Who is Goddess Tara

In the centre [of the island of gems] is the wish fulfilling tree. Under this, a sadhaka should meditate on himself as being one with Tarini, as bright as the rising sun, the utmost sphere of light, in a place surrounded by beautiful maidens with fans and bells, wafted by a gentle breeze bearing the odour of scent and incense – Todala Tantra, IV

“I sing a mighty praise, as she is the Supremest, the supreme of all Nadis.I shall praise Saraswati with hymns and chants, and Rodasi, O Vasishtha.”- Rig Veda Samhita, VII.96.1

“Indeed, this celestial Ghora (Terible) Saraswati with her path of Gold, the destroyer of the Obstruction (Vritra, the granthis), claims our praise!” - Rig Veda Samhita, VI.68.7

Tara is a wrathful form of the Goddess Saraswati. She represents Saraswati as the Supreme Nadi that takes us beyond into the Soma Chakra up Sushumna, and thus she is called the Tara (Saviouress). She is said to have been consort with both Brihaspati (Lord of Speech, dwelling in the Muladhara as Kundalini) and the Moon (Soma, the Sahasrarapadma Chakra that Kundalini unites with when fully awakened).Their son, the first mortal, was called Budha (‘Intellect’), and was an avatar of Vishnu and the Lord of Planet Mercury.

The greatest modern Seer of Tara was the great Tantric Vamaksepa (known also as Vama, Vamadeva, Bamakhepa etc.). A Vamamargi (Left-hand Tantric), he was a Para-bhakta like Chaitanya and had many mystic powers. Amongst his devotees and disciples who received his grace and teachings, was the Author and Mystic of Bengal and great Composer on Hindu Literature – Jadunath Sinha.

One can but beleive that Tara through the grace of Vamaksepa, empowered Jadunath to write on Hindu Philosophy for the benefit of the world.

Vamaksepa often saw the Goddess Tara in the flames of Agni (Fire). He was one of few Rishis that beheld this sacred forms of the Goddess in Fire, as did the Rishis of Vedic times, as in Durgasukta, Mundakopanishad and Agni-Durga mantra by Kashyapa in the Rig Veda.

Verily, Vamaksepa was a Vedic Rishi. Tara is consort of Brihaspati the Guru of the Gods, who in Rig Veda is worshipped in Fire as Lord of Speech and Mantra – as Brahmanaspati, Narashamsa, the Purohit (Priest) form of Agni etc.

Agni in the same hymn takes the form of the Son of Power or Shavasi (or Shakti, verse 10) and other times as a youth. This relates to the later ideas of Tara as the Mother of her husband Akshobhya or Brihaspati – as the image at Tarapith of Akshobhya sucking on her breast, shows. Mandala V, also portrays such an imagery with Agni the son.

This hymn by Bharadvaja obviously shows Agni in Brihaspati form, as it commences with Agni the Inventor of the mantra, and also the Sage of mankind (verse 8).

The son of Brihaspati and Tara, is a great Rig Vedic Rishi of the Sixth Mandala, Bharadvaja. One hymn of his (VI.1.5) extols Agni as the Father and Mother in the form of the Saviour and Deliverer of Mortals forever, the Taraka-shakti, which is the basis of Tara and Akshobhya-Tar or Brihaspati in later times. [This is also basis of Tara and Aksbhobhya Boddhisattvas as helpers of mortals in Buddhist mythology, from this famed Vedic verse!]. Moreover, the wrathful form of Saraswati (VI.68), esp. verse 7, relates to Tara as wrathful and Vritraghni (Vritra-slaying) Saraswati – thus her form as Tara or Ugra-Saraswati.

It calls her Ghora (wrathful or terrible). Also the hymn to Bharadvaja’s father Brihaspati is also wrathful in tone (VI.73) – all of these hymns which are the basis of Tara, are from Bharadvaja’s Sixth Mandala!

Bharadvaja also states that through love and grace of Agni (Brihaspati or Tara, again who is both Mother – Tara and Father, Brihaspati in VI.1.5), one gains much wealth and by serving him, one gains many boons. This is basis of Tara-bhakti.

Brihaspati himself is the son of Rishi Angirasa (RV.VI.73.1). Rig Veda states that the first Angirasa Rishi was actually Agni himself in the form of the ‘auspicious friend’ (shiva sakha) to the Gods – thus a form of Lord Shiva himself (RV.I.31.1). This is the origin of Brihaspati as the avatar of Lord Shiva – and the Akshobhya or Nilakantha form itself is noted in the Vedas:

” We offer salutations to the blue-necked one (Nilagriva) , he who has a thousand eyes and is the granter of desires. We offer salutations to those who are his followers!” – Krishna Yajur Veda Samhita, IV.5.1 (Sri Rudram.I.9)

The same text also calls Shiva as Tara, also.

