Tantra VI

Tantra - The Left Hand Path of Love

The word sinister in Latin means the left handed path. Even though some puritans have defined the Left handed path as Satanic, it is only logical to assume that we cannot live without the left hand ! Will we cut our left hand off ? Man knows only two paths. The Right Handed Path and the Left Handed Path ! In classical philosophy, the Right Handed Path is the path of Philosophy & Religion. The Left Handed is that of Satan !
The two paths - the Way of Mammon and the Flesh & the Way of Being and of Bliss - are known in Sanskrit as Preyas and Sreyas, as Bhoga & Yoga. All men like Bhoga ( the Way of Mammon ). At the same all aspire for the kingdom of Heaven ( Yoga ). Cant we fuse these 2 paths ? That Fusion, that mighty blend is Tantra !

It is generally believed that man cannot serve two masters God & Mammon. But man is a composite creature. A mixture of good and evil ! " All mixed " said Shaw. Who is there who is cent percent good and who is there who is cent percent evil ? One poet had the audacity to declare that we are serving both masters !

Tantra has been defined as the Left Hand Path of Love. Left refers to the negative Polarity of Yin as contrasted with the positive polarity of Yang. Tantra does not believe in self-abnegation or renouncing sensual pleasures to gain the bliss of the Self. By integrating normal desires along with our super-normal desires ( the desire for Self-fulfillment & Self-empowerment ), we can become one with Truth.

By indulging in finite pleasures, the Tantric satiates all his desires. Tantra gives both Bhukti (mundane pleasures) & Mukti ( heavenly bliss ). Tantra is not the Path of Self-abnegation but of gratifying normal desires without renouncing the supernormal.

It is only when we approach the Supreme in His dual aspect - dual but inseparable ( Sat and Tat ) - that Truth becomes manifest to the inner experience. The first aspect was developed by the Vedantins. The latter aspect was developed by the Tantrics. Only a blend of both, or a combination of both, can pave the way for Integral Knowledge !



The Six Forms of Tantra

Six Systems of Tantra have existed in India from time immemmorial.

They are

1) Soura - The Sun - symbolic of the Inner Sun, the Self - is the
chief Deity
2) Kaumara _ Subramanya is the chief Deity
3) Ganapatya - Ganapathi is the chief Deity
4) Vaishnava - Lord Vishnu is the Chief Deity
5) Saiva - Lord Siva is the chief Deity
6) Saktheya - Shakti, the Mother Goddess is the Chief Deity.

In the Soura system, the chief Deity is the Sun, emblematic of the Inner
Sun, the Almighty Self !.

His great transparent mirror, Self !

He by whom the three states of Consciousness are illumined
Waking state, dreaming & dreamless sleep
And who encompassess all Three as Transcendence
To that King of the inner Solar Logos, I bow !

In the Kaumara system, the chief Deity is the six-faced Skanda. ( His
six faces represent the six seasons ? ). In the Ganapatya, Ganapathi is
the main Deity ( elephant symbolising the Macrocosm and human body
the microcosm? ) and in the Vaishnava system, Lord Vishnu, as the
Preserver, is the Deity ( His Four hands the Fourfold Veds? ).

The most prevalent form of Tantra is the Saktheya wherein the Mother
Divine is worshipped. There are many who say that Saktheya is the only
relevant system in the Kali Yuga ( the Era of the Anti-Christ ) & the other
five systems are ineffective bacause of the predominance of evil in the
present era. Evil formidable, Evil triumphant!

Different Yantras are prepared based on the system the Tantra expert is
following. For instance, the Tripura Sundari Yantra is Shakthaite, the
Sudarshana Yantra is Vaishnavite etc.

The body of the Ancient art Thou
Thy true form is as Transcendence
Thou bewitches all by Thy Maya
O Queen Regal of the Almighty !

Sublimation of Sexual Energy

In Tantra, Retas or Sexual energy is transmuted into Ojas ( Divine
Energy ) & stored in the brain. This requires severe continence.

The sexual energy thus sublimated becomes a potent force and pulls us from
death to Immortality & realises in this body of earth the luminous kingdom
of Heaven ! This is the master Secret of all Yoga and Tantra. In his book
" The Psychology of Sex", Havelock Ellis mentions that creativity can be
enhanced by continence. The seminal energy consists of Ojas ( light), Tejas
( heat ) & Vidyut ( electricity ). The Golden Halo around the Sage is a
manifestation of this Ojas ! Thoreau remarks that " Chastity is the
flowering in man ". Continence or Brahmacharya is declared by the Vedas
as the first step towards the mind's approximation to Godhead !

The Universe entire is upheld by Thee
Universal Nature is Thy name !
Thou art that which is to be Known
O Lady of the Attributes Six !

Vedic Astrology is another manifestation of this mighty Science. The nine
revolving heavens protend good & evil for the world. International Astrology
is known as Mundane Astrology & its principles are slightly different from
Natal Astrology.


The Cause of all Universes & the Trinity
Inscrutable are Thy ways even to Thy chosen
The Cosmos is merely Thy infinitesimal expression
O Manifest Force of the Unmanifest, O Primordial Nature !

She is the creatrix, she is the mediatrix, she is the dispensatrix and the
executrix of the absolute mechanism of Universal Justice.

We have to understand that this knowledge, which was preserved by the
Tantric Masters, was lost due to the cyclical upheavals of Time. Spurious
Tantrics, pretending to be genuine Tantrics, invaded the scene and the
sanctity was lost. Now is the time to redeem this noble science from
degeneration. Tantric knowlege is now degenerating in India. The tendency
we see in India is that many people, pretending to be Tantric scholars, are
fooling the public. The so called social leaders are not interested in
preserving this great knowledge with the result that Tantra has fallen so low that none would do her reverence !