Tantr(a)
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What is tantr?
A Path To Enlightenment
Kamal Jain, Tantra As A Path To Enlightenment , May 13, 2017: The Times of India
Tantra literally means “to weave“. In a way, it implies “interweaving of traditions and teachings as threads“ into a text, technique or practice. On many spiritual and religious paths we encounter a choice: sexuality or spirituality. Tantra gives a different invitation: choose both simultaneously and bring the two together to create wholeness and fullness in your life.
Tantra also provides methods and techniques to attain enlightenment. As a technique to get enlightened, tantra has gained ground in Hinduism, Buddhism and to some extent in Jainism also. Three major streams of influence over time have been Kashmir Shaivism, Tibetan tantra and Taoism. Kashmir Shaivism is often thought of as the true root of tantra.
In Kashmir Shaivism, Vigyan Bhairav Tantra, a popular scripture, is the conversation between Devi and Bhairava, containing 112 tantric meditation techniques. Devi is the creative energy permeating the Universe and her nature is power, strength, and might. Bhairava is the infinite consciousness that embraces her.
Spirituality and religion are mainly associated with the path of renunciation and suffering and embrace many methods including meditation, yoga, prayer, devotion and penance. These focus more on detachment from the materialistic world. The tantric approach is the path of transformation of our desires into divine bliss.
Tantra utilises all mundane things including breathing, tasting, sleeping and even making love, for realising our nature. Yantras, mantras and mudras (postures), are used for preparation and practice of tantra sadhana on the path of liberation.
Tantra uses deep awareness as one of its methods. Even sexual activity ought to be engaged with whole awareness and meditatively , and continued practice would liberate one from it over a period of time and raise one's base energy connected to swadhishthana chakra to a higher level of consciousness related to other chakras. Swadhishthana chakra is connected to sex energy and physical pleasures. These chakras are seven spinning whirlpools of energy points located along the spine.
The aim of tantra is to reach the highest one, that is, the Sahasrara for enlightenment.
Tantra is one of the rare spiritual paths that does not leave sexuality out but teaches that sexuality also can be a door to personal illumination. Awareness king is the important thing during the practice.
Over a period of time, tantra earned a bad name as it has been reduced to a ritualised form of sex in which tantric bliss is confused with sensual and orgasmic pleasure. Tantra is really about expanding our life's inner horizon, not about narrowing it down to the level of salaciousness; it is not about equating the lust for multiple orgasms with spiritual bliss.
Vajranatha has divided all teachings and practices of Buddhism into triyana, the three vehicles to enlightenment. To understand the difference between them, the example of deadly poison is used.When a Hinayana practitioner encounters on his path the poison of passions, he simply avoids contact with it, so he renounces worldly life and has no contact with pleasures. A Mahayana practitioner does not avoid contact with the poison, because he has the antidote in the form of meditation. A Vajrayana practitioner while encountering the poison does not avoid it, nor apply the antidote as he is not afraid of contact with that poison, because he knows how to transform energy through tantric sadhanas and uses it to obtain spiritual attainment.
An Expansion Of the Mind, Ideas and Human Spirit
Practical spiritual endeavour and practice is called Tantra, that liberates the spiritual aspirant by helping him expand his mind and spirit. Tantra is “liberation through expansion”.
This expansion, of mind, ideas, and human spirit, is the only sadhana. And when a sadhaka, spiritual aspirant, tries to enlarge his mind, naturally, debasing forces become very active. The sadhaka is to enlarge his mind and spirit by fighting at each and every step, and stage of life. In his mind, there will be those two opposing forces; that is, the spiritual force and the debasing material force that will be in conflict with each other, in the mind.
In family, social and national life, in each and every stratum of life, there will be a fight. That is, those two fundamental, belligerent forces, will become active. One force will try to exalt you towards the Supreme Self, and the other force will want to degrade you, goad you towards crude materialism.
Now, a Tantric sadhaka is called, sadhana samara, a soldier in the battle of sadhana. Samara means war, battle, fight. The sadhaka is engaged in fight. It is for the brave, courageous people. And this cult is the cult of Tantra. Each and every sadhak should be ready for fight – fight in the mental stratum, fight in the family stratum, fight in each and every stratum of life. This is Tantra.
Now, in the realm of spirituality, there is little scope for theoreticians. It is 99% practical. Sadhaka means a practical man. Sadhana is a yoga, not theory. This is subjective movement through objective adjustment ... that is, your movement is towards that Supreme Subject, not towards bookish knowledge. Not to aggrandise yourself, but to lead yourself unto the path of beatitude, towards the Supreme Subject. Yours is a subjective approach.
But while moving towards the Supreme Subject, while moving the culminating point of your life, you have to pass through the world of objectivities. The things of this physical earth are all objectivities; but your march is towards the Supreme Subjectivity. So, within you, there must be equilibrium, balance, an equipoise, between subjective approach and objective adjustment. You must pass through this world of objects keeping close contact and balance with this objective world; you must not ignore this world.
Don’t neglect this world; don’t cheat yourself by saying that everything is illusory, that it is nothing. No, it is not nothing; it is something. When you are speaking these words with the help of physical energy, and when you say, “It is nothing,” then that “It is nothing” is also nothing. Because you are speaking with the help of energy. But if energy is nothing, vocal cord is nothing, sound is nothing, your utterance is also nothing. So, a sadhaka must have a clear-cut approach, a subjective approach through objective adjustment.
You must not neglect the world, but serve each and every object of this universe by ascribing Consciousness to them. You are in the midst of so many minute expressions of Narayana, Consciousness.
Each and every expression is Narayana in a particular form, Consciousness in a particular shape, Narayana in a particular style. You are to serve them, and serving Narayana in human form is your objective adjustment, and your movement towards the non-attributional Supreme Purusha is your subjective approach.
