Ritual

Rati-asana. Khajuraho, Madhya
Pradesh, c. 12th century. Stone.
188
guru sits in the centre of the chakra. Thereafter the whole ritual
unfolds like the individual asana, with the same mantras, nyasas,
pranayama, purification, identification, concentration, etc. The
rite progresses by transforming the ordinary woman into Sakti,
while the sadhaka, viewing her as an incarnation of the goddess
Devi, recites: 'Om srim bale bale tripurasundari yonirupe mama
sarvasiddhing dehi yonimukting kuru kuru svaha.'
In Panchamakara, after the consecration of the wine kept in the
Sri-patra, the cooked meat, fish and cereals are generally placed on
a silver tray, and the wine cup is held between the thumb and third
finger of the left hand by guru's Sakti, who sips the wine and passes
the cup to the adepts until all the participants drink the wine in
turn, holding the cup in the same fashion. The meat is taken with
the first cup of wine, the fish with the second, cereals with the
third; in this way, once the first four M's are consumed, the fifth,
maithuna, takes place.
In all phases of the ritual of union the emphasis is laid on
knowledge and unity through personal encounter, which in turn is
responsible for changing the individuals through face-to-face
contact of feeling, indulging, acting, being aware in a complex
relationship of body, mind, senses, man and woman become a
unity. Sex tears away the differences of the ego. But like all human
activity, sexuality is also of equivocal significance. It can lead an
adept to the shore of inner realization or doom his humanity. To
the extent the partners participate in the harmonious complementary
whole with an intense awareness of their spiritual
affinities, their actions serve to lead them to the deepest possible
experience. On the other hand, if the adepts of the group are
alienated from one another and indulge in self-defeating egogames
they will merely perpetuate a situation contrary to
liberation. For this reason tantras such as the Kularnava emphasize
that those who indulge in this ritual mainly for the sexual acts, or
for hedonistic purposes with no reference to spiritual ends, are only
defeating themselves. This ritual has become suspect through gross
misinterpretation of the original texts; the fault, however, is not in
the tantras, but in us.
Confrontation
The notion that the spiritual life is a soft, flowing, uninterrupted
stream is given the lie by facts. Periods of storm and stress and of
panic-stricken tension are created in rituals in order to reduce
conflict and lead the adept to an impasse point so that he can