Category: Yoga

ADHIKARA – A disciple’s competency or moral fitness to practice the secret ritual. AGAMAS – Sacred Tantrik scripture dealing with rites, dharma, and cosmology. AJAPA MANTRA – The involuntary prayer, “Hang-sah, Hangsah,” made by incoming and outgoing breath. It corresponds to the cosmic creative process by which the entire universe is breathed forth at intervals…

The safe and successful practice of Tantrism requires a carefully laid yogic foundation. Without such preparation, gurus warn that certain dangers may lurk along the way for the unwary. At best, they say, the sadhana will not bear fruit. This is especially true as regards the central discipline of Shaktism, the Panchatattva or Secret Ritual.…

“As a goldsmith, taking a piece of gold, turns it into another, newer and more beautiful shape, even so does the self, after having thrown away this body and dispelled its ignorance, make unto himself another …” –   Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad The doctrine of rebirth, commonly called reincarnation, is no longer the prodigy it once was…

“The night-time of the body is the daytime of the Soul.” – Tantrik Saying Each of us, according to Tantrik traditions, lives not one, but two lives, simultaneously. One is the objective, physical life of the five senses. It is our waking life, lived here and now, limited by time and space. It is the…

“All creation – gods, demons, universes – is the expansion of the Creator’s thought into form. The nucleus of this is the substance of his mind. The power of projection is his will.” That portion of Tantrism presented in the foregoing articles constitutes a methodology capable of universal application. There is, however, another aspect of…

“How long does youth endure? So long as we are loved.” – Golden Book of Diana Western students invariably ask: will the practice of Tantrik sadhana help me to stay young? What kind of diet does the Shastra prescribe? Are there disciplines that can be used to cure illness? Such queries reflect the dominant preoccupation…

 “Pierced at a distance by the thorn of sanyama, thE virgin yields her essence which, like moonlight, soothes those burned by the three-tongued flame of misery.” – Fragment of a Lost Tantra It is a common boast among Tantriks of certain Kaula sects that they enjoy the desired fruit of maithuna without any physical contact…

“The art of love is the poor man’s art, the one avenue to ecstasy opens to those who lack all other talents.” – Walter Kaufman As practiced in Tibet and India, the Panchatattva or Secret Ritual includes some features not easily adaptable to Western life. To begin with, there is the question of the shakti…

“O mistress of Kula! in Kuladharma enjoyment becomes complete yoga; bad deeds are made good deeds, and the world becomes the seat of Liberation.” –  Kularnava Tantra Opponents of Tantra – and they are many – almost always base their denunciation solely upon the fact that the system includes ritual drinking and sexual rites. Censure of…

“The Seal of Musk: for this let those pant who pant for bliss.” – The Koran From the dust of the earth to the spirit of man that inhabits it, there is nothing completely odorless in creation. Each of us exudes his own individual scent, which dogs, mystics and ordinary persons endowed with a keen…