My maiden novel made me undertake a research assignment on tantra. As I read, understood and discovered the many layers of this much-maligned topic, it also brought me insight. Insight has the potential to create something new and meaningful for the world. For me, this insight became the seed of my novel ̶ a novel that I fervently hope will illuminate untold aspects on tantra. As a taster, here are some facts about this misunderstood subject that is tantra:
1. Tantric practises and rituals have one fundamental goal—aligning the energies within the human body with the energies of the cosmos. Tantra believes that whatever exists in the cosmos is all contained within the human body.
2. Tantric sex, which is all about expanding energy through a physical union, is a 5,000-year-old tradition. This is not a mere fad.
3. There are five major categories of tantric traditions—Shaiva tantra, Shakta tantra, Ganapatya tantra, Saurya tantra and Vaishnava tantra. Out of these Shaiva and Shakta tantra are the most practised (though secretly) in contemporary India.
4. Kashi (now Banaras) was the stronghold of Shaiva tantra in ancient India.
5. Between the eleventh and fourteenth century, India witnessed a major conflict among two tantric sects—Shaiva tantra and Vaishnava tantra. During this period, many important texts were confiscated and destroyed.
6. Tantra, as a tradition, existed much before the Vedic age of India.
7. Shav sadhana, a tantric ritual pertaining to the Shakta tradition is one of the most tampered tantric rituals in modern India. The tarnished and corrupted versions are practised by black magicians.
8. Spiritual attainment in tantra can happen either through the Vamachara mode (left-handed mode heterodox to the Vedas) of sadhana and worship or the Daksinachara mode (right-handed mode aligned to Vedic injunctions) of sadhana and worship.
9. The Vama Marga form of tantra often relies on a human channel. The sexual energy used by the tantric is often contained within the disciple who has to be physically present at the time of the rites.
10. Tantric sex is actually all about guiding the kundalini energy that originates in the genitals to the highest chakra of the human body (the third eye) where the supreme powers of creation, Shiva and Shakti reside. Unlike ordinary sex, tantric sex is all about controlling ejaculatory functions.
11. The earliest teachings on tantric rituals and philosophies had happened orally and in fact, most of these teachings were never written.
12. In India, tantra was at its peak during the Indus Valley civilisation. Essentially, Assam and Bengal are the oldest strongholds of tantra in the country.
Just these facts are enough to nurture the need to know more and get started on a detailed study of a subject that has been hidden, forbidden, misused and blamed. For an interesting start and more nuggets on tantra combined with a thrilling storyline, read the engaging bestseller The Mystic Sinners.
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