Ritual

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to balance the dialectical process of the lower chakras with the aid of his will. Just as in Jung's subjects once a balance is attained psychic individuation results in a uniquely new awareness, so also with the adept, such awareness awakens when all functions are equilibrated. Asana or ritual of union: individual Tantra asana is a mode of transcending the human condition; through it the gross sexual energy of man and woman can be transformed into superpotency by total integration of opposing polarities. Through planned meditative practices of sexo-yogic asanas, Kundalini, the psychic force lying dormant in the human body, is roused towards its upward move from Muladhara Chakra to the brain centre, Sahasrara, to unite with cosmic consciousness. The tantrikas believe that by manipulating this energy inherent in gross sex one can find creative powers to ascend to the spiritual plane, a plane of transcendental union for the realization of pure joy (ananda). The tantrikas have experienced and tasted the power of sex in order to return in full awareness of the primal state of oneness. Through the ages, the sex act has been generally associated with procreation or physical gratification. The tantrikas, however, were among the first to free sex from its limited orientation and recognize its spiritual values and capacities. The spiritualization of sex, its revitalization, its sublimation and its acceptance as a valid mode in the domain of ritual practices are to a certain extent due to the tantrikas' practical exploration. The sexual attitude of a practising tantrika is unconditional: sex is seen neither in the context of morality nor as an ascetically inhibiting act, nor as indulgent or permissive. The asana ritual is free from emotion and sentimental impulses. It is sustained by the technical possibility of using sex as a medium of realization. Sex is neither immoral nor moral. It is amoral. The tantrika differs from sex-phobics in that he considers that the neglect of the psycho-physiological factors which touch the roots of our instincts as a certain cause of remaining in bondage. Liberation is a change of perspective, and realization can only dawn if the physical body can be transcended by using it in the quest for transformation. The body is a mere instrument, a yantra, and no code of social ethics can hold it prisoner. It is seen as divine in itself, a vital energy capable of acting with tremendous force on the mental state, which in turn reacts on the spiritual plane. Asana in which a couple embrace as a 'creeper enfolds a tree', called 'lata-sadhana'. Orissa, c. 18th century. Line and colour on paper. 163
Linga-yoni with puja (worship) offerings laid on it. Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, 18th century. Gouache on paper. 164 Tantra is perfectly in agreement with the notion that sex or the blending of the polarities into one is the universal basis of all phenomena irrespective of dimension and magnitude. The universality of this concept on the physical plane from the subcellular to human level is demonstrated by the fact that Micro-sex (small sex) is the biological foundation of macro-sex (big sex). About this there can be no argument whatever. All sexual phenomena in nature are designed to produce a result, a blending of the genetic codes of two members of the same species. The glow and sparkle of sex as we humans experience it, the cuddling, kissing, tumescence, copulating, orgasm, all serve one purpose only. They set the stage for a cellular drama
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$9.95 Printed in England The life-a
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Frontispiece: Manuscript leaf illus
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Archaeological Surv
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Introduction Tantra is a creative m
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number of tantric texts were assemb
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Saktas (worshippers of Sakti, or fe
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The basic tenets of tantra can be e
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the union of opposites, the male an
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notions concerning time and space,
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Cosmic energy symbolized as the ser
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Tantric asana, or sexo-yogic postur
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The washer-maid represents the prim
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the five ingredients beginning with
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32 but at the same time maintains p
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Om, the cosmic sound, is a combinat
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Brahmanda, cosmic spheroid, a symbo
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Hari-Hara. Painting illustrating Vi
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ART The art which has evolved out o
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spective, tantric imagery is not an
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Symbolism and Imagery Tantric forms
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visible and eventually apprehended.
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figurative representation. The Sukr
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uilt up in stages during the entire
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The Universe and the terrestrial sp
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Point, and signifies the starting-p
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The Sri Yantra is a configuration o
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The Sri Yantra is called 'Nava Chak
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The seventh chakra, consisting of e
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64 The mandala indicates a focaliza
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The Kundalini Sakti, symbol of coil
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The creative spiral, Kundalini. 68
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A cosmographical schema showing Jam
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Cosmogram: an astronomical computat
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Cosmographical scheme showing Jambu
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so they signify the action of karma
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The terrifying aspects of these ima
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Modern research into the compositio
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'Krim', the bijamantra, almost an e
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consciousness, came spontaneously i
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tantric art and their own. Like the
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94 ancient Hindus. Some inferences
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Bindu. The universe in its unmanife
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98 units of energy called tanmatras
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V Astronomical equations, based on
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Samkhya's view that it is possible
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Atoms The atomic hypothesis of the
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matter or the remaining sediment of
Page 112 and 113: The Siddhayoga of Vrinda is an Ayur
Page 114 and 115: The science of mathematics was clos
Page 116 and 117: Solar orb. An astronomical chart us
Page 118 and 119: Extant astronomical charts were use
Page 120 and 121: (beginning with the new and full mo
Page 122 and 123: ecorded in 1954. Though science has
Page 124: Being residing in heaven. The real
Page 127 and 128: 126 Moscow Institute of Oriental St
Page 129 and 130: 128 of realization. Harmony is the
Page 131 and 132: Symbolic marks painted on wooden ma
Page 133 and 134: Yantra with mantra. 132 guru select
Page 135 and 136: Chakras in the etheric body. Rajast
Page 137: IX A practising Tantrika from north
Page 143 and 144: 142 Both mudras and nyasas are exte
Page 145: Schematic representation of how a y
Page 148 and 149: absorbed within the system and a gr
Page 150 and 151: object of concentration. Meditation
Page 152 and 153: After such a survey of various tech
Page 154 and 155: (from the root nad meaning motion,
Page 156 and 157: a red triangle 'radiant like the ri
Page 161 and 162: XVI
Page 166 and 167: that involves the sperm's odyssey t
Page 168 and 169: inner spiritual urges to flow natur
Page 170 and 171: chaksuratatam'. He then salutes his
Page 172 and 173: Only when she is seen through divin
Page 174 and 175: IV Ram vanhyatmakam dipam sasaktika
Page 176 and 177: Sakti worship It is not physiologic
Page 178 and 179: om anaisvaryaya namah om avairagyay
Page 180 and 181: om Im madanaye namah om Im utpadiny
Page 182 and 183: haga, which means both female organ
Page 184 and 185: That Power who exists in all beings
Page 186 and 187: either position, both the adepts en
Page 188 and 189: the Ida and Pingala subtle channels
Page 190 and 191: outgrow the merry-go-round of self-
Page 192 and 193: of beings and forms; (6) Chinnamast
Page 194 and 195: of the discipline may even abandon
Page 196 and 197: chants mantras, nor performs mudras
Page 198 and 199: BHUTA, any of the five elemental co
Page 200 and 201: PARA, last stage of consciousness.
Page 202 and 203: Bibliography Abhinavagupta, Tantras
Page 204 and 205: Panday, K. C, Abhinavagupta, Varana
Page 206 and 207: Index Abhinavagupta, 80 Absolute, 1
Page 208 and 209: Mercury, 19, 73 Mevlevi Dervishes,
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Ritual

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