What Is Tantra?

Swami Chetanananda

In the lotus of my heart do I contemplate the The Meaning of ‘Tantra’

T
divine intelligence, the Brahman without dis- antra is an important, practical,
painting: shakti / artist unknown

tinction and difference, who is the object of reali- and popular religious path of Hindu-
sation to even the creator, protector, and destroyer ism. The word ‘tantra’ is derived from the
of the universe. Whom the yogis attain through
Sanskrit root tan, tanyate, meaning ‘to spread’.
meditation; who destroys the fear of birth and
death; and who is existence, intelligence, and the Tantra means the scripture by which the light
seed of all the worlds; I bow down to that su- of knowledge is spread: ‘Tanyate vistaryate
preme Reality. Om. Peace. Peace. Peace.1 jnanam anena iti tantram.’ The suffix tra de-
notes ‘trayate’, which means ‘to save’. Tantra
Swami Chetanananda is the minister-in-charge of teaches that knowledge, which saves souls from
the Vedanta Society of St Louis. the trap of maya.

PB January 2016 23
 34 Prabuddha Bharata

In one standard Tantric text, the Kāmikāgama, who have not sufficient purity of mind and re-
Tantra is defined as a class of texts “which nunciation, they follow the path of tantra and
promulgates profound matters concern- ultimately reach the goal.
ing tattva and mantra (tanoti vipulān arthān I do not mean to imply that other scriptures
tattvamantra-samanvitān). The two words
are not necessary in this Kali Yuga. However,
tattva and mantra have a technical sense: tat-
tva means the science of the cosmic principles, because people have no longer the capacity, lon-
while mantra means the science of the mystic gevity, means, and moral strength required to
sound. Tantra therefore concerns the applica- carry out the Vedic rituals, the tantric scriptures
tion of those sciences with a view to the attain- prescribe a spiritual discipline of the soul for the
ment of spiritual ascendancy.2 attainment of the common aims of all the scrip-
tures—that is, abhyudaya and nihshreyasa, pros-
Tantric Scriptures perity in this world and liberation.
The goal of all spiritual paths is to destroy our Sri Ramakrishna says: ‘In the Kaliyuga the
ignorance and make us happy. The purpose of life of a man depends entirely on food.’3 Human
tantric scriptures is the same. Like the Vedas, beings now have very little stamina, patience,
Smritis, and Puranas, tantra plays an import- and time to do sadhana. In ages past, people
ant role in the Hindu religious tradition. The could fast for days, months, and even years. Now
Vedas have two parts, one concerning ritual and if one does not have breakfast, by noon, one gets
the other philosophy. We generally teach the dizzy. In addition, our span of life is short in this
philosophical part of the Vedas, which is called Kali Yuga. For these reasons, we need an expedi-
Vedanta. Tantra, however, originated from the ent way to attain liberation.
ritualistic part of the Vedas.
According to the Kularnava Tantra, a par- Tantra in the Kali Yuga
ticular scripture has been predominantly taught Sri Ramakrishna says: ‘Truthfulness in speech is
and practised in a particular yuga or age. In the the tapasya of the Kaliyuga’ (749). Truthfulness
Satya Yuga, Golden Age, the ritualistic portion is austerity in this age. If one practises the truth,
and philosophical aspects of the Vedas were that is enough.
taught. In the Treta Yuga, the main scripture Charity is the path of the Kali Yuga. Give in
was Smriti, which consists of ethical and moral charity, and charity will purify your mind.
virtues. The ancient sages taught the moral con- In this Kali Yuga, chanting the name of the
duct by setting some rules. In the Dvapara Yuga, Lord is very helpful, says the Chaitanya Char-
the Puranas were emphasised. It taught dharma itamrita: ‘In this age of Kali there is no other
and duties of human beings. And in the Kali means, no other means, no other means for self-
Yuga, the agama or tantra scriptures were taught. realisation than chanting the holy name, chant-
Those who cannot understand the Vedas or the ing the holy name, chanting the holy name of
Smritis will understand the Puranas, which con- Lord Hari.’4 In this Kali Yuga, chanting the
tain marvellous, colourful stories of the kings Lord’s names is the spiritual discipline.
and of righteous people, so that people can emu- Spiritual practices have changed over the ages.
late their lives. Those who have renunciation and In ancient times we find the rishis immersed in
purity, they can reach the ultimate reality by the meditation. In the Treta Yuga, we find people
path of discrimination of Vedanta. And those practising sacrifices and expecting boons from

