Tantra for Everyone
by
Shambhavi Sarasvati
Tantra has enjoyed many different forms of expression. It has been a pan-Asian
tradition for centuries and is now becoming a global phenomenon. Tantrik
lineages, schools, sects and points of view are alive and thriving in both Indian-
Hindu and Buddhist traditions throughout Asia and the world.
The traditional divisions of Indian Tantrik lineages are Shaivite, Shakta and
Vaishnava, in other words lineages in which the supreme, all-encompassing
Reality is equated with Shiva and Shakti, Shakti or Vishnu. Although it is less
common, the ancient “fourth” Tantrik way focusing on the practices and worship
of Ganapati or Ganesha, the elephant-headed God, still exists both in North and
South India.
The practices associated with Tantra such as mantra, yantra, puja, mandala and
hatha yoga existed long before anyone uttered the word “Tantra." Artifacts of
figures seated in yogic poses and other Tantrik images have been found that are
thousands of years old.
Direct realization Tantra helps you to discover what is sometimes called “the
natural state.” You discover that duality, the everyday world of you, me, car and
tree, is an expression of a natural, base state of continuity, or “not two.” Practices
such as Guru yoga, mantra and meditation do not lead the Tantrika to transcend
duality in favor of “oneness,” but rather to enlarge her embodied View so that the
experience of duality is happening within the context of the experience of the
continuity of all life.
Buddhists tend to limit the definition of Tantra to transformational practices
involving certain deities. Within the Indian context, Tantrik practice includes
everything from Ayurveda to hatha yoga to ritual to deity practice to direct
realization through contemplative practice and direct transmission from Guru to
disciple.
Because of this diversity of expressions, there is no single, true-for-all-times-and-
places definition of Tantra. However, it is possible to come up with a short list of
Tantrik values that inform the View of the tradition as a whole and that have
remained remarkably consistent over time. These values include:
o an acceptance of the material, phenomenal world as a real and not illusory
manifestation of consciousness (Shiva) and power (Shakti);
o a commitment to non-exclusivity of caste, class and gender;
o the belief that the human body is our most valuable tool in seeking liberation;
and
o the insistence that everyday life and Self-realization are not mutually exclusive.
Tantra only began to emerge as a written tradition around 500 AD in India. The
Tantras, or written texts, consist of teachings about cosmology and instructions
for practice. They are usually, but not always, structured as dialogues between
Shiva and Shakti. Not until the 19th century did the word “Tantra” refer to
anything other than these scriptures. Eventually, the word came to describe a
tradition (Tantra) and people in the tradition (Tantrikas).
Tantrik practice helps the practitioner to embody a more relaxed, complete
relationship with the world. The Guru-disciple relationship is the central Tantrik
practice. The Guru acts as a gateway to discovering the natural, uncontrived state.
An advanced practitioner will experience the entire world as Guru.
The ultimate goal of Tantrik practice is full, conscious participation in the world
process. In its broadest sense, Tantra is a spiritual technology for completing the
human relationship to the cosmos. It is preparation for death by fully realizing
this thing called “being human.” Tantra is not a transcendental practice because it
does not urge us to skip over the being human part. The only way out is through,
and the way through is full of beauty.
The Tantrik practitioner does not rip away the everyday world to discover the
transcendent real world. She relaxes her own limitations to discover a wider View,
a more inclusive Reality that was always ongoing from the beginning. Ultimately,
the Tantrik practitioner discovers that all of life, in every form or state of
formlessness, is of “one taste”: the taste of beauty, wisdom and compassion.
