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Tantra Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Tantra has produced thousands of adepts and many more thousands of scriptures in various languages. Only a few of the truly great name of Tantric heroes are known to us and still fewer biographical details. Also, our knowledge of the literature of Tantra is quite fragmentary, not to mention tantric practice and experience. What little understanding we have acquired, however, thanks to the labors of a small number of dedicated scholars, is sufficient to appreciate the enormous significance of the Tantric heritage within the world’s spiritual traditions. Tantra originated and flourished at the margins of Hindu society and gradually helped shape it. Tantra provided a home for all those who longed for direct spiritual experience but found orthodox I Hinduism (Smarta Brahmanism) far too restrictive and exclusivist. The tantric circles were open to members of all castes, and at least for the duration of the rituals brahmins and untouchables drank from the same cup, ate from the same plate, and freely mingled their bodily juices for during the cakra-puja all were transformed into sacred beings — gods and goddesses — free from all cultural stereotyping and societal constraints. A brahmin could have a shudra teacher and vice versa. No one was barred from receiving the precious teachings or excluded from the possibility of attaining enlightenment in this lifetime. Regrettably, the embracing spirit of Tantra did not succeed in eliminating ethnic prejudice in the larger society. Click for More Pictures also see http://tantrayoga.ning.com Tantra did, however, change the life of its practitioners. And perhaps to the degree that they were able to live out of the Tantric wisdom they also benignly influenced their immediate environment— family, friends, and neighbors. As Patanjali stated in his Yoga-Sutra, the person firmly grounded in the virtue of nonharming (ahimsa) reduces feelings of enmity in others. In this way he or she contributes to the greater good, which is the ideal of loka-samgraha, as first announced in the Bhagavad—Gita well over two millennia ago. This ideal came to form the foundation stone of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, where it is known as the bodhisattva path. The bodhisattva is the being (sattva) who strives for enlightenment (bodhi) in order to help others more effectively. This great ideal has often been misunderstood by Westerners, who assume that the bodhisattva defers his or her enlightenment so as to continue to serve others. But the Buddhist teachers were wiser than that. They realized that other beings can best be helped on all levels, especially in their spiritual growth, by someone who has conquered his or her personal problems and has in fact attained enlightenment. What the bodhisattva vows to do is remain, as an enlightened being, in the manifest realms until all others are liberated as well. Only then will he or she abandon all bodily vehicles and become one with the formless Reality. The bodhisattva is perfectly willing to fulfill this task lifetime after lifetime— forever if necessary. What nobler ideal could there be to inspire a person? Without such a long-term perspective, which takes the suffering of others into account, any form of spirituality risks degenerating into mere narcissism. In that case the practitioner succumbs to exactly the very aspect of the psyche that he or she set out to overcome, namely, the illusion of being an isolated self (ego). Philosophically, Tantra is thoroughly ecological. It recognizes the ultimate unity, even identity of all beings and things. Otherness is a mental artifact. Translated into social action, Tantric practitioners must not erect intellectual or emotional walls between themselves and other beings or between themselves and inanimate things. Since everything participates in the ultimate Reality, which is pure Consciousness, there is nothing that is not Consciousness. To view life in this way does not have to blur necessary distinctions but can be a stimulus for doing away with artificial barriers. The great tantric adept-scholar Gopinath Kaviraj (1887-I976) believed in the collective liberation of humanity and even maintained that a single advanced adept could accomplish this goal by his own sadhana in one lifetime. He called his teaching akhanda-mahayoga, or Great Integral Yoga. He had received it from his guru, Vishuddhananda, an adept who is associated with the mysterious Jnanaganj hermitage somewhere in Tibet—a place of great masters not unlike Shambhala. Kaviraj himself did not succeed in reaching the highest stage of this extraordinary sadhana. Thus far no one individual has been able to lift the karma of the world, or we would see indubitable signs of a global spiritual awakening. Perhaps, after all, collective liberation is an asymptotic ideal, which great masters can approach but never completely realize. With the arrival of Tantra in the Western hemisphere, this ancient tradition is experiencing new challenges. There still are great teachers, but, as ever, qualified students are few. All too often students transfer ‘Western competitiveness to their spiritual practice where it has no place. They want to he masters overnight and have their own students before they are ready for the tremendous responsibility this entails. This attitude has led to a mushrooming of Neo-Tantric schools, many of which are little more than caricatures of traditional Tantra. The same criticism applies to numerous Yoga teachers and schools, but where Tantric or Tantra-style teachings are involved, the danger of self-delusion and abuse of power is particularly great. Unless the Tantric teacher is of high moral caliber, he or she can do considerable damage to students. Many are attracted to Neo-Tantrism because it promises sexual excitement or fulfillment while clothing purely genital impulses or neurotic emotional needs in an aura of spirituality. It we knew more about the history of Tantra in India, we would no doubt find a comparable situation for every