantra and the hundred names.

Regard

Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar

Contact : 0922 4399 275

WWW.DHYANSANJIVANI.ORG

The Todala Tantra

2008-01-26T03:03:00.000-08:00

Listen, O Devi, I will speak concisely of the essence of yoga. The body resembles a tree, with the root above and the branches below. In the macrocosm there are tirthas (bathing places) which also exist in the body. The macrocosm is like the microcosm. - Todala Tantra, II

This Hindu tantra is a brief but often quoted work of ten patalas or chapters. It is referred to, for example, in the Matrikabhedatantra. It also contains the daily pujas of Tara, Kali and Shiva, as well as information about yoga. This tantra has been translated, and we propose to offer it as an Adobe PDF file in the near future.

Patala one deals with the ten Mahavidyas, a subject which is returned to in chapter 10 of this tantra.

These major forms of the goddess are described in the Todala Tantra as Kali, Tara, Sundari, Bhuvaneshvari, Cchinnamasta, Bhairavi, Dhumavati, Bagala, Matangi, and Kamala. According to Alain Danielou's Hindu Polytheism, these ten aspects of Shakti are the epitome of the entire creation. Chapter 10 also outlines their consorts, although Dhumavati, the widow form, is not allocated a consort. At the close of the chapter comes the essential tantrik view that Shiva, as the witness is not involved in creation, maintenance or withdrawal.

Many tantras, particularly those associated with Bengal, speak of ten major aspects of the goddess, the Mahavidyas. Vidya means knowledge but in the tradition this word is synonymous with both a Devi and her mantra form. Mantra is divinity in its purest form as sound, yantra is divinity represented as diagram and the dhyana, or meditation form, is considered to be the grossest representation. But these forms are given as ways of concentrating the mind easily.

The Mahavidyas are, in order, Kali, Tara, Sodashi (Tripurasundari), Bhuvaneshvari, Cchinnamasta, Bhairavi, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamala. Each, except Dhumavati, who is a widow, has her own form of Shiva.

1. Kali. Seated on a corpse, greatly terrifying, laughing loudly, with fearful fangs, four arms holding a cleaver, a skull, and giving the mudras bestowing boons and dispelling fear, wearing a garland of skulls, her tongue rolling wildly, completely naked (digambara - clad in the directions), thus one should meditate on Kali, dwelling in the centre of the cremation ground.

2. Tara - Akshobhya. Seated in the pratyalidha asana, seated on the heart of a corpse, supreme, laughing horribly, holding cleaver, blue lotus, dagger and bowl, uttering the mantra Hum, coloured blue, her hair braided with serpents, the Ugratara.

3. Sodashi. For her meditation image, see Mahatripurasundari.

4. Bhuvaneshvari. Like the red rays of the rising sun, with the moon as her diadem, and with three eyes, a smiling face, bestowing boons, holding a goad, a noose and dispelling fears, thus I hymn Bhuvaneshi.

5. Cchinnamasta. For her meditation image, see Cchinnamasta.

6. Bhairavi. Her head garlanded with flowers, she resembling the red rays of 1,000 rising suns, smeared with red, holding milk, book, dispelling fears and giving boons with her four hands, large three eyes, beautiful face with a slow smile, wearing white gems, I worship Bhairava.

7. Dhumavati. The colour of smoke, wearing smoky clothes, holding a winnowing basket, dishevelled clothes, deceitful, always trembling, with slant eyes, inspiring fear, terrifying.

8. Bagalamukhi. Three eyes, wearing yellow clothes and gems, moon as her diadem, wearing champaka blossoms, with one hand holding the tongue of an enemy and with the left hand spiking him, thus should you meditate on the paralyser of the three worlds. See also Bagalamukhi.

9. Matangi. Dusky, beautiful browed, her three eyes like lotuses, seated on a jewelled lion-throne, surrounded by gods and others serving her, holding in her four lotus-like hands a noose and a sword, a shield and a goad, thus I remember Matangi, the giver of results, the Modini.

10. Kamala. With a smiling face, her beautiful lily-white hands hold two lotuses, and show the mudras of giving and dispelling fear. She is bathed in nectar by four white elephants and stands upon a beautiful lotus.

"Shri Devi said: Lord of the world, lord of all knowledge, tell of the worship of the mahadevas in the three worlds. On the right hand side of each are various forms. Mahadeva, speak of each one separately.

"Shri Shiva said: Listen, beautiful one to Kalika's Bhairava. On Dakshina's right, worship Mahakala, with whom Dakshina is always in love union. Worship Akshobya on the right of Tara. Devi, the kalakuta poison produced by the churning of the ocean caused great agitation to all the gods and their consorts.

"Because he destroyed the agitation caused by the deadly yellow poison, he is known as Akshobya. Thus Tarini, the Mahamaya, always delights in her consort.

"On the right hand side of Mahatripurasundari, worship Shiva in his five-faced form with three eyes in each of the faces, O lady of the gods. She always delights in sexual union with her consort, O Mahadevi. For this reason, she is known as the famous Pancami. On the right side of Shrimad Bhuvaneshvari, who in the heavens, on earth, and in the underworlds is known as the Adya, worship Tryambaka. She makes love with Tryambaka in these places, it is said. He and his Shakti are mentioned and worshipped in all tantras. On Bhairavi's right side is Dakshinamurti. By supreme efforts, one should certainly worship that five faced one.

"On Cchinnamasta's right side, worship Shiva-Kabandha. By worshipping him, one becomes lord of all siddhi. The Mahavidya Dhumavati is a widow. Seated on the right of Bagala is the Maharudra, with one face, who dissolves the universe. On Matangi's right side is Shiva Matanga, similar to Dakshinamurti, the form of cosmic bliss. He who worships Sadashiva, the Vishnu form, on Kamala's right side becomes perfect, there is no doubt about this.

"On Annapurna's right hand side, worship Brahma, the giver of great liberation, the god with ten faces, the Maheshvara. On the right side of Durga, worship Narada. The letter Na causes creation, the letter Da maintenance, while the letter Ra causes dissolution. So he is known as the famour Narada. Worship the Rishi who "gave birth" to the other vidyas on their right hand side." (Todala, chapter one)

Shiva, in the second chapter, tells Shakti of yoga and describes the body as resembling a tree. There is no difference between the macrocosm or the microcosm. The supreme mantra is hamsa, equivalent to 21,600 breaths in a day. The letter Ha is Shiva while the letter Sa is Shakti. According to ancient texts, breath is time. An individual inhales once every four seconds and exhales once every four seconds. One is a solar breath and one a lunar breath.

In chapter three, the different forms and mantras of Kali are described, along with the sandhya (twilight) mantras of both Kali and Tara. These are the four tantrik twilights of dawn, midday, sunset and midnight, when the currents of pranayama change direction and the sadhaka can do his or her puja knowing he is close to the in-betweenness which is the essence of tantra. Kali's daily rites are detailed.

The fourth chapter deals with Tara's puja, giving a beautiful meditational image of her as situated in the centre of a lovely island, seated on a lion throne under a jewelled pavilion. Chapter five turns to Shambhunatha (Shiva). In this yuga, sadhakas should not worship his form known as Nilakantha, an aspect of Shiva. At the churning of the milk ocean, at the beginning of time, Shiva swallowed the poison which stained his throat a deep blue. It is unclear, however, why this tantra prohibits his worship. One should never worship Shakti unless Shiva is first worshipped, preferably with a clay linga.

In chapter six, Shiva gives the vasana or inner meaning of Kali and Tara mantras Krim and Strim. The different letters of the mantras are placed on separate parts of the human body. The seventh chapter speaks of yoga and of the seven islands and of their locations in the body. Kamarupa is in the muladhara cakra. Other sacred centres are also situated in the body.

The 51 letters of the alphabet are the sacred pithas within the body, each associated with one of the parts of the Devi which fell to earth when sliced by the discus of Vishnu.

Chapter eight continues the previous topic. The body is permeated with millions of nadis and the elements have their place there too. In chapter nine, Shiva speaks of the Sundari mantra.

Even though Shiva has already spoken of it in the Nitya Tantra, Shakti asks him to reveal its true meaning. Shiva says that 21,600 is the head of the letters of the alphabet and the true rosary in the thousand petalled lotus. Details of the rosary follow. Using tantrik methods, sadhakas can be both liberated and enjoy.

The last chapter equates Vishnu's ten incarnations with the ten Mahavidyas. Durga is the Kalki, the last of the avatars of Vishnu. He is yet to come, and when he does he will be born in Shambhala. He will ride a white horse and hold a sword which blazes like fire, bringing back to the planet harmony, according to the Agni and other Puranas. Kali's consort is Krishna.

"Shri Devi said: Lord of gods, guru of the universe, tell me of the ten avatars. Now I want to hear of this, tell me of their true nature. Paramesvara, reveal to me which avatar goes with which Devi.

"Shri Shiva said: Tara Devi is the blue form, Bagala is the tortoise incarnation, Dhumavati is the boar, Cchinnamasta is Nrisimha, Bhuvaneshvari is Vamana, Matangi is the Rama form, Tripura is Jamadagni, Bhairavi is Balabhadra, Mahalakshmi is Buddha, and Durga is the Kalki form. BhagavatÌ Kali is the Krishna murti." (Todala, chapter 10)

Regard

Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar

Contact : 0922 4399 275

WWW.DHYANSANJIVANI.ORG

Spiritual experience in Tantra

2008-01-26T02:58:00.000-08:00

The fundament of all knowledge be it about this world, or about the subtle universes, is certainly the concrete experience.

The experience is either total, or partial and incomplete, but it always refers to the reality of the experienced thing.There have been many debates about the reality of the physical world. Of these, we shall mention the monist doctrine of the sage Shankaracharya (from which emerged the VEDANTA) as compared to the tantric point of view, our main topic of interest.

Shankaracharya defines the Reality as being that which does not change, unlike the finite experience, which - although "real" for a moment - changes finally.

Considered from this perspective, our universe - as a changing thing - holds a relative reality.

Consequently, for Shankaracharya and his followers, the world we live HERE and NOW is not real, it is merely an illusion one must surpass in order to experience the Reality.
This point of view is true, however, if we look at things from the perspective of the Transcendent Absolute (BRAHMAN). The Tantric view on these things rests upon the idea that this world is NECESSARILY real. Thus, a particular thing may be real and at the same time subject to change.

In Tantra, the divine couple Shiva and Shakti represents the Real and Total experience of the universe. In order for us to understand the Reality, they are said to limit themselves and "contract" in fragments of Reality which belong to the Supreme Reality, in a gesture of divine sacrifice.The tantric adept has to perceive his/her own reality, to convince himself/herself of the reality of this world as ground of his actions.

For the tantric, this universe is real because it originates in the divine couple Shiva-Shakti. The total experience one may have is exactly the Consciousness of the Supreme, from which emerged the Macrocosm.
The finite, limited experience has a fragmented character, consequently the knowledge obtained thus will not be of the whole.
The essence of the limited experience is the experience we have within the coordinates of time and space.

The Ultimate experience though, through its permanent nature, is placed beyond time and space, as time and space define change.
As shown before, "illusion" represents merely the experience of the Supreme Self in time and space. An important aspect of Tantra is being aware of your actions, even of the most common ones, like eating.

The idea behind this focus on the present actions is that by this focus the past "disappears", and so is the future. The one that remains is the present, an eternal "now", which makes us go beyond the ordinary notion of time. This is synonymous with getting close to the Supreme Source, which transcends both Time and Space.

The famous secret treaty VIJNANA BHAIRAVA TANTRA advises that one should become one with the food or drink, filling your being with it.Moreover, another sutra says that when singing, looking, or tasting something, one should be always aware, because this is how he/she will discover eternal life."Being in action means being free in that action."
This is the point of disruption, the limit that may make one reach the ultimate consciousness right here and right now.

Regard

Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar

Contact : 0922 4399 275

http://www.dhyansanjivani.org/

Sexual energy

2008-01-26T02:55:00.000-08:00

The polarity of the two types of energy (Yin and Yang) represents the key in harmonizing the flow of the energies of the human being. This is the most simple and also the fundamental secret of all authentic traditions.

It is simple because it is based on the universal law of attracting opposites, that is the positive and negative forces attract each other and are in a permanent interaction.
It is true to the degree to which the two opposing poles of two simple magnets are attached to one another, or the protons and electrons dance and compose the atom.

Yang is the fire, and Yin is the water. Man is the "fire", the woman is the "water". When the man makes love to a woman, he prepares the woman's "water" with his "fire". The profound orgasm constitutes a delicate balance of the sexual energies.

The sexual life is dominated by the above-mentioned principle of polarities. It is, however important to understand that the two types of energy are inseparable, it is in fact one energy, manifested under complementary forms.
They cannot exist one without the other, their interaction is "fluid", and they issue from one another. Therefore, if during the erotic act performed with continence, man and woman become aware of the play of the two polarities, they have the possibility of becoming one being only.

Each of the two lovers is situated on one "side". When the exchange of energy reaches a sphere of harmony, the two lovers vibrate in the rhythm of one heart.

The feeling of having a physical body disappears, all one feels now is a huge energy, vibrating as one with his/her lover. This is the profound, total orgasm of both body and soul.
Many men have the intuition of these things, but those who are actually capable to expand and go deeply into these special states of the mind are quite few, because they usually lose their sexual energy through ejaculation.

The true, profound orgasm appears when both the man and the woman vibrate in the same rhythm. Their sexual energy forms now a complete circuit, the two "opposing" poles being reunited.
This circuit is represented by the Yin and Yang symbol, emerging from one another in a perfect eternal harmony. However, the flow of the sexual energy alone cannot lead anyone to spiritual achievements in the absence of love and an appropriate mental focus.

The physical union alone is not sufficient, and therefore sex alone cannot make anybody happy. One other important aspect is that the ordinary orgasm, implying ejaculation, on which many men depend, restrains the sphere of experience and knowledge.

The profound, transfiguring erotic experiences, performed through sexual continence, go beyond/transcend the borders of ordinary individual pleasure and perception, reaching a complex level of experience.
There are couples that radiate all around profound happiness and love without practicing any esoteric methods of lovemaking. And there are couples that radiate even more love and happiness, live for a longer time, healthy and in harmony, because they have learned how to sublimate their sexual energy.

Will they be just as radiant, enthusiastic and blissful when they reach old age? The secret techniques of the Oriental tradition will help them reach faster an advanced level of spiritual evolution. There is no limit as regards the depth and health one may get to through love.

