Universe - A Tantrik view

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In the beginning was the word, the word was god

and the word was with god" the word of the Bible is

the Sabdabrahman of the Hindu Tantra. Word, sound and

Mantra are integral parts of Indian cosmology, and

cannnot be separated from it. Taking cosmological

principles out of the realm of theory, japa or mantra

repetition puts them to work in a pragmatic way. It is the

path from microcosm to macrocosm; it is the vehicle

that carries the individual back to the

source.<br><br> In the beginning, shakti, the unmanifested

cosmos, floats like an egg in the silent, motionless

void. A mass of latent, undifferentiated energy, it

contains the seed power of all the universe. It rests in

the void, alternately flowering as the manifest,

evolved cosmos and then withdrawing itself in

dissolution,(Pralaya). Throughout eternity, like day and night, the

universe alternately expands into matter and recedes into

primal energy.<br><br>During the period of dissolution,

shakti also known as the Divine power or the Cosmic

energy lies quiescent. Jst as the tulip is latent within

the bulb, so this universe of names and forms, as we

know it, lies enfolded in shakti. Within its heart

rests the three qualities, Sattwa(purity),

Rajas(activity)and tamas(inertia), whose kaleidoscopic shifting

permeates all aspects of the universe.<br><br>(to

continue...)