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Meditation (Dhyana) : Kularnava Tantra

The document discusses the practice of meditation (dhyana) in Tantric traditions. It defines dhyana as controlling the senses through the mind and contemplating the chosen deity. Tantric meditation requires intense visualization skills and holding complex images in concentration for long periods. The goal is to realize the essential unity of the meditator, means of meditation, and object of meditation. Meditation can be on gross external forms, subtle inner energies or chakras, or the supreme formless absolute. Iconography of deities is based on their descriptions in tantric texts and are intended to remind practitioners of the nature of the deity in meditation.

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235 views3 pages

Meditation (Dhyana) : Kularnava Tantra

The document discusses the practice of meditation (dhyana) in Tantric traditions. It defines dhyana as controlling the senses through the mind and contemplating the chosen deity. Tantric meditation requires intense visualization skills and holding complex images in concentration for long periods. The goal is to realize the essential unity of the meditator, means of meditation, and object of meditation. Meditation can be on gross external forms, subtle inner energies or chakras, or the supreme formless absolute. Iconography of deities is based on their descriptions in tantric texts and are intended to remind practitioners of the nature of the deity in meditation.

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viky24
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Meditation (Dhyana)

Shri Devi said: One may meditate on a visible image, O Mahadeva. What is the nature of meditation on the invisible? Shri Shankara said: O Devi, sound, uttered by me, is the absolute. By pronoun ing a mantra !ith a devoted mind, there is invisible meditation " so forth. Maheshvari, this is true, true, self evident, undoubtedly # Matrikabhedatantra XII, 5-7 The $ularnava %antra defines dhyana in the following way: "Controlling the affliction of senses by the mind, contemplation by the inner being of the chosen deity is called dhyana". (KT XVII, !, "ai#s translation$. In the tantri% traditions, there are n&mero&s dhyanas which re'&ire intense (is&alisation s%ills, themsel(es part of the "wor% on oneself" or sadhana re'&ired by an initiate. )imply p&t, in the Bhagavad &ita, that what the mind thin%s on, it becomes. *nderlying these practices is the basic tantri% idea that the worshipper + the worshipped are one. Kali%a, )hi(a or any of the other million de(atas do not li(e in some separate place as disembodied beings who can bestow boons or c&rses. Instead, the macrocosm is, as the %odala %antra + many other te,ts state, one with the microcosm. ()ee also the abstract of the Siddhasiddhantapaddhi on this site$. -ot only is the ability to (is&alise in a concentrated manner one of the elements of sadhana, it is both a preliminary + an essential basis for many other tantri% practices, incl&ding the daily p&.a or worship, optional practices, nyasa, many yogic practices s&ch as intense (is&alisations on the inner body / la $aula'nananirnaya, the recitation of mantra, meditation of yantras, the performance of m&dras + e(en se,&al sadhana for some of the heterodo, tantri% schools.

-ot only m&st an adept be able to (is&alise sometimes (ery comple, images, b&t also be able to hold s&ch images, concentratedly, often for a long period of time. 0,ternal images, the different elements of p&.a, + repeated practice lead e(ent&ally, so the masters of these traditions tell &s, to perfection in which the meditator, the means of meditation + the meditated on are realised in their essential &nity. 1e(otion + grace may also assist towards this end. 2s with many other elements in the tantri% traditions, these (is&alisations3meditations can ha(e either a gross, a s&btle or s&preme form. "...attachment of mind to anything (raga$ is "edness. The Cons&mmation of worship (*pasti$ is meditation one#s )elf. )iddhi is attained when tho&ght does not wander from the contemplation of the identity of one#s )elf with the 4b.ect of 5orship." (2rth&r 2(alon#s introd&ction to the )ans%rit te,t of the %antrara'atantra.$ This same tantra also gi(es eg of gross, s&btle + s&preme meditations on Trip&ras&ndari. 2(alon says in his introd&ction that the relation of 6alita with the other fifteen -ityas is the gross form, s&btle meditation is when one meditates on the goddess in the si, bodily centres or cha%ras, while the s&preme form is meditation on the s&preme )ha%ti as "one, impartite + impartible whole + (is&alising the 2tma as a steady, motionless flame in a windless place". 7rom another point of (iew, the absol&te, whether seen as )hi(a, )ha%ti, or the &nion of the two, ta%es the form of an image or pratima in its gross form, of a yantra in its s&btle form, + of a mantra in its s&preme form. 2ll three represent de(ata b&t are progressi(ely more s&btle. 2n ad(anced adept will de(elop the ability to (is&alise not .&st images of "gods" + "goddesses" b&t comple, yantras s&ch as the )hri 8antra. It is clear from the foregoing, + from the many comple, eg of meditation gi(en on this 5eb site, that achie(ing a degree of s&ccess in these practices is not, necessarily, an easy thing. This brings &s to the iconography of the tantri% de(is + de(atas. The images sold in e(ery Indian ba9aar of 6a%shmi, )hi(a, :anesh + others, where tr&e to their original descriptions, are based on meditation images fo&nd in the tantras, the p&ranas + in other te,ts. The n&mber of arms + heads, the weapons held in s&ch hands, + other elements of the dhyanas, are intended to remind a practitioner of the essential nat&re of the de(ata meditated on. They often ha(e a symbolic meaning, as well as pro(iding rich imagery as ob.ects of meditation.

2rtwor% is ; <an =ailey, >??@. Translations are ; Ai%e Aagee >??@. B&estions or comments to mi%e.mageeCbtinternet.com Dome Eage

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