Regard

Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar

Contact : 0922 4399 275

WWW.DHYANSANJIVANI.ORG

Rajarajeshvari Kavach

2008-01-26T02:41:00.002-08:00

Shiva's sun mandala, having opened, melts the moon mandala, causing a flow of birth-nectar-liquor which is blissful and gladdening. Having abandoned her family of young Kula women, she becomes Shiva, with no qualities, no characteristics, devoid of the form of time - Vamakeshvarimatam IV, 13-14

The word Rajarajeshvari means "the lady queen of queens", the empress, and this kavacha or armour appears in the fine Tripura tantra, Gandharvatantra. The devotee or sadhaka can write or utter the armour, all the while visualising mantra, devata, and in this case yantra on her or his body. Here, the entire armour focuses on the symbolism of Shri Shri Mahatripurasundari, the Empress, queen of queens, and her attendants in the chakra called Shri Yantra. Our notes are in square brackets. It may also be helpful to refer to this page on the nine mandalas.

Kavacha

The Rishi of the Rajarajeshvari Armour is Shiva, the metre Virat, and the devata Mahatripurasundari. Hamsah is the Shakti, Para the Bija, and Shrim the linchpin. Its application is Dharma, Artha, Karma and Moksha.
May Tripura in three ways protect me, and give all success. May Bala, in the mouth, with Aim Klim Sauh, protect and give all success. The auspicious holy great Devi Tripurabhairavi must protect with Hsasrahn Ha Sa Ka La Hrim Hasrauh in the throat. May the great Lady Mahatripurasundari shield in the heart!
May the Rajarajeshvari Vidya, Shodasi, who confers great good fortune, may She always protect me in the Brahmarandhra, O Kamala Parameshvari! May the Devi who is the daughter of the Lord of the Mountain always protect on the head!
May the Kama Bija [Klim] shield on the forehead! Let the Vag Bija [Aim] shield on the throat! Let Sauh protect me in the ribs and Om on the shoulders!
The beloved of Shambhu must always protect my right and left arms. May the beloved of Vishnu always protect in the wrists. May Parvati protect the hands! Let the beloved of the Sidereal Constellations protect in the eye! May the beloved of Rati protect in the ear, and let Shakra shield the nose! May Parvati Parameshvari always protect the back.
Hsauh in exhalation and inhalation must protect, O Supreme Giver of Siddhi! Kama must always protect in sexual love. May Pinaki protect in the region of the penis. Prithivi must entirely protect! Let Hrim be a shield of the heart!
May the beloved of Vishnu protect in the breasts, belly, and in front of the heart. Let Vajradara protect in the eye, and let Maya shield the abdomen. May Sauh protect the feet, and let Aim shield the restless tongue. The syllable Klim must protect the region of the teeth, O Boon Giver!
May Bhuvaneshvari extend from the head to the feet, and be in all the limbs! May the Supreme Goddess, beloved of Hari, always protect with armour against loss and destitution. In the adhara, the Vagbija must protect! Dear One, the Kamaraja must shield the heart region. Parvati, the Shakti part must protect in the brow-centre!
On the head the Trikuta must protect, with all mantra, on the forehead. May the 28 letters always protect the circle of the face!

[The 15 Nityas]

May Kameshvari shield in the forehead, and Bhagamalini in the face. Let Nityaklinna, the Conferrer of Great Good Fortune, forever protect the right eye. Let Bherunda shield the left eye, and Vahnivasini the right ear. May the transcendent Vajreshvari protect in the region of the left ear. May the Supreme Goddess Shivaduti protect the right nostril. Let Tvarita, the all Success Bestower, protect the left nostril. May Kulasundari always and forever protect my right cheek. Trailokyavimala must protect the region of my left cheek. Nilapataka, shield my upper lip. Vijaya, shield my lower lip. Devi Sarvamangala, always protect my upper teeth. Jvalamalini, always shield my lower teeth. Everywhere, in the head, Vichitra protect. The base, the most important thing, the Mahatripurasundari, She who is the Shodashi, may She always protect my face! See the fifteen Nityas.
The different Gurus must always protect the back.

[Nine Chakreshvaris - forms of Tripura ruling the nine mandalas]

O Parameshvari, may Tripura always protect my feet. May Tripureshvari always protect my knees. Tripurasundari Devi must always protect my thighs. Tripuravasini Devi must always shield my hips! Let Tripurashri always shield my genitals. The Devi Tripuramalini must always shield the Muladhara. Let Tripurasiddha shield my navel, and Tripuramba shield my heart ! Mahatripurasundari must always protect me in the 1000 petal lotus

[Male Lords of Chakras - matching forms of Chakreshvaris]

In the midst of the heretical host, may Buddha encompass and protect me! Let Brahma shield the Brahmanda (macrocosm) and may Shiva protect my Yoga Power! Let the Sun protect me in Knowledge, and may Lord Narayana protect me in Liberation!

[Outer Line of Shri Yantra]

Anima must protect in the West, Laghima in the North. Mahima must protect in the East, Ishitva must protect in the South. May Vashita protect in the North West, and in the North East Prakamya, the giver of siddhi. Bhuktisiddhi in the South East, and Icchasiddhi in the South West must protect. Praptasiddhi must protect below, and Mokshasiddhi on high!

[Middle Line]

Brahmani must protect the twilight. Maheshvari must shield the day. Kaumari must protect at noon! Indrani must protect at night! Vaishnavi, who gives all siddhi, must protect me in the Brahma Muhurta! At midnight Varahi must protect! Let Chamunda protect in hostile invasion! Mahalaksmi, in great power, must always protect !

[Inner Line]

Sankshobhini must protect on the head. Dravini must protect in the heart. Akarshini in the peak, and Vashyada in the armour must protect. Unmadini in the eye, and Mahankusha in all my body must protect. Trikhanda, protect my arms. Bija must protect the seed. Khechara must protect the feet, and Yoni Mudra on all sides!

[16 Petals]

Let the Kamakarshana form always shield works of sexual attraction. Let the BuddhyakarshaÙa shield me in the great place of Buddhi Akarshana. Let the Ahamkara Vikarshani always protect in the Ahamkara. Let the Shabdakarshana form shield the actions of the Shabda. May the Sparsha Karshana form always protect me in matters of touch. Let the Rupa Karshana form always shield the great Rupavikarshana! O Parameshvari, may the Rasakarshana shield in taste! Let the Gandhakarshana form always protect me in smell! May the Chittakarshana form protect me in attraction. Let the Dhairya Karshana form protect in steadiness always! Let the Smritya Karshana form shield works of Knowledge and Attraction. Let the Namkarshana form shield uttering of names always! May the Bija Karshmia form protect me in the sprouting of seed. Let the Atma Karshana form protect in Para Jiva Karshana! Let Amrita Karshini protect always in works of Nectar (Amrita). Let Sharira Karshini always protect in bodily protection !

[8 Petals]

Anangakusuma must protect protect in all work in front of me. Anangamekhala must protect behind. On the left, Anangamadana must protect me. Anangamadanatura must protect me on the right. Let Anangarekha always, and forever, shield me above. Anangavegini must protect me below. Let Anangankusha always protect me in the directions! Anangamalini must protect always in the intermediate points.

[14 Triangles]

Sarvasangkshobhini must protect me above. Sarvavidravini must protect me below. Sarvakarshini must protect me in the directions. Sarvahladakari must encircle and protect me in the intermediate points. Sarvasanmohini must protect completely. Sarvastambhanakarini must protect me within and without. Sarvajrimbhani must always protect me in the heavens. Sarvavashyakari must protect me in the underworld. In the world of Gods, Sarvaranjaaakarini must always protect me! Sarvonmadanashmkti must encircle and protect me on earth. Sarvarthasadhani Shakti must protect me amongst the host of created beings! Sarvasampattipurani must protect in dissolution. Sarvamantramayi must protect fran Rakshas and Yakshas in the house! Sarvadvandvakshayamkari must protect from Denors in the house!

[Outer 10 Triangles]

Sarvasiddhiprada must always protect me in the king' s palace! Sarvasampatprada must protect me in my own home, and give all prosperity! Sarvapriyankari must protect in all the worlds everywhere! Sarvamangalakarini must shield me in all good actions. Sarvakamaprada Devi must protect me in all works everywhere! Sarvaishvaryapradayini must protect me in lordship everywhere ! Sarvamrituprashamani must protect me always at my death! Let Sarvavighnavasini protect always in all supports! Sarvangasundari must protect me in the form of my bodily parts! Let Sarvasaubhagyadayini protect all my good parts!

[Inner 10 Triangles]

Sarvajna protect my house! Sarvashaktimaya, protect me in battle! Sarvaishvaryaprada must protect me on the road, Sarvajnanamayi on water! Sarvavyadhivinashini must protect me from all disease everywhere! Sarvadharasvarupini must powerfully protect me on the mountain! Sarvapapahara must protect in all works everywhere! Sarvanandakarini Devi must protect from random killing in open places. Sarvarakshasvarupini must protect from all hostile anxieties! In all determined work, Sarvepsitaphalaprada must protect!

[8 Triangles]

Vashini must shield in works of subjugation. Kameshi must shield in works of paralysing. Modini must protect in works of delusion. Vimala must shield in works of driving away. Aruna must protect in speech, Jayini in matters of conversation. Sarveshvari must always protect in sexual acts, Kaulini in acts of dissension.

[The Weapons of Devi]

O Maheshvari, the five arrows must always protect in blossoming. The bow must protect in works of delusion, the noose in acts of subjugation. The greatly illustrious goad must protect me in acts of paralysing.

[The Central Triangle]

All-Knowledge must protect me in the heart! Satisfaction must guard me in the head! The state of being eternally awake must always protect me in the tuft of hair! Let Independence shield me in the Armour. May Courage always shield me in the eyes. Let the three without form protect and give all siddhi! Kameshvari, protect in sexuality! Vajreshvari, protect me in battle! Bhagamalini, always protect me in the love-lore of Shri!

[Bindu ]

Devi consisting of All Bliss, Mahatripurasundari, protect me in taste, sight, smell, sound, and touch! Vatuka, protect in the North East! Numbers of Yoginis, protect in the South East! They must protect skin, blood, fat, bone, flesh, marrow and semen! Kshetrapala must protect in the South West, and Ganesha in the North West of the Temple!
The Elephant Woman Shoshika must protect me, O Beautiful Lady of the Kulas. The Female Dweller in the Muladhara must always protect my Shakti!

Regard

Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar

Contact : 0922 4399 275

http://www.dhyansanjivani.org/

Niruttara Tantra

2008-01-26T02:41:00.001-08:00

You will be see new article soon !

Regard
Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar
Contact : 0922 4399 275
WWW.DHYANSANJIVANI.ORG

Mahavidya

2008-01-26T02:32:00.000-08:00

The terrible force of time, the grace of endless compassion, dazzling beauty, all-comprising vision, endless courage, capacity for self-sacrifice, fascinating brightness, sublime vacuity, expressive play, intoxicating harmony...all these are different aspects of the Supreme Feminine Energy and each of them may lead you to the experience of the Ultimate Reality.

YOU MAY GAIN THE CONTROL OVER YOUR ENERGIES

In the context of this series of articles we will try to analyze the main philosophical and practical aspects that refer to the spiritual tradition of the Ten Great Cosmic Forces (Dhasha Mahavidya).This tradition is essentially a Tantric practice whose purpose is to gain a "magic" control over the subtle energies and forces that animate both our inner microcosm and the Macrocosm in its various aspects of manifestation.The fundament for this spiritual Tantric practice lies in the idea that one should not avoid the tests life puts us through isolating and retreating in a desert place in order to reach spiritual fulfillment.Instead, the Tantric tradition asserts that Mahavidya Upasana should be performed in the context of the every-day life, which offers us the possibility of mastering our problems and transcending them.In this respect, the Tantric tradition (Tantra Shastra) offers several methods suited to any type of situation and to any human type. It is therefore not necessary to seek a different method to evolve spiritually.It is enough to activate as many sublime aspects of our superior nature, attempting to fulfill any positive, beneficial desire we have sublimating the energies that animate it.The purpose is on one hand to experience a refined pleasure and on the other to experience the state of divine freedom.Consequently, the Tantric spiritual practice is not meant only for those initiates, but it also offers amazing opportunities for those who ardently aspire to reach the state of ultimate freedom.

TANTRA IS NOT SORCERY

Although the Tantric texts are filled with cryptic expressions, with metaphors and allegories that represent obstacles that are unsurpassed for those who are not initiated, Tantra is not sorcery.The misunderstandings of these metaphors have caused even reputed researchers to make huge mistakes in the interpretation of these sacred texts.The most frequent error is that they are ignorant of an important aspect of the Tantric system - they consider the metaphorical language ad literam, attributing thus to the Tantric texts meanings they never had.Consequently, they associate Tantra with "abominable practices" such as sacrificial rituals, orgiastic sexual practices, etc. Actually, one may describe the teaching of the Tantric tradition as transcendence of any phenomenal tribulations; it is thus a religious and philosophical system deeply non-dualistic (advaita).The authentic Tantric spirituality has nothing in common with witchcraft or magic of some sects, which have deviated practices, often gruesome many times mistaken for the deeply spiritual Tantric doctrine.

ALL THINGS LEAD TO HIM

The purpose of spiritual fulfillment through sadhana is the state of full union with the Supreme Reality of God, whose nature is Sat-Chit-Ananda (Pure Existence, Pure Consciousness, Pure Bliss).In the Tantric tradition, this nature of the divine reality bears the name Cit and refers to the infinite force of God's consciousness.On a transcendent level, Cit (or the Absolute Consciousness of God) is associated with a tough, compact monolith, infinite in its splendor.Nonetheless, this essential character differentiates in the creation under different aspects, as particular attributes and expressions, such as the expression of Maya, the force of illusion covering the intrinsic reality of all manifested things.In fact, the Supreme Reality, which is beyond any attribute or conceptual understanding, projects itself in the creation in a finite and determined form through the aspect of dynamics of the Divine Consciousness as Force (Cit).From this point of view, the Great Cosmic Forces (Mahavidya) represent reflections of Cit as idea or divine expressions in creation, consequently having a universal character.

