Tantra

Tantra (Sanskrit: तन्त्र "loom, warp"; hence "principle, system, doctrine", from the root tan "stretch, extend"), anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is an esoteric current of Hinduism.

The word Tantra also applies to any of the scriptures (called "Tantras") commonly identified with the worship of Shakti. Tantra deals primarily with spiritual practices and ritual forms of worship, which aim at liberation from ignorance and rebirth, the universe being regarded as the divine play of Shakti and Shiva

                             Tantra is that Asian body of beliefs and practices which, working from the principle that the universe we experience is nothing other than the concrete manifestation of the divine energy of the Godhead that creates and maintains that universe, seeks to ritually appropriate and channel that energy, within the human microcosm, in creative and emancipatory ways.
In the process of working with energy, the Tantrika, or tantric practitioner, has various tools at hand. These include yoga, to actuate processes that will "yoke" the practitioner to the divine. Also important are visualizations of deity, and verbalisation or or evocation through mantras, which may be construed as seeing, listening internally, and singing power into a stronger state within the individual, resulting in an ever-increasing awareness of cosmic vibration through daily practice. Identification with and internalisation of the divine is enacted, through a total identification with deity, such that the aspirant "becomes" the Ishta-deva or meditational deity.
                         Tantrism is a quest for spiritual perfection and magical power. Its purpose is to achieve complete control of oneself, and of all the forces of nature, in order to attain union with the cosmos and with the divine. Long training is generally required to master Tantric methods, into which pupils are typically initiated by a guru. Yoga, including breathing techniques and postures (asana), is employed to subject the body to the control of the will. Mudras, or gestures; mantras or syllables, words and phrases; mandalas and yantras, which are symbolic diagrams of the forces at work in the universe, are all used as aids for meditation and for the achievement of spiritual and magical power
                        
The Tantric tradition may be considered as either parallel to, or intertwined with, the Vedic tradition. The primary sources of written Tantric lore are the agama, which generally consist of four parts, delineating metaphysical knowledge (jnana), contemplative procedures (yoga), ritual regulations (kriya), and ethical and religious injunctions (charya). Schools and lineages affiliate themselves with specific agamic traditions.
André Padoux notes that in India, tantrism is marked by a rejection of orthodox Vedic tenets.^[10] Maurice Winernitz, in his review of the literature of tantra, points out that while Indian tantric texts are not positively hostile to the Vedas, they propound that the precepts of the Vedas are too difficult for our age, and so, for that reason, an easier cult and an easier doctrine have been revealed in them.
 N. N. Bhattacharyya explains:

It is to be noticed that although later Tantric writers wanted to base their doctrines on the Vedas, the orthodox followers of the Vedic tradition invariably referred to Tantra in a spirit of denunciation, stressing its anti-Vedic character.

                                Tantra exists in Shaiva, Vaisnava, Ganapatya, Saurya and Shakta forms, amongst others. Strictly speaking, within individual traditions, tantric texts are classified as Shaiva Āgamas, Vaishnava Pāñcarātra Saṃhitās, and Shakta Tantras, but there is no clear dividing line between these works, and on a practical basis the expression Tantra generally includes all such works.
 The method
The Tantric aim is to sublimate rather than to negate relative reality. This process of sublimation consists of three phases: purification, elevation, and the "reaffirmation of identity on the plane of pure consciousness." The methods employed by Dakshinachara (right-hand ) path) interpretations of Tantra are very different from the methods used in the pursuit of the Vamachara (left-hand path).

 

 

                                           Yantra (यन्त्र) is the Sanskrit word for "instrument" or "machine". Much like the word "instrument" itself, it can stand for symbols, processes, automata, machinery or anything that has structure and organization, depending on context.
One usage popular in the west is as symbols or geometric figures. Traditionally such symbols are used in Eastern mysticism to balance the mind or focus it on spiritual concepts. The act of wearing, depicting, enacting and/or concentrating on a yantra is held to have spiritual or astrological or magical benefits in the Tantric traditions of the Indian religions.


