What is Tantra?
"I worship in my heart the Goddess whose body is awash with ambrosia, beautiful like lightening, who, going from her abode to Shiva's royal palace, opens the lotuses of the lovely axial channel (sushumna)."
bhairavi-stotra (12) of the tantric sutras
This writing displays the lovely feminine creative quality of tantra and the surreal poetic state of bliss that it induces. Tantra itself really is a deep practice of one's essential spiritual being living in the human dimension. It can seem to be an intangible or complicated spiritual path with links to Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism.
The history of Tantra pre 1000 BC is argued by scholars, as it arose during a time of unwritten teachings and the truthseekers of the times argued it's validity as a spiritual path, even though practitioners built temples and shared the practices in their communities. From a scholar point of view Tantra is meant to assist one to live though and find the way to truth and enlightenment during the time period of the Kali Yuga. The Kali Yuga is defined as one of 4 major time periods of human existence on earth. The Kali Yuga is the dark age, where souls engage in and are surrounded by the backward traits of lust, greed, vanity, anger and attachment. From a practical point of view Tantra is a way to accept, process and let go of these 5 passions of the mind and body and move into a life of the 5 virtues: discrimination, contentment, humility, forgiveness or tolerance, and vairag or detachment.
It was Buddhists who embraced Tantra and called it Vajrayana Buddhism that gave true spiritual validity to the practices in the halls of a growing religion. Prior to that (around 1000BC) Tantra struggled to be included as a serious scientifically proven set of practices within the Hindu Tradition of India. Many Hindus and many Yogi's considered Tantra to be pagan, without merit and a reason to delve into the passions. Is is also easy to link Tantra to Yoga as both are from India, are not religions, are written down as 'Sutras' and involve physical exercises, breath practice and meditations.
One historical count declares that Tantra was developed in north India, in Kashmir, about 5000 years ago and was not written down until about 2500 years ago. Yoga also was developed on a similar timeline. Tantra itself is not a path of yoga, though you may hear the term 'Tantric Yoga'. The word tantra means 'expansion' or 'lengthen' and also 'weaving', whereby yoga means 'coming together' or 'union'. The words come from the ancient Sanskrit language and can be interpreted in varying ways. Tantra also means body energy. I then say it is 'expansion of body energy' from the inner awareness to the outer expression. It is first being aware of and cultivating the internal energies and then expressing them outwardly, expanding them through the vehicle of the body using the body's energetic centers, the 7 chakras. Yoga is a 'union of body mind and spirit', it is a drawing of all your energy inward from the outer to the inner into the one-pointed focus, the dristi. In yoga the dristi is important because the practice trains you to develop your one-pointed focus which is used in meditation with the divine. When you compare tantra and yoga you understand that tantra is the feminine path and yoga the masculine path. Tantra is non-linear and flowing, building energy from the intricate desires that lay hidden in each chakra; your attunement with yourself is key and your path becomes your own creation. Yoga a step by step linear path, and whether you choose to practice hatha yoga or kundalini yoga, raja yoga or bhakti yoga the essential elements are self-discipline, discrimination, focus, and open heartedness. All practitioners follow essentially the same step by step path. Both yoga and tantra ultimately are meant to assist the follower to reach enlightenment, the elusive state of enduring happiness and awareness of God.
Once we delve into the practice of Tantra we find many elements that seemingly do not connect or relate to each other. There is a purpose! Each element of practice can fire the inner awareness of a multifaceted self. Let's break it down in a very real sense:
We are multifaceted and at any one time any aspect of our human being can be running the show: the animal, the sexual, the emotional, the heart, the expressive or manifestor, the mental or the spiritual. Tantra teaches the inner self to be the guide to what will unfold.
Tantra explores the aspects of the self as they relate to the 7 chakras and the correlating physiological self: the organs, their functions, the glands and the movement of energy as any of the above forms of energy (emotional, mental, sexual etc...) as a movement of fluids, enzymes, hormones, nerve impulses through the body.
Tantra can be white or red; white tantra are the practices you do alone, and red tantra are practices you do with a partner. Tantra can be Indian Tantra, which focuses on heart opening and partnering... Buddhist Tantra which is more meditation and White Tantra. There is also Taoist Tantra which focuses more on energy movement and revitalizing the chi energy.
And finally there is Tibetan Tantra, which some consider to be Buddhist Tantra. Each system is actually scientific, and has a unique healing system within each. You will find Pujas (rituals) that are honoring the divine Goddesses and Gods, deities considered to be divine representations of the various feminine or masculine energies, of which we all are a combination of. These Pujas feel more religious in their ritual style. However each one can be a beautiful honoring of the divine within.
Ultimately we are each Atmas. An Atma is a Soul being made of light and sound energy. Tantra is the expansion of energy from within, expanding the inner light and sound energy through breath, meditation, sounding and physical movement practices.
xoxox Shakra
