Please read the article below. As solosexualists of this faith we must begin to learn Tantra and adopt many of its prinicples.

"Encompassing all aspects of life, Tantra aims at extending one's awareness beyond the experience of material world seen as a tool to the knowledge of the transcendent. The body becomes a temple, an expression of the Creator"

Tantra the big picture

by Octavian Sarbatoare

This paper will present Tantra as concept in a free yet encompassing perspective. The reader will have a brief overall view, mainly from the classical site of Tantra. An attempt will be made to present some of the main classifications and the place of Tantra in spirituality.

It has been written a lot in the West about Tantra, the overall impression from various books is that it is a kind of sexual knowledge leading to specific kinds of experiences mostly linked to enhancement of pleasure. Although there is a side of Tantra which deals with the sexual experience as experience leading to higher awareness, Tantra as a concept is far more vast.

The system of Tantra evolved from its dawn in the primitive societies to its highest form known today, the Indian Tantra. By Indian Tantra it is understood the Tantra which appeared and evolved on the social-geographical space having its core what is actually India. Although the word Tantra (which means in Sanskrit 'liberation through extension') belongs to the Indian tradition, many expressions of Tantra were and are under various names existent in many cultures all over the world.

Encompassing all aspects of life, Tantra aims at extending one's awareness beyond the experience of material world seen as a tool to the knowledge of the transcendent. The body becomes a temple, an expression of the Creator, a limited instrumentality able to access the unlimited. This is a fundamental belief that the access to divine is done by starting at the low level, the level of ordinary experience. Therefore a typical instrumentality is developed, the main areas of tantric system of thought are: deities of the primitive people, aim of Tantra, macrocosm and microcosm, Loka-s as different levels of awareness, the human body as a temple, tantric practices, the magic formulae, the magic diagrams, the magic actions, worship and the holy shrines, medicine of the nature, Tantra as full expression of life, consciousness.

What is progressive about Tantra as system of thought is that it is in evolution all the time, therefore expressing new realities of life. It has survived in time because was able to adapt to new circumstances and aspects of life, but mainly because the base of Tantra lies with the human essential nature not a subject to any individual revelation (as is the case is many religions).

There is not a specific moment when can be said the humankind started. The culture (pagan believes) of the primitive people has a lot to do with their ancestors and their competition to survive, the difference was that what was called human started to understand how the nature was working, therefore accumulating experience. This experience made the primitive people to develop wisdom, to act in order the nature will be to their advantage. The nature was seen as a manifestation of power in various aspects and the sun, moon, earth, etc., as its expressions were seen as possessing specific powers. This was an essential belief, so these specific powers were becoming Deva-s (gods) and Devi-s (goddesses). The tantric practices developed in many parts of the world from taboos, superstitions and agricultural rituals of the primitive people. Gradually a culture and a spiritual system evolved on these fundamental believes.

In Tantra, worship is seen of two kinds, external and internal (mental) and is done according to specific conditions. The Gautamiya Tantra says:
"The inner worship grants liberation to Sadhaka-s even during their life-time, but Muni-s (sages) alone who desire liberation are able to perform it properly. Therefore such Sadhaka-s unable to perform mental worship in the right manner should do it with the aid of elements used in outer worship"
But Tantra deals with an extended perspective, there are five main subjects of the Indian Tantra i.e. the creation of the world, the absorption of the world, the worship of gods, the attainment of desires, the union with the divine. They are expressed in a multitude of forms the number of Tantra-s is unknown. To mention a few of the most popular forms of Tantra there are Kundalini Tantra (doctrine of the power force within the human body), Shakuna Tantra (doctrine of omens), Puja Tantra (doctrine of worship), Maithuna Tantra (doctrine of Shiva-Shakti union), Yoga Tantra, (the doctrine of union), etc.

In Tantra the human body is a sine qua non element because it is seen as Pindanda (Microcosm or the body-egg) compared to Brahmanda (Macrocosm or the Brahma-egg). A cornerstone of the tantric system is to understand the reality of the human being as 'the little universe' through the feeling of own rediscovery and the links with 'the big universe'. There body has own levels of refinement, there are three Sharira-s (body- sheets), viz. Sthula (gross), Sukshma (subtle) and Karana (causal), the action on each one does effect all of them. Various practices are employed to obtain higher awareness at each level. Enlightenment is a return to the source (the cause) that created us and becoming fully aware of the source of our energy is becoming one with the source. The traveling spiritual path in tantric practices is from Sthula (gross) forms to Karana (causal) forms of expressions.