24 PB January 2016
 What Is Tantra? 35

gods and goddesses. In the Dvapara Yuga, we and ninety-two. Tantric sadhanas and spiritual
find people practising severe austerities to attain instructions are recorded in these small treatises.
fulfilment. In this Kali Yuga, however, only pure Sri Ramakrishna practised sixty-four sadha-
love and devotion are needed. Chanting god’s nas of Vishnukranta.5 This is an amazing accom-
name is the main spiritual discipline. plishment. An ordinary person would spend
one’s whole life—even life after life—to attain
Origin of Tantric Teachings perfection in even one sadhana. Sri Ramakrishna
The tantric scriptures are in question-and-answer practised all sixty-four sadhanas in two years.
form so that ordinary people can easily under- Tantra does not only mean Mother worship,
stand them. There are two branches in tantric although most people understand that way.
teachings: agama and nigama. Agama means the There are five schools, each devoted to a dif-
great teachings that come from the lips of the ferent deity: Shaiva tantra is devoted to Shiva,
teacher. In agama, we find Shiva as the teacher Shakta tantra to the Divine Mother, Vaishnava
and Parvati, his wife, as the student. She asks tantra to Vishnu, Saurya tantra to the Sun-god,
questions and Shiva answers them. However, and Ganapatya tantra to Ganesha. When we
nigama is just the reverse: Parvati, the Divine speak of tantra, we think primarily of the sacred
Mother, is the teacher, and Shiva is the student. books of the Shaktas, worshippers of Shakti, the
According to tradition, the tantra scriptures ori- Divine Mother.
ginated from the fifth face of Lord Shiva. I once The philosophy of tantra and Vedanta are
saw the image of Shiva in Nepal, Pashupatinath. more or less the same. In Vedanta, we address
That deity has five faces, one facing each of the Pashupatinath in Nepal
four directions and one on the crown of the
head. The five faces of Shiva are named Sadyo­
jata, Vamadeva, Aghora, Tatpurusha, and Ish­
ana. Tradition says that Shiva taught the Vedas
through the lower four faces, and from the fifth
face, he taught tantra.

Three Schools of Tantra

There are three schools of tantra: Vishnukranta,
Ashvakranta, and Rathakranta. Vishnukranta is
image: http://photos.1.blogger.com

prevalent from the central part of India to the

north-eastern part. It is practised from central
India, Vindhyachal, to the northeast, Assam
and Manipur, including Bengal. Ashvakranta
is practised in regions that stretch from Vind-
hyachal to the great ocean, apparently includ-
ing the rest of India. Rathakranta is practised
from Vindhyachal up to Nepal. Each branch of
tantra, each kranta, has sixty-four sadhanas or
spiritual disciplines—for a total of one hundred

PB January 2016
36 Prabuddha Bharata

Brahman and maya. In tantra, we address Shiva Shakti. At the heart of tantra, the static, tran-
and Shakti. In the Shakta tantra, God is wor- scendent aspect of Mother is Shiva. Shiva is
shipped as Mother. all auspicious. Philosophically speaking, Shiva
I quote a sentence from Sir John Woodroffe: is unchanging Consciousness and Shakti is its
‘The Śākta is so called because he is a worshipper dynamic power appearing as mind and matter.
of Śakti (Power), that is, God in Mother-form as Shiva and Shakti are, therefore, Consciousness
the Supreme Power which creates, sustains and and its Power. In the static transcendent aspect,

image: Shiva Linga / http://listverse.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com