Tara of the cremation ground (samashana-Tara) is connected to Rudra-Agni forms as the great Deliverer in forms that haunt the cremation grounds. As such, Shiva as Medhapati (Lord of offerings) and Gathapati (ie. Brihaspati) as Rudra the wrathful are noted in Rig Veda(I.43.4-5). This is connected with Rudra as the Taraka-devata through Mahamrityunjaya (Great death mantra) of Vasishtha in Rig Veda (VII.59.12) – taking us beyond death. Interestingly – Vasishtha later becomes one of Tara’s main Seers in Tantra!

Thus, we can see Vamaksepa has a strong Vedic connection when he envisions her in Fire. As her son, he is the great avatar of Shiva, Akshobhya himself or the great Rishi Bharadvaja, the son of Tara and Brihaspati.

Amongst the Kirata peoples of ancient China (Mahachina), that is, remote parts of Nepal and Tibet-Ladhak regions into NE India as Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, her Shaman-practices arose from the fallen aspects of Vedic and became part of their Buddhism, when the likes of Padmasambava taught Tara-sadhana into these regions. Hence why it survived.

Yet, the home of Tara-worship and Mahachinachara is said to be Manasa-puja (mental worship). In the Puranas she guards the Manasa-sarovar (Lake of the Mind), which is Geographically located in Mahachina or Tibet, land of Buddhistic practices. Thus, Rishi Vasishtha who learnt this, actually travelled to the Lake of the Mind, and the Mahachina idea, was only a geographical metaphor. The Saraswati also originates from the Himalayas*.

Kiratas are also Hunters. They are symbolically the Marut-forms of or followers of Tara as the hunters and slayers of demons, and thus Mahachina is her abode, as also it is Shiva’s abode (on Mt. Meru or Kailasha).

Saraswati is also Goddess of the Mind, as the Goddess of Intellect, as her Gayatri mantra shows. Infact, Gayatri itself is also the basis of Tara form of Saraswati. Gayatri means literally, “The song (gaya) that saves (tri)”. It connects tara to Saraswati as both Mantra or Song and also the Saviouress. As noted above, we have already Vedic images of Saraswati the wrathful demon-slaying warrioress in the hymns of Bharadvaja.

Tara is quite well known to the West through Her Tibetan manifestations, but some are unaware of the important position She occupies in the Hindu tantrik pantheon. She is the second of the ten Mahavidyas.

The major sources of tara can be found in important Kaula tantra called Brihad Nila Tantra (see below) and the Tararahasya (Secrets of Tara) of Brahmananda Giri. The first deals with the exposition of Nila Sarasvati — the Sapphire Blue Sarasvati. Sarasvati is the Brahma-Shakti, or spouse of the Supreme Deity in his Creative aspect. The other aspects are Vishnu and Mahesh — all three symbolised in the three heads of Lord Dattatreya, patron guru of the Natha tradition.

The similarities in appearance between Kali and Tara are striking and unmistakable. They both stand upon a supine male figure often recognizable as Shiva but which may also be an anonymous corpse.

Both wear minimal clothing or are naked. Both wear a necklace of freshly severed heads and a girdle of human hands. Both have a lolling tongue, red with the blood of their victims. Their appearances are so strikingly similar that it is easy to mistake one for the other.

The oral tradition gives an intriguing story behind the Goddess Tara. The legend begins with the churning of the ocean. Shiva has drunk the poison that was created from the churning of the ocean, thus saving the world from destruction, but has fallen unconscious under its powerful effect. Tara appears and takes Shiva on her lap. She suckles him, the milk from her breasts counteracting the poison, and he recovers. This myth is reminiscent of the one in which Shiva stops the rampaging Kali by becoming an infant. Seeing the child, Kali’s maternal instinct comes to the fore, and she becomes quiet and nurses the infant Shiva. In both cases, Shiva assumes the position of an infant vis-à-vis the goddess. In other words the Goddess is Mother even to the Great Lord himself.

The distinguishing feature in Tara’s iconography is the scissors she holds in one of her four hands. The scissors relate to her ability to cut off all attachments.

Literally the word ‘tara’ means a star. Thus Tara is said to be the star of our aspiration, the muse who guides us along the creative path. These qualities are but a manifestation of her compassion. The Buddhist tradition stresses these qualities of this Goddess, and she is worshipped in Tibet as an important embodiment of compassion.

The various other forms are given in Brihad Nila Tantra and Devirahasya, under the names Nilasarasvati, Aniruddha Sarasvati, Ugra Tara, Tarini. Nilasarasvati gives as the fruit of worshipping Her poesy and eloquence. This, aside from clearly relating Nilasarasvati to White Sarasvati, also points to this Goddess being the Shakti of the Letters of the Alphabet, the Matrika Shakti.

