Tantra Yoga
Tantra explains (Tanoti) in great detail the knowledge concerning Tattva (Truth or Brahman) and Mantra (mystic syllables). It saves (Trayate). Hence it is called Tantra.
Tantra Yoga is the path of ritual and perhaps the most misunderstood path. Some may think of Tantra Yoga as sorcery, witchcraft, magic spell or some mysterious formula. Most people perceive Tantra Yoga as sexual. All of these perceptions are far from truth. Tantra is the knowledge concerning Tattva (Truth) and Mantra (mystic syllables). It utilizes rituals to respectfully experience the sacred in everything we do, not just sex though sex is a part of it. It aims to expand our awareness in all states - whether awake or asleep. Tantra Yoga practitioners must have purity, humility, devotion, courage, dedication to his Guru, cosmic love, faithfulness, contentment, dispassion, non-covetousness, and truthfulness.
Tantric yoga suggests that sexuality can be a very powerful force that can be harnessed for increased self-awareness. Thus, tantric yoga is unusual, in that it not only allows sexual feelings and contact, but uses sexual experience as a means to enlightenment. The emphasis is not on the sexual release as an end in and of itself, but rather on sex as a channel through which the evolution of self may proceed.
Tantra Yoga lays special emphasis on the development of the powers latent in the six Chakras, from Muladhara to Ajna. Kundalini Yoga actually belongs to Tantric Sadhana which gives a detailed description about this serpent-power and the Chakras (plexus). Entire Tantric Sadhana aims at awakening Kundalini, and making her to unite with Lord Shiva, in the Sahasrara Chakra. Methods adopted to achieve this end in Tantric Sadhana are Japa of the Name of the Mother, prayer, and various rituals.
Reality as Shiva-Shakti
According to Tantra, Reality is pure
consciousness (chit), which is considered to
be identical
with both being (sat) and bliss (ananda). In
Tantra, this being-consciousness-bliss or
Satchidananda
is enshrined as Shiva~Shakti, a conjoined
term conveying the inseparable nature of
Shiva (the Absolute)
and Shakti (the power of creation). In
Tantra, any conception of the Divine which
does not include Shakti,
or the power to become, is considered to be
incomplete.
Western views of
Tantra
Sir John Woodroffe
The first Western scholar to take the study
of Tantra seriously was Sir John Woodroffe
(1865–1936), who wrote about Tantra under
the pen name Arthur Avalon. He is generally
held as the "founding father of Tantric
studies."Unlike previous Western scholars,
Woodroffe was an apologist for Tantra,
defending Tantra against its many critics
and presenting Tantra as an ethical
philosophical system greatly in accord with
the Vedas and Vedanta. Woodroffe himself
practised Tantra as he saw and understood it
and, while trying to maintain his scholastic
objectivity, was considered a student of
Hindu Tantric (in particular Shiva-Shakta)
tradition.
Further development
Following Sir John Woodroffe, a number of
scholars began to actively investigate the
Tantric teachings. These included a number
of scholars of comparative religion and
Indology, such as: Agehananda Bharati,
Mircea Eliade, Julius Evola, Carl Jung,
Giuseppe Tucci and Heinrich Zimmer.
According to Hugh Urban, Zimmer, Evola and
Eliade viewed Tantra as "the culmination of
all Indian thought: the most radical form of
spirituality and the archaic heart of
aboriginal India", and regarded it as the
ideal religion of the modern era. All three
saw Tantra as "the most transgressive and
violent path to the sacred." Zimmer praised
Tantra as having a world-affirmative
attitude:
"In the Tantra, the manner of approach is
not that of Nay but of Yea ... the world
attitude is affirmative ... Man [sic] must
approach through and by means of nature, not
by rejection of nature".
Tantra in the
modern world
Following these first presentations of
Tantra, other more popular authors such as
Joseph Campbell helped to bring Tantra into
the imagination of the peoples of the West.
Tantra came to be viewed by some as a "cult
of ecstasy", combining sexuality and
spirituality in such a way as to act as a
corrective force to Western repressive
attitudes about sex.
As Tantra has become more popular in the
West it has undergone a major
transformation, which has made Modern Tantra,
or the New Age interpretations of Tantra,
more properly called Neotantra, different
from the original Tantric traditions of
India. For many modern readers, "Tantra" has
become a synonym for "spiritual sex" or
"sacred sexuality", a belief that sex in
itself ought to be recognized as a sacred
act which is capable of elevating its
participants to a more sublime spiritual
plane. Though Neotantra may adopt many of
the concepts and terminology of Indian
Tantra, it often omits one or more of the
following; the traditional reliance on
guruparampara (the guidance of a guru),
extensive meditative practice, and
traditional rules of conduct - both moral
and ritualistic.
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Modern schools of Yoga
Dahn Yoga
Kriya Yoga
Power Yoga
Sivananda Yoga |
Hinduism paths
Ashtanga Yoga Integral Yoga Supramental Yoga
Karma Yoga
Japa Yoga
Tibetan schools of Yoga |
Also read from Kundalini Yoga-SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA
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