withdraws the universe.’6 Shiva, the one Brahman, does not change. In
Those who follow the Judeo-Christian and the kinetic immanent aspect, Shakti, it does.
the Islamic traditions do not accept God as There is the changelessness in change. The indi-
Mother. In those traditions, God is a male prin- vidual soul is one with the transcendent spirit,
ciple. In Hinduism, however, God can be both the Paramatman.
father and mother—or even neuter, as Brahman. Vedanta is similar in this respect: the indi-
You can’t assign a particular gender to God. vidual soul, your soul, my soul; this Atman and
Those who follow tantra have a good reason Brahman are the same. Individual Consciousness
to say that God is Mother, but this is for wor- and cosmic Consciousness are same. The room-
ship. God is no more female than male or neu- space and the cosmic space, both are the same.
ter: God is beyond sex. God is thought of as In tantra, however, there is a beauty. There is a
Mother in the mind and is so felt by the heart little difference between tantra and Vedanta. Let
of the spiritual practitioner, the sadhaka, who me explain what tantrics say.
worships her lotus feet, the dust of which can In the Vedantic tradition, we say that Brah-
create millions of universes. This divine power— man alone is the reality. This world is illusion,
the immanent, active aspect of God—is called unreal. It is not permanent. It has an apparent
 reality, not absolute reality. We say again and
again: ‘Don’t take this world seriously’. It is
changing. Every day and every minute, this
world is changing. Your body is changing; your
mind is changing. But behind this changing
reality there is an unchanging reality that is the
Atman, which never changes.
Now, in tantra, sadhakas look upon this
world as the manifestation of Shakti, the Di-
vine Mother. It is real—not absolutely real, of
course. But consider this comparison: Ved-
anta says, ‘Get away from maya, get out!’ Tan-
tra says: ‘No, no, worship maya. Don’t get out;
don’t throw it away; don’t discard it.’ This is the
beauty of tantra. It doesn’t deny the world; it
says, ‘The world is beautiful; it is true; it is the
playground of the Divine Mother, and we are
all her playmates.’ According to tantra, we have
to realise Brahman through this world, not by
negating this world. People are often confused
by and fearful of the world, but God did not cre-
ate the world to frighten people. There must be He approached the dog and asked it, ‘Mother, do
a purpose of this creation. What is the purpose? you want to speak something?’ He was seeing the
Play. However, what is play to God is death for Divine Mother in the dog (267). Once when Sri
us, and we suffer. In Aesop’s Fables we read the Ramakrishna was in Calcutta, he saw courtesans
story of some children who are throwing peb- standing on the street. He remarked: ‘Mother are
bles at frogs. One of the frogs asks the children, you dressed up and waiting here in this form?’
‘What are you doing?’ The children say: ‘We are He saw the Divine Mother in everything. That
playing.’ The frog responds: ‘What is play to you is the beauty of the tantric tradition.
is death for us; we are dying.’7 Can you imagine what would happen if you
painting: Sri ramakrishna / Paritosh Sen

Sri Ramakrishna’s spiritual experiences bore saw God in everything, in every being? (632)
witness to the tantric attitude that God is in all. You would experience, ‘the Kingdom of heaven
When he went to the shrine to offer food to the is within you; the Kingdom of heaven is at
Divine Mother, he saw a mewing cat. He said hand.’9 You would be floating in bliss.
to the cat: ‘Mother, do you want to eat food? We see Devil, Satan, in everybody but we do
Come, come, eat.’ Instead of offering the food not see God in everything—our outlook must be
to the deity on the altar, he fed it to the cat. The changed. How? By practising sadhana, spiritual
temple officials were enraged by this heresy. disciplines. When your insides are transformed,
However, Sri Ramakrishna saw the Mother in your outside is transformed. That is called spir-
the cat.8 Another time, he was coming back to itual life—transformation comes from within. It
his room from the Panchavati when he saw a dog. does not come from outside.