She has an important role in Tantrik cosmology because mantra, words, music are considered to be the very source of the cosmos. As Matrika Shakti She deludes the entire human race with Her Maya of letters, and words. This has been expressed in a Tantrik form, but, practically speaking, it is sufficient to say that much hypnosis (Maya) comes about via the medium of words. Millions of people have lost their lives through this power.

Thus Her power and place in the Tantrik pantheon is quite justified, and Her mantra is described as a Siddha-Vidya, the cause of Maya and Englamouring.

Tara is not only an important Hindu Goddess, she is also the most important of the Buddhist Goddesses. The Bodhisattva Tara is the consort of the great Buddha Avalokiteshvara, the Lord who looks down with compassion on all living beings.

The term Tara means the deliverer or savior, from the Sanskrit root tri, meaning “to take across,” as to take across a river, the ocean, a mountain, or any difficult situation. The Goddess Tara is called upon in emergencies or at crossroads where we require guidance as to which way to turn. Tara is the saving knowledge. She is the Saviouress. The idea of the Goddess as saving wisdom is as old as the Vedas, and is a common idea in many spiritual traditions.

Tara is the feminine form of Om or Om personified as a Goddess. Tara is the unmanifest sound that exists in the ether of consciousness, through which we can go beyond the entire manifestation. Tara is Om that has the appearance of the ether and which pervades the ether as its underlying vibratory support, but also transcends it. Om is the unmanifest field behind creation, which is the destroyer as well as the creator of the universe.

Tara is the purifying force of the vital breaths. Sound that manifests in the ether is the same as the Prana (life-force) that manifests in the ether. Breath is the primal sound of life, and the sound of the breath is the original, spontaneous and unuttered mantra (So’ ham). Both mind and Prana, as word and vibration, have their root in sound. Hence the use of sound or mantra both purifies and energizes the mind.

Tara is the radiance of knowledge that arises from the differentiation of meanings through sound. Different sounds serve as vehicles whereby different ideas or meanings flash forth. Om is the underlying light that illumines these different sounds and allows meaning to flow through them. All meanings exist to reintegrate us into the ocean of meaning that is pure consciousness itself.

Tara, like Kali, is deep blue in color. She has matted hair, wears a garland of human heads, and has eight serpents for her ornaments. She is dancing on a corpse, has four arms and carries in her four hands a sword or head chopper, a scissors, a severed head and a lotus.

When we analysize some vedic hymns we can even understand an another interpretation that Tara Mahavidya is spouse of Brihaspati also known as Akshobhya Shiva. The second verse here is by her son – Bharadvaja Rishi. It calls upon the Divine Fire (also known as Narashamsa or Brahmanaspati in his Brihaspati aspect), as Mother and Father in the form of the Saviour.

The first by Rishi Kashyapa appears in the start of the famed Durgasukta. It asks that the Divine Fire or the Self, take us beyong all miseries, as a ship accross the ocean. This is the power of Tara, and thus these mantras can be used in her invocation.

Sanskrit:

jaatavedase sunavaama somam araateeyato ni dahaati vedaa sah nah parshat ati durgaani vishvaa saaveva sindhum durhitaatyagnih

Translation:

We offer the celestial beverage to the knower of all births – may he consume the wisdom of our enemies. May he takes us through all troubles and difficulties, like a ship accross the ocean. – RV.I.99.1

Sanskrit:

Tvam trata tarane chetyo bhuh pita mata sadamin manushanam

Translation:

May you be our Saviour, Protector, Father and Mother of mortals forever. RV.VI.1.5

Tara Kavacha:

Sanskrit:

brhaspatirnah pari paatu pashchaadutottarasmaadadharaadaghaayoh

Translation:

Brihaspati protect us from the rear, and from above and below from harm!- RV.I.42.11

Tantra Enlightenment Through Sex

Introduction:

Tantra in Buddhist and Hindu traditions was a method to activate and utilize Kundalini energy (bio-energy) for the expressed purpose of spiritual advancement. The word is a composite of tapestry, web and enlightenment. While some have dubbed Tantra a religion, that is for convenience sake. Tantra in essence defies all the tenants of a religion, while maintaining a spiritual core. And while there are indeed rituals, the rituals are for reference.

The origins and philosophy of the Tantric lifestyle can be traced to Tantric elements in both Hinduism and Buddhism, and predate Taoist philosophy. Buddhist Tantra, and Taoism are outgrowths of the original form of Tantra which began in ancient India.

