Tantra
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{{Split2|Tantra in Hinduism|date=April 2009}}{{Dablink|This article is an overview of Tantra and an in-depth look at Tantra as a religious, philosophical and magical movement in
Hinduism. For an in-depth look at Tantric
Buddhism, please see
Vajrayana. For more information about the Hindu sacred texts classified as Tantras, see
missing image!
- SriYantra construct.svg">thumb|right|The Sri YantraTantra (; "
weave" denoting
continuity;
(1) anglicised
tantricism or
tantrism) or
tantram () is a religious philosophy according to which
Shakti is usually the main
deity worshipped, and the universe is regarded as the divine play of
Shakti and
Shiva.
(2) The word Tantra also applies to any of the
scriptures (called "
Tantras") commonly identified with the worship of Shakti.
(3) Despite reluctance to support a rigorous definition of tantra, David Gordon White offers the following 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.(4)
Overview
There are a number of different definitions of tantra from various viewpoints, not all of them necessarily consistent. Robert Brown notes that the term
tantrism is a construction of
Western scholarship and that:
It is not a concept that comes from within the religious system itself, although it is generally recognized internally as different from the Vedic tradition. This immediately makes it suspect as an independent category.(5)
Rather than a single coherent system, Tantra is an accumulation of practices and ideas which is characterized by the use of ritual, by the use of the mundane to access the supra-mundane, and by the identification of the
microcosm with the
macrocosm.
(6) The Tantric practitioner seeks to use the
prana (divine power) that flows through the
universe (including one's own body) to attain purposeful goals. These goals may be spiritual, material or both.
(7) Most practitioners of tantra consider
mystical experience imperative. Some versions of Tantra require the guidance of a
guru.
(8) In the process of working with energy, the
Tantrika, or tantric practitioner, has various tools at hand. These include
yoga, to actuate processes that will "yoke" the practitioner to the divine. Also important are
visualizations of deity, and verbalisation or
evocation through
mantras, which may be construed as seeing, listening internally, and singing power into a stronger state within the individual, resulting in an ever-increasing awareness of cosmic vibration through daily practice. Identification with and internalisation of the divine is enacted, through a total identification with deity, such that the aspirant "becomes" the
Ishta-deva or
meditational deity.
(9)Tantrism is a quest for spiritual perfection and magical power. Its purpose is to achieve complete control of oneself, and of all the forces of nature, in order to attain union with the cosmos and with the divine. Long training is generally required to master Tantric methods, into which pupils are typically initiated by a
guru.
Yoga, including breathing techniques and postures (
asana), is employed to subject the body to the control of the will.
Mudras, or gestures;
mantras or syllables, words and phrases;
mandalas and
yantras, which are symbolic diagrams of the forces at work in the universe, are all used as aids for meditation and for the achievement of spiritual and magical power. During
meditation, the initiate identifies herself or himself with any of the numerous Hindu
gods and
goddesses representing cosmic forces. The initiate visualizes them and takes them into her or his mind so that she or he unites with them, a process likened to sexual courtship and consummation.
(10) In fact, some Tantric
monks use females partners to represent goddesses. Also, in left-handed Tantra (
Vamachara), ritual
sexual intercourse is employed—not for pleasure—but as a way of entering into the underlying processes and structure of the universe.
(11) Maurice Winernitz, in his review of the literature of tantra, points out that while Indian tantric texts are not positively hostile to the Vedas, they propound that the precepts of the Vedas are too difficult for our age, and so, for that reason, an easier cult and an easier doctrine have been revealed in them.
(12) Some orthodox Brahmans who accept the authority of the Vedas reject the authority of the Tantras.