PB January 2016 27
 38 Prabuddha Bharata

In this Kali Yuga, Sri Ramakrishna demon- can use them when necessary. What do you
strated how to realise God. His first vision came say?’ Narendra had seen various divine powers
through his yearning, his longing for God. Then in the Master since their first meeting, so he
came his guru Bhairavi Brahmani, a woman had no reason to doubt him. But his deeply
rooted love of God did not allow him to ac-
adept in tantra. Under her guidance Sri Rama-
cept those powers without careful consider-
krishna practised sixty-four sadhanas of tantra ation. After serious thought, Narendra asked,
and achieved perfection. Afterwards he practised ‘Sir, will they help me to realize God?’ The
Vedanta and attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Master replied: ‘No, they won’t help you to do
that. But they might be very useful once you
Tantric Sadhana and Occult Powers have realized God and have started doing His
When one practises tantric sadhana, one can de- work.’ To this, Narendra said: ‘Sir, I don’t need
velop occult powers. them. Let me realize God first; after that, there
will be time enough to decide whether I need
Once Sri Ramakrishna called Narendra into them. If I get these marvellous powers now, I
the Panchavati and said: ‘Look, as a result of might forget the whole purpose of my life and
practising austerities, I have long since pos- use them to gratify worldly desires. Then they
sessed all the supernatural powers. But what would only become my ruin.’ We cannot say
would a person like me do with such powers? I whether the Master was actually ready to trans-
can’t even keep a wearing-cloth tied around my mit those powers to Narendra or was simply
own waist! So I’m thinking of asking Mother testing him. But we do know that the Master
to transfer them all to you. She has told me was extremely pleased when Narendra refused
that you will have to do much work for Her. his offer (827–8).
So if these powers are transmitted to you, you
Sri Ramakrishna with Narendra Sri Ramakrishna was overjoyed that the fu-
ture Swami Vivekananda was not tempted by
these powers. He could have done anything by
means of occult power, but he refused. He is a
great soul.
Bhairavi Brahmani had two disciples in add-
ition to Sri Ramakrishna—Chandra and Girija.
Each of them had occult powers. Chandra had
gutika siddhi, meaning that he could take a
minute form and fly. Once he flew through the
window of a rich man and fell in love with his
daughter, and then he was caught and beaten
up. Girija could generate a supernatural light.
painting: Priyanath Sinha

One dark night Sri Ramakrishna and Girija were

coming from Shambhunath’s garden house to
Dakshineswar. They could not see the path, so
Girija said, ‘Do you want to see the path? I can
show you.’ He touched his forehead and from
there emanated a light that revealed the path up
to the temple gate (524–6).

28 PB January 2016
Tantra Sadhana
In tantra, we find the harmony of
dualism and non-dualism. Accord-
ing to tradition, Shiva says that some
practise dvaita or dualism, and some
practise Advaita, non-dualism—
but whoever wishes to understand
the real tantra must transcend both
dvaita and Advaita. Our goal is to at-
tain illumination, for that purpose we
practise sadhana. The Mahanirvana
Tantra says that when we attain that
illumination, all actions cease to func-
tion and all spiritual disciplines are no
more needed.
The Mahanirvana Tantra further
says: ‘The highest worship is to think
of oneself as Brahman; the second
method of worship is meditation on
God; the third method is japa, prayer,
and glorification of God; and the last
method is external, ritualistic worship.’
Human beings vary in tempera-
ments. Tantra classifies humankind pri-
marily within three dispositions: divya bhava, mada, egotism; and matsarya, jealousy. These
divine; vira bhava, heroic; and pashu bhava, ani- are the six enemies hidden in human minds
mal. These dispositions correspond to the divine that we want to overcome by practising spirit-
plane, the mental or intellectual plane, and the ual disciplines.
physical plane, respectively. The animal person The man of divya disposition is, as a result of
can hardly be expected to see beyond the mater- his practice in previous births, endowed with
ial aspects of things. In the heroic person, there qualities which make him almost divine. The
is an urge to reach the plane beyond matter—the Kāmākhyā Tantra says that the man of divya
true heroic person is one who is fighting the six disposition is the beloved of all and is sparing
enemies, the passions that obstruct the path of in his words, quiet, steady, sagacious, and atten-
one’s spiritual advancement. The goal of tantra tive to all. His all is contented and is devoted
to the feet of his guru (teacher). He fears no
sadhana is to be established in divine disposition.
one, is consistent in what he says, and is experi-
Do you know what we really do in spiritual enced in all matters. He never swerves from
life? We fight. An unseen warfare is constantly the path of truth and avoids all that is evil. He
going on inside us. We fight against the six is good in every way and is Śiva’s very self. The
enemies who are hidden in our minds: kama, vīra is a man of fearless disposition, inspires fear
lust; krodha, anger; lobha, greed; moha, delusion; in the man of paśu disposition, and is pure in

