Tantra, mantra, yantra : the tantra psychology PDF
Preview Tantra, mantra, yantra : the tantra psychology
TANTRA MANTRA YANTRA By the same author TIBETAN TANTRIK TRADITION TIBETAN MEDITATION The Tantra Psychology S.K. RAMACHANDRA RAO © S.K. Ramachandra Rao First Published 1979 Published by Gulab Vazirani for Arnold-Heinemann Publishers (India) Pvt. Ltd. AB/9, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi-11 0016. Printed at Pauls Press, B-258 Naraina Industrial Area Phase I, New Delhi-110028. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 9 THE TANTRIK TRADITION 16 THE PSYCHIC STRUCTURE 28 SERPENT POWER AND MYSTIC FIRE 35 • ADEPTS AND ATTITUDES 41 THE IDEOLOGICAL BASIS 47 SOURCE MATERIAL 51 ANOTHER ANGLE 57 MANTRA 66 SPECIMENS OF MANTRAS 73 REFERENCES 75 LIST OF PLATES Muladhara-Chakra Swadhishthana-Chakra Manipura-Chakra Anahata-Chakra Vishuddha-C hakra Ajna-Chakra Sahasrara-Chakra Swastika-Mandala Nadi-Mandala The Sacred Vase (Kalasa) The Hum Mandala The Mani-Chakra The study of the Tantra has suffered from two chief disadvan tages. The enthusiasts have sought to project an image of it that is at once so highly esoteric and mystical that the scholar who has a modest opinion of his own intellectual abilities is easily scared away. The opponents, on the other hand, seek so to highlight the antinomian and obscene elements in the cults claiming to be Tantrik that the good citizen who has an eye for decency shies from it. Very few are aware that while the former attitude is unjustified, the latter is unwarranted. It is true that some Tantrik texts work with extremely abstract ideas and employ elaborate, and sometimes irrelevant, symbolism. It is also true that some Tantrik rituals as described and practised are wholly outlandish and obviously abominable. But these are deviations and perversions, altogether alien to the spirit and core of the Tantra ideology. , The Tantra was in origin folk, and the elements of abstraction, were naturally minimal. It concerned itself with the normal man and pertained to his daily life. There was an unmistakable emphasis on the individual in this culture, contrary to the collec tive orientation of the Vedic tradition; but extravagance or eccentricity in individual behaviour was never suggested, encour aged or accepted. And Tantrik culture was bot.:.id rather with the ideal of 'quiet contemplation' than with the goal of 'joyful life', here or hereafter, that we find reflected in the Vedic hymns. In fact, the Vedic temperament of buoyant and ecstatic involvement was to a great extent tempered as a result of Tantrik impact, as can be seen in the Upanishadic ideology. The Tantra is ; neither so forbiddingly esoteric nor so nauseatingly bizarre: it is a simple, wholesome approach to the problem of good living in a .world of mixed forces. . . , ^_w.,.-,
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