Today, Tantra has re-emerged in western culture as an alternative, self-help, sexual/spiritual phenomenon, and to some degree as been usurped, even if in name only, with aggressive, non-loving sexual perversion, from pornography to prostitution. It is sad, but it is what it is. This is not genuine Tantra. If this be any definition at all, Tantra taps into a wider dimension of consciousness, and embraces love. It is indeed a doorway to enlightenment.

The History of Sex in India:

While the essence of Tantric concepts can be traced to many parts of the world including the Native American tribe of Cherokee, who practiced Quodoushka, as well as in Polynesia, and elsewhere, one history of ritual sex can be traced back to the Harrapan tribe of the Indus Valley (4000 BCE --2000 BCE). They were agrarians who worshipped the power of the feminine, which they associated with fertility and birth. Their deity was the goddess, idolized in the form of the yoni (vulva). The Harrapan's culture was altered by the war-like nomadic Aryans who replaced the existing female deities with their male gods--often represented by the phallic lingam symbol (penis). Female deities were then relegated more to being consorts to the male gods.

Sexual intercourse was seen as a way to combine the male and female energies, which were seen as originating from the Cosmos. The manifestation of this duality are the deities Shiva (male) and Shakti (female).

Hinduism accepted an open attitude towards sex as an art and spiritual practice. The most famous pieces of Indian literature on sex is the Kamasutra. This collection of explicit sexual writings, both spiritual and practical, covers most aspects of human courtship and sexual intercourse. It was put together in this form by the sage Vatsyayana from a 150 chapter manuscript that had itself been distilled from 300 chapters that had in turn come from a compilation of some 100,000 chapters of text. The Kamasutra is thought to have been written in its final form sometime between the third and fifth century CE .

Over time, in the history of the evolution of Hinduism, almost every sexual technique conceivable was practiced and venerated in one sect or another. Fellatio, cunnilingus, prostitution, masturbation (with an impressive array of aids), anal sex, bestiality and even necrophilia were discussed, tolerated or encouraged. Against this historic backdrop, it is not surprising that Tantrism, a sect that utilized sex as a means to spiritual evolvement, would flourish.

The Birth of Tantrism:

Although its true origins are unknown, there is speculation that Tantrism, like many other philosophical movements before and after, was a response to the prevailing social and political environment. At the time, only Brahmans, the highest caste, were allowed to perform Tantric rites. Many of its practices were deliberately aimed at breaking the caste system, while others flouted convention in lesser ways by using drugs, magic, and sexual intercourse as part of religious ritual.

Tantrism can also be seen as a backlash against the ideal of an ascetic lifestyle. An equally convincing argument can be made that Tantrism was a natural philosophical-theological spin-off of a religion and culture that was steeped in sexual myth.

The ancient Tantric movement peaked between 700--1200 CE. Tantrism is so called because the practitioners adopted the teachings in the Tantra scriptures thought to have been written around 300 CE. Tantrism is considered by some as a part of the group of Hindu sect, the Shaktis, who venerate the feminine. This is in contrast to the Lingayatis who primarily worship male deities.

While there is little information as to the precise number of followers that Tantrism was able to attract, speculation is that its appeal was widespread throughout Indian society some three thousand years ago. Although it is thought that originally Tantrism drew its following from the middle and lower castes, it would eventually be the Brahmans that would practice the most elite form of the belief.

Later, Tantric aficionados carried their philosophy and lifestyle to China (around 1000 CE). In the 14th century, while the Mongols ruled China, yet another stream of Tantric "missionaries" from Tibet revitalized the movement in a variation that held little of the Taoist elements of the original. The literature indicates the continued practice of Tantrism in India and China but provides little detail on the number of practitioners and depth of their practice. Specific reference is made of a Tantric sect in Bengal as recently as 1980.

I should also point out, that while scripture did indeed abound, most who lived the lifestyle had little to do with doctrine or dogma. It was, and is, far from a belief system.

Tantric Theology:

The basic statement of Tantrism was that if the world was a reflection of the cosmic order, then people should seek enlightenment through experiencing it. Rather than pursuing asceticism, which was seen as a repudiation of the tactile, Tantrikas believed that a higher spiritual awareness could be achieved through indulgent (but controlled) sensory experience. The thought was that, if the world was an expression of divinity, then all in it must be divine, worthy to be worshipped rather than renounced. It was an apparently hedonistic creed, and its appeal must have been immense.

What was common of all the other different systems of the Hindu religion was that they were all ways to achieve freedom from perpetual reincarnation. The different systems accomplished this in different ways but all, with the exception of Tantrism, shared a philosophy of rejection. Among these were Nyaya, which advocated logic and clarity of thought, and Yoga, as well as Vedanta whose practitioners raised their spirituality through meditation.