PB January 2016 29
 40 Prabuddha Bharata

his motive. He is gentle in his speech and is al- up to this stage, you have established yourself in
ways mindful of the five tattvas (principles). the spiritual path: now you have to renounce all
He is physically strong, courageous, intelligent, worldly things and move towards the Atman, the
and enterprising. He is humble in his ways and Self or Brahman, or Shiva or the Mother—who-
is ever ready to cherish the good. The paśu is
ever is your chosen deity.
a man whose inclinations are like those of an
animal. He is a slave to his six enemies—lust, If a woman is at all associated in this practice,
anger, greed, pride, illusion, and envy. … Closely she is there to help in the path of renunciation
connected with the three bhāvas are the seven and not for animal gratification. A woman
ācāras or rules of conduct.10 as such is an object of great veneration to all
schools of Tāntrika sādhakas (seekers). She is
considered to be the embodiment of this earth,
Achara, means ‘conduct’. Your conduct, your
of the supreme Śakti who pervades the universe.
behaviour, your style of life are extremely im- She should therefore be revered as such and
portant. If religion cannot bring about trans- even if guilty of hundred wrongs, she is not to
formation, what good is there in it? If you be hurt even with a flower. It is a sin to speak
achieve illumination, you will not grow two disparagingly of any women (60).
heads, eight legs, and four hands—your body
will remain the same as it is now. Transformation The sixth stage is siddhanta, ‘in which the
will come within. There are seven rules of con- aspirant comes to the definitive conclusion
duct described in the Kularnava Tantra: veda, after deliberate consideration as to the relative
vaishnava, shaiva, dakshina, vama, siddhanta, merits of the path of enjoyment and that of re-
and kaula. The aspirant rises step by step through nunciation’ (ibid.). And the last stage is kaula,
these different acharas till she or he reaches the when Brahman becomes a reality to the spirit-
seventh and the highest state, when Brahman ual aspirant.
becomes an experiential reality.
In the first stage, cleanliness of the body and The Five Elements of Tantra Sadhana
mind is cultivated. You must be clean physically Unfortunately, a large number of tantric enthu-
and mentally. A person who is always suspicious, siasts, in both the West and the East, mistakenly
and is full of doubts and desires, has a soul that identify tantra as the yoga of sex, black magic,
is very unclean. witchcraft, seduction, and so on. Some misguided
The second stage is that of devotion, bhakti. people use some tantric sadhanas to satisfy their
You must have love and devotion for your teach- carnal desires. One can find all sorts of wrong in-
ers, for your disciples, and for God. The third is formation about tantra from the Internet.
knowledge. Dakshina is the fourth stage in which Tantra describes five elements, called the
the gains of the previous stages are consolidated. pancha-makara, to be used in sadhana: madya,
This is followed by vama, the phase of renun- wine; mamsa, meat; matsya, fish; mudra, silver
ciation. The word vama can mean ‘women’, so coin; and maithuna, sexual union. These five
some people mistakenly believe that vamachara categories have different meanings for different
sadhana involves practising tantra with women classes of worshippers—but in all cases it is im-
and wine. I shall later explain pancha­makara, the portant to understand that what one is required
five elements of tantric practice. However, the to offer is the principle or essence, not the article
word also means ‘left’. Here, vama implies that itself. It is impossible to think that Shiva would