The Loka-s (worlds) are fourteen in number, seven below and seven above (and including) the earth plane. They are planes of awareness and specific experiences are associated with any particular Loka. Therefore, on the tantric path the practitioner has to ascend the Loka-s (worlds) like on a ladder. The culmination is Satya Loka, the 'world of truth' at which level there is full enlightenment.

Most essential on this path is the practice of Tantra called Tantra Sadhana. There is a wide variety of practices in Tantra, the basic ones starts with the body, as different yogic techniques. In Tantra the body as the temple to the divine aspiration is much cared about. Nothing is neglected as far as the Sthula Sharira (gross body) is concerned from head to toe. An important concept is the link between Manas (the mental energy), Prana (the breath energy) and Virya (the sexual energy). They are in a tight connection, the action on anyone will effect all them. This is a fundamental concept in Tantra allowing the practitioner to choose according to own inclinations the techniques most suitable for spiritual growth.

The best known techniques to act on the Manas (the mind) are the Mantra-s (magic formulae), various methods of Dharana (concentration) and Dhyana (meditation). Mantra meaning 'liberation of the mind' is seen as a vibration acting on brain centres to produce a balanced state of mind as well as bringing an experience of a certain kind. There are various kinds of Mantra-s, they should be learned from somebody having traditional authority, hence the concept of 'initiation' by Guru. The pronunciation of the Sanskrit words or sounds for Mantra Sadhana becomes an important factor. Prana (the breath energy) can be obtain consciously by Pranayama techniques related mainly to specific rhythm of the breath, but there are also advanced mental techniques to absorb Prana. Virya (the sexual energy) is related to the use of sexual energy to unfold higher awareness mostly known in the Maithuna Tantra practices.

In Tantra an important part is what is called Yantra (the magic diagrams), a form symbol of a deity, a tantric symbol of unity of Macrocosm and Microcosm. The most famous one is Shri Yantra (the holy Yantra). Practice with Yantra-s allows the practitioner to access the deity through its symbolic representation.

The Shatkarma-s (the six magic rites) are five malefic and one beneficial. They are what is commonly termed as witchcraft of the Indian kind extending from practices like attracting somebody, to arrest (stop) an action, subjugate, excite enmity, etc. Nevertheless the five malefic magic rites are obstacles towards the knowledge of the divine, they are counterbalances by the only beneficial one called Shantikarma (the action of peace).

The subject of prayers or worship known as Puja has various expressions. The term Pitha (shrine) applies to both the outer and inner (i.e. inside the human body) sacred sites as creation manifests in the Macrocosm as well as Microcosm. A Pitha (shrine) of a Siddha (holly person) is a place where an advanced being was sitting for a while performing own Sadhana (practice). It is believed that such a place has a special energetic emanation and is very beneficial if a Sadhaka (practitioner) will stay in that area to benefit from the vibration of the place. The inner expression of a holy shrine corresponds to a Chakra (vortex of energy) in the Sukshma Sarira (subtle body). In this case the worship takes the form of meditation in that specific Chakra. Any form of worshipping the aspects of one universal life can be a true and effective spiritual cultivation of the wholeness of eternal life.

In Tantra Yoga there is also the knowledge of the medicine of the nature Ayurveda, various herbs (Aushadhi), leaves, seeds, etc. are employed for specific purposes.

Through the awareness of the everyday life experiences Tantra with its natural approach to life is an interesting development of the modern days, with the emerging of a new kind of humankind known as Homo Noeticus (as was defined by writer John White), Homo Tantrika or Homo Universalis. "Noetics" defined as the study of consciousness refers to deepened awareness and multilevel perception of the reality, practically a download of consciousness.

In Ashtavakra Samhita one reads:
"Burn down the forest of Ajnana (ignorance) with the fire of Shradha (faith) of being Vishuddhabodha (Pure Consciousness), be happy and free from grief"
It seems that Tantra brings together East and West. East has the dominant verb 'to be' therefore is consciousness or Shiva oriented, but for the West the verb is 'to do' therefore is power or Shakti oriented. The synthesis of East and West is a form of union of Shiva-Shakti, a form of Maithuna of civilizations. This synthesis makes Tantra a perspective culture of the future and Homo Tantrika a hybrid of the East and West.


Copyright © 1997-2000 by Octavian Sarbatoare

This article is copyright. The author grants the right to copy and distribute this file, provided it remains unmodified and original authorship and copyright is retained.


About the author: Octavian Sarbatoare (of Romanian origin) is a freelance writer (member of the Australian Society of Authors) based in Sydney, Australia. He has done research studies at Bihar Yoga Bharati (University) in India under the guidance of Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati the chancellor of the University. The main areas of subjects are: Yoga, Tantra, Veda, Yantra, Mantra, Kundalini, Bhakti, Sanskrit Terminology, Consciousness, East and West towards spiritual unity.