Tantra Philosophy Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

As the founder of a global movement of spiritually-oriented and socially-minded intellectuals, artists and writers called Renaissance Universal, Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar (1922-1990), a spiritual teacher (also known as Shrii Shrii Anandamurti) and social philosopher, describes the interrelationship, clashes and inter-mixing between the indigenous people of early India with their Tantra-based civilization and the Aryans who migrated into India bringing their Vedic civilization. This spoken discourse was given in May 1959. It is one of a series of remarkable semi-annual Renaissance Universal discourses given by P. R. Sarkar after the founding of the Renaissance Universal movement. The discourse presents a strong challenge to traditional thinking about this important topic -- Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, 13 September, 2020.

- by Richard Gauthier
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- Hinduism, Spirituality, Yoga Meditation, Tantric Studies

“O human beings, you are fortunate. The clarion call of the Universal has reached you. Not only has the call come, but you are hearing it and it is vibrating in every cell of your body. Will you now lie in the corner of your house as an inert being and waste your time by clinging to old skeletons and bemoaning them? The Supreme Being is calling you in the roar of the ocean, in the thunder of the clouds, in the speed of lightning, in the meteor’s flaming fires. Nothing good will come from idleness. Get up and awake the clouded chivalry of your dormant youth. It may be that the path is not strewn with flowers and that inferiority complex will be attempting to hold fast your each advancing step, but even then you have to proceed onwards, tearing the shroud of darkness. You will tear the thick darkness of despair as you advance in the racing chariot radiant with the Sun’s brilliance towards the attainment of the Supreme state.” Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti (1921-1990) was a Tantric guru in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna. He introduced the empowered universal spiritual mantra “Baba Nam Kevalam”, composed a collection of 5018 spiritual songs called Prabháta Saḿgiita, and founded the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (“the Path of Bliss”). – Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, August 17, 2021.

- by Richard Gauthier
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- Indian Philosophy, Metaphysics of Consciousness, Indian studies, Yoga

This is a unique and foundational presentation of a spiritual philosophy for all humanity. Like no other book, but rather like spiritual practice itself, Idea and Ideology methodically, in a careful sequence, expands the reader’s horizons and mind. It concludes by using the spiritual vantage that has been gained to focus on the social problems of the earth. P. R. Sarkar, (1921-1990), was a spiritual teacher (also known as Shrii Shrii Anandamurti) in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna, who propounded PROUT (Progressive Utilization Theory) and who founded the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (“the Path of Bliss”). – Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, May 5, 2021.

- by Richard Gauthier
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- Hinduism, Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Science

Resumo O homem bruto é o que está esvaziado dos símbolos que dão sentido moral ao trabalho, ao comércio, a ordem social, ao direito e a as relações pessoais por onde tudo passa, e uma filosofia deve ser aquela que forneça aos interessados a significação dos símbolos de forma que o símbolo passe a preencher e dar sentido nas suas relações pessoais. Isto requer um meio prático de utilizar esta interpretação da realidade que possa ser usada pelo indivíduo, tanto para se deslocar pela realidade, Tan, como para ser o si mesmo, Tra; Tantra. E ao usar esta interpretação da realidade este indivíduo passa a ter uma pessoalidade que lhe garanta um mínimo de bem estar. O Tantra se baseia tanto no fenômeno sexual com no entendimento como forma de auto realização. O Tantra é a filosofia do si mesmo, si mesmo que tem o mesmo sentido de Purusha, do "homem" como o ser além da nossa pessoalidade, e diferente das demais filosofias o tantra não apela que este si mesmo seja a consciência, este é talvez o maior diferencial do Tantra das demais filosofias orientais, principalmente hindus. O si mesmo não tem relação direta com a consciência e sim com o entendimento que temos da realidade e como nós nos deslocamos nela. Para ser uma filosofia o Tantra deve fornecer uma interpretação da realidade; uma interpretação da pessoalidade; e uma interpretação do si mesmo. E elaborar com estas três um meio de aplicar a filosofia no dia a dia, ou seja, uma meditação. A realidade é tripla, temos a vigília, os sonhos e o sono, a pessoalidade é tripla, ela vive na vigília, vive nos sonhos e desaparece no sono, e o si mesmo apresenta para nós uma visão tripla de sua atuação significando tudo e sendo ele mesmo no sono. A partir desta constatação temos um corpo físico, um corpo psíquico, e um si mesmo. O corpo é a nossa base física onde exercemos todo nosso poder, o corpo psíquico é a nossa "mente" onde existimos para nós mesmos e onde podemos perceber a realidade, e o si mesmo é quem significa os objetos