30 PB January 2016
 What Is Tantra? 41

have advised people to have all five experiences space represents the female. When air enters into
and assured them illumination. Many people space—meaning that when we breathe, air enters
enjoy these things. Are they illumined? People into the space of our hearts and a yogi attains
don’t need to practise tantric rituals to have sex kumbhaka—the mind stops and one attains il-
and enjoy wine. Some people with animal nature lumination. This is maithuna or union.
want to spiritualise their self-indulgence, and
Westerners sometimes portray tantric rituals in Guru and Disciple in Tantra
this way. Sir John Woodroffe, who was a British In the tantric tradition, one must have a sad-
judge of the Calcutta High Court, tried to re- guru or siddha-guru, that is an enlightened guru.
move this misunderstanding by writing several Initiation is extremely important. Before one
books on tantra. takes initiation, however, one must determine
The pancha-makara should be understood Goddess Kali
from a spiritual perspective. First,
madya: do you know what ‘wine’
means? When you meditate, from the
brahmarandhra chakra, a sweet nec-
tar flows—that is called ‘wine’. A spir-
itual seeker thinks of that nectar and
is intoxicated. Mamsa means taste—
that means great taste on your tongue.
A true tantric aspirant should have
full control over her or his tongue;
a real tantric is passive and practises
silence. By matsya, ‘fish’, the tantras
image: Goddess Kali / Coloured etching on paper / 1770 Print copy

refer to the jiva, the individual self.

The ida and pingala—the two nerve
channels on either side of the spinal
cord—are like the rivers Ganga and
Yamuna, and the jiva, like a fish, plays
in these channels as the tantric prac-
titioner breathes in and out. The con-
trol of this breath and focusing on
that power and putting that power
through the shushumna channel, is
called matsya. Mudra, ‘silver coin’,
refers to meditation on the guru in the
sahasrara—the place of Shiva in the
seventh chakra—which is compared
to melted silver. As for maithuna,
‘sexual union’, it can be understood in
this way: Air represents the male and

PB January 2016 31
 42 Prabuddha Bharata

whether the guru is the right one and the guru be as charming as a child. It is very difficult to get
must determine whether the disciple is the right a guru like that.
one. If the disciple is not attracted to the guru, There is a funny story in in the Vedantic trad-
she or he will not make progress. On the guru’s ition. A guru told his disciple: ‘Go, chop wood,
part, she or he must show love and affection to- bring water, cook, serve me—that is the duty of
wards the disciple. It is a spiritual relationship. the disciple.’
In tantric scriptures we find a long list of the Then, the disciple said: ‘Sir, what is the duty
qualifications of a guru and the characteristics of a guru?’
of a good disciple. A good teacher is defined to The guru replied: ‘Well, the guru will relax
be a person of pure birth and pure disposition and give advice to the disciple.’
image: http://lh5.ggpht.com

who has the senses under control. One who is a Upon hearing this, the disciple asked: ‘Sir,
guru should know the true meaning of the tan- why don’t you make me a guru first? I’d like to be
tras; always do good to others; and engage in a guru!’ Nowadays nobody wants to be a disciple.
the repetition of God’s name, worship, medita- The characteristics of a good disciple are as
tion, and the offering of oblations in fire. One follows: He should be of good parentage and
should have a peaceful mind and must possess guileless disposition, and be a seeker of the four-
the power of granting boons. One should know fold aim of human existence. He should be well
the Vedic teachings; be competent in yoga; and read in the Vedas and be intelligent. He should

