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Tantra (Sanskrit: "weave" denoting continuity), tantric yoga, or tantrism is one of any several esoteric traditions rooted in the religions of India. It exists in Hindu, Bönpo, Buddhist, and Jain forms. Tantra, in its various forms, has existed in India, China, Japan, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Korea, Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia and Mongolia. David Gordon White, while cautioning us about attempting a rigorous definition of what for centuries has defied such attempts, offers the following working definition: "Tantra is that Asian body of beliefs and practices which, working from the principle that the universe we experience is nothing other than the concrete manifestation of the divine energy of the godhead that creates and maintains that universe, seeks to ritually appropriate and channel that energy, within the human microcosm, in creative and emancipatory ways." In its Hindu forms, tantra can be summarized as a family of voluntary rituals modeled on those of the Vedas, together with their attendant texts and lineages. These rituals typically involve the visualization of a deity, offerings (real or visualized), and the chanting of his or her mantra. These practices are usually said to require permission from a qualified teacher, or guru, who belongs to a legitimate guruparampara or teacher-student lineage. Thus, tantra is like yoga. Common variations include visualizing the deity in the act of sexual union with a consort, visualizing oneself as the deity, and/or "transgressive" acts such as token consumption of meat or alcohol. Occasionally, non-standard or ritualized sex may be undertaken. This accounts for tantra's negative reputation in some quarters and its reception in the Western world primarily as a collection of sexual practices. In the West, tantra had originally been reviled by early European orientalists as a subversive, antisocial, licentious and immoral force that had corrupted classical Hinduism. On the other hand, many today see it as a celebration of social equity, sexuality, feminism and the body. History of tantra The Tantric tradition, or Tantrika Parampara can be considered as either parallel to or intertwined with the Vedic tradition (Vaidika Parampara). The philosophy of Tantra is based on any collection of the 92 shrutis, the Tantras. Tantra can be considered as one branch of Yoga. Hindu tantra Tantra exists in Vaisnava, Shaiva, and Shakta forms, among others. Extolled as a short-cut to Self-realization and spiritual enlightenment by some, left-hand tantric rites are often rejected as dangerous by most orthodox Hindus. The popular perception of tantra among Hindus espoused in Indian journalism equates it with black magic. Concepts and practises associated with Hindu Tantra: Tantra and the Vedas Hindu Tantra is sometimes conceived as being antithetical to the more mainstream religious views of the Vedas. However there are commonalities suggesting considerable cross-influence. Also the ascribing of esoteric meaning and symbolism to the vedas is commonplace in the Tantric tradition. In Tantra the esoteric symbolism is said to be implict in the vedas, as well popular mythological tales like the Ramayana. Tantric concepts are said to be exquisitely mirrored in more exoteric myths, hidden to the uninitiated. The esoteric (tantric) interpretation often takes the form of meditational instruction where the body and its processes have a microcosmic correspondence with the macrocosm. David Frawley cites one such instance. One Vedic verse which entreats "Offer Agni to Indra and Varuna, so you may drink Soma", is interpreted as follows: Indra the king of the gods is said to symbolize the senses or indriyas. Varuna which means water or rain, also stands for prana or life force. Agni refers to kundalini. Soma, the feeling that makes one drunk with happiness occurs when kundalini is raised. The verse above is said to contain the following esoteric interpretation: "The person who has controlled his senses (Indriya, which includes sex) and his prana (with pranayama), only that person can raise the kundalini and feel the divine bliss (soma)". In the Tripura Rahasya, one of the central texts of Shakta Tantra, says "This text has been created by summarising the teachings of the Vedas, Puranas and other Scriptures". Kundalini in Hindu Tantra Kundalini is an important part of Hindu Tantra. According to Tantra, the Universe was created when The Supreme Consciousness, Shiva, felt a desire to multiply. A part of him was separated off and became his Shakti (Energy). Shakti then began the creation of the universe, including the Heavens, Hell and the Earth. She reached a point where she could go no further. At the request of Shakti, Shiva enters her to infuse the worlds with consciousness. This embrace of Shiva and Shakti created the Universe. The whole Universe is a part of Shiva, and any part of it contains the entire universe. In our body, Shakti, the resides in the Muladhara, at the base of the spine. Due to Tamogun, she is asleep, and must be awakened. There are seven chakras(or energy centers in the body), which correspond to the Worlds Shakti created. As the persons Kundalini rises through the higher chakras, ever subtler and virtuous states are realised. Japans Shingon sect Buddhist tantrism is also practiced to a lesser extent in East Asia. Japan's Shingon sect, for example, practices tantric veneration of the deity Vairocana. New age tantra or neo-tantra New Age appropriations of tantra usually disregard requirements involving guruparampara and ritual conduct, though they otherwise adopt many of the terms and concepts of Indian tantra. In these circles, "tantra" is often a synonym for sacred sexuality, a belief that sex ought to be recognized as a sacred act which is capable of elevating its participants to a higher spiritual plane. Tantric practices Because of the wide range of groups covered by the term tantra, it is hard to describe tantric practices definitively. The basic practice, the Hindu worship known as puja may include any of the elements below. Mantra and yantra As in other Hindu and Buddhist yoga traditions, mantra plays an important part in Tantra for focusing the mind. The mantras used often invoke specific Hindu gods such as Shiva and Kali Ma. Similarly, puja often involves concentrating on a yantra or mandala associated with a deity as well. Identification with deities Tantra, being a development of early Hindu-Vedic thought, embraced the Hindu gods and goddesses, especially Shiva and Shakti, along the Advaita philosophy that each represents an aspect of the ultimate Para Shiva, or Brahman. These deities may be worshipped externally with flowers, incense, and other