The Infamous "5 M's"

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Namaskar OmPrem:

 

[i am reposting this message because the original came through

with some characters replaced by strange symbols that made it hard to

read.] Thank you for sharing these thoughts of Swami Sivananda on

Tantra Yoga Sadhana. As always, Sivananda is a veritable well of

knowledge; however, there are several points in his presentation that

could be misleading.

 

I am not saying that he is *wrong* (I am certainly not qualified to

question a religious authority of Sivananda's vast knowledge and

experience). However, as a Shaiva monk who has renounced the world,

the swami's views of Shakta non-renunciate practices may be slightly

colored by his own preferences and beliefs?

 

And so there are several points upon which I'd like to offer an

alternative viewpoint:

 

SHAKTISM AND TANTRISM: NOT THE SAME THING

 

Sivananda appears to equate Tantra Yoga Sadhana with Shaktism, which

is not strictly accurate: There are numerous Tantra Sadhanas which are

not Shakta -- some are Vaishnava, some Shaiva, some Jain, some

Buddhist. And likewise, there are forms of Shaktism which are not

Tantric -- the massive Devi Bhagavata Purana, one of the most detailed

sources of Shakta theology and lore, explicitly places Tantra second

to Bhakti (conventional devotional worship) as an approach to

worshiping the Goddess.

 

THE LITERAL 5 M's ARE *NOT* FOR PASHUS

 

While Sivananda's discussion of the three levels of Sadhak, i.e. Pasu,

Vira, and Divya, are excellent, he makes the assertion that "It is

only the Pasu Sadhaks who practise the Pancha Makaras, viz. Matsya,

Mamsa, Madya, Mudra and Maithuna." (For readers who don't understand

this statement, Sivananda is referring to the so-called "5 M's" --

those infamous Tantric rituals involving consumption of meat, alcohol,

and sexual intercourse that still luridly define Tantra in the minds

of those who are not very greatly with the subject.)

 

On this point, Sivananda would appear to be simply incorrect. In fact,

there are three distinct "sets" of "5 M" rituals -- one for each level

of Sadhak: Pashu, Vira, and Divya. The only "set" involving *actual*

meat, alcohol and sexual intercourse (which I assume is Sivananda's

concern here) is the Vira set.

 

Allow me to explain: Just as so many Hindu concepts come in threes, so

does that of Adhikara, or levels of "competency" for worship, which

vary depending on the temperament of the Sadhak. "Methods which are

suitable for highly advanced Sadhakas will fail as regards the

ignorant and undeveloped, for they cannot understand them," explains

Woodroffe.

 

And so the three Bhavas [temperaments] of the Sadhaka are:

 

1. Pashu (lit. "Animal"). This is the mass of humanity; people whose

vision is largely limited to the World -- to external rather than

internal realities. This is not to say that a Pashu is a "bad person"

-- in fact, s/he may be and often is a very good person. However, the

Tamas guna prevails, and so this person remains best suited for gross

(i.e. material) worship -- which, again, isn't a slur; it's the

commonly known physical worship of the deity through its image, with

physical pooja (ritual offerings and prayer).

 

2. Vira (lit. "Hero"). This is a very advanced Sadhak, who has largely

(though not completely) liberated her-/himself from the World, and has

thereby ceased to be a Pashu. Here, Rajas guna prevails -- the active

principle that can accelerate movement either toward Tamas guna or

Sattva guna. The heroic Sadhak is ready to confront the enemy, Tamas,

face to face, with an offensive assault upon her/his remaining

attachments, in situations where the less-developed soul would falter

or flee. S/he seeks out and confronts humankind's biggest fears and

temptations (i.e the things that most signify human lack of control)

-- death, cremation grounds, corpses, sex, mind-altering substances

like alcohol, etc. -- and heroically overcomes them.

 

3. Divya (lit. "Divine"). The most advanced Sadhak; the spiritual

woman or man. She is calm, pure, refined, and wise; free of

materiality and passion. Here, Sattva guna predominates. Within each

of these three groups are (as is so commonly the case in Hindu

philosophy) various further subdivisions -- so that one can be of a

relatively advanced Pashu, or a relatively low Divya

temperament, and so on.

 

(Continued ...)