The ten Cosmic Powers are considered as feminine entities whose consciousness is quite close to the consciousness of God, and who are like "administrators" of the creation.This is because their character is more subjective (in other words, the perception of their influence and of their manifestation is the subtle domain of consciousness) and less objective.However, the Hindu pantheon contains plenty appearances of these feminine deities who illustrate each in a symbolic manner their main attributes and characteristics in the Macrocosm.In the spiritual Tantric practice, the physical aspects constitute an important base in elevating one's consciousness. Besides the various iconographic representations and graphical symbols (yantra, mantra), the Tantric tradition confers a tremendous importance to the devotion of the ten Great Cosmic Powers.The spiritual purpose of such a procedure is that starting from the physical level, the individual consciousness gradually accedes to the state of transcendence characteristic to the Great Cosmic Power adored by the Tantric practitioner.Then, in an ultimate spiritual effort, the Tantric will accede to the state of Supreme Transcendent Void, origin and quintessence of any divine energy.Consequently, the principle at work in this case is that of gradual elevation of the consciousness, starting from the inferior levels up to the sublime, total experience of the divine transcendence, without neglecting, nor interdicting any "mundane" aspect.

THE MYSTERY OF FULFILLMENT RESIDES INSIDE OF YOU

This approach of the practice and experience of the ten Great Cosmic Powers has a unitary, holistic character, in which the parts of the whole intermingle in harmony in order to create the image of the Whole.This aspect is obvious mostly in the awakening and ascension of the Kundalini Shakti. For instance, this energy may be either latent, "sleeping" in Muladhara chakra, or it may become active, purifying, activating all the levels of our being.This polarization of Kundalini has a different correspondent in the human being. Thus, when Kundalini Shakti is sleeping in Muladhara chakra the person is somewhat "awake" for the exterior world, even though this world is ephemeral considered through the point of view of the Supreme Transcendent Reality.When this energy is awake and active, reaching as high as Sahasrara chakra, the practitioner becomes "dead" for the outer world, yet unbelievably lucid and awake from the point of view of the divine reality.

Each of the ten Great Cosmic Powers (Kali, Tara, Tripura Sundari, Bhuvaneshvari, Tripura Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi, and Kamalatmika) has a characteristic sadhana,

but still each sadhana has 3 fundamental points:
1. Devotion to the image of the deity (that is the Great Cosmic Power chosen for devotion at a certain time)

2. Concentration on the yantra (geometrical representation corresponding to the field of beneficial influence of a certain great cosmic power).

3. Mental emission of a mantra corresponding to a Great Cosmic Power

.In the devotion for these ten Great Cosmic Powers we have, nonetheless, to differentiate the Great Cosmic Powers and Matruka.The first represent the gigantic spheres of consciousness of the divine energy and they encompass the whole universe, while the later represent the cosmic forces of the most important gods of the Hindu pantheon, and in the oriental tradition they are known as the consorts of those gods. They are: Maheshvari, Vaishnavi, Brahmani, Kaumari, Indrani, Narasimhi, and Varahi.Thus, with some guidelines clearly cut through the Tantric tradition and through the practice of the devotion of the ten Great Cosmic Powers, we will introduce brief and representative characteristics of each Great Cosmic Power in the following articles of this section.

Regard

Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar

Contact : 0922 4399 275

WWW.DHYANSANJIVANI.ORG

Making love without intercourse

2008-01-26T02:22:00.000-08:00

Kissing, cuddling and touching are an important part of lovemaking and couples that run their lives in this way use every opportunity to share such affection.

The slightest touch or pat can be worth a thousand words and a hug at just the right time makes words redundant. Sometimes these little intimacies simply say, "I love you", yet on other occasions it is clear they are preludes to some sort of sexual activity. The couple in tune with each other know without saying, which is which, and use such teasing, even perhaps to some level of arousal, as a sort of work-up to intercourse later.

EXTENDED FOREPLAY

This kind of "lovemaking" then becomes like an extended foreplay both know will end in lovemaking some time in the near future.If you run your intimate life in this way, lovemaking takes on a rather different level of importance. It is now no longer the be-all and end-all of the intimacies you share. This means that you will cope better with the ups and downs of your sexual appetites and, mutually attuned, detect sexual interest early and know how to act on it. Then, when you do have intercourse it is much more meaningful because it takes place against a background of loving interest in one another.Not only are inequalities and variations in sexual appetite better coped with, but the occasional failure, rather than becoming a disaster, is kept in perspective because it is understood that the relationship has far more going for it than whether or not genital contact is always good.

SECRETS

Lovers of longstanding sometimes find they communicate without words; they seem to know what the other is thinking and feeling. Shared secrets help to make this a secret society. The woman may whisper to her man while they are on the dance floor, that she's wearing his favourite underwear, for example. "Accidentally" touching your lover's body in a certain place or in a particular way can have a devastating effect. Some couples can achieve the same impact with just a look.
Many couples have a private language, that they use even in front of others, as they tell one another about their feelings, arousal, or their anticipation of erotic things to come, which all add to the excitement.All of this makes such a couple much less likely to suffer from jealousies because they flirt with each other and look to one another to answer their needs. They do not then see members of the opposite sex as threatening because they know that what they have between them is vastly more valuable than anything a quickie relationship could offer.
If all of this seems nothing more than a fantasy to you, there are ways of improving things: Start of by going back to courtship behaviour; many couples have never really courted - taking every opportunity to show love in different ways. Give one another presents for no reason. They don't have to be expensive; it's the thought that matters; kiss more; telephone to say, "I love you." Leave love-notes around where they'll be found by your lover; go out with one another as if it were your first date as teenagers. Really try to please one another as if you were just starting to date.
You may be surprised how much you've taken each other for granted over the years and how stale the caring and love for one another has become.
It is helpful in any loving relationship to remember to bear in mind the airline motto "we never forget you have a choice". There are many couples that let things slip, perhaps year after year, becoming more and more lazy and thoughtless only to find when they go back to courtship they've all but forgotten how to deal with one another in this way. As with so many things in life practice makes perfect and over the weeks you'll become more proficient at courting one another.With luck and effort, the combination of making courtship a priority, and your increased experiences of life, will reap you a far richer harvest than would have been possible when you were first going out at the beginning of your relationship.

SENSUAL HOLIDAYS

One of the most fruitful ways of making all this happen is to organise sensual holidays. A sensual holiday can last from an evening to a weekend. The main purpose is to get away from your normal day-to-day routine both in and out of bed and to really court one another.
You can prepare for the holiday beforehand to get best out of it.
Ideas include: the uses of herbal aphrodisiacs such as ginseng, yohimbe; breakfast in bed; one sensual massage; lovemaking in an unusual place; a novel type or position of lovemaking you know your lover would like; or an evening devoted to your lover's every whim. Each couple will have their own ideas as to what suits them, or they've always wanted to do.Send your tokens some days before the holiday so your lover has time to prepare (if necessary). This also helps build up excited anticipation for the holiday.
Remember, none of this need be expensive - the whole thing can take place at home with perhaps a special dinner or outing just for the two of you.Whatever you do and wherever you do it, the main thing is to give yourselves over to one another totally and to aim to do things that please and delight.
Talk about it afterwards to see what worked well and what didn't. It's best to take it in turns to arrange such holidays so each lover has the opportunity to call the shots and decide what they want.

MASSAGE

Sensual massage is a wonderful way of lovemaking without intercourse. This form of loving contact is often underestimated. There are few things a couple can experience together that allow them to be more in touch with themselves, and to communicate at every level than a loving, sensual massage. Whether or not this becomes an erotic massage is up to you, but even if one does lead to the other you still don't have to end up having intercourse - you could stimulate each other or simply cuddle and kiss.

FULL BODY ALERT

Sight, sound, smell and taste are powerful aphrodisiacs - exploit them to the full.Right from babyhood most of us use fewer of our senses than we might. In learning to please one another without intercourse it can be helpful to look at how each sense could be better used to serve lovemaking. Here are some ideas:

The power of aroma

Use perfume, perfumed soaps, scented oils for massage, burning joss sticks, flowers, room perfumes, and anything else (not all at once!) that helps enhance your sense of smell.Remember, if you perfume yourself too heavily you'll mask the natural odours that are such a turn-on for your lover.Make sure you are clean and washed but not so squeaky clean your natural smells are obliterated. Learn, perhaps for the first time, how each part of your lover's body smells.

Sound effects

The lover's sound can be delicious as you make love. The little groans, sighs and moans that say "I love you" are all valuable cues to how things are going. With the lights off, learn to recognise how your lover's sexual arousal cycle is progressing just by sound alone. Take a delight in the sounds of your bodies reacting with each other. Use beautiful music to accompany lovemaking.

Seeing it all

Take a delight in looking at tour lover going about their daily tasks. Really notice what it is you love about him or her. Compliment each other's appearance and show appreciation for things that please you.

Acquiring the taste

Get to know how your lover tastes by licking all over. Taste mouths, faces, sweat, genital secretions and so on. This is intimately tied up with the smelling exercise since taste and smell are so closely interlinked.

Tactile development

Experiment with all kinds of tactile sensations using not only your bodies, but also foods, clothing, vibrators and so on.

Regard

Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar

Contact : 0922 4399 275

WWW.DHYANSANJIVANI.ORG

Kulananda Tantra

2008-01-26T02:17:00.000-08:00

You will be see new article soon !

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Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar
Contact : 0922 4399 275
WWW.DHYANSANJIVANI.ORG

Kali maa

2007-12-20T03:06:00.000-08:00

SPIRITUAL HEROES SPONTANEOUSLY WORSHIP KALI

In the Tantric pantheon, Kali is mentioned as the first of the ten Great Cosmic Powers, because in a certain way she is the one who "spins the wheel of the universal time".On the other hand, at the end of the manifested world, time (in Sanskrit Kala) devoured all the universes of the three plans of the creation: the physical, the astral and the causal universes.

The Great Cosmic Power Kali finally devours the time itself, which is Kala, and this is the very reason for which Kali is viewed as the primordial cause of the creation and destruction of the universe.The famous Tantric writing Nirvanatantra associates Kali to Brahman, the Supreme, as representing both the being (the existence) and the infinite consciousness in manifestation.

This association has allowed the worship of Kali both from the metaphysical abstract perspective, as well as from a more concrete perspective, which implies certain attributes (functions, characteristics, qualities).According to the Tantric tradition, the whole manifested world springs from the Infinite Consciousness of the beatific union between Shiva and Shakti.

The function of the creation comes to the divine energy bearing the name Brahmani Shakti. The universe thus created has to be maintained in the manifestation, function performed by Shakti Vaishnavi.Nonetheless, both the creation and the preserving aspects imply a molecular "death" or "destruction" of each form of the universe, function performed by Rudrani Shakti.

In fact, Brahmani, Vaishnavi and Rudrani are the consorts of the three Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva (also named Rudra).

HER DARKNESS DISOLVES EVERYTHING

The simultaneous existence of these three processes within the creation clearly expresses the statements included in all Tantric writings, that the creation of the universe did not occur once, in the past, nor will the universe be destroyed once in the future, and that rather in every instant these aspects manifest as flashings creating the illusion of continuity and reality.

Although the human body and mind are permanently assailed by innumerable sensorial perceptions, the state of divine ecstasy (samadhi) implies the disappearance of all mental functions and of the physical awareness into the supreme consciousness of Paramashiva, the one that is beyond all duality.

The description of the Great Cosmic Power Kali describes her as being dark as the night, dancing over Shiva's inert, white body.

This representation reveals the significance of the two fundamental aspects of Reality: on one hand there is the dynamic, imanent aspect of God (Kali's dance) and on the other the static, transcendent aspect of consciousness (identified with Shiva).Shiva is white because he signifies the infinite divine light (prakasha), inert because the absence of movement and action reveals the consciousness pure, homogenous and compact.

On the other hand, Kali's dance signifies the dynamic, active aspect of the Divine, and the dark color of her skin indicates that the processes of the creation are disolved in Kali.

From a different perspective, Kali is also the creator of the universes, as they come to life from the ashes of the Divine Consciousness' purifying fire. Consequently, Kali's action is deeply evolutionary, as she impels the human beings towards evolution, sometimes in a painful manner.Nonetheless, Kali performs her actions in the divine light and harmony, knowing that this is the best thing to do.
Those who manage to pass all the tests and go through all the stages are in truth spiritual heroes, and they will be rewarded with Kali's spiritual grace.

However, until God's will does not manifest the creative impulse, the divine infinite energy (Shakti) lies potential, but unmanifested, inseparably united with Shiva, in his purely transcendent aspect.
The spiritual Tantric writings denote this state as
SAT-CHIT-ANANDA (PURE EXISTENCE-PURE CONSCIOUSNESS-INFINITE BLISS).

KALI IS THE TIME BEYOND TIME

Then Kali (as supreme Shakti) assumes the responsibility of creating the names, as well as of their evolution.Kali is also known under the name of ADIMAHAVIDYA, the first of the Great Cosmic Powers, but this should not mislead us, as it does not imply any hierarchy, but rather the idea of order in the cosmic evolution.

Kali is also named ADYASHAKTI, in her quality of energy and terrible Cosmic Power who impels humankind towards action and the universe towards manifestation.Kali's representation reveals her nakedness.

This is not a trivial manner of representing a deity, but instead this fact stands for the transcendence of all limitations.Her action in the manifested world implies the destroying and in the same time purifying action of time (Kala).

This aspect is suggested by the human head she holds in one of her hands.However, as the yogi is more and more concerned with spiritual aspects, and firmly oriented towards obtaining spiritual freedom at all costs, he or she will be blessed with Kali's overwhelming grace.

SHE DESTROYS YOUR EGO SO THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO REBORN

One of the most important hypostasis in which one can worship Kali is the goddess Durga, the one who defeated the demon Mahishashura.
This demon represents in the Hindu spirituality the forces of the dark.The Vedanta philosophy presents the conception according to which there are the Divine Embodiments (avatara) who come on earth in order to perform a deep transformation of mankind.

For the worshipper of God in the aspect of the Divine Mother, Durga is the only hypostasis that destroys the evil of the world in its numerous demoniac and satanic aspects.Thus, the Hindu mythology describes how the goddess has vanquished the demons and their king, Mahishashura, saving the gods from captivity and set up again the divine order in the universe.

The spiritual significance of this myth is that each human being has inside both good and bad, and these energies constantly fight for supremacy.Durga, embodiment of the goddess Kali grants her support and help to those who ask for it and worship her, so that the spiritual forces develop and gain supremacy over the dark, negative influences of the psychic and mental.

Durga is thus the Divine Light who destroys and burns in terrible fire of her pure consciousness any malefic force and any leftover of ignorance.