- by Mestre Bhava
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- Tantra Philosophy

“What is God?” “Who am I?” “What is my relation with the universe?” “How should human beings live in this world?” Ananda Marga – Elementary Philosophy was the first-published of the more than 250 books of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, a spiritual preceptor and guru in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna. It continues to hold its place as an introduction to his entire philosophy. Its specialty is the use of formal, though simple, logic to make a highly convincing case for the existence of the Supreme Consciousness and the need for intuitional or spiritual practice. It provides straightforward and rational answers to the above and many other vital questions. It is a ‘must read’ for anyone needing rational reasons for consciously embarking on a path to attain the spiritual goal of human life – the unqualified infinite Supreme Consciousness from which we all originated. “Ananda Marga” means “Path of Bliss” and is both the philosophy and the associated practical system of intuitional and spiritual practices given by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, based on Yoga and Tantra, and leading to ultimate spiritual attainment and fulfillment. This is chapter 1 of the eight-chapter book. Bon voyage! – Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, November 3, 2020.

- by Richard Gauthier
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- Hinduism, Cosmology (Physics), Atheism, Spirituality

Here, are some easy remedies by Best Vedic Astrologer Master Deepak Ji, that will diminish the effects of Negative Rahu and bring in positivity and success. Master Deepak Ji is a renowned and dynamic Vedic Astrologer an expert in Numerology Gemology, Vastu Shastra and Lal Kitab. Based in USA.A World Renowned, Award Winning Vedic Astrologer.

- by larson reever
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- Hinduism, Tantra, Renaissance magic and astrology, Hindu temples

“In the beginning God was a woman, and from her womb she created all that is, thus she is all things and all things are her.”(Karen Tate:”Sacred Places of Goddess”) The intricate manner in which culture is inter-woven into the way... more

- by Dr.Adyasha Das
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- Tantra Philosophy

Our lack of awareness of Being results in bewildering experience. The intrinsic inner radiance, the inner light of Being arises out of primordial luminous spaciousness, the unbound openness of unbound pure potentiality. When this primordial ground of Being is veiled and obscured by the lack of experiential awareness, we can be locked into dualistic experiences, and consequently the non-dual nature of the field of Being is experientially foreclosed. The sense of indivisibility of all phenomena and awareness is experientially foreclosed. The capacity to see into, feel into and see through the lucidity of phenomena as the very field of Being becomes foreclosed and densified. We then live contained in mind alone. There is no experience of the field of Being. Without the field of Being we easily become things and objects both to our self and to others.

- by rudolph bauer
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- Critical Theory, Religion, Gnosticism, Buddhism
- by Lance E Nelson
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- Yoga, Tantra, Kashmiri Literature, Pratyabhijna Philosophy

Here is the English translation of the Sanskrit manuscript of the original text of the Kaulajñānaniṇaya published by ADITYA PRAKASHAN, New Delhi:
THE KAULAJÑĀNIRṆAYA
The Esoteric Teachings of Matsyendrapāda (Matsyendranātha)
Sadguru of the Yoginī Kaula School in the Tantra Tradition
Edited and translated by Pandit Satkari Mukhopadhyaya in collaboration with Stella Dupuis.

- by Stella Dupuis
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- Tantra, Yogini Cult, Tantra Philosophy, Matsyendranatha

In the Gudyargarbha tantra there is this most wonderful verse. Appearances, sounds, and thoughts are the diety, mantra and the state of dharmakaya. What this wonderful language brings forward into our awareness is the amazing... more

- by rudolph bauer
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- Critical Theory, Gnosticism, Buddhism, Hinduism

Principios prácticos de sexualidad amorosa con perspectiva liberadora.

