Tantra

"Tantra says: Don’t focus your attention on the acts, focus your attention on the person who has done the acts. Yoga focuses on acts. Tantra focuses on the person, on the consciousness, on you."

"*Tantra is scientific discovery not revelation."

"There is nothing fowl in them except for people to whom all erotic phenomenon are foul....The ancient East was pure in these matters than the modern West, where under cover of a pruriently modest exterior ...extraordinary varied psychopathic filth may flow. This was not so in earlier days...when a spade was called a spade and not a horticultural instrument."

"So, as the Council of Trent declared, the Catholic Church, rich with the experiences of ages and clothed with their splendor, has introduced mystic benediction (mantra), incense (dhupa), water (achamana), lights (dipa), bells (ghanta), flowers (w:Pushpanjalipushpa),vestments and all the magnificence of ceremonies in order to excite the spirit of religion to the contemplation of the profound mysteries which they reveal. As are its faithful, the Church is composed of both body (deha) and soul (atma). It renders to the Lord (ishvara) a double worship, external (bahyapuja) and interior (manaspuja), the latter being the prayer (vandana) of the faithful."

"What India wanted at present was the Religion of Power"

"The follower of Tantric art professes no austerities. He seeks to kill desire by an unlimited indulgence which brings satiety and extinction of emotion. The indulgence is enjoined by his so called religion; and his depravity is commended as a great virtue."

"Flee even now-don’t you know that the tantrika’s worship consists of human flesh"

"I, who am adorned with a garland of human bones , who live in the cremation ground and who eat out of human skull, with an eye purified by the instrument of Yoga, see the world having differences within itself but being non-different from God..."

"We who offer oblations in the fire in the form of human flesh, brains, entrails and marrow break our fast with alcohol kept in the skull of a Brahmana. Mahabhairava has to be worshipped with human offerings, lustrous with streams of blood flowing from the stiff throat which is freshly cut."

"Some debauch themselves for wealth, some for lust, I debauched myself in search of God."

"Kali-Ma...symbolizes the ultimate mystery in life- the mystery of sex."

"That Mai Kali will get the blood for which She asks unless quick action betaken...this is certain. Who governs India as a whole must govern by power."

"The moment one hears the word “Tantrism”, various wild and lurid associations spring forth in the Western mind which add up to a pastiche of psycho spiritual science fiction and sexual acrobatics that would put to shame the most imaginative of our contemporary pronographers."

"...the Sanskrit word tantra has appeared since Vedic times, with an enormous diversity of meanings; it has been used to denote everything from a warp or a loom to “the chief potion or essence of a thing” (Mahabharta.13.48.6). Probably derived from the root tan, “to weave or stretch”, tantra is most often used to refer to a particular kind of text which is “woven” of the extended threads of many words. Yet, as Padoux points out, such texts may or may not contain materials that we today think of as “Tantric”."

"Tantra masters are wild flowers, they have everything in them."

"That is why in tantra – Tilopa is a tantra master – deep intercourse, orgasmic intercourse, between lovers is also called Mahamudra, and two lovers in deep orgasmic state are pictured in tantric temples, in tantric books. That has become a symbol of the final orgasm."

"He who keeps tantric precepts, yet discriminates, betrays the spirit of samaya. [And says Tilopa], if you are trying to keep the tantra path, the tantra precepts, then remember, don’t discriminate. If you discriminate you may be tantra philosopher, but not a tantra follower. Don’t say this is good, that is bad. Drop all discrimination. Accept everything as it is."

"This is one of the most beautiful tantra things:tantra says remain homeless, don’t abide anywhere. Don’t get identified and don’t cling to anything. Remain homeless, because in homelessness you will attain to your real home."

"...difference between yoga and tantra; yoga is horizontal, tantra is vertical; yoga takes millions of lives to reach; tantra says: within a second."

"Yoga is effort, tantra is effortless."

"Tantra accepts everything, lives everything. That's why tantra never could become a very accepted ideology. It always remained a fringe ideology."

"Tantra is a great yea-sayer; it says yes to everything."

"Tantra says there is nobody above you whom you have to follow, through whom you have to get your pattern."

"The ordinary society is like a paperweight on you: it won't allow you to fly."

"Tantra says readjustment, adjustment, is not the goal; it is not worth much – transformation is the goal."

"Tantra offers you enlightenment right here and now – no time, no postponement"

"Tantra says you are missing because you are running. Tantra says you are missing because you are in such a hurry."

"Tantra believes not in GRADUAL development of the soul, but in sudden enlightenment."

"Tantra is a very very poetic approach, not arithmetical. And tantra believes in love, not in mathematics. It believes in sudden enlightenment."

"Tantra is a great hope. Tantra is like an oasis in a world of deserts."

"In our ordinary lives we are mostly Paurânikas or Tântrikas, and, even where some Vedic texts are used by the Brahmins of India, the adjustment of the texts is mostly not according to the Vedas, but according to the Tantras or the Puranas. As such, to call ourselves Vaidikas in the sense of following the Karma Kanda of the Vedas, I do not think, would be proper. But the other fact stands that we are all of us Vedantists. The people who call themselves Hindus had better be called Vedantists, and, as I have shown you, under that one name Vaidantika come in all our various sects, whether dualists or non-dualists."

