15 - Discourses on Tantra Volume Two

Chapter 3

Tantra and Sádhaná (1)

The Practical Cult of Spirituality

To remain satisfied with a little is contrary to human nature. That is why, since the dawn of creation, human beings have been worshipping the Supreme Entity. People longed for supreme knowledge, for indirect and direct spiritual realization. This fundamental human yearning for supreme expansion led people to discover the practical cult of spirituality. Moreover, it created in the human mind the sense of inquisitiveness, the spirit of dedication, and the thirst for knowledge. It is because of these noble qualities that human beings have become what they are today.

The divine revelations experienced by the sages of the ancient Vedic age through their meditative vision have been compiled in the Vedas. Thus the Vedas have to some extent quenched the human thirst for intellectual knowledge. But they have not quenched the thirst for supreme knowledge, the fundamental thirst of human life. That thirst can only be quenched through the illuminating realizations of sádhaná [spiritual practice].

There is no reliable evidence to suggest that in the Vedic period spiritual knowledge was handed down from preceptor to disciple. As far as we know from the history of spiritual sádhaná, Lord Shiva was the first to propound it, and He gave this spiritual cult the name Tantra. Tantra is the secret behind spiritual progress.

The scriptural definition of tantra is Taḿ jád́yát tárayet yastu sah tantrah parikiirttitah [“Tantra is that which liberates a person from the bondages of staticity”]. Taḿ is the acoustic root of staticity.

Tantra has another meaning as well. The Sanskrit root verb tan means “to expand”. So the practical process that leads to one’s expansion and consequent emancipation is called tantra. Thus sádhaná and Tantra are inseparable.

Strictly speaking, theoretical knowledge cannot be called Tantra. Tantra is a practical science. Hence in Tantra the importance of book knowledge is secondary. The practical process of Tantra begins with the physical and progresses to the physico-psychic, then to the psycho-spiritual, then ultimately results in [the supreme spiritual stance,] ensconcement in the átmá [self]. [This scientific process sets it apart from many other schools.]

As the practical aspect is the most important factor in Tantra, the greatest emphasis is placed on the preceptor-disciple relationship. The disciple must do intense spiritual practice to be worthy of the preceptor’s instructions at every stage of development.

And it was for this reason that Sadáshiva never wanted the Tantric teachings to be written down. However, in course of time, due to a lack of competent preceptors and disciples, Tantra was about to be lost to society. It therefore became an imperative necessity to put the teachings in book form to save them from total extinction. There are presently sixty-four Tantric texts.

Tantra is broadly composed of two parts – nigama and ágama. The former is mainly theoretical; the latter practical. As the Vedic scriptures are not based on practical instructions, some people are inclined to categorize them as nigama.

According to the Rudrayámala Tantra,

Ágataḿ Shivavaktrebhyo gataiṋca Girijáshrutao; Mataiṋca Vásudevasya tasmádágama ucyate.

[The science which comes from the mouth of Lord Shiva, goes to the ears of Párvatii, and is approved by Lord Krśńa, is called ágama.(1)]

No serious or sincere Tantric can agree with this shloka [couplet]. Why should the science which was propounded by Lord Shiva need to be “approved by Lord Krśńa”? The Rudrayámala Tantra was formulated much later than Lord Shiva. This shloka was cleverly included in the Rudrayámala Tantra by the protagonists of the Vedas.(2)