(13) N. N. Bhattacharyya explains:
It is to be noticed that although later Tantric writers wanted to base their doctrines on the Vedas, the orthodox followers of the Vedic tradition invariably referred to Tantra in a spirit of denunciation, stressing its anti-Vedic character.(14)
Tantra exists in
Shaiva,
Vaisnava,
(15) Ganapatya,
(16),
Saurya and
Shakta forms, amongst others. Strictly speaking, within individual traditions, tantric texts are classified as
Shaiva {{IAST|Āgamas}},
Vaishnava {{IAST|
Pāñcarātra Saṃhitās}},
(17) and
Shakta Tantras, but there is no clear dividing line between these works, and on a practical basis the expression
Tantra generally includes all such works.
(18)Relation to Yoga
Though the paths of Tantra & Yoga are contradictory
(19), they do intersect at some common philosophies and goals. During his discourse on
Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, Osho tries to differentiate between these two paths:
Yoga is suppression with awareness; Tantra is indulgence with awareness.(20)
As
Robert Svoboda attempts to summarize the three major paths of the Vedic knowledge, he exclaims:{{cquote|
Because every embodied individual is composed of a body, a mind and a spirit, the ancient Rishis of India who developed the Science of Life organized their wisdom into three bodies of knowledge: Ayurveda, which deals mainly with the physical body; Yoga, which deals mainly with spirit; and Tantra, which is mainly concerned with the mind. The philosophy of all three is identical; their manifestations differ because of their differing emphases. Ayurveda is most concerned with the physical basis of life, concentrating on its harmony of mind and spirit. Yoga controls body and mind to enable them to harmonize with spirit, and Tantra seeks to use the mind to balance the demands of body and spirit.(21)}}
Buddhist Tantra
According to
Tibetan Buddhist Tantric master
Lama Thubten Yeshe:
...each one of us is a union of all universal energy. Everything that we need in order to be complete is within us right at this very moment. It is simply a matter of being able to recognize it. This is the tantric approach.(22)
Evolution and involution
Linguistically the three words
mantram,
tantram and
yantram are related in the ancient traditions of India (as well as phonologically).
Mantram denotes the chant, or "knowledge."
Tantram denotes philosophy, or ritual actions.
Yantram denotes the means (or the machine) by which a human is expected to lead his life.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}}According to Tantra, "being-consciousness-bliss" or
Satchidananda has the power of both self-evolution and self-involution.
Prakriti or "reality" evolves into a multiplicity of creatures and things, yet at the same time always remains pure consciousness, pure being, and pure bliss. In this process of evolution,
Maya (illusion) veils Reality and separates it into opposites, such as conscious and unconscious, pleasant and unpleasant, and so forth. If not recognized as illusion, these opposing determining conditions bind, limit and fetter (
pashu) the individual
(jiva).
(23)Generally speaking, the Hindu god and goddess Shiva and Shakti are perceived as separate and distinct. However, in Tantra, even in the process of evolution, Reality remains pure consciousness, pure being and pure bliss, and Tantra denies neither the act nor the fact of this process. In fact, Tantra affirms that both the world-process itself, and the individual
jiva, are themselves Real. In this respect, Tantra distinguishes itself both from pure
dualism and from the qualified
non-dualism of
Vedanta.
(24) and the "Secret Ritual"
(25).
Ordinary ritual
The ordinary ritual or
puja may include any of the following elements:
Mantra and yantra
As in other
Hindu and
Buddhist yoga traditions,
mantra and
yantra play an important role in Tantra. The
mantra and
yantra are instruments to invoke specific Hindu deities such as Shiva, Shakti, or
Kali. Similarly,
puja may involve focusing on a
yantra or
mandala associated with a deity.
