23 - Discourses on Tantra Volume Two

Chapter 3 Tantra and Sádhaná (9)

The Lessons of Tantra (3)

Tantra, being a practical process, does not recognize any external practices or showy displays, and in particular does not recognize idol worship as the best process of sádhaná. Even the Vedas, although they contain references to idols, do not approve of idol worship; and Tantra is much more liberal, much more psychological, than the Vedas. According to Tantra idol worship is also a process of sádhaná, but the crudest process.

Uttamo Brahmasadbhávo madhyamá dhyánadhárańá; Japastuti syádadhamá múrtipújá dhamádhamá.

[Ideation on Brahma is the best, dhyána and dhárańá are second best, repetitious incantation and eulogistic prayer are the worst, and idol worship is the worst of the worst.]

Tantra declares that Citistad shabda lakśárthácidekarasarúpinii [“The Supreme Entity is fundamentally citi (consciousness). It is an unbroken flow of cognition.”] The Supreme Entity is a continuous flow of cognition, only attainable through the process of incantation. So how could Tantra consider the worship of idols or matter an ideal type of sádhaná?

In Tantra there are three types of sádhaná: pravrtti sádhaná, nivrtti sádhaná, and a combination of the two. The crude and horrifying practices of pisháca sádhaná [pisháca = “ghoul”] are part of pravrtti sádhaná. The goal of pisháca sádhaná is to establish supremacy over material forces. Even though one acquires certain powers, and thereby the possibility of some purely temporary happiness, after practising this sádhaná for some time, one’s degeneration is inevitable, for it is based on an external outlook. Pisháca sádhakas will suffer the inevitable fate of being reborn as animals or being converted into wood, earth or stone.

Tantra’s nivrtti márga is the highest type of practice. Through this process a spiritual aspirant attains elevation step by step. Nirváńa or mahánirváńa, mukti or mokśa,(15) can be attained through this process. The path which mixes pravrtti and nivrtti is called the path of upavidyá. Nivrtti márga, or Vidyá Tantra, brings about the highest excellence in the spiritual sphere, but the mixed path of pravrtti and nivrtti brings neither degeneration nor progress. Hence it can be said that practitioners of upavidyá simply waste their valuable time.

Tantra’s freedom from superstition, and its psychological approach, are clearly illustrated in the last few lines of the Mahánirváńa Tantra:

Bálariid́ańavat sarvarúpanámádikalpanam; Kevalaḿ Brahmaniśt́ha yah sa mukto nátra saḿshayah. Mrcchiládhátudárvádimúrttáviishvaro buddhayo; Klishyantastapasáh jiṋánaḿ viná mokśam ná yánti te. Manasá kalpitá múrtih nrńáḿ cenmokśasádhanii; Svapnalabdhena rájyena rájáno mánavástadá. Ná muktirtapanáddhomádupavásashataerapi; Brahmaeváhamiti jiṋátvá mukto bhavati dehabhrt. Váyu parńa kanátoyaḿ vratino mokśabháginah; Apicet pannagáh muktáh pashupakśii jalecaráh.(16)

To realize the greatness of Tantra, one will have to carry on spiritual practice. A non-practitioner can never penetrate into the mysteries of Tantra.

Some people are under the wrong impression that as the practice of Tantra is based on an ardent love for ideology there is no room for devotion; or if there is an element of devotion, it is a very minor one. But this is not correct. On the contrary, Tantra’s love of ideology is dependent on parábhakti [absolute devotion]. Hence it has been said:

Api cet sudurácáro bhajate mámananyabhák; So’pi pápavinirmuktah mucyate bhavabandhanát.

[If even the most wicked persons worship Me with a concentrated mind, I will liberate them from the three bondages (physical, psychic and spiritual).]

And finally, regarding Parama Brahma, Tantra has said,

Oṋḿ namaste sate sarvalokáshrayáya; Namaste Cite vishvarúpátmakáya. Namo’dvaetatattváya muktipradáya; Namo Brahmańe vyápine nirguńáya. Tadekaḿ sharańyaḿ tadekaḿ vareńyaḿ; Tadekaḿ jagatkárańaḿ vishvarúpam. Tadekaḿ jagatkarttr-pátr praharttrḿ; Tadekaḿ paraḿ nishcalaḿ nirvikalpam. Bhayánáḿ bhayaḿ bhiiśańaḿ bhiiśańánáḿ; Gatih práńináḿ pávanaḿ pávanánám. Mahaccaeh padánáḿ niyantr tadekaḿ; Paresháḿ paraḿ rakśakaḿ rakśakáńám. Paresha prabho sarvarúpavináshinnanirdeshya; Sarvendriyágamyasatya. Acintyákśara vyápakávyaktatattva; Jagadbhásakádhiisha páyádapáyát. Tadekaḿ smarámastadekaḿ japámas; Tadekaḿ jagat sákśiirúpaḿ namámah. Tadekaḿ nidhánaḿ nirálambamiishaḿ; Bhavámbodhipotaḿ sharańaḿ vrajámah.

–Mahánirváńa Tantra

[My salutations to the Self-Existent Entity, the supreme shelter of all the created worlds. My salutations to the Supreme Cognition, the Supreme One, the Absolute One in the form of this expressed universe. My salutations to the supreme non-dualistic Entity, the distributor of salvation. My salutations to Brahma, the All-Pervasive and Non-Attributional Entity. My salutations to that Supreme Entity who is the ultimate refuge of all, the supreme adorable one, the primordial cause of the universe, the One who has deliberately assumed the form of the universe. My salutations to That which has been creating, protecting and dissolving this universe. My salutations to that Supreme Unmovable Entity, the One without an alternative. My salutations to that which is the fear of all fears, who is the dread of all dreadful entities, the Supreme Terminus of all living beings, the purity of all purities, the Supreme Controller, controlling even the highest dignitaries of the universe. That Supreme Entity is the Subject of all subjects, the Supreme Lord of everything. All the objects, or forms, ultimately merge in Him. He cannot be shown to anybody. He is the Supreme Truth, inaccessible to the senses. He is beyond the capacity of thought. He is intransmutable. He is the most pervasive Entity, yet at the same time, He is unmanifest. It is He who has given expression to the expressed universe; yet at the same time He is above the fundamental factors of which the universe is made. Him only we remember, on Him only we contemplate; my salutations to that Supreme Entity, the witnessing force of this expressed universe. We seek shelter in that supreme ship of the universe, who is the most dependable shelter, but who has no shelter of His own.]

25 May 1960 DMC, Saharsa

(15) “Liberation or emancipation (non-qualified liberation)” – in the terminology first of Buddhist Tantra, then of Hindu Tantra. –Eds.

(16) Translation of first four couplets: “Meditation on the names and forms (of idols) is a kind of child’s play. Only one whose mind is reverently concentrated on Brahma will win liberation; there is no doubt about this. Those who think that Parama Puruśa is confined within idols made of clay, stone, metal, or wood, are simply torturing their bodies with penances – they will surely not attain salvation without self-knowledge. If an idol produced out of the human imagination can bring about salvation, then can a person, by creating a kingdom in his dreams, become a king in the real sense? Liberation is not attainable by penance, sacrificial rituals, or hundreds of fasts. Living beings attain liberation when they realize, ‘I am Brahma.’” –Eds.