Feminist View of Tantric Shaktism ( A repost )

[Guest guest]

Here is an excerpt from an interesting article on a feminist

scholar's take on Tantra. It was published in "Hinduism Today" in

November '95. The fill text can be found at

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/1995/11/#gen82

 

TANTRA: FEMINIZING DIVINITY, by Shikha Malaviya, New Delhi

 

God is not "He!" nor fully "She" for that matter, notes Tantra

scholar Dr. Madhu Khanna, co-author of the popular, beautifully

illustrated book on occult Hinduism, "The Tantric Way: Art, Science

and Ritual." I had seen her book in bookstores, but was always a

little afraid to look inside. After all, wasn't Tantra Hinduism's

black magic world - sexual-religious sorcery rites and esoteric

initiations into all-powerful mantras?

 

I tracked [Khanna] down at the Indira Gandhi Centre of the Arts in

New Delhi, where she holds a post as associate professor.

Cosmopolitan, youngish, very attractive, clad in a bright cotton

sari, her jet-black hair tied in a knot, with kind expressive eyes,

composed and self-confident - she instantly destroyed all my

preconceptions about Tantra. ***

 

According to Dr. Khanna, Tantra views the whole universe as a

composite of two principles - the so-called "male," Siva,

representing the quiescent transcendent, and the so-called "female,"

Shakti, "the kinetic verb of creation," as she terms it. I asked her

bluntly how this admittedly beautiful, but dizzyingly lofty concept

relates to me and other women, in a visceral way.

 

"Shakti assumes the form of Goddess in every single woman of this

world," resounded Dr. Khanna, eager that I didn't leave her office

thinking Shakti was just some exciting bedtime fiction frolic for

matronly book-worms. She continued, "Not only is each woman a

physical incarnation of Shakti, but the very fact that she is born a

woman automatically empowers her." This brought a shiver down my

spine - that a woman could be considered Shakti-empowered just

because of her female body and psyche. ***

 

In Tantra transmission of spiritual knowledge from a woman is

considered especially potent and sacred. It is called yogini mukha

and a classic example of this is Sri Ramakrishna's learning kundalini

yoga from a young yogini. "In tantra," Dr. Khanna shared, "any woman

can become a priestess. In fact, there are less codes for women

following the Tantric path than for men." So I asked the obvious.

What about our monthly menses and the idea that it makes

us "impure?Actually, there are reasons that minstream Hinduism

called the menstruating woman 'impure,'" Dr. Khanna said. "A woman's

body needs a rest amidst so many strong fluctuations and the excuse

of impurity was one way of guaranteeing that rest. However, Tantra

views every aspect of the woman's reproductive cycle as sacred and

pure! Women should not be ashamed of their bodies. Women have to

recognize, acknowledge and harmonize these forces." ***

 

Before I left, I wanted to find out how this yoga-practicing soul got

so deep into Tantra. "I became interested in Tantra at a very young

age," she said. "At first, it was the images that attracted me -

yantras, similar to modern art, and very geometrical. One day, I saw

this yantra in a book and said, 'Wow, this is what I want to do. I

want to know more about these images. So I started reading and

writing on Tantric aesthetics. Eventually, I realized Tantra was so

much more, a whole world view, a holistic, enlightened style of life.

I then became very excited and studied Sanskrit so I could translate

Tantric manuscripts and also completed my PhD at Oxford University,

England, where I worked on Goddess tradition in Tantra."

 

Contributed by Devi Bhakta