Ritual

Hari-Hara. Painting illustrating
Vishnu (Had) on the left fused
with Siva (Hara) on the right.
The androgynous deity, widely
worshipped in South India as
Aiyanar, symbolizes the creative
power of preservation and
dissolution of the eternal cycle of the
universe. Kangra, c. 18th century.
Gouache on paper.
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Combining as it does art, science and ritual, tantra shows the
way to self-enlightenment. The way to the goal is within, in every
atom of our being. We learn it by living it. Both external and
internal practices are necessary.
Today's artist employs abstract forms of representation to
express the complexities of life and nature, an approach which in
tantra art dates back several centuries. Many of the tantric forms,
their colour combinations, patterns and structures, bear striking
resemblance to the works of contemporary artist. The essential
difference between the two, however, is that the tantric artists
expose in their art mysteries of the universe and the laws which
govern them. Tantra art has a deeper significance when compared
with barren abstraction, which has arisen principally from a search
for the unconventional. Tantra art owes its origin to a deep
spiritual faith and vision. Philip Rawson observes:
The essence of these works is that they are all meant to provide a focus for
meditation. Their diagrams are meant to open doors in the mind that
reflects them, and so open for it a new and higher level of consciousness. It
is not surprising that the current Pop-LSD cult, led by Dr Timothy
Leary, should have latched on to one or two of these visual images -
though I am sure few of the devotees realize how far this art goes. They
may well discover from this book 9 that it could offer them far more than
a simple breaking-down of conceptual cages. It could give them
something on which to build a permanent intuition, as inner vision that
does not need repeated 'trips'. I0
Equally significant are tantra's views on the expanded concept of
man which reflects his relationship to the vast-scale cosmos within