Tantrism turned all of this on its head. It offered its practitioners freedom in one lifetime, not through study or meditation (at least in the lower stages), but rather through indulgence, and experiencing all that religions denied.

Acquiring Female Energy:

The way to accomplish union with the divine according to Tantrism, was to become one with the "World Soul" itself. Since Tantrism was a sect of the feminine it envisioned the "World Soul" as being encapsulated in the image of the goddess (Shakti). Another source depicts the most venerated Tantric deity as being a Shiva-like figure with both male and female parts. This manner of being was known as an ardhanari (hermaphroditism). In this situation Shakti is seen as the female component of Shiva and is often viewed as being in perpetual coupling with him. But even in this scenario, it is the female energy of the god that is coveted because it is this that will augment the male energy of the Tantric practitioner and hence enhance his spirituality.

Back in the mundane earthly world, there existed a microcosm of the cosmic order. The sought-after female energy could be found in earthly women. Although all men and women had both male and female energies in them, women naturally possessed more of the female force (this is what made them women). The way to appropriate some of this energy was through sexual intercourse. "The essence of Tantra is this union of male and female energy, a union that is both mental and physical. Due adoration cannot be paid to the mother goddess unless a man has sexual intercourse with a woman, as representing the Shakti, or female energy." The perceived necessity of acquiring this balance between male and female energies led some sects to require periodic sexual liaisons between monks and nuns.

This process was deemed so crucial to spiritual advancement that temples were built for this purpose. The most famous was built in 1565 CE in Guahati, Assam and dedicated to the goddess of love Kamakhya or simply Kama. As legend has it, it is on this site that a distraught Shiva dropped the genitals of a dismembered Shakti after her death, in fond remembrance of their long love-making sessions. The inner sanctum of the temple is a cleft that represents Shakti's yoni and is kept moist by a natural spring. "Kamakhya was worshipped not only by sexual intercourse, but also in human sacrifice. Under British rule the human sacrifice was replaced by sacrificial goats."

Rituals and Practices:

As in other Hindu sects, Tantric worship for some became very codified ritual. In this instance it took the form of the repetition of mantras and supervised religious ceremony. The more devoted practitioners meditated often and participated in more intricate ceremonies. While Tantra abounds with coloration and ritual, at the same time it is totally unattached to all methods. To some this is paradoxical. Indeed Tantra cannot be experienced with the mind.

Mantras:

A mantra is a phrase or collection of syllables said deliberately and repeatedly, like a fugue in music. It can be voiced or silent. Mantrum is used as a form of meditation or brain entrainment. Their purpose is to concentrate and direct spiritual energy, by removing or quieting mind. The most commonly used and most popular Tantric mantra is "Om Mani Padme Aum" which literally translates to "the jewel is in the lotus" or is another way of saying "the lingam is in the yoni." While most mantras have a spiritual focus, any repetition of any sounds or words may be used. In some the events I conduct, I sometimes user repetition of CO-KA-CO-LA as a meditation Tantra is also playful.

Circle Worship:

Chakrapuja which translates to "circle worship," was the basic ceremony for most Tantric practitioners. A small group of people would gather in the presence of their guru. It was the duty of the guru to supervise the proceedings and to make sure that the evening did not stray from it's holy purpose and deteriorate into an orgy. The male members of the group are referred to as vira ("heroes"), the female, as Shakti ("potencies").

The evening started with a mind heightening soma (such as wine or hashish), after which the couples proceeded to the other "four of the five enjoyments." These were: meat, grain, fruit and sexual intercourse. It is hypothesized that all five represented mild breaking of taboos of orthodoxy while connecting to the earth. The evening culminated in sexual intercourse, and it is this aspect of their worship that was most developed and which also deserves further analysis. Here is my description of the Maithuna ritual as an example of preparation.

Coitus Reservatus and Coitus Obstructus:

From the perspective of the male practitioners, sexual intercourse in these circumstances was very purposeful. There were strict guidelines to follow. The goal was to increase the concentration of female energy in the male body. This was accomplished through extreme discipline and by following a prescribed methodology.

Intercourse could only take place when the woman was sexually excited, after which, depending on the sect, the man would not ejaculate at all or would do so only after the woman had at least one, or preferably many orgasms. The reasoning derived from the Hindu belief that through intercourse, semen -- both male (bindu) and female (amrita), could be concentrated in the body. It was then preferable to redirect the semen through the body rather than outside it as this then appropriated the female energy to the benefit of the male practitioner.

The practice of coitus reservatus was referred to in Sanskrit as askanda and was represented in artwork of the time by images of a flaccid lingam known colloquially as "down penis" or nicha medhra. The famous statue of the Jain saint, Gomatesvara, is depicted with such a "pendulous" penis.

