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HW: Tantra
Tantra is widely misinterpreted, broadly misunderstood and yet there are hundreds of scriptures as yet translation and many more which were destroyed over time. To quote tantric scholar Christopher Wallis “No Indian tradition has been more misunderstood relative to its deep influence on global spirituality, than Tantra.”
Firstly, all tantric texts were written in sanskrit which means accurate translation is needed. Secondly, many of the secrets of tantra were left out of the texts and were only able to be transmitted through the teaching of a guru. This means many translators missed important details of the texts OR elaborated the information based on their own ideas. There were hundreds of types of tantra with the oldest being Shiva Shakti tantra. The idea of Tantra being a sexual practice is relatively new, invented by Pierre Bernard over a hundred years ago. His ideology is created from his own selection and interpretation of the texts, coupled with other yogic postures and practices, and delivered to the modern West with the main purpose of satisfying his own sexual appetite, and not in fact relative to the original idea of divine union, i.e. the raising of kundlini energy to unite shiva and shakti energie. The most succinct translation of this early tantra was the process of guiding the practitioner to an experience of bliss or divine union with all that is, and not about reaching a bliss state from human coupling. This is the most incorrect understanding of tantra.
Tantra is so broad, with so many nuances, probably because it emerged at a time before India was India. Nowhere else in the world is a peoples DNA so completely mixed. Nomadic tribes came to settle in the area we know as India from all corners of the globe. The last of these settlers, the Aryan tribes, brought holy men with them, and over time these holy men, or Rishis, began to ask the broader questions of the universe, shifting the ideologies of tribal religion from the previously animistic to something revolutionary. The Aryans, as a warrior tribe, ritualised everything -some sacrificial practices still happen today. As they met with the older/indigenous tribes, they found them equally developed but much more introverted, with spiritual practices, meditation, and so on. It is the amalgamation of these tribal ideologies and practices which birthed what we know to be Tantra and also explains why there is such breadth and diversity through multiple branches of it. It is also therefore no wonder that it is subject to such huge misinterpretation.
The teachings were spoken, passed from Guru to disciple, and often in what is called a ‘Twilight’ language. This means the average listener (or reader) would only be privy to the literal or ‘crude’ understanding, but a disciple would be guided by a guru to a deeper more subtle meaning. Speaking specifically about Shiva-Shakti or perhaps Kundalini Tantra, the teachings of the 5 Ms or Paincamakara is probably where most misinterpretation or controversy is rooted. The 5 Ms of Paincamakara are 5 rules – Madya, Mamsa, Matsya, Mudra, and Maethuna. Without going into depth with all of them Mamsa for example means ‘meat’ . The crude understanding of this lesson, albeit beneficial, is that eating meat is injurious to the yogi and for the sake of spiritual progress it would be best to reduce it. The subtle understanding however is this: Mamsa can also mean the tongue, so this M is probably more to do with the control of speech – being careful how we speak, Satya – with benevolence, and truthfulness. A person with full control over their speech will bring and manifest truth.
The M of Maethuna is the most easily misinterpreted, the crude interpretation of which is sexual union. The subtle however, for the yogi, is the union of shiva and shakti kundlini energy – the inner masculine and female energies, but more specifically the regulation of energy expended. Its not about suppression, that would be counterproductive and come with its own pitfalls, but instead it implies focussing the use of this creative energy for the pursuit of enlightenment.
To me, Tantra was the spiritual science developed by these early races which ultimately endeavours to explain how to see the divine in all things, understanding the idea of all things having divinity, how we position and behave within that ideology, and come to be part of all that is. Or, as William Blake would say it ‘ To see the world in a grain of sand.’ It is the joy in and unity with all things, without exception. ☺
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This discussion was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by
Katie.
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This discussion was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by
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