- by Fernando Baena Vejarano
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- Tantra, Sexualidad, Sexología, Tantra Philosophy
- by rudolph bauer
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- Critical Theory, Religion, Gnosticism, Buddhism

A person's own inner most awareness and the movements within their awareness field bring forth their direct personal experience of their cosmological archetypal field of awareness. This spontaneous event is given to us within the archetypal realm of awareness. The archetypal dimension manifests itself as us, and reveals itself to us through our experience of its self-manifestation.

- by rudolph bauer
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- Critical Theory, Religion, Hinduism, Comparative Religion

In this paper the aim is to understand what liberation is (i.e. the nature of liberation and how it is realized) according to two non-dual traditions of India: Śankara’s Advaita Vedānta and the Pratyabhijñā system of the Advaita Śaiva. To understand the nature of liberation according to these two philosophies, one must consider the metaphysics and especially their understanding of the world. It is therefore important to look very carefully at what these philosophies have to say about creation and the existence of the world. The world notion is important since it has implications on the description of the liberated state. The question of liberation is therefore deeply connected to that of the world and the aim of this paper is to understand the relationship between these notions.

- by Klara Hedling
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- Shaiva Tantra, Tantra Philosophy, Adi Sankaracarya, Advaita Vedānta

Timeless awareness is the essence of Dzogchen. Time experienced within timeless awareness is also an expression of the essence of Dzogchen. Dzogchen is an ancient form of Tibetan mystic humanism. Dzogchen makes the essential distinction between mind and awareness. A person can be located in mind alone and locked in time. As a person shifts from being located in mind alone (mindfulness) and goes beyond mind alone (mindfulness), one becomes aware of their own awareness. As we focus our awareness on our own innermost awareness, vast dimensions of awareness begin to open and self-reveal its nature to us. Awareness is a multidimensional experience and this awareness is infinite in its horizons. The innate qualities of awareness are spaciousness or openness or emptiness. Another quality of our awareness is luminous radiance and still another is awareness as energy. Awareness is alive and is both vast stillness and unceasing movement. The Union of Mind and Awareness When a person is able to experience the union of their mind and their awareness, then the person has a simultaneous experience of being in time and in timeless awareness. The mind is the place of thinking, feeling, sensation, memory and imagination and the mind is the mode of knowing singularity and difference in the world. This is the realm of ordinary knowingness and this is the realm of duality. Our mind is the realm of time. This time bound knowing is the knowing of you and I, us and them, this or that in time and place.

- by rudolph bauer
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- Critical Theory, Religion, Gnosticism, Buddhism

While in the past I took almost for granted that the grounds of Abhinavagupta’s aesthetic thought were to be found in his philosophical-religious speculation, in the course of time my feeling has been gradually changing and now I am more and more inclined to give prominence to a basic aesthetic flavour as the more or less hidden background of his activity as a whole. This aesthetic flavour goes hand by hand with an aristocratic attitude, the latter being allegedly the very source where the former stems from.

- by raffaele torella
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- Aesthetics, Indian studies, Tantric Studies, Indian Culture

This is a collection of inspirational, rational and enlightening excerpts from many remarkable spiritual discourses by Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar (1922-1990). Also known as Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti, P. R. Sarkar was a spiritual guru in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna. He founded the international socio-spiritual organization Ananda Marga (“Path of Bliss”) -- Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, December 28, 2020.

