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Tantrism

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www.Hindu-Forum.Org Forum Index » Open Discussion » General Hinduism » Tantrism

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Shavaun

Age: 102
Joined: 17 Nov 2005
Posts: 247

Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 5:08 pm Post subject: Tantrism

What is Tantrism? Is it part of Hinduism?



ssinaya

Age: 39
Joined: 31 Jan 2006
Posts: 1508
Location: Na

Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 4:14 am Post subject: (No subject)

Its a mystical practice involving energies in our own body. And yes, it is in our religion!



Dr J

Age: 23
Joined: 21 Nov 2005
Posts: 584

Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 12:17 pm Post subject: (No subject)

Come on Ssinaya, elaborate a bit. I personally know nothing about it, although it does sound familiar.



ssinaya

Age: 39
Joined: 31 Jan 2006
Posts: 1508
Location: Na

Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 1:25 am Post subject: (No subject)

Ok...in brief! I am so bogged down with work..jesus!!!!

Bascically, in tantra there are 2 aspects of energy, male and female. Male being static and female dynamic. These enegies are described as Shiva and Shakti, shiva being static. Thats why we see Shiva always in a meditative form n devi in a more active form.

And these energies reside in our body. Shiva being at the top of our head, sahasrara and devi at the base of our spine. This energy at the base of our spine has been described in Christianity as well and in Hinduism, we worship it as the serpent God(2 and a half coils).

And in our body, we have energy centres, called chakras. The shakti in our spine, when activated by yoga, past karma, travels up through the chakras and unites with "Shiva" at the top of our head. Thats when wisdom dawns and one gets enlightenment. A sadhu goes through various states of samadhis during this process.

So the ultimate goal of tantra is for Shiva to unite with Shakthi. This rising of theserpent energy is otherwise known as the power of kundalini. All forms fo yoga at one point will result in the awakening of this force. Then the entire proces starts.

And its stated that Kundalini meditation is perhaps the higest form of yoga there is. However there are certain dangers to it as well, if it does not "awaken" properly.

I pratice kundalini meditation, so i know its a fact! You can feel it in you! No joke.

Most westerners, associate tantra with sex. Its philosophy gets diluted by this. But essentially its the same thing, the union of shiva and shakthi.

There you go..in a nut shell!

Below is a link for more info!

http://www.tantra-kundalini.com/



Människa

Age: 35
Joined: 25 Jan 2010
Posts: 3

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 1:03 pm Post subject: (No subject)

Does 'left hand path' have anything to do with this, in any way, in Hindu tradition, that is?

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ssinaya

Age: 39
Joined: 31 Jan 2006
Posts: 1508
Location: Na

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 3:35 am Post subject: (No subject)

Well left hand and right hand tantra is not what its made up to be. There is no good and bad tantra.

Gods power is one. If you use it for bad stuff then people call it left. Thats all.



Människa

Age: 35
Joined: 25 Jan 2010
Posts: 3

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:37 am Post subject: (No subject)

ssinaya wrote:

Well left hand and right hand tantra is not what its made up to be. There is no good and bad tantra.

Gods power is one. If you use it for bad stuff then people call it left. Thats all.

I knew that the 'left hand path' that Western neospiritual magicians and such propagate has nothing to do with Hinduism.

Do you know where I can read about left and right hand tantra (in English, online or in books)?

I have searched the internet, but I got lots of bad hits and found nothing.

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ssinaya

Age: 39
Joined: 31 Jan 2006
Posts: 1508
Location: Na

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 11:45 pm Post subject: (No subject)

Tantra is the worship of Devi in the north. t has another name also, called agamas. So all Devi agamas are actually tantras.

As i mentioned there are no left and right hand paths.

Try searching for Tantric sampradayas. They would give authentic information on the form of worship.



Avazjan

Age: 21
Joined: 01 Jun 2010
Posts: 2

Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 1:35 am Post subject: (No subject)

Namaste all,

"Tantra" is extremely varied. To put in perspective, consider the complexity of Abrahamism, and its three major subcategories, and all the denominations, subdenominations, etc. in that, all of them tracing their spiritual lineage back to Abraham! Then consider that tantric, and tantra-related traditions, are just as complex if not more so, and this itself is just a subset of Hinduism as a whole!