HER FORCE AWAKENS KUNDALINI

The sadhana or spiritual practice recommended for the worship of the Great Cosmic Power Kali implies the effort of purifying and activating the centers of force, so that the fundamental energy Kundalini ascends from Muladhara chakra to Sahasrara.

The ascension of Kundalini represents one of the characteristic and most important aspects of this Great Cosmic Power's worship, and is correlated with the practice of sexual continence, according to the principles of the Tantric doctrine.

The mysterious influence of Kali is so complex and hidden that only few pure souls may see through her actions their real significance.

We meet a frequent representation of Kali as the Cosmic Mother, surrounded by a great number of different gods and goddesses. Lacking any dimensions or spatial-temporal limits, she takes on different forms and names in order to meet her worshiper's most secret desires.In certain situations, Kali embarks into action to destroy that which is perverted, weak, or useless. Thus, we may see her representation as having four or more arms, in which she holds different objects that are helpful in restoring or preserving the divine order of the universe.

In her most elevated aspects, Kali is the Divine Bliss itself, that which is beyond ordinary human perception, and the nature and consciousness of the Divine Brahman himself.

Consequently, there are two ways of worshipping her: as the great Goddess bestowing her grace and blessings upon all those who deserve it, and as holy energy (Shakti) who grants spiritual freedom (Kaivalya).

THE PURIFYING FIRE THAT BURNS THE EGO TO ASHES

All the representations of the goddess have in common the following fundamental elements: Shiva's dead body, her glorious attitude, the black color, but they may differ in other details, which underline her specific role in the universe, characteristic to a particular representation.

One representation of Kali reveals her in an imposing attitude, meditating in a state of infinite bliss on Shiva's chest. Another representation is while shooting an arrow, with her right foot bent, on Shiva's chest.Both figures (Kali and Shiva) are in a cremation place, suggesting that all illusory things are finally reduced to ashes, burnt in the fire of time, or that they return to their primordial essential state.As usually, Kali's skin is black, the source of all colors.

This also indicates the fact that she is associated to the depths of God's mystery.Nevertheless, she is surrounded by a white hallo, a gentle light whose nature is amrita and that brings peace to the eye.

In this representation, Shiva's body indicates the fact that the power of God's consciousness is inherent to the unanimated matter as well.Kali's mouth is wide open and she pulls her tongue out, symbolizing the mudra of the devouring, or consuming the universe.

However, this terrible and scaring aspect is backed up by a smiling attitude of the goddess, looking upon the being of the universe with kindness and affection, sustaining their life and nourishing them with her immense breasts.Her ironic laughter is for all those who, due to ignorance for the laws of harmony and balance imagine that they can elude spiritual evolution.

The Great Goddess has three all-seeing eyes, "supervising" the universes from the past, present and future.In her other hand she holds a skull, whose significance id double: on one hand it is the receiver of the universal mysterious teaching, and on the other hand it is a reminder of what endures after the dissolution of the universe.

THROUGH HER INFINITE GRACE, ALL UNIVERSE DISOLVES IN YOU

In another hand, Kali holds a sword (khadga), whose role is to cut all worldly connections and attachments, so that the worshipper is prepared for the ultimate spiritual freedom.

It is also interesting to mention that her hair is long and dishevelled, standing for the power of this great cosmic power's all-pervading grace.Her benevolence and compassion are underlined by two of her hands that perform the gesture of casting away the fear and that of offering spiritual gifts and powers.

Around her neck there is a necklace made of skulls belonging to various demons and other malefic entities, symbolizing her complete victory over the evil.Her naked body is splashed with the blood of these entities, and her earrings are in fact two decapitated human bodies.

This is Kali's complex representation in her terrible form, known also as Dakshina Kali or Shyamakali.In the Hindu iconography, Kali appears under a number of other forms, with minor differences as regards the number of the arms, face, of symbolic objects she holds.Thus, Shamasana Kali, Siddha Kali, Maha Kali, Guhyakali represent just as many aspects of the Goddess, worshipped in different areas of India.
Among these forms, remarkable is the form of Bhadra Kali, described in Tantasara as a hungry deity, ready to devour any illusory aspect of the universe, having three eyes, four hands holding a skull, a drum, an ax and a trident.

A variant of Bhadra Kali is Chamunda Kali, who although pleasant to the eye has terrible teeth and holds a long human bone with a skull at one end, a sword, a chain and a human head. Unlike the other representations of Kali, Chamunda Kali wears a tiger's fur and sits on a body.

Regard

Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar

Contact : 0922 4399 275

WWW.DHYANSANJIVANI.ORG

The Netra Tantra

2007-12-12T10:25:00.000-08:00

The consonant Ka, of all the letters of the alphabet, is the form of Mulaprakriti. Therefore, by every effort, one should worship the letter Ka, dearest - Kamadhenutantra XVII

The Netra Tantra is attributed to the school of Kashmir Shaivism and is usually printed with a commentary by Kshemaraja. Here is chapter one, translated for the first time into English. Chapter Ten of this tantra, also translated, can be viewed here.

The work, divided into 22 adhikaras of uneven length, centres around Mrityunjaya , here described as Amritesha, and his cluster of shaktis. Chapter one is below. In chapter two, there is discussion of the three shaktis Iccha, Jnana and Kriya. Chapter three is concerned with the puja (yaga) of Mrityunjaya, while chapter five discusses initiation (diksha).

In chapter six, the rules of abhisheka are given, while chapter seven deals with Amritesha, or Shiva as god of amrita or nectar. This has gross, subtle and supreme meanings, the text says.

Chapter seven is interesting because it is close in nature to the Siddhasiddhantapadhati, enumerating the six chakras, the sixteen adharas, the three lakshyas and the five vyomas (aethers), as well as the granthis and the nadis within the body.

Chapter eight deals with yoga of the tantras, while chapter nine begins to discuss the different tantrik divisions known as vama, dakshina, siddhanta, Saura and Vaishnava, and how they relate to the Vedas. Amritesha, says Bhairava in the text, is pure, like crystal and extends everywhere, giving the fruit of all agamas (sacred tets). The chapter gives different meditation images of Shiva. Chapter ten is translated elsewhere on this site.

Chapter eleven, devoted to the Uttaramnaya, starts with a dhyana of Tumburu, who is of the colour of dazzling white snow, or the kunda flower. Shaktis mentioned in this chapter include Jambhani, Mohani, Subhaga and Durbhaga. Chapter twelve concerns the Kulamnaya, and outlines the mandala of Bhairava and different shaktis and worship conducted there. More meditation images are contained in chapter thirteen, which also contains a rare dhyana of Brahma. This teaching is open to all, be they female, male and of whatever caste and hue. Brahma is described as having four arms, handsome, red in colour, effulgent, seated on Hamsa (a swan, but here meaning the mantra). He holds a staff, a rosary of akshas, a jewelled water pot and the four vedas.

In chapter fourteen, the role of this mantra and Iccha, Jnana and Kriya Shaktis are discussed, and the supremacy of the mantra. Chapter fifteen describes how Amritesha's mantra is all protective, while the next chapter describes different siddhis obtained from the worship. That topic is continued in chapter seventeen, which also covers the kavacha.

Chapter eighteen is devoted to Amriteshvari, or the shakti of Amrita, as well as describing the purifications that mantras must receive to become successful. Chapter nineteen is long, with 226 shlokas (verses). It starts with the Devi asking Shiva to describe afflictions caused by bhutas, pretas, yakshas, pishachas, rakshas and the like, and how they can be prevented. Chapter twenty deals with the yoginis, such as Shakini and others of the bodily dhatus. Chapter twenty one discusses the nature of mantra, while the last chapter concludes with the great merit of Amritesha (Mrtyunjaya's) mantra.

Chapter One
Hail to the ordainer of destiny, the being who manifests three ways in the three worlds, the possessor of Shakti who creates, maintains and destroys in the cosmos, the being whose nature is amrita, Shiva, the supreme essence of Brahma, Vishnu and Isha.

Seated on Kailasha Peak is the god of gods, Maheshvara, Hara, the altar of dalliance, with his hosts and his spouse Parvati.

Having seen the happy god, and with the desire of benefiting living beings, suddenly Parvati left his side, and grasping his feet, questioned the contented Parameshvara in a very devoted way.
Shri Devi said: Lord god of gods, Lokanatha, lord of the cosmos, you have accomplished a great miracle, a cause of astonishment. You are god of all that exists, but my supreme master.
This secret, hard to distinguish and difficult to accomplish, is unknown to Kartikeya, to me, to the gods or to the ganas. It is certainly unknown to lords of yoga, to the Matrikas, to the rishis and to the yogis.

Lord of creation, speak now of this, if you are kindly disposed towards me! O Lord, I entreat you by your obligation to speak fully.

Thus having heard the words of Devi, the one with the smiling face spoke: Ask anything you wish, O one with beautiful hips. The secret is in your heart. I will certainly speak fully. You please me, O pure one!

Devi said: Bhagavan, lord god of gods, cause of various miracles, beautiful one of miraculous appearance, I wish to hear of that not already revealed. Handsome lord, I want to hear about the cause of the utmost bliss, to be related to me by you.

The all-seeing eye is made of water, Deva. How, then, may it become fiery and wrathful, flaming and burning up time? Saturn was reduced to ashes by the power of this eye. Deva, how is such wrath produced, that fire which desires to burn time? It consumes all creation, destroying Brahma and all that is permanent.

In a similar way, Parameshvara, Kama was burned up by its play. What is this cruel, fiery eye, O Natha, which is always invisible yet is the cause of great miracles? How does fire come to be within this eye? Who does it see? How may an eye be made of fire? Why is it invisible? O cosmic lord, how comes it that this eye, the essence of immortality, augmenting the whole cosmos, has given birth to the cosmos?

Deva, these graceful nectar-like eyes are the cause of my bliss and behind the process of creation. How may this fire known as the fire of time come to create? Bhagavan, I want you to answer all this.

Shri Bhagavan said: I am moved by the great eagerness of your questions. Listen, dearest, I will speak of all relating to the fire and ultimate nectar which is within my eye and of its yoga.
Its real nature is without origin, pure, pervading all and omnipresent. It is within all living creatures and present in the hearts of all things, attained by yoga, difficult to accomplish, hard to attain for all beings.

It is like my own semen, self-knowledge, my supreme part. It is the essence of all semen, the strongest of the strong. Certainly, and without any doubt, it is the quintessence of all ojas, eternity itself.

From me came she known as supreme Iccha Shakti, one with Shakti, born from my own nature. Just as fire and heat and the sun and its rays are inseparable, so also Shakti herself, the cause of creation, is inseparable from the cosmos.

Within her is that which is both manifest and unmanifest. She is all-knowing, with all qualities, manifested as Iccha, Jnana and Kriya and so forth, and in her, knowledge, the six qualities and everything else are situated. All light dwells in her.

She is the essence of Mahakriya, the unified mother of action. She both creates and destroys and is the very self of Anima and the rest of the eight siddhis. Thus, these three Shaktis of mine are called Iccha, Jnana and Kriya, it is said. In me dwell the three playful abodes of Sun, Moon and Fire. In the play of my magnificent three eyes is the substance of these three. I create, sustain and destroy the universe.

I am the dwelling place of the three bodies and of creation, maintenance and dissolution. My effulgent and life-giving semen pervades all. With my forms of Iccha, Jnana and Kriya I am the ultimate eye nectar.

This semen is the supreme realm, the highest form of nectar, supreme bliss, the quintessence, complete knowledge, pure, the core of the three eyes. This is called the Mrityunjaya (conqueror of death) and gives success to all. He (Mrityunjaya Shiva) is the giver of success, the supreme divinity, liberating from all sorrows, the god destroying all ailments, removing all delusions, Shiva, the alleviator of poverty, eternal, conqueror of death, permeating all, infallible, without stain, peaceful, all-giving, all-liberating.

His brightness is equal to 1,000 million suns and 1,000 million fires, liberating from the sixteen kalas, effulgence itself, unassailable by gods or demons. With my fiery eye I burn everything in an instant and I may also create and maintain. There is nothing greater than this certain semen- like thing seen everywhere, the essence of vajra, taking one to the state of Rudra, like a renowned sword which is death to all enemies and stops all elementals, weapons and arms.

This one semen becomes multifold, diffusing itself limitelessly with many variations. The magnificence of this great Pashupata is that it is like Vishnu's discus or Brahma's staff and is the very essence of all weapons. Appearing in various forms, this weapon spreads in many ways. My semen creates the different gods themselves.

I, the lord of yoga, through my own Shakti, manifested the entire cosmos. She is the supreme protectress from fears and anxieties, allaying fear, destroying enemies and the supreme giver of liberation, most certainly. O Beautiful One, even great poetry could not describe the greatness of this!

This great thing, the giver of grace, the most excellent boon giver, causes manifestation, maintenance and the great intensity of Rudra. It should be regarded as immeasurable, knowledge itself, the great power of mantra, the protector of all the elements. Very hidden, you should always conceal it. Devi, it has now been revealed to you. What else do you wish to ask?

Regard

Acharya Shree Vijay Kumar

Contact : 0922 4399 275

http://www.dhyansanjivani.org/

Tantra Shastra And Veda

2007-12-12T03:20:00.000-08:00

In writing this Chapter I have in mind the dispute which some have raised upon the question whether the Agamas, or some of them, are Vaidik or non-Vaidik.

I do not here deal with the nature and schools of Tantra or Agama nor with their historical origin. Something has been said on these points in the Introductions to the English translations of Pandit Shiva Chandra Vidyarnava's Tantra-tattva. I have also dealt with this subject in the two Chapters, "What are the Tantras and their significance?" and "Shakti and Shakta". I wish to avoid repetitions, except so far as is absolutely necessary for the elucidation of the particular subject in hand. On the disputed question whether the Agamas are Vaidik or non-Vaidik I desire to point out that an answer cannot be given unless we keep apart two distinct matters, viz., (1) what was the origin of the Agamas and (2) what they are now. I am not here, however, dealing with the first or historical question, but with the second so far as the Shakta Agama is concerned. Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that (to take a specific example) worship of Kali and other Devis by the Shaktas indicates the existence of non-Aryan elements in their Agama. The question of real importance here, as always, is not as to what were the facts in remote past ages, but what they are now. The answer then is -- let it be as you will regarding the origin of the Shakta Agama; but at present Shakta worship is an integral part of the Hinduism and as such admits the authority of Veda, accepting, as later explained, every other belief held by the general body of the Hindu people.