- by Richard Gauthier
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- Buddhism, Hinduism, Metaphysics of Consciousness, Spirituality

A major characteristic of the aristocratic attitude—and I would not know how to better define the flavor that pervades the whole of Abhinavagupta’s work—is the downgrading of all painful effort, seen as a plebeian feature. The aristocrat intends to show that what inferior people can achieve only at the cost of long and painful exercises is accessible to him promptly and very easily. One of the recurring qualifications for Abhinavagupta’s attitude to the spiritual path is precisely absence of effort, absence of exertion or fatigue, easiness. This can be clearly detected in Abhinavagupta’s attitude to yoga, or, to be more precise, to Pātañjala yoga. In the summary of the topics of the Tantrāloka (TĀ), at the end of Āhnika I, he lists “uselessness of yogāṅgas.” When all yogāṅgas, abhyāsa, vairāgya, etc., are viewed from the peak of the highest aesthetically marked spiritual experiencer, they are condemned unreservedly (following the lead of the Vīrāvalī-tantra). On the other hand, after delivering such a pitiless death sentence, Abhinavagupta seems to gracefully suspend it, and allow common people to follow pāśavayoga ‘yoga for limited souls’ in the context of the “minimal means” with the motivation that after all everything is made of everything, and, as the Mālinīvijayottara teaches, “nothing is to be prescribed, nothing to be prohibited.”

- by raffaele torella
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- Indian Philosophy, Indian studies, Yoga Philosophy, Tantra

Il libro è dedicato a lei, alla Dea Madre e ai suoi mille volti, a quell’energia femminile, ora più che mai necessaria per creare una nuova condizione di pace. Questa particolare ‘guida di vi-aggio’ enfatizza lo sguardo femminile presente in ogni creatura vivente. Il libro si concentra sull’Eros e il Tantra, incontrando le misteriose Dakini e il loro potere penetrante e creativo, nei luoghi più segreti dell’India, e non solo. Anche Yogini, Apsaras e altre mille creature ci guideranno negli angoli più remoti della natura, in quel tempo ove il cielo era una parte della terra, e la terra era fusa con tutti gli elementi…

- by Morena Poltronieri
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- Cambodia, India (Anthropology), India, Simbolism

By contextualizing the ways gestures are used and interpreted in tantric practice and philosophy, this paper explores the cultural and cognitive domains of corporeal expression. Initiating the conversation with descriptions of basic dance gestures and widely understood emotional expres-sions, the paper proceeds to address the generative nature of corporeal language as it contextual-izes varied forms of esoteric experience. Confronting simplistic readings of gestural language, the core argument here is that tantric gestures introduce a distinctive form of embodied language that relies on a propositional attitude for deciphering their meanings. This process becomes a ritual in its own right. Even when we accept that gestures represent meaning, tantric gestures are under-stood to mirror the innate experience, prior to being shaped by language and culture, and in this sense they reflect the absolute. As a consequence, language becomes physical in time and space, and even when language transcends itself, it remains embodied. In sum, tantric gestures can be deciphered to unravel the deeper layers inherent to the sign system, and this is possible only when we are open to critically engaging folk theories.

- by Sthaneshwar Timalsina
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- Semiotics, Religion, Visual Studies, Philosophy Of Religion

Lo Shivaismo del Kashmir è stato il mio "primo amore" filosofico indiano e continua tutt'ora ad essere un sistema di pensiero che mi affascina moltissimo. Nonostante la sua complessità e deframmentazione presenta un nucleo speculativo solido ed evoluto che, a mio parere, rappresenta l'ultima grande realizzazione del pensiero teoretico indiano. In Italia abbiamo la fortuna di poter leggere in traduzione alcuni dei suoi testi fondamentali grazie al lavoro di Gnoli, Torella e dei loro allievi. Ciononostante manca ancora uno studio sistematico che affronti lo Shivaismo kashmiro dal punto di vista filosofico. Anni fa ho provato a realizzare una cosa del genere - pensando ad un testo comunque sintetico e relativamente "breve" - sapendo bene che in Italia sarebbe stato impubblicabile per svariate ragioni, non ultima l'inevitabile complessità del testo. A distanza di cinque anni dalla sua stesura non esistono ancora, a quanto ne so, cose simili nel panorama italiano. Ecco perché ve lo presento qui come draft, con tutte le sue lacune, imperfezioni e sbavature, alcune anche gravi, ne sono consapevole, ma con una sostanziale completezza intrinseca che mi pare possa essere utile a chi voglia prendere confidenza con una scuola filosofica come quella kashmira, estremamente difficile da approcciare senza una preparazione specifica, eppure estremamente importante per la storia culturale dell'India. Si tratta, lo ripeto, di un lavoro incompleto dal punto di vista editoriale, che necessiterebbe di un lungo lavoro di revisione dal punto di vista anche bibliografico prima di andare in stampa. Mi si perdonino quindi, lo spero, tutti gli errori e le ingenuità di cui è costellato, e si guardi, lo auspico, al suo contenuto e alla sua struttura, che mi paiono, pur nella loro precarietà, strumenti di studio e basi di partenza per futuri e più fecondi sviluppi.