Yantra is a Sanskrit word that is derived from the root yam meaning to control or subdue  or "to restrain, curb, check" ^[2]. Meanings for the noun derived from this root include:^[3][4]

• "any instrument or machine" (i.e. that which is controlled or controls. For instance the body is said to be a yantra^[5])
• "any instrument for holding, restraining, or fastening" (for instance a symbol which 'holds' the essence of a concept, or helps the mind to 'fasten' on a particular idea)
• "a mystical or astronomical diagram" (usually a symbol, often inscribed on an amulet) sometimes said to possess mystical or magical powers.

-tra is an indoeuropean suffix meaning ' instrument', found in Latin ' aratrum' and in tantra and mantra. A yantra depicts both macrocosmic and microcosmic forces acting together - the movement towards and away from the centre - "control" and "liberation" within the one device. Mantra plus yantra creates tantra. In some disciplines of Tantra it is said that a focused, controlled gaze upon a particular yantra may lead to liberation
                               Yantra may be used to represent the astronomical position of the planets over a given date and time. It is considered auspicious in Hindu mythology. These yantras are made up on various objects i.e. Paper, Precious stones, Metal Plates and alloys. It is believed that constantly concentrating on the representation helps to build fortunes, as planets have their peculiar gravity which governs basic emotions and karma. These yantras are often made on a particular date and time according to  procedures defined in the vedas.
                                       
Yantra function as revelatory conduits of cosmic truths. Yantra, as instrument and spiritual technology, may be appropriately envisioned as prototypical and esoteric concept mapping machines or conceptual looms. Certain yantra are held to embody the energetic signatures of, for example, the Universe, consciousness, ishta-devata. Though often rendered in two dimensions through art, yantra are conceived and conceptualised by practitioners as multi-dimensional sacred architecture and in this quality are identical with their correlate the mandala. Meditation and trance induction that generates the yantra of the subtle body in the complementary modes of the utpatti-krama and saṃpanna-krama are invested in the various lineages of tantric transmission as exterior and interior sacred architecture that potentiate the accretion and manifestation of siddhi.
Khanna (2003: p. 21) in linking Mantra, Yantra, Ishta-devata, and thoughtforms states:

Mantras, the Sanskrit syllables inscribed on yantras, are essentially "thought forms" representing divinities or cosmic powers, which exert their influence by means of sound-vibrations.

                                      Yantra is an aniconic temenos or tabernacle of deva, asura, genius loci or other archetypal entity. Yantra are theurgical device that engender entelecheia. Yantra are realised by sadhus through darshana and samyama. Yantra, or other permutations and cognate phenomena such as mandala, rangoli, kolam, rangavalli and other sacred geometrical traditions, are endemic throughout Indian religions. Some Hindu esoteric practitioners employ yantra, mantra and other items of the saṃdhyā-bhāṣā (Bucknell, et al.; 1986: p.ix) in their sadhana, puja and yajna.

Symbols employed in yantras

  Shapes and patterns commonly employed in yantra include squares, triangles, circles and floral patterns but may also include more complex and detailed symbols, for instance:

• The lotus flower typically represent chakras, with each petal representing a psychic propensity (or vritti) associated with that chakra
• A dot, or bindu, represents the starting point of creation or the infinite, unexpressed cosmos
• The şaţkoņa (Sanskrit name for a symbol identical to the star of David) composed of a balance between:
  • An upwards triangle denoting action (or service), extroversion, masculinity or Shiva
  • A downwards triangle denoting introversion, meditativeness, goddess energy or Shakti
• A swastika represents good luck, welfare, prosperity or spiritual victory
• Bija mantras (usually represented as characters of Devanāgarī that correspond to the acoustic roots of a particular chakra or vritti)

Geometric element meanings:

• Circle = Energy of the element water
• Square = Energy of the element earth
• Triangle = Energy of the element fire
• Diagonal lines = Energy of the element air
• Horizontal line = Energy of the element water
• Vertical line = Energy of the element fire
• Point = Energy of the element ether