In a recent prosecution under Sections 292, 293 of the Indian Penal Code against an accused who had published a Tantra (but who was rightly acquitted), an Indian Deputy Magistrate who had advised the prosecution, and who claimed to be an orthodox Hindu, stated (I am informed) in the witness box, that he could not define what the Tantra Shastra was, or state whether it was a Hindu scripture of the Kali age, or whether a well-known particular Shastra shown to him was one of the Tantras. Such ignorance is typical of many at the present time and is a legacy from a vanishing age. How is it that a Shastra which has had its followers throughout India from the Himalayas (the abode of Shiva and of Parvati Devi) to Cape Comorin (a corruption of Kumart Devi) which ruled for centuries, so that we may speak of a Tantrik epoch; which even to-day governs the household and temple ritual of every Hindu; how is it that such a Shastra has fallen into complete neglect and disrepute amongst the larger body of the English-educated community'? I remember a time when mention of the Shastra was only made (I speak of course of the same class) with bated breath; and when any one who concerned himself therewith became thereby liable to the charge of giving licentious sway to drink and women. The answer is both a general and particular one. In the first place the English-educated people of this country were formerly almost exclusively, and later to a considerable extent, under the sway of their English educators. In fact they were in a sense their creation. They were, and some of them still are, the Manasaputra of the English. For them what was English and Western was the mode. Hindu religion, philosophy and art were only, it was supposed, for the so-called "uneducated" women and peasants and for native Pandits who, though learned in their futile way, had not received the illuminating advantages of a Western training. In my own time an objection was (I am informed) taken by Indian Fellows of the Calcutta University to the appointment of the learned Pandit Candrakanta Tarkalamkara to a chair of Indian philosophy on the ground that he was a mere native Pandit. In this case English Fellows and the then Vice-Chancellor opposed this absurd and snobbish objection. When the authority of the English teachers was at its highest, what they taught was law, even though their judgments were, in respect of Indian subjects of which they had but a scant and imperfect knowledge, defective. If they said with, or in anticipation of, one Professor, that the Vedas were "the babbling of a child humanity" and the Brahmanas "the drivel of madmen," or with another that the thought of the Upanishads was so "low" that it could not be correctly rendered in the high English language; that in "treating of Indian philosophy a writer has to deal with thoughts of a lower order than the thoughts of the every-day life of Europe"; that Smriti was mere priestly tyranny, the Puranas idle legends and the Tantras mere wickedness and debauchery; that Hindu philosophy was (to borrow another English Professor's language concerning the Samkhya) "with all its folly and fanaticism little better than a chaotic impertinence"; and that Yoga was, according to the same man of learning, "the fanatical vagaries of theocracy"; that Indian ritual was nothing but superstition, mummery, and idolatry, and (Indian) art, inelegant, monstrous, and grotesque -- all this was with readiness accepted as high learning and wisdom, with perhaps here and there an occasional faint, and even apologetic, demur. I recollect in this connection a rather halting, and shamefaced, protest by the late Rajendra Lal Mitra. I do not say that none of these or other adverse criticisms had any ground whatever. There has been imperfection, folly, superstition, wickedness, here as elsewhere. There has been much of it, for example, in the countries, whence these critics of India came. It is, however, obvious that such criticisms are so excessive as to be absurd.

Even when giving an account of Eastern thought the Western is apt to take up a "superior" attitude because he believes himself to be superior. The Bishop of Durham very clearly reveals this sense of superiority (Christian Aspects of Life, by B. F. Westcott, 175) when after stating that the duty of the Christian missionary was to substitute for "the sterile theism of Islam and the shadowy vagueness of Hindu Philosophy a belief in a living and speaking God" he goes on to point out that "our very advantages" by way of "the consciousness of social and intellectual superiority with which we are filled" and "the national force which sets us as conquerors where we come as evangelists" constitute a danger in the mission field. It is this notion of "superiority" also which prevents a right understanding, and which notwithstanding the facts, insists on charges which, if established, would maintain the reputation for inferiority of the colored races. It is this reiterated claim to superiority that has hypnotized many persons amongst Eastern races into the belief that the European is, amongst other things, always a safe and learned critic even of their own beliefs and practices.

Raja Rammohan Roy was the first to take up the cause of his faith, divorcing it from the superstitious accretions which gather around all religions in the course of the ages. The same defense was made in recent times by that man of upstanding courage, Svami Vivekananda. Foreign criticism on Indian religion now tends in some quarters to greater comprehension. I say in some quarters; for even in quite recent years English books have been published which would be amazing, were one not aware of the deep ignorance and prejudice which exist on the subject. In one of these books the Hindu religion is described as "a mixture of nightmare nonsense and time-wasting rubbish fulfilling no useful purpose whatever: only adding to the general burden of existence borne by Humanity in its struggle for existence." In another it is said to be "a weltering chaos of terror, darkness, and uncertainty". It is a religion without the apprehension of a moral evolution, without definite commandments, without a religious sanction in the sphere of morals, without a moral code and without a God: such so-called God, as there is, being "a mixture of Beaches, Don Juan and Dick Turin." It is there further described as the most material and childishly superstitious animalism that ever masqueraded as idealism; not another path to God but a pit of abomination as far set from God as the mind of man can go; staggering the brain of a rational man; filling his mind with wild contempt for his species and which has only endured "because it has failed." Except for the purpose of fanatical polemic, one would assume that the endurance of a faith was in some measure the justification of it. It is still more wonderful to learn from this work (The Light of India written by Mr. Harold Begbie and published by the Christian Literature Society for India) that out of this weltering chaos of all that is ignominious, immoral and crassly superstitious, come forth men who (in the words of the author) "standing at prayer startle you by their likeness to the pictures of Christ -- eyes large, luminous and tranquil -- the whole face exquisite with meekness and majestic with spirit." One marvels how these perfect men arise from such a worthless and indeed putrescent source. This absurd picture was highly colored in a journalistic spirit and with a purpose. In other cases, faulty criticism is due to supercilious ignorance. As another writer says (the italics are mine) "For an Englishman to get a plain statement of what Brahmanism really means is far from easy. The only wonder is that people who have to live on nine pence a week, who marry when they are ten years old, are prevented by caste life from rising out of what is often, if not always, a degraded state, have any religion at all." As the Bishop of Peterborough has recently said it is difficult for some to estimate worth in any other terms than g. s. d. It is to be hoped that all such snobbish materialism will be hindered from entrance into this country. These quotations reveal the depths of ignorance and prejudice which still exist. As we are however aware, all English criticism is not as ignorant and prejudiced as these, even though it be often marred by essential error. On the contrary there are an increasing number who appreciate and adopt, or appreciate if they cannot accept, Indian beliefs. Further than this, Eastern thought is having a marked influence on that of the West, though it is not often acknowledged. Many have still the notion that they have nothing to learn in any domain from this hemisphere. After all, what any one else says should not affect the independence of our own judgment. Let others say what they will. We should ourselves determine matters which concern us. The Indian people will do so when they free themselves from that hypnotic magic, which makes them often place blind reliance on the authority of foreigners, who, even when claiming to be scholars, are not always free from bias, religious or racial. Such counsel, though by no means unnecessary to-day, is happily becoming less needed than in the past.

There are, however, still many Indians, particularly those of my own generation, whose English Gurus and their teaching have made them captives. Their mind has been so dominated and molded to a Western manner of thinking (philosophical, religious, artistic, social and political) that they have scarcely any greater capacity to appreciate their own cultural inheritance than their teachers, be that capacity in any particular case more or less. Some of them care nothing for their Shastra. Others do not understand it. The class of whom I speak are, in fact, as I have said, the Manasaputra of the English in a strict sense of the term. The Indian who has lost his Indian soul must regain it if he would retain that independence in his thought and in the ordering of his life which is the mark of a man, that is of one who seeks Svarajya-siddhi. How can an imitator be on the same level as his original? Rather he must sit as a Cela at the latter's feet. Whilst we can all learn something from one another, yet some in this land have yet to learn that their cultural inheritance with all its defects (and none is without such) is yet a noble one; an equal in rank, (to say the least), with those great past civilizations which have molded the life and thought of the West. All this has been admitted by Indians who have discernment. Such value as my own remarks possess, is due to the fact that I can see and judge from without as an outsider, though (I will admit in one sense) interested observer -- interested because I have at heart Indian welfare and that of all others which, as the world now stands, is bound up with it.

As regards the Tantra Shastra in particular, greater ignorance prevailed and still exists. Its Vamacara practice however, seemed so peculiar, and its abuses were so talked of, that they captured attention to the exclusion of every thing else; the more particularly that this and the rest of the Shastra is hard to understand. Whilst the Shastra provides by its Acaras for all types from the lowest to the most advanced, its essential concepts, under whatever aspect they are manifested, and into whatever pattern they are woven, are (as Professor De La Vallee Poussion says of the Buddhist Tantra) of a metaphysical and subtle character. Indeed it is largely because of the subtlety of its principles, together with the difficulties which attend ritual exposition, that the study of the Tantras, notwithstanding the comparative simplicity of their Sanskrit, has been hitherto neglected by Western scholars. Possibly it was thought that the practices mentioned rendered any study of a system, in which they occurred, unnecessary. There was and still is some ground for the adverse criticism which has been passed on it. Nevertheless it was not a just appreciation of the Shastra as a whole, nor even an accurate judgment in respect of the particular ritual thus singled out for condemnation. Let those condemn this Shastra who will. That is their affair. But let them first study and understand it.

I have dealt with the subject of the Tantras in several papers. It is only necessary here to say that "the Tantra" as it is called was wrongly considered to be synonymous with the Shakta Tantras; that in respect of the latter the whole attention was given to the Vamacara ritual and to magic (Shatkarma); that this ritual, whatever may in truth be said against it, was not understood; that it was completely ignored that the Tantras contained a remarkable philosophic presentment of religious teaching, profoundly applied in a ritual of psychological worth; and that the Shastras were also a repertory of the alchemy, medicine, law, religion, art and so forth of their time. It was sufficient to mention the word "Tantra" and there was supposed to be the end of the matter.

I have often been asked why I had undertaken the study of the Tantra Shastra, and in some English (as opposed to Continental) quarters it has been suggested that my time and labor might be more worthily employed. One answer is this: Following the track of unmeasured abuse I have always found something good. The present case is no exception. I protest and have always protested against unjust aspersions upon the Civilization of India and its peoples. If there be what is blameworthy, accuracy requires that criticism should be reduced to its true proportions. Having been all my life a student of the world's religions and philosophies, I entered upon a particular study of this Shastra to discover for myself what it taught, and whether it was, as represented, a complete reversal of all other Hindu teaching with which I was acquainted. For it was said to be the cultivation or practice of gluttony, lust, and malevolence ("ferocity, lust, and mummery" as Brian Hodgson called it), which I knew the Indian Shastra, like all the other religious Scriptures of the world, strictly forbids.

I found that the Shastra was of high importance in the history of Indian religion. The Tantra Shastra or Agama is not, as some seem to suppose, a petty Shastra of no account; one, and an unimportant sample, of the multitudinous manifestations of religion in a country which swarms with every form of religious sect. It is on the contrary with Veda, Smriti and Purana one of the foremost important Shastras in India, governing, in various degrees and ways, the temple and household ritual of the whole of India to-day and for centuries past. Those who are so strenuously averse to it, by that very fact recognize and fear its influence. From a historical point of view alone, it is worthy of study as an important part of Indian Culture, whatever be its intrinsic worth. History cannot be written if we exclude from it what we do not personally like. As Terence grandly said: "We are men and nothing which man has done is alien to us". There are some things in some of the Tantras and a spirit which they manifest of which their student may not personally approve. But the cause of history is not to be influenced by personal predilections. It is so influenced in fact. There are some who have found in the Shastra a useful weapon of attack against Indian religion and its tendencies. Should one speak of the heights which Indian spiritual experience has reached, one might be told that the infamous depths to which it had descended in Tantra Shastra, the Pushtimarga, the Vaishnava Sahajiya and so forth were more certainly established. Did one praise the high morality to be found in Indian Shastra, it might be admitted that India was not altogether destitute of the light of goodness; but it might be asked, what of the darkness of the Tantra? And so on and so forth. Let us then grapple with and not elude the objection. There was of course something in all this. But such objectors and others had not the will (even if they had the capacity to understand) to give a true presentment of the teachings of the Shastra. But the interests of fairness require both. Over and above the fact that the Shastra is an historical fact, it possesses, in some respects, an intrinsic value which justifies its study. Thus it is the storehouse of Indian occultism. This occult side of the Tantras is of scientific importance, the more particularly having regard to the present revived interest in occultist study in the West. "New thought" as it is called and kindred movements are a form of Mantravidya. Vasikaranam is hypnotism, fascination. There is "Spiritualism" and "Powers" in the Tantras and so forth. For myself, however, the philosophical and religious aspect of the Scripture is more important still. The main question for the generality of men is not "Powers" (Siddhi). Indeed the study of occultism and its practice has its dangers; and the pursuit of these powers is considered an obstacle to the attainment of that true Siddhi which is the end of every Shastra. A subject of greater interest and value is the remarkable presentation of Vedantic knowledge which the Shakta Tantra in particular gives (I never properly understood the Vedanta until after I had studied the Tantras) as also the ritual by which it is sought to gain realization (Aparokshajñana). The importance of the Shakta Tantra may be summed up by the statement that it is a Sadhana Shastra of Advaitavada. I will develop this last matter in a future paper. I will only say now that the main question of the day everywhere is how to realize practically the truths of religion, whatever they be. This applies to all, whether Hindu, Mohammed or Christian. Mere philosophical speculation and talk will avail nothing beyond a clarification of intellect. But, that, we all know, is not enough. It is not what we speculate about but what we are, which counts. The fundamental question is, how to realize (Sakshatkara) religious teaching. This is the fruit of Sadhana alone, whether the form of that Sadhana be Christian, Hindu, Mohammed, Buddhist or what else. The chief Sadhana-Shastra for the orthodox Hindu is the Tantra Shastra or Agama in its varying schools. In this fact lies its chief significance, and for Hindus its practical importance. This and the Advaitavada on which the Shakta ritual rests is in my opinion the main reason why Shakta Darshana or doctrine is worthy of study.