"The Purânas, the Tantras, and all the other books, even the Vyasa-Sutras, are of secondary, tertiary authority, but primary are the Vedas. Manu, and the Puranas, and all the other books are to be taken so far as they agree with the authority of the Upanishads, and when they disagree they are to be rejected without mercy."

"Tantra is the original spiritual science first taught in India. 'Tan' is a Sanskrit root which signifies "expansion", and 'Tra' signifies "liberation." Thus, Tantra is the practice which elevates human beings in a process in which their minds are expanded. It leads human beings from the imperfect to the perfect, from the crude to the subtle, from bondage to liberation."

"Tantra is more than just a collection of meditation or yoga techniques. There is a particular world-view associated with it. According to Tantra, struggle is the essence of life. The effort to struggle against all obstacles and move from the imperfect to the perfect is the true spirit of Tantra."

"Today Tantra is shrouded in mystery and there are many misconceptions about it. To understand the source of these misconceptions it is important to examine the "5 Ms"."

"The first M is known as Madya. It has two meanings. One meaning of madya is "wine" For those at a higher level of development Madya has another meaning, it refers not to wine but to a divine nectar."

"Another of the five Ms is Mamsa. One meaning of Mamsa is meat. For those who ate much meat. For the subtle practitioner of Tantra, mamsa refers to the tongue and the spiritual practice of controlling one's speech."

"Matsya, the third of the Ms, refers to fish. For the physically minded practitioner Shiva applied the same instruction regarding fish as he did with wine and meat. In spiritual or subtle Tantra the "fish" refers to two subtle nerves which run up the body, starting at the base of the spine and crisscrossing each other and ending in the two nostrils. These nerves are known as the w:Nadi (yoga)ida and pingala. By the science of breath control, Pranayama, the currents of the nerves are controlled and the mind becomes calm for meditation. This is the Matsya of the spiritual practitioner."

"Another of the Ms is Mudra. Mudra has only a spiritual significance and there is no physical or crude practice associated with it."

"The last of the Ms, Maethuna, is the one which has caused the most confusion regarding Tantra. Maethuna means union. In its crude sense it means sexual union. For those who were dominated by the sexual instinct for the more advanced practitioners, those who were practicing subtle or spiritual Tantra, Shiva taught another practice of Maethuna. In this case "union" refers to the union of individual consciousness with Supreme Consciousness. In this case the spiritual energy of the human being, lying dormant at the base of the spine, is raised until it reaches the highest energy center (near the pineal gland), causing the spiritual aspirant to experience union with the Supreme."

"According to Tantra, struggle is the essence of life. The effort to struggle against all obstacles and move from the imperfect to the perfect is the true spirit of Tantra."

"I protest I have always protested against unjust aspersions upon the civilization of India.... The Tantra Sastra is not, as some seems to suppose, a petty Sastra of no account....It is on the contrary, with Veda, Smriti and Purana, one of the foremost important Sastras of India, governing in various degrees....the temple and household ritual of the whole of India… for centuries past."

"This form of practice must never even be mentioned in the Math. Ruin shall seize the wicked man, both here and hereafter, who would introduce vile |w:Vamachara|Vamachan]] into his fold."

"Tantrikism in its real sense is nothing but the Vedic religion struggling with wonderful success to reassert itself amidst all those new problems of religious life…which historical events have thrust upon it."

"See some Lama and understand from him what your beliefs are. It is so extraordinary to us Europeans that you Buddhists and Hindus and every one of you do not understand your own religions....I speak particularly of the Tantric doctrines."

"The Vedanta is the final authority and basis for the doctrines set forth in the Tantras....the Tantra shastras has been for centuries past one of the recognized scriptures of Hinduism, and every form of Hinduism is based on Veda and Vedanta."

"The Sakta Tantra simply present the Vedanthic teachings in a symbolic form for the worshipper, to whom it prescribes the means whereby they may be realized in fact."

"Vedanta in its various forms has for centuries constituted the religious notions of India, and the Agamas...are its practical expression in worship in p. 140"

"The real meaning of the word Tantra is Shastra, as for example, Kâpila Tantra. But the word Tantra is generally used in a limited sense. Under the sway of kings who took up Buddhism and preached broadcast the doctrine of Ahimsâ, the performances of the Vedic Yâga-Yajnas became a thing of the past, and no one could kill any animal in sacrifice for fear of the king. But subsequently amongst the Buddhists themselves — who were converts from Hinduism — the best parts of these Yaga-Yajnas were taken up, and practiced in secret. From these sprang up the Tantras. Barring some of the abominable things in the Tantras, such as the Vâmâchâra etc., the Tantras are not so bad as people are inclined to think. There are many high and sublime Vedantic thoughts in them. In fact, the Brâhmana portions of the Vedas were modified a little and incorporated into the body of the Tantras. All the forms of our worship and the ceremonials of the present day, comprising the Karma Kanda, are observed in accordance with the Tantras."

"It was therefore that Shri Ramakrishna came. The days of practising the Tantra in that fashion are gone. He, too, practised the Tantra, but not in that way. Where there is the injunction of drinking wine, he would simply touch his forehead with a drop of it. The Tantrika form of worship is a very slippery ground. Hence I say that this province has had enough of the Tantra. Now it must go beyond. The Vedas should be studied. A harmony of the four kinds of Yogas must be practised and absolute chastity must be preserved"