(26)Identification with deities
Tantra, as a development of early Hindu-Vedic thought, embraced the Hindu gods and goddesses, especially
Shiva and
Shakti, along with 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, such as singing and dancing. But, more importantly, these deities are engaged as
attributes of
Ishta Devata meditations, the practitioners either visualizing themselves
as the deity, or experiencing the
darshan (the vision) of the deity. These Tantric practices form the foundation of the ritual
temple dance of the
devadasis, and are preserved in the
Melattur style of
Bharatanatyam by Guru Mangudi Dorairaja Iyer.{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}}
Secret ritual
Secret ritual may include any or all of the elements of ordinary ritual, either directly or substituted, along with other sensate rites and themes such as a feast (representing food, or sustenance), coitus (representing sexuality and procreation), the charnel grounds (representing death and transition) and defecation, urination and vomiting (representing waste, renewal, and fecundity).{{Citation needed|date=July 2007}} It is this sensate inclusion that prompted
Zimmer's praise of Tantra's world-affirming attitude:
In the Tantra, the manner of approach is not that of Nay but of Yea ... the world attitude is affirmative ... Man must approach through and by means of nature, not by rejection of nature.(27)
In
Avalon's Chapter 27: The Pañcatattva (The Secret Ritual) of
Sakti and Sakta (1918),
(28) Chakrapuja and
Panchamakara) involves:
Worship with the Pañcatattva generally takes place in a Cakra or circle composed of men and women... sitting in a circle, the Shakti (or female practitioner) being on the Sadhaka's (male practitioner's) left. Hence it is called Cakrapuja. ...There are various kinds of Cakra – productive, it is said, of differing fruits for the participator therein.
Avalon also provides a series of variations and substitutions of the
Panchatattva (
Panchamakara) "elements" or
tattva encoded in the
Tantras and various tantric traditions, and affirms that there is a direct correlation to the Tantric
Five Nectars and the
Mahābhūta.
(29) Sexual rites
Sexual rites of
Vamamarga may have emerged from early Hindu Tantra as a practical means of catalyzing biochemical transformations in the body to facilitate heightened states of awareness.
(30) These constitute a vital offering to Tantric deities. Sexual rites may have also evolved from clan initiation ceremonies involving transactions of sexual fluids. Here the male initiate is inseminated or ensanguinated with the sexual emissions of the female consort, sometimes admixed with the semen of the guru. The
Tantrika is thus transformed into a son of the clan (
kulaputra) through the grace of his consort. The clan fluid (
kuladravya) or clan nectar (
kulamrita) is conceived as flowing naturally from her womb. Later developments in the rite emphasize the primacy of bliss and divine union, which replace the more bodily connotations of earlier forms. Although popularly equated with Tantra in its entirety in the West, such sexual rites were historically practiced by a minority of sects. For many practicing lineages, these
maithuna practices progressed into psychological symbolism.
(31)(32)Western views
meru1.jpg -
. He is generally held as the "founding father of Tantric studies."
Unlike previous Western scholars, Woodroffe was an ardent advocate for Tantra, defending Tantra against its many critics and presenting Tantra as an ethical philosophical system greatly in accord with the
.
Woodroffe himself practised Tantra as he saw and understood it and, while trying to maintain his scholastic objectivity, was considered a student of Hindu Tantra (in particular
) tradition.
Following Sir John Woodroffe, a number of scholars began to actively investigate Tantric teachings. These included a number of scholars of
.
According to Hugh Urban, Zimmer, Evola and Eliade viewed Tantra as "the culmination of all Indian thought: the most radical form of spirituality and the archaic heart of aboriginal India", and regarded it as the ideal religion of the modern era. All three saw Tantra as "the most
Following these first presentations of Tantra, other more popular authors such as
. Tantra came to be viewed by some as a "cult of ecstasy", combining sexuality and spirituality in such a way as to act as a corrective force to Western repressive attitudes about sex.
As Tantra has become more popular in the West it has undergone a major transformation. For many modern readers, "Tantra" has become a synonym for "spiritual sex" or "sacred sexuality", a belief that sex in itself ought to be recognized as a sacred act which is capable of elevating its participants to a more sublime spiritual plane.
may adopt many of the concepts and terminology of Indian Tantra, it often omits one or more of the following: the traditional reliance on
(the guidance of a guru), extensive meditative practice, and traditional rules of conduct—both moral and ritualistic.According to one author and critic on religion and politics, Hugh Urban:
Urban goes on to say that he himself doesn't consider this "wrong" or "false" but rather "simply a different interpretation for a specific historical situation."