The opinion which I had formed of the Shastra has been corroborated by several to whom I had introduced the matter. I should like to quote here the last letter I had only a month ago from an Indian friend, both Sanskritist and philosopher (a combination too rare). He says "they (the Tantras) have really thrown before me a flood of new light. So much so, that I really feel as if I have discovered a new world. Much of the mist and haziness has now been cleared away and I find in the Tantras not only a great and subtle philosophy but many of the missing links in the development of the different systems of Hindu philosophy which I could not discover before but which I have been seeking for, for some years past." These statements might perhaps lead some to think that the Shastra teaches something entirely, that is in every respect, new. As regards fundamental doctrines, the Tantra Shastra (for convenience I confine myself to the Shakta form) teaches much which is to be found in the Advaita Vedanta. Therefore those who think that they will find in the Shastra some fundamental truths concerning the world which are entirely new will be disillusioned. The observation does not apply to some doctrinal teaching, presentment, methods, and details, to which doubtless my friend's letter referred. He who has truly understood Indian Shastra as a whole will recognize, under variety of form and degree of spiritual advancement, the same substance by way of doctrine.
Whilst the Shakta Tantra recognizes, with the four Vedas, the Agamas and Nigaimas, it is now based, as are all other truly Indian Shastras on Veda. Veda, in the sense of Knowledge, is ultimately Spiritual Experience, namely Cit which Brahman is, and in the one partless infinite Ocean of Which the world, as a limited stress in Consciousness arises. So it is said of the Devi in the Commentary on the Trishati:

Vedantamahavakya-janya
sakshatkara-rupa-brahmavidya

She is Brahman-knowledge (Brahmavidya) in the form of direct realization produced by the Vedantic great saying (Mahavakya) -- that is "Tat tvam asi" ("That thou art") and all kindred sayings, So'ham, ("He I am"), Brahmasmi ("I am Brahman") and so forth. In other words, Self-knowledge is self-luminous and fundamental and the basis of all other knowledge. Owing to its transcendency it is beyond both prover and proof. It is self-realized (Svanubhava). But Shruti is the source from which this knowledge arises, as Samkara says, by removing (as also to some extent reason may do) false notions concerning it. It reveals by removing the superincumbent mass of human error. Again, Veda in a primary sense is the world as Idea in the Cosmic Mind of the creating Brahman and includes all forms of knowledge. Thus it is eternal, arising with and as the Samskaras at the beginning of every creation. This is the Vedamurtibrahman. Veda in the secondary sense is the various partial revelations relating to Tattva, Brahman or God, and Dharma, morality, made at different times and places to the several Rishis which are embodied in the four Vedas, Rig, Yajus, Sama and Atharva. Veda is not coextensive therefore with the four Vedas. But are these, even if they be regarded as the "earliest," the only (to use an English term) revelations? Revelation (Akasha-vani) never ceases. When and wherever there is a true Rishi or Seer there is Revelation. And in this sense the Tantra Shastra or Agama claims to be a Revelation. The Shabdabrahmamurti is Nigamadishastramaya: it being said that Agama is the Paramatma of that Murti, the four Vedas with their Angas are its Jivatma; the six philosophies its Indriyas; the Puranas and Upapuranas its gross body; Smriti its hands and other limbs and all, "other Shastras are the hairs of its body. In the Heart-lotus are the fifty Tejomayi Matrika. In the pericarp are the Agamas glittering like millions of suns and moons which are Sarvadharmamaya, Brahmajñanamaya, Sarvasiddhimaya, and Murtiman. These were revealed to the Rishis. In fact all Shastras are said to constitute one great many-millioned collection (Shatakoti Samhita) each being particular manifestations to man of the one, essential Veda. From this follows the belief that they do not contradict, but are in agreement with, one another; for Truth is one whatever be the degree in which it is received, or the form in which the Seers (Rishis) promulgated it to those whose spiritual sight has not strength enough to discern it directly and for themselves. But how, according to Indian notions, can that which is put forward as a Revelation be shown to be such? The answer is that of Ayurveda. A medicine is a good one if it cures. In the same way a Shastra is truly such if the Siddhi which it claims to give is gained as the fruit of the practice of its injunctions, according to the competency and under the conditions prescribed. The principle is a practical and widely adopted one. The tree must be judged by its fruit. This principle may, if applied to the general life of to-day, lead to an adverse judgment on some Tantrik practices. If so, let it be. It is, however, an error to suppose that even such practices as have been condemned, claim to rest on any other basis than Veda. It is by the learned in Tantra Shastra said to be ignorance (Avidya) to see a difference between Agama and Veda.

Ignorant notions prevail on the subject of the relation of the Tantras to Veda and the Vedas. I read some years ago in a Bengali book by a Brahmo author that "the difference was that between Hell and Heaven". Now on what is such a condemnatory comparison based? It is safe to challenge production of the proof of such an assertion. Let us examine what the Shakta Tantra (to which allusion was made) teaches.

In the first place "Hell" recognizes "Heaven," for the Shakta Tantra, as I have said, acknowledges the authority of Veda. All Indian Shastras do that. If they did not, they would not be Indian Shastra. The passages on this point are so numerous, and the point itself is so plain that I will only cite a few.

Kularnava Tantra says (II. 85,140,141) that Kuladharma is based on and inspired by the Truth of Veda. Tasmat vedatmakam shastram viddhi kaulatmakam priye. In the same place Shiva cites passages from Shruti in support of His doctrine. The Prapañcasara and other Tantras cite Vaidika Mahavakya and Mantras; and as Mantras are a part of Veda, therefore, Meru Tantra says that Tantra is part of Veda (Pranatoshini 70). Niruttara Tantra calls Tantra the Fifth Veda and Kulacara is named the fifth Ashrama (ib.); that is it follows all others. Matsyauktamahatantra (XIII) says that the disciple must be pure of soul (Shuddhatma) and a knower of Veda. He who is devoid of Vaidika-kriya (Vedakriya-vivarjita) is disqualified (Maharudrayamala, I Khanda, Ch. 15; II Khanda, Ch. 2; Pranatoshini 108). Gandharva Tantra (Ch. 2, Pranatoshini 6) says that the Tantrik Sadhaka must be a believer in Veda (Astika), ever attached to Brahman, ever speaking of Brahman, living in Brahman and taking shelter with Brahman; which, by the way, is a queer demand to make of those, the supposed object of whose rites is mere debauchery. The Kularnava says that there is no knowledge higher than that of Veda and no doctrine equal to Kaula (III. 113, Nahivedadhika vidya na kaula-samadarshanam). Here a distinction is drawn between Veda which is Vidya and the Kaula teaching which he calls Darshana. See also Mahanirvana Tantra (I. 18, 19; II. 8-15). In Mahanirvana Tantra (III. 72) the Mantra Om Saccidekam Brahma is given and in the Prapañcasara (Ch. XXIX) this (what it calls) "Secret of the Vedas" is explained.
That the Shakta Tantra claims to be based on Veda admits of no doubt. In fact Kulluka Bhatta, the celebrated commentator on Manu, says that Shruti is of two kinds, Vaidik and Tantrik.

Vaidiki tantrums caviar dvividha shrutih kirtita

It is of course the fact that different sects bandy words upon the point whether they in fact truly interpret Shruti and follow practice conformable to it. Statements are made by opposing schools that certain Shastras are contrary to Shruti even though they profess to be based thereon. So a citation by Bhaskararaya in the Commentary to V. 76 of the Lalita sahasranama speaks of some Tantras as "opposed to Veda" (Vedaviruddhani). The Vayu Samhita says: "Shaivagama is twofold, that which is based on Shruti and that which is not. The former is composed of the essence of Shruti. Shrauta is Svatantra and Itara" (v. ante, p. 19). Shaivagamo'pi dvividhah, shrauto' shrautash ca samsmritah Srutisaramayah shrautah svantrastvitaro matah.

So again the Bhagavata or Pancaratra Agama has been said to be non-Vaidik. This matter has been discussed by Samkaracarya and Ramanuja following Yamunacarya.

We must in all cases distinguish between what a school says of itself and what others say of it. In Christianity both Catholicism and Protestantism claim to be based on the Bible and each alleges that the other is a wrong interpretation of it. Each again of the numerous Protestant sects says the same thing of the others.

But is Shakta Tantra contrary to Veda in fact? Let us shortly survey the main points in its doctrine. It teaches that Paramatma Nirguna Shiva is Saccidananda (Prapañcasara, Ch. XXIX: Kularnava, Ch. I. vv. 6-7). Kularnava says "Shiva is the impartite Supreme Brahman, the All-knowing (Sarvajña) Creator of all. He is the Stainless One and the Lord of all. He is One without a second (Advaya). He is Light itself. He changes not, and is without beginning or end. He is attributeless and above the highest. He is Saccidananda" (I. 6-7. And see the Dhyana and Pañcaratnastotra in Mahanirvana Tantra III. 50, 59-63). Brahman is Saccidananda, Eternal (Nitya), Changeless (Nirvikara), Partless (Nishkala), Untouched by Maya (Nirmala), Attributeless (Nirguna), Formless (Arupa), Imperishable (Akshara), All-spreading like space (Vyomasannibha), Self-illuminating (Svyamjyotih), Reality (Tattva) which is beyond mind and speech and is to be approached through spiritual feeling alone (Bhavanagamya). Kularnava I, 6-8; III. 92, 93; IX. 7). (Mahanirvana III. 50, 59-63, 67-68, 74; III. 12). In His aspect as the Lord (Ishvara) of all, He is the All-knower (Sarvajña), Lord of all: whose Body is pure Sattva (Shuddhasattvamaya), the Soul of the universe (Vishvatma). (Mahanirvana I. 61, III. 68). Such definitions simply re-affirm the teaching of Veda. Brahman is That which pervades without limit the Universe (Prapañcasara XXIX; Mahanirvana III. 33-35) as oil the sesamum seed (Sharada Tilaka I, Shaktanandatarangini I, Pranatoshini 13). This Brahman has twofold aspect as Parabrahman (Nirguna, Nishkala) and Shabda-brahman (Saguna, Sakala). Sammohana, a highly interesting Tantra, says (Ch. I) that Kubjika is of twofold aspect, namely, Nishkala when She is Candra-vaktra, and Sakala when called Paramukhi. So too is Guhyakali who as the first is Ekavaktra mahapashupatishi advaitabhavasampanna and as the second Dashavaktra. So the Kularnava says Shabda-brahmaparamabrahmabhedena Brahmano dvaividyam uktam (Khanda V, Ullasa 1). The same Tantra says that Sadashiva is without the bonds (of Maya) and Jiva is with them (Pashabadho bhavej jivah pashamuktah Sadashivahi, IX. 42) upon which the author of the Pranatoshini, citing this passage says "thus the identity of Jiva and Shiva is shown (iti Shivajivayoraikyam uktam). The Shakta Tantra is thus Advaitavada: for it proclaims that Paramatma and Jivatma are one. So it affirms the "grand words" (Mahavakya) of Veda -- "Tat tvam asi," "So'ham," "Brahmasmi" (Mahanirvana VIII. 264-265, V. 105); Prapañcasara II; identifying Hrim with Kundali and Hangsah and then with So'ham. Yah Suksmah So'ham ib. XXIV, Jñanarnava Tantra XXI. 10). As to Brahmasmi, see Kularnava IX. 32 and ib. 41. So'hambhavena pujayet. The Mantra "all this is surely Brahman (Sarvam khalvidam Brahma)" is according to the Mahanirvana (VII. 98) the end and aim of Tantrika Kulacara, the realization of which saying the Prapañcasara Tantra describes as the fifth or Supreme State (Ch. XIX); for the identity of Jivatma and Paramatma is Liberation which the Vedantasara defines to be Jivabrahmanoraikyam). Kularnava refers to the Advaita of which Shiva speaks (Advaitantu shivenoktam I. 108. See also Mahanirvana II. 33-34; I II. 33-35; 50-64; Prapañcasara II, XI X, XXIX). Gandharva Tantra says that the Sadhaka must be a nondualist (Dvaitahina). (See Ch. II. ib. Pranatoshini 108; Maharudrapamala I Khanda, Ch. 15; II Khanda, Ch. 2). It is useless to multiply quotations on this point of which there is no end. In fact that particular form of worship which has earned the Shakta Tantras ill-fame claims to be a practical application of Advaitavada. The Sammohana Tantra (Ch. VIII) gives high praise to the philosopher Samkaracarya saying that He was an incarnation of Shiva for the destruction of Buddhism. Kaulacarya is said to properly follow a full knowledge of Vedantic doctrine. Shiva in the Kularnava (I. 110) says "some desire dualism (Dvaita), others nondualism (Advaita) but my truth is beyond both (Dvaitadvaitavivarjita)".

Advaitavedanta is the whole day and life of the Shakta Sadhaka. On waking at dawn (Brahmamuhurta) he sits on his bed and meditates "I am the Devi and none other. I am Brahman who is beyond all grief. I am a form of Saccidananda whose true nature is eternal Liberation."

Aham Devi na canpo'smi,
Brahmaivaham na sokabhak,
Saccidanandarupo'ham
nitpamuktasvabhavavan

At noon again seated in Pujasana at time of Bhutasuddhi he meditates on the dissolution of the Tattvas in Paramatma. Seeing no difference between Paramatma and Jivatma he affirms Sa'ham "I am She". Again in the evening after ritual duties he affirms himself to be the Akhilatma and Saccidananda, and having so thought he sleeps. Similarly (I may here interpose) in the Buddhist Tantra -- the Sadhaka on rising in the state of Devadeha (hLayi-sku) imagines that the double drums are sounding in the heavens proclaiming the Mantras of the 24 Viras (dPahvo), and regards all things around him as constituting the Mandala of himself as Buddha Vajrasattva. When about to sleep he again imagines his body to be that of Buddha Vajrasattva and then merges himself into the tranquil state of the Void (Shunyata).
Gandharva Tantra says: "Having saluted the Guru as directed and thought 'So'ham' the wise Sadhaka, the performer of the rite should ponder the unity of Jiva and Brahman."

Gurun natva vidhanena so'ham iti porudhasah
Aikyam sambhavayed dhiman jivasya Brahmano'pi ca.