generation. In other words, the attitude that characterizes many Neo-Tantrics today also characterized a number of’ those who in bygone centuries flocked to Tantric circles for the wrong reasons. The Tantras would not contain so many warnings if genuine seekers alone had found their way to tantra. Thrill seekers have lived in every age, and the sacred teachings were not spared their prying intrusions. Today translation of several major Tantras are readily available in book form, and many formerly secret practices are now, in the language of the texts, "like common harlots." This gives would-be Tantrics the opportunity to concoct their own idiosyncratic ceremonies and philosophies, which they can then promote as Tantra. Yet the real substance of’ the Tantric teachings is as hidden as ever and is disclosed only to those who have received proper initiation from a qualified guru. This is why genuine adepts continue to be vitally important on the spiritual path. Without initiation and oral transmission the teachings will not come alive. When guru and disciple sit face to face, the special process of transmission can occur, which opens gates in the disciple’s mind that allow him or her to pass to the next level of spiritual growth. Many Western seekers have been struggling with the function of the guru, which is so alien to our culture, a culture in which we do not even respect our elders any longer. Unquestionably, there have been a number of saddening instances in recent years wherein well-known gurus from the East have failed to live up to the highest standards of their tradition. There also have been many cases in which Eastern teachers have not understood the psychology of their Western students, causing consternation and frustration, or worse. Some Western seekers have abandoned the idea of a traditional discipleship altogether, opting for a more "democratic" style of teaching and learning. For them, the traditional guru-disciple relationship is too asymmetrical, with the disciple adopting the role of the "underdog." They prefer to learn and grow from their interaction with peers. While this position is understandable, it also has a built-in limitation. If our peers were fully accomplished Tantra or Yoga adepts, we could most certainly benefit from interacting with them. This is, however, not the case. It is still largely a matter of the blind leading the blind. Our peers can prove helpful facilitators, but if our sight is fixed on the supreme goal of Tantra, which is liberation, yogic induction by a qualified guru is absolutely essential. Such induction, or transmission, will unlikely be given outside the well-tested traditional framework of discipleship, for the guru is responsible for the disciple’s further evolution. Discipleship involves a constant monitoring of the shishya’s spiritual and moral growth. Tantra in particular awakens latent abilities that must he managed wisely and in the spirit of compassion and kindness toward others. Any misuse of these abilities or powers will have severe karmic consequences, both for the disciple and for the teacher who granted initiation and transmitted the teachings and the energy supporting them. Tantra is a powerful tool, calling for maturity, self-knowledge, and good-heartedness in its handling. The fact that Tantra has never been easily accessible protects both the Tantric tradition and would-be disciples. This is as true today as it was a hundred or a thousand years ago. Those who are truly ready to receive initiation and transmission are sooner or later bound to come in contact with the right teacher and tradition. If the law of karma holds true at all, we certainly must expect it to apply to this situation. We are drawn to teachers and teachings because of our inner resonance with them. So long as we look at our disappointments on the path as learning experiences, we will continue to grow. Honesty and integrity are our best protection whether or not we have found a teacher. Despite the growing popularity of Hatha Yoga (which is a Tantric Yoga), Tantra in the strict sense will presumably not attract large numbers of people in the foreseeable future. Even the current surge interest in Vajrayana Buddhism (Tibetan Tantra), desirable as it is, must not mislead us into assuming that therefore there are thousands of qualified aspirants who in our lifetime will become masters their own right. However, Tantra, like Yoga, definitely has entered Western civilization and is here to stay. It can be expected to be a transformative force through the agency of its genuine practitioners, though who can tell what form and degree this influence will take? Nor can one predict how the Tantric heritage itself will be shaped its encounter with the West. As Western initiates achieve adeptship, we should not he surprised to see all kinds of adaptations take place, just as Indic Tantra changed form when it entered Tibet. Perhaps the transformation of Tantra will be even more far-reaching, because the cultural differences between the Tantric legacy and Western culture are vastly more significant than the differences between the cultures of’ India and Tibet. It is safe to say that Tantra has embarked on a whole new pathway, whose future is highly uncertain. If Tantra can recruit enough authentic Western practitioners, it could have an important role to play in the birthing of a civilization that is dedicated to the welfare of all people, whatever their nationality or ethnic background may be. The Tantric tradition now has the opportunity to extend its philosophical egalitarianism beyond the narrow confines of the ritual clan to society at large across all national borders. This will be its ultimate test and possible fulfillment.
Georg Feuerstein, PhD., holds degrees in Indology and the history of religion. In addition to being the director of the Yoga Research Center, he is a contributing editor of Yoga Journal, Inner Directions, and Intuition,. He has authored thirty books, including The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga and Teachings of Yoga. 'Tantra The Path of Ecstasy' is Published by Shambhala 1998. |