32 PB January 2016
 What Is Tantra? 43

have his animal desires under complete control, If you have a cataract what do you do? You go
always be kind towards all animals, and have to the eye surgeon, who will check whether the
faith in the next world. He should not associ- cataract is ready to operate on and then will do
ate with non-believers (nāstikas), but should laser surgery and you get clear eyesight. Similarly,
be assiduous in his duties in general, alert in
the guru uses the sharp sword of knowledge to
the discharge of his duties towards his par-
ents in particular, and free from the pride of cut through the thick layer of ignorance so that
birth, wealth, and learning in the presence of the disciple can see God everywhere.
his teacher. He should always be willing to sac- Ordinary souls have three kinds of impur-
rifice his own interests in the discharge of his ities. The first is anava-mala, ignorance: each
duties to the teacher, and be ever ready to serve soul is pure, perfect, free, and divine, but one
him in all humility (61). feels that one is bound, limited. The second is
karma-mala, desire—both good and bad. Be-
Water gathers in low land, not on the top of cause of desire, a person has to go through births
the mountain. If you have a big ego, if you do not and deaths, experiencing happiness and misery.
know how to be humble, you will never learn The third kind of impurity is bahya-mala, mean-
anything. Be humble. Initiation is that which ing the external world and the sense objects that
gives knowledge of things divine and destroys all bring impurities and cover the soul.
that leads to fall. The guru gives initiation. In the Diksha, initiation, helps to clean all im-
Vishvasara Tantra, we find a hymn on the guru: purities. According to tantra: ‘Diyate jnanam
The guru is Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the kshiyate pashuvasana iti diksha; Diksha or ini-
preserver) and Maheshvara Shiva (the des- tiation imparts knowledge and destroys ani-
troyer). The guru is truly Brahman Itself. I bow mal propensities.’ It also is of various kinds. In
to the divine guru. shambhavi diksha a true guru like Sri Rama-
I bow to the divine guru, who by the appli- krishna, Jesus Christ, or Buddha can change a
cation of the collyrium of knowledge, opens the person’s life with one glance, one touch, or one
eyes of one blinded by the disease of ignorance. word. These great teachers could give religion.
I bow to the divine guru who reveals to one In shakti diksha a guru transmits power to her
the divine Being that encircles and permeates or his disciples. For example, Sri Ramakrishna
the moving and the non-moving.11 transmitted power to Swami Vivekananda be-
This is the way the guru has been eulogised fore his death. He told him: ‘O Naren, today I
in tantra. So the real guru is God and his power have given you my all and have become a Fakir,
manifests in illumined human gurus and they a penniless beggar. By the force of the power
transmit that power or shakti to the disciples. transmitted by me, great things will be done by
That power is divine power; the human guru you; only after that will you go where you came
is only a channel or conduit. Electricity comes from.’12 Swamiji later used to say that he con-
through a channel of wires to power a light. quered the whole world with his guru’s power.
The human guru is just like that. When you are In mantra-diksha, the guru gives the disciple a
thirsty do you run to the Mississippi river? No, mantra and instructions for practising it to get
you go to the kitchen, turn on the faucet and fill the result. Although tantra has these various
a glass, then drink. The guru is just like the faucet kinds of initiation, the object of initiation is to
in this example and the Mississippi River is God. lead the disciple to God realisation.

PB January 2016 33
 44 Prabuddha Bharata

light. The aim of worship is to free the individual

self from all that separates her or him from the
cosmic Self so that the individual self merges
into the divine. The tantric dictum is: ‘Devo
bhutva devam yajet; by becoming God,
worship God.’ But what does it mean
to become God? Imbibe these divine
qualities so that you will be like God.
How does one perform mantra
sadhana so that the power of the di-
vine name is manifest and the di-
vine name can be conscious? The
mantra takes the form of the deity.
The moment I say ‘Jesus’, then Jesus’s
form comes to my mind. If I say ‘Sri
Ramakrishna’, Sri Ramakrishna’s form
comes to mind. The sound, the name, and
the deity are identical. So if you call on Sri
Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna will appear to
you. If you call on Jesus, Jesus will appear before
Kundalini, The Serpent Power
you. However, you must practise that mantra
The chosen ideal is very much necessary for according to your teacher’s instructions.
practising sadhana. We must learn the alphabet
and grammar before we study literature. If I tell Kundalini Shakti in Tantra
you ‘You are That’ or ‘You are Brahman’, you will Kundalini is a special subject of tantras. Sri
not understand immediately. One needs tremen- Ramakrishna related his experience about the
dous purity of mind to understand this truth. awakening of the six centres of kundalini:
One must have zero body idea to experience ‘I
Just before my attaining this state of mind, it
am Brahman’. That is why tantra says that the had been revealed to me how the Kundalini is
deity of the ritualist is in the fire in which one aroused, how the lotuses of the different centres
offers oblation while that of the contemplative blossom forth, and how all this culminates in image: serpent power / artist unknown