offerings; but, more importantly, are used as objects of meditation, the practitioners either visualizing themselves as the deity or experiencing the darshan (vision) of the deity visualized as appearing in front of the pratitioner. In Buddhist tantra, this process is known as deity yoga. Concentration on the body Tantrikas generally see the body as a microcosm; thus in the Kaulajnana-nirnaya, for example, the practitioner meditates on the head as the moon, the heart as the sun and the genitals as fire. As in the yoga tradition, a series of energy centres (chakras - "wheels") may be used as concentration points, and may be associated with elements, planets or occult powers (siddhi). Taboo-breaking The act of breaking taboos is the definitive feature of left-hand Tantra. Many tantras require specific preparations or purifications prior to breaking taboos. The normal state of human preparation is referred to as paśu-bhāva (animal disposition). A person in the state of paśu-bhāva is one who regularly eats meat and indulges in intoxication. They are considered unprepared for tantric practice. Tantras prescribe a strict regimen of purification before an individual moves onto the actual practice. An individual who successfully completes this purification may take a vow of vīravrata (a hero's vow) to be of vīra-bhāva (heroic disposition). They may then engage in the practices which involve the breaking of taboos. In the Kaula and Vamachara schools of tantra the ''pañca makāra'', or 5 Ms, is a ritual sacrament in which several Hindu taboos ritually broken in order to free the practitioner from binding convention. The five substances involved are: The "sacramental" or ritual breaking was only for the vīra practitioner, not the divya or paśu. The paśu would misunderstand and get caught up in the literal act while the divya will have already progressed beyond and not need the literal act to understand the inner meaning. The schools which practice right-hand tantra substitute innocuous items for the taboo substances and acts, claiming that literal interpretations of the pañca makāra miss the inner truth of the rite. Tantra in the modern world Tantra is used in the West as a general term which relates to sexual practice as a spiritual evolutionary scheme. There are in fact many different approaches as to how this manifests in American society - and also examples of the same development in Europe (see further down). There have been many civilizations which have deified sexuality as the most approximate expression of cosmic love or God. Regardless, the point is that tantra is moldable. It changes with each moment and environment. It especially depends on the nature of the practitioner. In traditional pockets of Tantric practice in India, such as in Assam near the venerated Hindu temple of Kali, Kammakha, in parts of West Bengal, in Siddhanta temples of South India, and in Kasmiri Shiva temples up north, Tantra has retained its true form. Its variance in practice is seen where many tantrics are known to frequent cremation grounds in attempts to transcend their worldly attachment to life, while others perform still more arcane acts. But what is common to them all is the intense secrecy in which their rituals are kept and the almost godlike reverence paid to the Guru, who is seen as the pinnacle of Tantra. It would be safe to say that every single Hindu Tantra Yogin in India is a Shiva and/or Shakti worshipper, and the more wide-spread practices to which all Hindus commit themselves, like pooja and worship through devotion, are maintained while more occult yogic practices involving sacred rites continue. Tibet too has a very strong Buddhist Tantric background which continues, albeit many have been transplanted to monasteries in India, and claims to be a right-hand path, in contrast to the more varied Hindu counterparts (that include both left and right-hand practices). Tibetan Tantra or Vajrayana flourishes in America and other countries in a relative if somewhat attenuated form, under the guidance of many Tibetan teachers either of the first or second generation to escape from Tibet. There are hundreds of Tibetan Buddhist centres outside Tibet and India, primarily in the Americas and Europe, but also in eastern countries such as Malaysia, Taiwan, Russia and others. Practices in these centres, with Tibetan gurus or those trained directly by them, emphasize the true Mahayana ideal of rapidly gaining the enlightenment that characterizes a Buddha entirely dedicated to the purpose of relieving the suffering of others. This is claimed to be the Bodhisattva ideal of Mahayana Buddhism represented historically and mythologically by Avaloketishvara, Tara and others, as well as today in the person of the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan teachers. In the Tantric or Vajrayana aspects of this system, harnessing the energies of the body, emotions and mind, including, joy, wrath and sexual energy, is not an end in itself but a potent means to the ultimate goal of realizing the true nature of reality, emptiness or Shunyata, thus attaining complete spiritual enlightenment and relief from the endless dissatisfaction of life, and using the power thus gained exclusively to help others do so as well. Modern Tantra may be divided into practices based on Hinduism and Buddhism. The form of Hindu Tantra popularly practiced In America is said by Hindu Tantra traditionalists to represent a mutilated and extremely narrow-minded, sensationalist approach encompassing only a misguided thinking about "sacred sexuality," with little reference to its true practice. Traditional Tantrists say their practice involves much more than mere wizardry or sexual titillation: like the rest of Yoga (Hindu), it requires self-analysis and the conquest of material ignorance, often through the body, but always through a pure outlook of the mind. 'Real Tantra' is about transforming one's sexual energy into spiritual progress, and has nothing to do with 'sex just for fun'. Those without a guru or lacking in discipline of the mind and body are unfit. It is telling that a Tantrica in West Bengal, a devotee of the Hindu goddess Kali, once said that "those most fit for Tantra almost never take it up, and those least fit pursue it with zeal." A good difference between real Tantra and Neo-Tantra is given on the Living Tantra website*: Neo-Tantra ritualizes sex. Authentic Tantra sexualizes ritual. For three Tantric practitioners (two well-known and one lesser-known), see the Dalai Lama (Buddhist), Shri Ramakrishna (Hindu) and Shri Gurudev Mahendranath (Hindu). The musician Sting also claims to be a practitioner. See also Hindu tantra Buddhist tantra Notes General resources Biographic links | |||||||
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