Kali Tantra says: "Having meditated in this way, a Sadhaka should worship Devi as his own Atma, thinking I am Brahman." Kubjika Tantra says (Devi is called Kubjika because She is Kundali): "A Sadhaka should meditate on his own Self as one and the same with Her (Taya sahitam atmanam ekibhutam vicintayet)" and so on.
The cardinal doctrine of these Shakta Tantras is that of Shakti whether in its Svarupa (that is, as It is in Itself) as Cidrupini, the Paraprakriti of Paramatma (Mahanirvana IV. 10) or as Maya and Prakriti (see as to the latter the great Hymn to Prakriti in Prapañcasara, Ch. XI). Shakti as the Kubjika Tantra says (Ch. I) is Consciousness (Caitanyarupini) and Bliss (Anandarupini). She is at the same time support of (Gunashraya) and composed of the Gunas (Gunamayi). Maya is however explained from the standpoint of Sadhana, the Tantra Shastra being a Sadhana Shastra, and not according to the Mayavada, that is, transcendental standpoint, of Samkara.

What is there in the great Devi Sukta of the Rigveda (Mandala X, Sukta 125) which the Shakta Tantra does not teach? The Rishi of this revelation was a woman, the daughter of Rishi Ambhrina. It was fitting that a woman should proclaim the Divine Motherhood. Her Hymn says: "I am the Sovereign Queen the Treasury of all treasures; the chief of all objects of worship whose all-pervading Self all Devatas manifest; whose birthplace is in the midst of the causal waters; who breathing forth gives form to all created worlds and yet extends beyond them, so vast am I in greatness." (The full Hymn is translated in the French Edition of A. and E. Avalon's Hymns to the Goddess, Bossard, Paris.)
It is useless to cite quotations to show that the Shakta Tantra accepts the doctrine of Karma which as the Kularnava (IX. 125) says Jiva cannot give up until he renounces the fruit of it; an infinite number of universes, and their transitoriness (Mahanirvana III. 7), the plurality of worlds, Heaven and Hell, the seven Lokas, the Devas and Devis, who as the Kulacudamani Nigama (following the Devi-Sukta) says (Ch. I) are but parts of the great Shakti (Shaktanandatarangim III). Being Advaitavada, Moksha the state of Liberation and so forth is Paramatma. It accepts Smriti and Puranas; the Mahanirvana and other Tantras saying that they are the governing Shastras of the Treta and Dvapara ages respectively, as Tantra is that of the Kaliyuga. So the Tarapradipa (Ch. I) says that in the Kaliyuga, the Tantrika and not the Vaidika Dharma is to be followed. It is said that in Satya, Veda was undivided. In Dvapara, Krishnadvaipayana separated it into four parts. In Satya, Vaidika Upasana was Pradhana, that is, prevailed; Sadhakas worshipping Indra for wealth, children and the like; though Nishkama Rishis adored the Sarvashaktiman (Devisukta is Advaitasiddhipurna). In Treta, worship according to Smriti prevailed. It was then, that Vashishtha is said to have done Sadhana of Brahmavidya according to Cinacarakrama. Though in the Dvapara there was both Smriti and Purana, rites were generally performed according to the Puranas. There was also then, as always, worshippers of the Purnashaktimahavidya. At the end of Dvapara and beginning of the Kali age the Tantra Shastra was taught to men. Then the ten Samskaras, Shraddha and Antyeshtikriya were, as they are now, performed according to the Vaidikadharma: Ashramacara according to Dayabhaga and other Smriti Texts; Vratas according to Purana; Disha and Upasana of Brahman with Shakti, and various kinds of Yoga Sadhana, according to the Agama which is divided into three parts Tantra (Sattvaguna), Yamala (Rajoguna), and Damara (Tamoguna). There were 64 Tantras for each of the three divisions Ashvakranta, Rathakranta, Vishnukranta.

Such is the Tantrik tradition concerning the Ages and their appropriate Scriptures. Whether this tradition has any historical basis still awaits inquiry, which is rendered difficult by the fact that many Tantras have been lost and others destroyed by those inimical to them. It is sufficient for my purpose to merely state what is the belief: that purpose being to show that the Tantra Shastra recognizes, and claims not to be in conflict with Veda or any other recognized Shastra. It accepts the six Philosophies (Darshana) which Shiva says are the six limbs of Kula and parts of his body, saying that he who severs them severs His limbs (Kularnava II. 84, 84-85). The meaning of this is that the Six Philosophies and the Six Minds, as all else, are parts of His body. It accepts the Shabda doctrine of Mimamsa subject to certain modifications to meet its doctrine of Shakti. It, in common with the Shaiva Tantra, accepts the doctrine of the 36 Tattvas, and Shadadhva (Tattva, Kala, Bhuvana, Varna, Pada, Mantra; see my Garland of Letters). This is an elaboration in detail which explains the origin of the Purusha and Prakriti Tattvas of the Samkhya. These are shown to be twin facets of the One, and the "development" of Shakti into Purusha-Prakriti Tattva is shown. These Tattvas include the ordinary 24 Prakriti with it, Gunas to Prithivi. It accepts the doctrine of three bodies (causal, subtle, gross) and the three states (Jagrat, Svapna Sushupti) in their individual and collective aspects. It follows the mode of evolution (Parinama) of Samkhya in so far as the development of Jiva is concerned, as also an Abhasa, in the nature of Vivartta, "from Fire to Fire" in the Pure Creation. Its exposition of the body includes the five Pranas, the seven Dhatus, the Doshas (Vayu, Pitta, Kapha) and so forth (Prapañcasara II). On the ritual side it contains the commonly accepted ritual of present-day Hinduism; Mantra, Yantra, Pratima, Linga, Shalagrama, Nyasa, Japa, Puja, Stotra, Kavaca, Dhyana and so forth, as well 'as the Vaidik rites which are the ten Samskaras, Homa and the like. Most of the commonly accepted ritual of the day is Tantrik. It accepts Yoga in all its forms Mantra, Hatha, Laya, Jñana; and is in particular distinguished by its practice of Laya or Kundali-yoga and other Hatha processes.

Therefore not only is the authority of the Veda acknowledged along with the Agamas, Nigamas and Tantras but there is not a single doctrine or practice, amongst those hitherto mentioned, which is either not generally held, or which has not the adherence of large numbers of Indian worshippers. It accepts all the notions common to Hinduism as a whole. Nor is there a single doctrine previously mentioned which is contrary to Veda, that is on the assumption of the truth of Advaitavada. For of course it is open to Dualists and Vishishtadvaitins to say that its Monistic interpretation of Vedanta is not a true exposition of Vaidik truth. No Shakta will however say that. Subject to this, I do not know of anything which it omits and should have included, or states contrary to the tenor of Vaidik doctrine. If there be anything I shall be obliged, as a student of the Shastra, to any one who will call my attention to it. The Shastra has not, therefore, up to this point shown itself as a "Hell" in opposition to the Vaidik "Heaven."

But it may said that I have omitted the main thing which gives it its bad and un-Vaidik character, namely the ill-famed Pañcatattva or worship with meat, wine, fish, grain and woman. I have also omitted the magic to be found in some of the Shastras.
The latter may be first shortly dealt with. Magic is not peculiar to the Tantras. It is to be found in plenty in the Atharvaveda. In fact the definition of Abhicara is "the Karma described in the Tantras and Atharvaveda." Abhicara is magical process with intent to destroy or injure. It is Himsa-karma, or act injurious to others. There is nothing anti-Vaidik then in Magic. I may, however, here also point out that there is nothing wrong in Magic (Shatkarma) per se. As with so many other things it is the use or abuse of it which makes it right or wrong. If a man kills, by Marana Karma, a rival in his business to get rid of competition and to succeed to his clients' custom, he commits a very grave sin -- one of the most grievous of sins. Suppose, however, that a man saw a tiger stalking a child, or a dacoit about to slay it for its golden ornament; his killing of the tiger or dacoit would, if necessary for the safety of the child, be a justifiable act. Magic is, however, likely to be abused and has in fact been abused by some of the Tantriks. I think this is the most serious charge established against them. For evil magic which proceeds from malevolence is a greater crime than any abuse of natural appetite. But in this, as in other matters, we must distinguish between what the Shastra says and the practices of its followers. The injunction laid upon the Sadhaka is that he "should do good to other beings as if they were his own self". Atmavat sarvabhutebhyo hitam kuryat kuleshvari (Kularnava Tantra XII. 63). In the Kularnava Samhita (a different and far inferior work to the Tantra of that name) Shiva recites some horrible rites with the flesh of rat and bat; with the soiled linen of a Candala woman, with the shroud of a corpse, and so forth; and then he says, "My heart trembles (hridayam kampate mama), my limbs tremble (gatrani mama kampante), my mouth is dry, Oh Parvati! (mukham shushyate Parvati!) Oh gentle one, my mind is all disturbed (kshobho me jayate bhadre). What more shall I say? Conceal it (Na vaktavyam) conceal it, conceal it." He then says: "In the Kali age Sadhakas are generally greedy of money. Having done greatly sinful acts they destroy living beings. For them there is neither Guru nor Rudra, nor Thee nor Sadhika. My dear life! they are ready to do acts for the destruction of men. Therefore it is wrong to reveal these matters, oh Devi. I have told Thee out of affection for Thee, being greatly pleased by Thy kisses and embrace. But it should be as carefully concealed by Thee, as thine own secret body. Oh Parvati! all this is greatly sinful and a very bad Yoga. (Mahapatakayuktam tat kuyogo'yam udahritah.)"

Kalikale sadhakastu prapasho dhanalolupah
Mahakrityam vidhayaiva praninam badhabhaginah
Na gurur napi Rudro va naiva tvam naiva sadhika
Mahapranivinashaya samarthah pranavallabhe
Etat prakashanam devi dosaya parikalpyate
Snehena tava deveshi chumbanalinganaistatha
Santusyaiva maya devi sarvam etat prakashitam
Tvapa gopyam prayatnena svayoniriva Parvati
Mahapataka-yuktam tat kuyogo'yam udahritah.

"None of these things are ever to be done by Thee, Oh Daughter of the Mountain (Sarvatha naiva kartavyastvaya Parvatanandini). Whoever does so, incurs the sin of destroying Me. I destroy all such, as does fire, dry grass. Of a surety such incur the sin of slaying a Brahmana. All such incur the sin of slaying a Brahmana."

Sarvatha naiva kartavya stvaya Parvatanandini
Badhabhak mama deveshi krityamimam samacaret
Tasya sarvam haramyashu vahnih shuskatrinam yatha
Avyartham brahmahatyanca brahmahatyam savindati.

When therefore we condemn the sin of evil magic it is necessary to remember both such teaching as is contained in this quotation, and the practice of those of good life who follow the Shastra. To do so is to be both fair and accurate. There is nothing, in any event, in the point that the magical contents of the Tantra Shastra make it contrary to Veda. Those who bring such a charge must also prefer it against the Atharvaveda.
As a matter of fact Magic is common to all early religions. It has been practiced, though condemned, in Christian Europe. It is not necessary to go back to the old witchcraft trials. There are some who protest against its recrudescence to-day. It has been well observed that there are two significant facts about occultism, namely its catholicity (it is to be found in all lands and ages) and its amazing power of recuperation after it has been supposed to have been disproved as mere "superstition". Even some quarter of a century ago (I am quoting from the same author) there were probably not a score of people in London (and those kept their preoccupation to themselves) who had any interest at all in the subject except from a purely antiquarian standpoint. Magic was dismissed by practically all educated men as something too evidently foolish and nonsensical to deserve attention or inquiry. In recent years the position has been reversed in the West, and complaint is again made of the revival of witchcraft and occultism to-day. The reason of this is that modern scientific investigation has established the objectivity of some leading phenomena of occultism. For instance a little more than a century or so ago, it was still believed that a person could inflict physical injury on another by means other than physical. And this is what is to be found in that portion of the Tantra Shastras which deal with the Shatkarma. Witches confessed to having committed this crime and were punished therefor. At a later date the witchcraft trials were held to be evidence of the superstition both of the accused and accusers. Yet psychology now allows the principle that Thought is itself a Force, and that by Thought alone, properly directed, without any known physical means the thought of another, and hence his whole condition, can be affected. By physical means I mean direct physical means, for occultism may, and does avail itself of physical means to stimulate and intensify the force and direction of thought. This is the meaning of the magic rituals which have been so much ridiculed. Why is black the color of Marana Karma? Because that color incites and maintains and emphasizes the will to kill. So Hypnotism (Vashikaranam), as an instance of the exercise of the Power of Thought, makes use of gestures, rotatory instruments and so forth.
The Magician having a firm faith in his (or her) power (for faith in occultism as in Religion is essential) surrounds himself with every incentive to concentrated, prolonged and (in malevolent magic), malevolent thought. A figure or other object such as part of the clothing, hair, nails and so forth of the victim represents the person to be attacked by magic. This serves as the 'immediate object' on which the magical thought is expended. The Magician is helped by this and similar aids to a state of fixed and malignant attention which is rendered intense by action taken on the substituted object. It is not of course the injuries done to this object which are the direct cause of injury to the person attacked, but the thought of the magician of which these injuries are a materialization. There is thus present the circumstances which a modern psychologist would demand for success in a telepathic experiment. As the witchcraft trials show, the victim is first affected in thought and then in body by the malignant thought thus focused upon him. Sometimes no apparent means are employed, as in a case reported to me by a friend of mine as occurring in a Bombay Hotel when a man well-known in India for his "Powers" (Siddhi) drove away, by the power of his thought only, a party of persons sitting at a neighboring table whose presence was greatly distasteful to one of his companions. This, if the effect of' magical power, was an instance of what the Tantras call Ucchatana. In all cases the general principle is the same, namely the setting in motion and direction of powerful thought by appropriate means.
This is the view of those who give what may be called a psychological explanation of these phenomena. These would hold that the magical symbolisms are without inherent force but work according to race and individual characteristics on the mind which does the rest. Others believe that there is an inherent power in Symbolism itself, that the "Symbol" is not merely such but an actual expression of, and instrument by which, certain occult laws are brought into play. In other words the power of "Symbolism" derives not merely from the effect which it may have on particular minds likely to be affected by it but from itself as a law external to human thought. Some again (and Indian magicians amongst others) believe in the presence and aid of discarnate personalities (such as the unclean Pishacas) given in the carrying out of occult operations. Similarly it is commonly held by some that where so-called "spiritualistic" phenomena are real and not fraudulent (as they sometimes are) the action is not that of the dead but of Infernal Spirits simulating them and misleading men to their ruin. Occultism in the sense of a belief in, and claim to be able to use, a certain range of forces which may be called preternatural, has the adherence not only of savage and barbarous people (who always believe in it) but also of an increasing number of "civilized" Londoners, Berliners, Americans, Parisians and other Western peoples. They differ in all else but they are united in this. Even what most would regard as downright superstition still abundantly flourishes in the West. Witness the hundreds of thousands of "touch-wood" figures and the like sent to the troops in the recent war, the horror of' sitting 13 to a table, and so on. In fact, from the earliest ages, magic has gone hand-in-hand with religion, and if for short periods the former has been thought to be dead it always rises again. Is this, as some say, the mark of the inherent silly credulity of mankind, or does the fact show that there is something in the claims which occultism has made in all ages P India (I do not speak of the English-educated community which shares in the rise and fall of English opinion) has always believed in occultism and some of the Tantra Shastras are repertories of its ritual. Magic and superstition proper, exist in this country but are also to be found in the West. The same remark applies to every depreciatory criticism passed upon the Indian people. Some have thought that occultism is the sign both of savagery and barbarism on the one hand and of decadent civilization on the other. In India it has always existed and still exists. It has been well said that there is but one mental attitude impossible to the educated man, namely blank incredulity with regard to the whole subject. There has been, and is, a change of attitude due to an increase of psychological knowledge and scientific investigation into objective facts. Certain reconciliations have been suggested, bringing together the ancient beliefs, which sometimes exist in crude and ignorant forms. These reconciliations may be regarded as insufficiently borne out by the evidence. On the other hand a proposed reconciliation may be accepted as one that on the whole seems to meet the claims made by the occultist on one side and the scientific psychologist on the other. But in the present state of knowledge it is no longer possible to reject both claims as evidently absurd. Men of approved scientific position have, notwithstanding the ridicule and scientific bigotry to which they have been exposed, considered the facts to be worthy of their investigation. And on the psychological side successive and continuous discoveries are being made which corroborate ancient beliefs in substance, though they are not always in consonance with the mode in which those beliefs were expressed. We must face the fact that (with Religion) Occultism is in some form or another a widely diffused belief of humanity. All however will be agreed in holding that malevolent Magic is a great Sin. In leaving the subject of Magic I may here add that modern psychology and its data afford remarkable corroboration of some other Indian beliefs such as that Thought is a Force, and that its operation is in a field of Consciousness which is wider than that of which the mind is ordinarily aware. We may note also the aid which is derived from the establishment of dual and multiple personalities in understanding how it may be possible that in one unity there may be yet varying aspects.

