Misconceptions about Tantra Wednesday, Nov 26 2008

[Guest guest]

Reason i chose this topic: " When I was studying the Kali Puja, Swami

took us through some very complicated rituals, and at the very end he

spoke about the Tantric puja to Ma Kali. In India alcohol is

considered taboo and meat is taboo as an offering as well. The wild,

evil offerings consisted of fish and alcohol. Christians offer wine

to Jesus, and certainly modern pagans have no issue with meat eating.

I personally would never offer meat to the Divine Mother. I would

offer alcohol after it was consecrated. "

 

 

Yogic Secrets of the Dark Goddess by Shambhavi Chopra

 

" Scholars, lacking inner experience, approach Kali with their own

psychological, sociological and cultural preconceptions that fail to

recognize her spiritual energy, beauty and majesty. They stop short

at the fierce image of her outer forms and do not see the

transcendent light reflected through them. They dwell on her dark

power and project onto that the negative aspects of their own

assessment of human nature. They see superstition or suppressed

emotion in what is in fact the supreme power of the Goddess to take

us beyond all ignorance and sorrow. They usually do the same thing

with the other forms of the Dark Goddess in the world, looking at

them not as an expression of spiritual mystery but, rather, primitive

impulses. "

 

David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri)

Santa Fe, New Mexico USA, March 2007

 

" Also, I have seen some Sahaja Yogis who start new methods in Sahaja

Yoga: 'You do like this, so it will be alright; you do like that, and

it will be all right'---because they are stagnated at the point of

dharma, so they start telling people: 'you do this way, you do that

way'. But when you rise to the point of truth, then you don't do any

rituals, you don't need any rituals. You are not bothered, because

you are in Dharma and you are standing on the truth. And truth is

much greater than Dharma. "

 

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi,

Sahasrara Puja, Cabella, Italy - 04 May 1997

 

 

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Misconceptions about Tantra Wednesday, Nov 26 2008

 

Can a culture with TV shows like " Maury " that feature women who have

slept with twenty men and can't figure out which one is the Daddy

properly claim to be sexually repressed? The U.S. does not have

trouble with sex, but we have a problem with treating people like

objects. We have a difficulty with intimacy—not sex. We have problems

honoring our partners and opening our hearts to those we have sex

with. Tantra addresses intimacy—not sex. The woman's partner is

revered as the ultimate male Hindu deity, Shiva, and the man's

partner is honored as the ultimate female deity Durga or Shakti. Sri

Ramakrishna, a great saint and devotee to Kali, worshiped his wife,

Sarada Devi as the Divine Mother herself. Tantra, which emphasizes

intimacy, is twisted in the West to emphasize ego-centered sexual

activity.

 

How do the Western sex/porn/neo-tantra people get it wrong? Tantra is

a belief that this worldly realm is sacred too, and we need to get

worldly help as well. Tantriks perform healings, do astrology

readings, sell yantras, and recommend herbs for health. Yoga is also

considered Tantric, because it gives attention to on healing the

body. In the U.S. we are so focused on our own excesses that we miss

the forest for the trees. We have so many attachments and cravings

that we contemplate solely on fulfilling those cravings. Helping

people with their worldly needs opens one up for those who are

entirely focused on their worldly needs. Some people concentrate

completely on pleasure-seeking behavior in order to satisfy their own

ego. In other words even in sex the person is concentrating on him or

herself.

 

One writer by the name of Hugh B. Urban claims that one writer from

the West who brought Tantra from India completely perverted the

practice. I'm not too sure that this was one guy or a culture that

relies on ego centered behavior. Also thrown in the mix with

Westernized tantra or neo-tantra is the Kama Sutra and Aleister

Crowley.

 

Aleister Crowley used women for occult rituals and when he was done

with them, he dumped them. This would be a more ego-centered

attachment to sex and power, which again has nothing to do with

Tantra. Also many Tantriks are also devotees to the Divine Feminine

in the form of Durga or Kali, and abuse of women is just simply not

done.

 

The Kama Sutra has nothing to do with Tantric practices. It is a text

that speaks of sex, how to find the right partner, and how to improve

one's ability to get a mate. In reality it is an old text and in my

opinion rather dry reading. The Kama Sutra also states that Dharma

(virtuous living) is the highest goal, and when goals conflict, one

must take the higher path.

 

When Tantra was presented to the West, it was mentioned that some who

follow the left hand path practice all sorts of forbidden sexual

acts. The Left Hand path was the primary focus, because it is more

shocking than the path that most Tantriks take. Did the individual

happen to mention that those of the left hand path also eat corpses

and put ashes all over their bodies? My suggestion to those porn/ neo-

tantrics is they need to take the whole package, and stop picking and

choosing. They might want to chuck the clothes, don some ashes, and

start dining on corpses to get the whole effect. Most devotees to the

Divine Mother do not follow the left hand path or will not follow it

to the degree that Aghoris do. Aghoris are extreme individuals who

live on the outskirts of society.

 

Concentrating on cemeteries has to do with becoming aware of one's

own death and mortality. This is not a real favorite of Westerners.

We like to think we are going to live forever, and this personality

will continue without end. In Christianity, the personality never

ends. In Hinduism and Buddhism it does die, and we do take on new

personalities when we are reborn. In order to overcome illusion many

Shaktas (devotees of the Divine Feminine) focus on the Divine

Mother's image that is terrible. Shaktas are aware that this whole

perception of life is Maya or the illusion. When we see the Divine

Mother as terrible, it attacks the comfortable illusions that we have

about life in general. A person with a giant ego will have a

difficult time with Divine Mother. Because this person is so attached

to the ego, (Ma cuts the ego down) the ego driven person will believe

that he/she is being attacked.

 

One very important aspect of Tantra is the idea of kundalini, the

Divine energy within. In the West Tantra and kundalini do not come

together. Kundalini is the Divine mother within us rising to meet

Shiva who waits at the crown chakra. You might think of it like this.

We have an awakening experience that starts us on the path of

spiritual evolution, and as we reach the culmination of that

evolution, we become one with Shiva, or pure consciousness.

 

When I was studying the Kali Puja, Swami took us through some very

complicated rituals, and at the very end he spoke about the Tantric

puja to Ma Kali. In India alcohol is considered taboo and meat is

taboo as an offering as well. The wild, evil offerings consisted of

fish and alcohol. Christians offer wine to Jesus, and certainly

modern pagans have no issue with meat eating. I personally would

never offer meat to the Divine Mother. I would offer alcohol after it

was consecrated. You might be wondering what all the fuss is about if

that's all there is to it. Well, there is much ado about nothing.

 

Misconceptions about Tantra Wednesday, Nov 26 2008

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