It would appear that the process was not one of mutual sharing but rather of one party gaining power at the expense of the other. Done improperly then, the ritual could have the opposite effect. Writings warn that the male stood the chance that the situation would be reversed and the woman would gain his energy and strength! Thus he who knew the secret of sexual intercourse turned the good deeds of woman to himself but he, who without knowing this, practices sexual intercourse, his good deeds woman turn into themselves.

The idea of "cultivating" sexual energy from the woman by deferring or avoiding ejaculation can be found in Taoism. Taoists believed that women had much larger sexual appetites and the capacity for multiple orgasms and hence had more sexual energy. It was assumed that a woman could experience innumerable orgasms without experiencing any physiological, psychological, or sexual harm - and still be 'enlightened', whereas a man "once he ejaculates falls into a deep sleep, totally drained of all of his strength." Therefore, a man should strive to bring a woman to many orgasms and delay his own because he would then benefit from her energy (her yin). The longer that a man could stay within the "jade chamber," and the more orgasms he could solicit from the woman, the more yin energy he could absorb.

Advice to the Male Practitioner:

It is important to note that the motivation for prolonged intercourse and encouraging sexual pleasure and orgasm in women was a sly and selfish male desire to gain female yin. To attain this goal, men were instructed to learn how to delay their own orgasm for as long as possible. They were advised to use mental meditative powers, self discipline and manual intervention (coitus obstructus). To avoid "premature ejaculation" (by Tantric standards), Master Tung-hsuan, a Chinese physician in the seventh century, advised that at the last moment, "the man closes his eyes and concentrates his thoughts: he presses his tongue against the roof of his mouth, bends his back, and stretches his neck. He opens his nostril wide and squares his shoulders, closes his mouth, and sucks in his breath. Then he will not ejaculate and the semen will ascend inward on its own account."

As Tantrism spreads from India into China (700 CE), there is more evidence of advice to men on this matter. From the book, Important Matters of the Jade Chamber, we get an account of the technique for coitus obstructus. "When, during the sexual act, the man feels he is about to ejaculate, he should quickly and firmly, using the fore and middle fingers of the left hand, put pressure on the spot between scrotum and anus (called the "million dollar point"), simultaneously inhaling deeply and gnashing his teeth scores of times, without holding his breath. Then the semen will be activated but not yet emitted, it returns from the Jade Stalk and enters the brain."

Once proficient in the ways of reliably gaining female energy (without the process backfiring), the Tantric practitioner engaged in regular ritual intercourse as a way of getting constant infusions of female energy. The Tantric interpretation of events was very similar to that of the Taoists. During intercourse, preferably in one of the convoluted positions advocated, a complex interaction between the female energy and the male navel chakra resulted in the conversion of the vital but previously constrained male semen into a vital force (referred to as bindu) which then, "... whisked up through ... to the chakra at the top of the head, "the thousand-petalled lotus," which opened into the void, the eternal bliss of nothingness. Thus the true Tantric adept became one with the dual-sexed World Soul."

For the majority of practitioners, this union would seem to have been a fleeting thing. More advanced Tantric practitioners sought a more permanent blissful state by employing a more sophisticated strategy. Interestingly, the prescribed rituals were such that the (male) practitioner would eventually be free from dependence on women.

Advanced Tantric Practices:

For the dedicated Tantric practitioner who wished to attain the promise of bliss in a single lifetime, the rituals were to become increasingly solitary. At first, the (male) practitioner moved up the hierarchy through an initiation ceremony that involved having ritual intercourse with specially trained women known as a dakinis. The man, now known as a sadhaka, embarked on a process of intense meditation which included "liturgies, the uttering of mantras, mental visions, yogic postures, and what one authority charmingly describes as 'manipulation of the conjoined male and female energies.'"

The goal in this last practice was to develop the male and female energies that were now part of the practitioners body by the process of what could be conceptualized as "intercourse with oneself." The same result that was achieved fleetingly through sexual intercourse with women, could now be reliably reproduced within the male body thus enabling him to reach union with the divine.

Conclusions:

The mystique of Tantric practices has fascinated the world since the days of it's peak in India. As the practices and rituals became known by other cultures, Tantrism was claimed by the cultures that "discovered it." This appropriation was often in a "smorgasbord" fashion where bits and pieces were selectively claimed. The Chinese codified the practices into elaborate sexual manuals that could be consulted by the average citizen. Later in history, the coitus obstructus technique, was used by the Turks, Armenians, and the islanders of the Marquesas, and the North American native Cherokees.

Tantra today has little to do with these ancient text. It is continually updated by the various practitioners, teachers and performers. That is indeed the central point...Tantra is dynamic and alive, and subject to change at every moment. In my events, I usually say that Tantra invites you to "expect the unexpected," and to become one with the very experience. Hence Tantra is not about scholarly text, ritual and surely not dogma.