The second charge is the alleged Avaidik character of the secret Pañcatattva Sadhana, with wine, flesh and women, its alleged immorality of principle, and the evil lives of those who practice it. I am not in the present paper dealing in full with this subject; not that I intend by any means to shirk it; but it is more appropriately the subject of consideration in future Chapters on the subject of Shakta Tantrik Sadhana of which it forms a part. What I wish to say now is only this: We must distinguish in the first place between a principle and its application. A principle may be perfectly right and sound and yet a supposed application may not be an application in fact; or if there be an application, the latter may violate some other moral or physical law, or be dangerous and inexpedient as leading to abuse. I will show later that the principle involved is one which is claimed to be in conformity with Vaidik truth, and to be in fact recognized in varying forms by all classes of Hindus. Some do so dualistically. The Sadhana of the Shakta Tantra is, whether right or wrong, an application of the principles of Advaitavada and in its full form should not, it is said, be entered upon until after Vedantic principles have been mastered. For this reason Kauladharma has been called the fifth Ashrama. Secondly I wish to point out that this ritual with wine and meat is not as some suppose a new thing, something introduced by the Shakta Tantriks. On the contrary it is very old and has sanction in Vaidik practice as will appear from the authorities cited in the Appendix to this Chapter. So much is this so, that a Tantrik Sadhu discussing the matter with a Bengali friend of mine said of himself, as a follower of this ritual, that he was a Hindu and that those who were opposed to it were Jainas. What he meant, and what seems to be the fact, is that the present-day general prohibition against the use of wine, and the generally prevalent avoidance, or limitation of an animal diet, are due to the influence of Jainism and Buddhism which arose after, and in opposition to, Vaidik usage. Their influence is most marked of course in Vaishnavism but has not been without effect elsewhere. When we examine ancient Vaidik usage we find that meat, fish and Mudra (the latter in the form of Purodasha) were consumed, and intoxicating liquor (in the form of Soma) was drunk, in the Vaidik Yajñas. We also discover some Vaidik rites in which there was Maithuna. This I have dealt with in my article on "Shakti and Shakta".

The above-mentioned facts show in my opinion that there is ground for the doctrine of the Tantrikas that it is a mark of ignorance (Avidya) to sever Veda and Tantra. My conclusion is not however a counsel to follow this or any other particular form of ritual. I am only concerned to state the facts. I may, however, here add two observations.
From an outside point of view (for I do not here deal with the subject otherwise) we must consider the age in which a particular Shastra was produced and consequently the conditions of the time, the then state of society, its moral and spiritual development and so forth. To understand some rites in the past history of this and other countries one must seek, in lieu of surface explanations, their occult significance in the history of the human race; and the mind must cast itself back into the ages whence it has emerged, by the aid of those traces it still bears in the depths of its being of that which outwardly expressed itself in ancient custom.

Take for instance the rite of human sacrifice which the Kalikalpalata says that the Raja alone may perform (Raja naravalim dadayenna yo'pi parameshvari) but in which, as the Tantrasara states, no Brahmana may participate (Brahmananam naravalidane nadhikarah). Such an animal sacrifice is not peculiarly "Tantrik" but an instance of the survival of a rite widely spread in the ancient world; older than the day when Jehovah bade Abraham sacrifice his son (Gen. XXII) and that on which Sunasshepa (Aitareya Brahmana VII, 3) like Isaac was released. Reference, it is true, is made to this sacrifice in the Shastras, but save as some rare exception (I myself judged a case in Court some years ago) it does not exist to-day and the vast mass of men do not wish to see it revived. The Cakra ritual similarly is either disappearing or becoming in spirit transformed where there had been abuse.

What is of primary value in the Tantra Shastra are certain principles with which I have dealt elsewhere, and with which I deal again in part in this and the following lectures. The application of these principles in ritual is a question of form. All form is a passing thing. In the shape of ritual its validity is limited to place and time. As so limited, it will continue so long as it serves a useful purpose and meets the needs of the age, and the degree of its spiritual advancement, or that of any particular body of men who practice it; otherwise it will disappear, whilst the foundations of Vedanta on which it rests may remain. In the same way it is said that we ourselves come and go with our merits and demerits, but that the Spirit ever abides beyond both good and evil.

Tantra versus Sexuality

2007-12-05T07:16:00.000-08:00

Tantra has been the target of a lot of misconceptions in the last century. Imported from India into the western world, it was quite difficult to be presented in its true spirit because of the cultural differences and also because of its somehow confusing exterior aspects. Many believe that Tantra has to do with group sex and magic; to many Tantra represents just another weird sexual practice and nothing more.

In fact they couldn't be further from the truth and they have no idea what they are missing. It is true that some Tantric practices involve sex but sex is not an object of Tantra and not its finality. In fact in Tantra, love is much more important than sex and sex without love has nothing to do with its ways.An ancient Tantric maxim says that "What made many others to fall because of their lack of self control, in turn makes the Tantric advance on his spiritual path. What is for some people a vice, the Tantric can turn into a virtue". Sex was banished by many religions because they considered it is impure and incompatible with the pursuit of spiritual life. On the other hand, Tantra takes a different, more nuanced position here : it says that uncontrolled sex is a cause of decay BUT the use of sexuality in a controlled manner, in accord with the golden rule of SEXUAL CONTINENCE is a cause for great spiritual progress.Yes, not any kind of sexuality is damaging for the spiritual evolution, only sex followed by ejaculation and respectively explosive discharge in the case of the women. This is a radical attitude because it turns sex form an enemy of spiritual life into a friend. Instead of running from it, Tantra embraces it.As you know, by seeing sex as impure many religions created a state of unnecessary tension.
Sex is a natural instinct, it is a basic need of any human being; the role of sexual continence and Tantra is to remedy this situation by showing how both sexuality and spirituality can coexist and enhance one another.In Tantra the sexual potential (i.e. sperm and sexual secretions) are considered the source of a vast energy. This energy is clearly perceived by anyone when he/she is sexually aroused, this is the sensation of sexual pleasure. The transformation of this sexual potential in energy is called transmutation.

When transmutation of sexual fluids takes place, the matter is converted into energy. We all know that basically all matter is energy (Einstein said that E=mc^2, remember ?).

A huge amount of energy is compressed in each atom, each electron and photon - but Tantra says that humans can tap into this extraordinary source at will if they follow a correct and constant practice.The practice of sexual continence is not that easy but we all know that no valuable achievement in life is easy to come by.
Tantra is a pleasure but still, you have to work for it and this is a demanding undertaking. The end results are beyond any imagination.Imagine a nuclear plant. In the reactors, the matter is converted into energy, then transformers are used to convert this energy and wires are used to transport it to anywhere you need to use it.

The same process, analogically, happens in the human body. The SEXUAL FLUIDS are the source, the so called NADIS are the path of energy through the subtle body, and the destinations are the seven plans of the human being : vital, sexual, will-related, emotional, creative, mental and spiritual, as described by the yoga system.
When you practice SEXUAL CONTINENCE consequently for at least a month you will start perceiving great positive effects in your body. The health is improved and your vitality is at its peak. You are full of a radiant force and have a very good disposition. All your complexes and fears related to sexuality are banished and you feel completely free. When having sex, you can make it last many hours on end without ever being exhausted.
After making love you won't feel tired and drained of energy any more but you will experience exactly the opposite - a great force. After having sex you will not be less affectionate to your lover but you will feel a deep state of love that deepens with each Tantric sexual encounter.
Practicing sexual continence you will make very happy your loved one, even if she does not practice sexual continence herself (and this is true for both sexes).
You will quickly find again your lost happiness that you had in the beginning of your relation and any feelings of boredom and lost of interest will disappear.But the biggest advantage of sexual continence is the use of sexual energy as a power that will amplify your feelings of love, your mental power, your will, and ultimately, your spiritual force. This is why Tantra uses sexual energy instead of letting it be wasted, turning an obstacle into a great help.Everybody wants to be happy - this is the ultimate wish of any human being, but the problems appear when people try to define happiness.
What is happiness for some is indifference or even suffering for others. Even if all seems relative, the spiritual paths found out that some types of happiness are more enduring and profound that others. With regard to sexuality, Tantra found that sexual continence is the way to achieve the deepest most enduring happiness in couple.
The relation between Tantra and sex is not one of sweet comfortable abandon but one of hard work and the end result is worth every effort.

What is Tantra?

2007-11-28T07:35:00.000-08:00

A simple question without a simple answer, and

any attempt at definition will necessarily be incomplete.

The roots of the word are Sanskrit:

Tan - thread, web, stretch, spread or expand, and Tra - tool or instrument. Tantra - tool for expansion or a weaving.Through tantric practice one can experience an expansion of consciousness and recognize the interconnectedness of the web of existence.At the same time, "Tantra" can refer to any of a number of sacred texts in the Hindu, Jain and Tibetan Buddhist traditions.

Many of these texts contain detailed guidelines for spiritual practice. From this perspective, Tantra is a vast body of spiritual and physical knowledge, encompassing an array of practices, including all forms of yoga.

These practices are aimed at expanding consciousness and liberating oneself "through life and not through escape, using the body as an instrument."* In Tantra, the energies of the body are used as the fuel for spiritual development.In the West, Tantra is often called the "Yoga of Sex." While there is a kernel of truth in this phrase, the popular press has created a misleading impression that Tantra is about having better orgasms or about becoming a better lover.

Since tantric practices are designed to expand consciousness, they can expand a person's capacity to give, receive and experience pleasure, not only in the sexual realm but in all areas of life, provided that person is willing to do the work. It is important to be aware that Tantra is not an easy path; it is "the way of the hero who neither rejects nor fears any aspect of life." Many Western Tantra teachers emphasize very powerful techniques for enhancing sexual pleasure and intimacy, while some traditional teachers discourage students from exploring sexual Tantra at all.

Our primary teachers have spent years studying traditional, lineage-based Tantra in India. We try to incorporate some of the best elements of American Tantra into our teaching while honoring tradition and lineage.

General What is Tantra?

2007-11-24T01:24:00.000-08:00

What is Tantra?
The spiritual art of love...of connecting spirit with form. It is experiencing love through through the beauty of the earth and all existence. It is about acceptance, rather than denial.
It also embraces compassion...about truth within unconditional love...

What are its elements? Is Tantra a yoga?
Some call it Tantra Yoga. If we see yoga as union, then I agree. Others say Tantra is not a part of Yoga, which most people see as Hatha Yoga anyway, but rather an entire lifestyle. Many in the yoga community consider Tantra "something they would rather not deal with," so to speak. So, in that sense it is not about yoga as practiced in America, unless that yoga teacher also embraces the openness an sensual nature of Tantra.

Is Tantra a religion, or a movement within religion(s), or is it entirely separate from religion?
Tantra is not a religion. It is a spiritual path. When religion enters, then barriers are drawn. However, some call Tantra a religion, although there is no organized body of thought or practitioners as such. Tantra cannot be encapsulated into a religion or dogma.

What distinguishes Tantra from neo-Tantra?
Historic/cultural Tantra follows many rituals, yantra and mantra. Neo-Tantra is an adaptation by a particular teacher. Few today follow classical/historic/cultural Tantra, which can be read in boring texts. Swami Virato teaches authentic Tantra for the 21st Century based upon Tantra's essential spiritual nature. However, learning technique, method and practice are the choice of the adapt. Swami Virato's sannyasins (disciples) are asked to become unconditional love. Tantra is essentially a lifestyle...a way to acknowledge our sensual and spiritual selves... To accept all...even the paradox... To open the heart totally.

What is the exact relationship between Tantra and sexuality?
In Tantra, sexuality is total and filled with bliss. However, Tantra is not about sex. Sex practiced or performed in Tantra is what is taught by most teachers of this spiritual lifestyle. In Swami Virato's experiential events sexual ignition energy is used as a tool to raise the Kundalini, or the participants bioenergy. Swami Virato simply uses this energy as a tool. At some point Tantrikas experience a bliss-filled state that can be identified as asexuality. Perhaps because of general sexual suppression by cultures and religions, ancient carvings in Nepal and India depicting unbridled sexual sharing create indelible labels. Some Tantrikas do not engage in sex at all.