is in the heart. The person who is not awakened samadhi. This is a very secret experience. I saw
sees Atman in the image, but the person who a boy twenty-two or twenty-three years old,
knows the Atman sees it everywhere. Beginners exactly resembling me, enter the Sushumna
need something to focus on, a divine form on nerve and commune with the lotuses, touching
them with his tongue. He began with the centre
which to concentrate. As one progresses, the di-
at the anus and passed through the centres at
vine form vanishes and merges into the infinite. the sexual organ, navel, and so on. The differ-
Hindus are not idolaters—those divine forms ent lotuses of those centres—four-petalled, six-
help in practising contemplation. Mantras have petalled, ten-petalled, and so forth—had been
power; all mantras are as old as creation. drooping. At his touch they stood erect. When
The individual self is a spark of the infinite he reached the heart—I distinctly remember

34 PB January 2016
 it—and communed with the lotus there, touch- Nikhilananda (Chennai: Ramakrishna Math,
ing it with his tongue, the twelve-petalled lotus, 2002), 648.
which was hanging head down, stood erect and 4. Chaitanya Charitamrita, Adi-Lila, 17.21.
opened its petals. Then he came to the sixteen- 5. A list of the various disciplines of tantra
petalled lotus in the throat and the two-pet- sadhana under the Vishnukranta branch has
alled lotus in the forehead. And last of all, the been mentioned in Principles of Tantra: The Tan-
thousand-petalled lotus in the head blossomed. tratattva of Ṣhrīyukta Ṣhiva Candra Vidyārṇava
image: http://www.bhagavadpada-thapas.files.wordpress.com

Since then I have been in this state.13 Bhattāchāryya Mahodaya, ed. Arthur Avalon
(Madras: Ganesh, 1952), 88.
6. Sir John Woodroffe, Śakti and Śākta (Leeds:
We know that practice leads to perfection. Tan- Celephaïs, 2009), 8.
tra shows how to practise and attain perfection. It 7. See ‘The Boys and the Frogs’ in Aesop’s Fables.
also demonstrates how every action can be trans- 8. See Swami Saradananda, Sri Ramakrishna and
formed into worship. In his hymn to the Divine His Divine Play, trans. Swami Chetanananda (St
Mother, Acharya Shankara says: ‘O Lady Supreme, Louis: Vedanta Society of St Louis, 2003), 217.
9. See Matthew 3:2 and Luke 17:20–1.
may all the functions of my mind be Thy remem- 10. Atal Behari Ghosh, ‘The Spirit and Culture of
brance; may all my words be Thy praise; may all the Tantras’ in Studies on the Tantras (Calcutta:
my acts be an obeisance unto Thee.’14  P Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture,
1989), 59.
Notes and References 11. Guru-stotram, Vishvasara Tantra.
1. Mahanirvana Tantra. 12. His Eastern and Western Disciples, The Life of
2. P C Bagchi, ‘Evolution of the Tantras’ in Studies Swami Vivekananda, 2 vols (Kolkata: Advaita
on the Tantras (Calcutta: Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, 2008), 1.182.
Institute of Culture, 1989), 7. 13. Gospel, 830.
3. M., The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans. Swami 14. Studies on the Tantras, 65.

PB January 2016 35