In the late 1970's, sex researchers, Masters and Johnson rediscovered that it was possible for men to be trained to experience the pleasure of orgasm (possibly several times) without ejaculation. When the western world "rediscovered" the same thing in very old eastern "Tantric" tradition, a renewed interest in the rituals and practices of Tantrism was sparked.

In studying history, religious or otherwise, it is important to be aware of three things (among others); The perspective an d filters of the writer, the reader's own cultural biases in trying to analyze the information presented, and the context of situation being studied. This must be considered in trying to understand Tantrism while conditioned, to one degree or another with a western point of view.

Much of the analysis of Tantrism has come from a "western" point of view which can be subtly (or overtly) tainted by the Judeo-Christian sex-negative and religious perspective. It is this perspective that leads to the interpretation of Tantrism as a "depraved" phenomena and conjures echoes of a Sodom and Gomorrah. Like any other philosophy or movement, Tantrism had its share of fanatics, but it was founded on well established practices, and served as a viable way for its practitioners to achieve spiritual enlightenment.

Regardless of the neutrality of the source, the western reader is also faced with a conceptual hurdle in studying Tantrism. There is something that will strike most as "intuitively" scandalous about "orgies" as worship. The impression that is left with most is that Tantrism was an excuse for an over-sexed society to practice its favorite form of recreation. This was precisely the response of the British during the years that they colonized India. Their cloistered Protestant Christian sensibilities were appalled by the "debauchery" around them. Indian scholars take pains to point out that Tantrism is a spiritual philosophy and not a sexual movement.

As one scholar points out, Hindu and Buddhist critics "have constantly suggested that the Tantrika uses religion as a mantle for sexual desire and debauchery; the Tantrikas have constantly answered that the complicated, elaborate, and exceedingly difficult procedure followed by them would not at all be necessary to gratify sexual desire, whose objects are much easier to obtain without any [such rigorous] trappings." In other words, if having sex was the goal, there were easier ways to do it. Again, you should recognize and respect Tantrism for what it was, a valid effort to achieve spiritual enlightenment.

What I have saved for last is this. Tantra, at its core, is a philosophy of love, and universal adoration. This state of love consciousness is thought my many to be achieved only through the process of surrender, or letting go of all attachments, and to fully experience the joy and bliss of existence. To smell the flowers, taste the wine, and enjoy beauty in al its myriad physical and spiritual forms.

Once you have assured yourself that, as much as possible, you are free of your ethnocentric blinders, you can then examine the records of history in the context of the time.

Shiva and Shakti - Consciousness and Energy

If you follow the path of direct realization Tantra, you will discover for yourself that the entire cosmos is nothing but consciousness and energy. There is feeling-awareness and there is the power that creates. Shiva is the personification of feeling-awareness, and Shakti is the personification of creative power. This world is Her body.

Consciousness and energy, or Shiva and Shakti, are not really separate. For instance, you can talk about the movement, color and heat of a fire. These are simultaneously attributes of the fire and the fire itself. Fire and its expressions are inseparable. Just so, you can experience Shakti, the manifest world in all of its variety.

You can describe attributes of this world. But this variety and those attributes are inseparable from feeling-consciousness. The unison of Shiva and Shakti is the Supreme Reality. Shiva and Shakti are one, but they have the power, the freedom and the wisdom to appear in various ways. All beings and all worlds are expressions of this never-ending life process of Shiva-Shakti.You, however, most likely are not yet fully experiencing the freedom to appear in various ways.

In fact, unless you have been practicing in a spiritual tradition for a long time, it is probable that you find it difficult to change even small habits of body, emotion and mind. Accomplished yoginis and yogis, however, are fluid and adaptable. Their responses are a dazzling play of light on water. This is one aspect of Self-realization—you become more expressive of the freedom of Shiva and Shakti. You discover the effulgent, creative freedom of Self.Our world is expressive.

Reality, in its very life process, expresses itself. There is a communicative aspect. We call this duality. Duality is the world of you, me, dog, river, tree and donut. Things appearing as distinct entities—that’s duality. Only because the one continuous field of consciousness and energy is free to appear as many is this magnificent theater of communication possible.Some spiritual traditions are “transcendental.” They teach that there is something impure or unreal about our everyday world. Students of those traditions want to “rise above” duality.

From the perspective of direct realization Tantra, the only impurity is our ignorance of our real nature. Even this ignorance is a natural phase of the life process of Shiva-Shakti. Duality only feels like a curse when we are convinced that we are condemned to separateness. Our experience of being separate is the root of all suffering. We want to stop suffering, but we do not need to reject life in order to accomplish that.