Compounding this issue are three major sources of confusion:
1) The secrecy of these groups leading to scarcity of information aside from the accounts of outsiders, especially outsiders opposed to these groups.
2) The existence of another tantric tradition: the Buddhist one. While the two are related, sharing common historical roots (most notably the 84 Mahasiddhas), and synergistic crosstalk, they are quite distinct.
3) Modern Hindu, or worse, Western interpretations relying on a combination of faulty information and their own imprimatur, creating extremely flawed systems not at all faithful to the sources. The most egregious example is the "neotantric sex" movement which appropriates (loosely) from both Buddhist and Hindu tantra, often little more than terminology (incorrectly defined and used) to lend authenticity where there is none.

I'm sure all of that confused more than helped, but it was necessary to bring this darkness before the subject is illuminated more so that the light shed will be adequately understood.

So what is tantra? Many one line explanations could apply, equally.

Such as:

*Tantra is a system of mental, and often physical, discipline to expand the mind, and purify both mind and body.

*Tantra is a system of worshiping deities in the external world, as well as the internal firmament of the mind, as the essential building blocks a, and thereby attaining god-consciousness.

However, the most inclusive explanation I can come up with off hand would be as follows: our fundamental problem as socially and egotistically conditioned beings is that we have lost, or have failed to attain, the ability to perceive all things, all beings, all non-things, as god. We can recognize that all is god, and permeated by god, on an intellectual level, but actually experiencing it directly is usually outside of our purview. This is because we falsely designate identity and multiplicity where there is only illusory identity, and only illusory multiplicity, as this is the fundamental nature of maya. Like a computer's binary code, these vast spectrums of experiences, phenomenon, mental processing, etc., are all formed, at their most fundamental level, by dualities. The most primal duality, generating all subsequent dualities, which weave together to create multiplicities, infinities, etc., is that of cosmic femaleness and maleness. Let us call this Isvari and Isvara. I have chosen these words, although many (most?) would call it Shiva/Shakti, which is a perfectly legitimate designation, but so is Krishna/Radha, or Purusha/Prakriti, or other forms/terms. Isvara and Isvari are the male and female forms of unmanifest Brahman. Isvara manifests most notably as Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma (Purusha forms), who are one, like three facets of the same gem, though each facet itself is incredibly complex and multifaceted. Isvari manifests most notably as Laxmi, Parvati, and Saraswati (Prakriti forms.)

Most tantric traditions are concerned mainly with Shiva and Parvati who are the male and female forms respectively of Brahman (the Supreme Absolute). Parvati is often simply called Shakti, as is the Shiva-centric interpretation, Shiva is the supreme cosmic male. These traditions concern themselves with the union of Shiva and Shakti, in various forms, particularly the various forms of Shakti.

Some traditions regard their union as sexual, others regard the sexual-union part as purely metaphorical representing a merger of dualities into monism. There is a concern for orthodoxy that tends to render heretical anything that challenges entrenched views of propriety, but often these views of propriety are all that stand between spiritual truth and heedless hedonism, such as the neo-tantric sex variety. My bias here is fairly obvious. In any case, that is the goal: the merger of this primordial duality into oneness, and thus the absolute realization of brahman in both personal and universal form. It is simultaneously dualistic and monistic.

To cut it down to a nutshell sized explanation: our schizoid minds are not capable of understanding the infinities of the universe, only a poorly wrought reverse engineering of them. The answer is to radically simplify and understand one thing that both is, and transcends, this infinitude of manifestations. God. But how is God most directly approached? At the source of this manifestation, which is the primordial parent duality of male and female. By resolving this duality, all subsequent duality, multiplicity, infinity is resolved as pure knowledge, with neither subject, nor object, nor mode of knowing.

I pray this was helpful rather than confusing.

Namaste



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