11 - Discourses on Tantra Volume Two

Chapter 2 Tantra and Its Effect on Society (2)

There is spiritual force in each and every living entity. The practical interpretation of Tantra is to awaken this spiritual force and expand it, with the one objective of unifying it with the Supreme Divinity. The lowermost portion of the spinal cord is known as kula, [the abode of] Svayambhú. It is called kula because it bears the weight of the main physical trunk: ku means “creation” and la means “holder” (lá + da = la). [The abode of] Svayambhúliuṋga, bearing the weight of the main physical trunk, is rightly termed kula.

The unconscious animality residing in this kula in a coiled form, is nothing but the latent divine force. It gets back its original status as soon as its attachment for crude objectivities is removed. Because of its coiled form, this sleeping divine force is known as the kulakuńd́alinii, or the “coiled serpentine”. So the first and foremost phase of spiritual sádhaná lies in awakening the kulakuńd́alinii from her long hibernation, with the help of a proper wave coming from a great spiritualist [and] with the help of a proper mantra. But for one’s spiritual march, just to awaken her is not sufficient. This awakened kulakuńd́alinii must be pushed upwards, and her existence must be suspended in the non-attributed existence of Shiva [Supreme Consciousness]. To suspend the kulakuńd́alinii in Shiva is the ideal of Tantra.

Dhyáyet kuńd́aliniiḿ sukśmáḿ múládháranivásiniiḿ Támiśt́a devatá rupaḿ sárdhatri balayánvitam; Koti saodáminiibhásaḿ Svayambhúliuṋgavesthitám.

[One should meditate on the kuńd́alinii – residing in the múládhára cakra in a subtle and divine form – coiled three-and-a-half times – with the effulgence of a million moons – wrapped around the Svayambhúliuṋga.]

There are various glands of various types in the human structure. Each and every gland may be treated as the controlling station of a particular mental [propensity], and the intensity of expression of the mental [propensities] depends on the proper secretion of hormones from these glands. As a general rule hormones secreted from the lower glands cannot influence the upper glands, but they can, directly or indirectly, influence the glands situated at lower points. Since the sahasrára cakra [corresponding to the pineal gland] is the highest cakra, or plexus, hormones secreted by that plexus can control all other glands of the human body. Just now I said that the kulakuńd́alinii is awakened by the force of spiritual waves, or of mantra, and these glands help spiritual aspirants by creating such a force. The sahasrára cakra being the controller of all the glands, it is the central station of all the waves and mantras.

In each and every important gland or sub-gland there resides the seed of its expression, that is, a mátrká varńa. So in the sahasrára cakra there [lie the seeds] of all expressions – that is, all the mátrká varńas are there. The synthetic form of all the mátrká varńas is the oṋḿkára [oṋm-sound]. So it is crystal-clear that the potentiality of expression of all the instincts of the human mind lies in the sahasrára cakra.

Human [staticity] can be converted into spirituality or divinity only after arriving at the sahasrára cakra. The lowermost plexus, the múládhára, is the site of crudeness, and the uppermost plexus, the sahasrára, is just the opposite, it is the site of consciousness. So people of animal instinct have no other way, if they want to free themselves from worldly illusions, than to take the kulakuńd́alinii from the múládhára to the sahasrára. The inner spirit of raising of the kulakuńd́alinii is for one to control the [propensities] and seed sounds of the different glands and to suspend one’s self in Paramashiva [the Nucleus Consciousness], whose rank is beyond the scope of all the instincts and seed sounds. It is a process of shattering the páshas [bondages] of all mental weaknesses; and after conquering these weaknesses and other mental ripus [enemies], to transform animality into divinity. This sádhaná of the kulakuńd́alinii is a great fight. After establishing oneself above the scope of each and every instinct, idea and seed sound, a sádhaka must go on with his or her fight, with the intention of merging himself or herself into the Supreme Entity which is beyond the arena of the world of ideation. So the sádhaná of Tantra is a great battle, a sádhanásamara.

The main characteristic of Tantra is that it represents human vigour. It represents a pactless fight. Where there is no fight there is no sádhaná. Under such circumstances Tantra cannot be there, where there is no sádhaná, no fight. It is an impossibility to conquer a crude idea and to replace it by a subtle idea without a fight. It is not at all possible without sádhaná. Hence, Tantra is not only a fight, it is an all-round fight. It is not only an external or internal fight, it is simultaneously both. The internal fight is a practice of the subtler portion of Tantra. The external fight is a fight of the cruder portion of Tantra. And the fight both external and internal is a fight in both ways at once.