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Tantra
Tantra (तन्त्र; " weave" denoting ''continuity''), (anglicised tantricism or tantrism) or tantram (तन्त्र) 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''.
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.
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.
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. 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. Most practitioners of tantra consider mystical experience imperative. Some versions of Tantra require the guidance of a guru.
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.
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 himself with any of the numerous Hindu gods and goddesses representing cosmic forces. The initiate visualizes them and takes them into his mind so that he unites with them, a process likened to sexual courtship and consummation. 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.
Relation with Vedic tradition
The Tantric tradition may be considered as either parallel to, or intertwined with, the Vedic tradition. The primary sources of written Tantric lore are the ''agama'', which generally consist of four parts, delineating metaphysical knowledge (''jnana''), contemplative procedures (''yoga''), ritual regulations (''kriya''), and ethical and religious injunctions (''charya''). Schools and lineages affiliate themselves with specific ''agamic'' traditions.
André Padoux notes that in India, tantrism is marked by a rejection of orthodox Vedic tenets. 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. Some orthodox Brahmans who accept the authority of the Vedas reject the authority of the Tantras. 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.
Tantra exists in ''Shaiva'', ''Vaisnava'', ''Ganapatya'',,Saurya and ''Shakta'' forms, amongst others. Strictly speaking, within individual traditions, tantric texts are classified as ''Shaiva'' ''Āgamas''}}, ''Vaishnava'' , 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.
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.
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.
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)''.[Nikhilanada (1982), pp. 145-160]
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.
Evolution, or the "outgoing current," is only half of the functioning of ''Maya''. Involution, or the "return current," takes the ''jiva'' back towards the source, or the root of Reality, revealing the infinite. Tantra is understood to teach the method of changing the "outgoing current" into the "return current," transforming the fetters created by ''Maya'' into that which "releases" or "liberates." This view underscores two maxims of Tantra: "One must rise by that by which one falls," and "the very poison that kills becomes the elixir of life when used by the wise."
The method
The Tantric aim is to sublimate rather than to negate relative reality. This process of sublimation consists of three phases: purification, elevation, and the "reaffirmation of identity on the plane of pure consciousness."[ The methods employed by ''Dakshinachara'' (right-hand path) interpretations of Tantra are very different from the methods used in the pursuit of the ''Vamachara'' (left-hand path).]
Ritual practices
Because of the wide range of communities covered by the term ''tantra'', it is challenging and problematic to describe tantric practices definitively. Avalon (1918) does provide a useful dichotomy of the "Ordinary Ritual" and the "Secret Ritual" .
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.
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.
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). 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.
In Avalon's ''Chapter 27: The Pañcatattva (The Secret Ritual)'' of ''Sakti and Sakta'' (1918), he states that the Secret Ritual (which he calls ''Panchatattva'', ''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''.
Sexual rites
Sexual rites of Vama Marga may have emerged from early Hindu Tantra as a practical means of catalyzing biochemical transformations in the body to facilitate heightened states of awareness. 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.
When enacted as enjoined by the Tantras, the ritual culminates in a sublime experience of infinite awareness for both participants. Tantric texts specify that sex has three distinct and separate purposes—procreation, pleasure, and liberation. Those seeking liberation eschew frictional orgasm for a higher form of ecstasy, as the couple participating in the ritual lock in a static embrace. Several sexual rituals are recommended and practiced. These involve elaborate and meticulous preparatory and purificatory rites. The sexual act itself balances energies coursing within the ''pranic'' ''ida'' and ''pingala'' channels in the subtle bodies of both participants. The ''sushumna'' ''nadi'' is awakened and ''kundalini'' rises upwards within it. This eventually culminates in ''samadhi'', wherein the respective individual personalities and identities of each of the participants are completely dissolved in a unity of cosmic consciousness. Tantrics understand these acts on multiple levels. The male and female participants are conjoined physically, and represent ''Shiva'' and ''Shakti'', the male and female principles. Beyond the physical, a subtle fusion of ''Shiva'' and ''Shakti'' energies takes place, resulting in a united energy field. On an individual level, each participant experiences a fusion of one's own ''Shiva'' and ''Shakti'' energies.
Western views
Sir John Woodroffe
The first Western scholar to take the study of Tantra seriously was Sir John Woodroffe (1865–1936), who wrote about Tantra under the ''pen name'' ''Arthur Avalon''. 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 Vedas and Vedanta. 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 ''Shiva-Shakta'') tradition.
Further development
Following Sir John Woodroffe, a number of scholars began to actively investigate Tantric teachings. These included a number of scholars of comparative religion and Indology, such as: Agehananda Bharati, Mircea Eliade, Julius Evola, Carl Jung, Giuseppe Tucci and Heinrich Zimmer.
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 ''transgressive'' and ''violent'' path to the sacred."
In the modern world
Following these first presentations of Tantra, other more popular authors such as Joseph Campbell helped to bring Tantra into the imagination of the peoples of the West. 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. Though pop-tantra may adopt many of the concepts and terminology of Indian Tantra, it often omits one or more of the following: the traditional reliance on ''guruparampara'' (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:
Since at least the time of Agehananda Bharati, most Western scholars have been severely critical of these new forms of pop Tantra. This "California Tantra" as Georg Feuerstein calls it, is "based on a profound misunderstanding of the Tantric path. Their main error is to confuse Tantric bliss ... with ordinary orgasmic pleasure.
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."
Hindu Tantric practitioners
*Ramakrishna
*Shri Gurudev Mahendranath
*Swami Rama
*Sri Akshunnanath Mahaprabhu (Lord Sri Akshunna)
tantra
Source: Wikipedia