Tantra is not a religion or a belief system. It is a spiritual technology for entering into full participation in Reality. Any direct realization teacher worth a nickel will tell you that belief is irrelevant. Confidence and practice are what count. Through practice and interacting with our teachers, we gain confidence in the life process and an embodied understanding of our world. We discover Reality for ourselves.

Embodied knowledge means useable knowledge, not conceptual knowing.The search for ultimate truth and knowing is a dead end, in this View. The essential characteristic of the universe is openness, or infinite potential. This cannot be known in the usual sense. But it can be embodied with awareness. And that is a very sweet fruit indeed.In order to realize, in our own human lives, the fullness of Reality, we have to change. We have to change, not just our ideas about life, but the View of ourselves and the world that shapes us down to the very cells of our bodies. This profound process begins concretely with changing our daily conduct.

Direct realization Tantra is a practice that is thoroughly embedded in our everyday lives.The practices of direct realization Tantra ritualize every aspect of life in order to recalibrate the sadhik (practitioner) and re-sync her with the rhythms of the natural state.

Tantra ritualizes your life from the moment you open your eyes in the morning, throughout your whole day, as you fall asleep, while you are sleeping and until you open your eyes again the following day. Authentic Tantrik practice will pull from you everything you thought you had to offer and then some. No part of you will be left out. No aspect of your life will remain unchanged.

What is Tantra ?

Tantra has enjoyed many different forms of expression. It has been a pan-Asian tradition for centuries and is now becoming a global phenomenon. Tantrik lineages, schools, sects and points of view are alive and thriving in both Indian-Hindu and Buddhist traditions throughout Asia and the world.

The traditional divisions of Indian Tantrik lineages are Shaivite, Shakta and Vaishnava, in other words lineages in which the supreme, all-encompassing Reality is equated with Shiva and Shakti, Shakti or Vishnu. Although it is less common, the ancient “fourth” Tantrik way focusing on the practices and worship of Ganapati or Ganesha, the elephant-headed God, still exists both in North and South India.

The practices associated with Tantra such as mantra, yantra, puja, mandala and hatha yoga existed long before anyone uttered the word “Tantra." Artifacts of figures seated in yogic poses and other Tantrik images have been found that are thousands of years old.

Direct realization Tantra helps you to discover what is sometimes called “the natural state.” You discover that duality, the everyday world of you, me, car and tree, is an expression of a natural, base state of continuity, or “not two.” Practices such as Guru yoga, mantra and meditation do not lead the Tantrika to transcend duality in favor of “oneness,” but rather to enlarge her embodied View so that the experience of duality is happening within the context of the experience of the continuity of all life.

Buddhists tend to limit the definition of Tantra to transformational practices involving certain deities. Within the Indian context, Tantrik practice includes everything from Ayurveda to hatha yoga to ritual to deity practice to direct realization through contemplative practice and direct transmission from Guru to disciple.

Because of this diversity of expressions, there is no single, true-for-all-times-and-places definition of Tantra. However, it is possible to come up with a short list of Tantrik values that inform the View of the tradition as a whole and that have remained remarkably consistent over time. These values include:

• an acceptance of the material, phenomenal world as a real and not illusory manifestation of consciousness (Shiva) and power (Shakti);
• a commitment to non-exclusivity of caste, class and gender;
• the belief that the human body is our most valuable tool in seeking liberation; and
• the insistence that everyday life and Self-realization are not mutually exclusive.

Tantra only began to emerge as a written tradition around 500 AD in India. The Tantras, or written texts, consist of teachings about cosmology and instructions for practice. They are usually, but not always, structured as dialogues between Shiva and Shakti. Not until the 19th century did the word “Tantra” refer to anything other than these scriptures. Eventually, the word came to describe a tradition (Tantra) and people in the tradition (Tantrikas).

Tantrik practice helps the practitioner to embody a more relaxed, complete relationship with the world. The Guru-disciple relationship is the central Tantrik practice. The Guru acts as a gateway to discovering the natural, uncontrived state. An advanced practitioner will experience the entire world as Guru.

The ultimate goal of Tantrik practice is full, conscious participation in the world process. In its broadest sense, Tantra is a spiritual technology for completing the human relationship to the cosmos. It is preparation for death by fully realizing this thing called “being human.” Tantra is not a transcendental practice because it does not urge us to skip over the being human part. The only way out is through, and the way through is full of beauty.

The Tantrik practitioner does not rip away the everyday world to discover the transcendent real world. She relaxes her own limitations to discover a wider View, a more inclusive Reality that was always ongoing from the beginning. Ultimately, the Tantrik practitioner discovers that all of life, in every form or state of formlessness, is of “one taste”: the taste of beauty, wisdom and compassion.