- by Giacomo Foglietta
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- Indian Philosophy, Advaita Vedanta, Tantra, Vedanta and Nondualism

It is not easy to understand the nature of the guru and understanding the nature of the guru can be bewildering. There is often bewilderment about the guru. One source of the bewilderment is that people think that the guru is an individual person and for most people the understanding that the guru is not a person has been foreclosed. The guru is not a person. And when people see and believe the guru is a person, such a belief will create illusions about the person whom they think is the guru, and their own relationship with the person whom they see as the guru will fall into various forms of the psychology of transference. Moreover, the true and pervasive nature of the guru will be concealed and the power of the guru limited and anthropomorphized, and politicized. To use Heideggerian language the ontic dimension will become the focus and the ontological dimension becomes foreclosed. In fact, the guru is not an entity, the guru is not a thing, and the guru is not even a being. The guru is the field of Being. The guru is the field of Being's manifestation of understanding, manifestation of protection and manifestation of self-revelation. The guru is the radiance of primordial awareness. The contemporary master of Kashmir Shavism, Swami Muktananda would teach, using the language of theology, " the guru is the grace bestowing power of God. " He would also say " The guru is your own innermost awareness and you must get beyond your mind to experience the guru as your own awareness. " Vehicle-ness It is also equally true that a person can be vehicle of the guru. Even you and I can be a vehicle for the guru. The light of the guru can manifest and shine forth through you and me, and through everyone. The power of the guru does not manifest only through institutional religious teachers as some would like you to think, but most often this manifestation is through

- by rudolph bauer
- •
- Critical Theory, Religion, Gnosticism, Buddhism

The phenomenology of the unfolding elaboration of our capacity to know Being directly and as well as our experience to know Being through beings is the focus of this paper. I will focus on the phenomenological elaboration of our knowing of mind; the phenomenological knowing of direct awareness and the consequent simultaneous intertwining of knowing through mind and through awareness. This union of our mind and our awareness allows the knowing of Being through beings and knowing the indivisibleness of beings and Being. As the Dakini said to Dudjom Lingpa " You and I are indivisible. " Our paper begins with a phenomenological elaboration of the Two Ways of Knowing. This is a necessary and a most useful distinction for our knowing of both beings and Being simultaneously. The Two Ways of Knowing: Mind Knowing Form and Awareness Knowing Being Mind Knows Form! Our mind knows forms, and things, both subtle and gross. Our mind knows beings and things. Our mind knows subject and our mind knows otherness. Our mind knows dualities .Our mind knows me and you, us and them and this and that. Mind knows time. Our mind knows the sense of the past, the sense of present and a sense of the future. The mind knows entities. Our mind knows difference. Our mind thinks conceptually, feels affectively, imagines through images, the mind senses sensation and the mind has memory. The mind always knows dualistically. Our mind thinks and knows through thoughts, our mind feels and knows through feelings, our mind has sensations, knows through sensation and our mind has fantasy and knows through imagination. The knowledge of our mind is mediated through conceptualization and representational thinking. Our mind can even know the mind of others. However, our mind cannot know Being and our mind cannot know the Being-ness of beings. Our mind cannot experience Being. Our mind cannot know Being directly. Awareness Knows Being! Our awareness directly knows Being and our awareness can directly know the Being-ness of beings. Being itself is not a being and Being manifests beings, infinite numbers of beings. Being manifests Being within beings as their own being. Being itself is not an entity and Being is not a being. Being is not a thing. Being is non-duality. Being knows the non-duality of everything and anything. Being is oneness and pervasiveness. Being is openness, and Being self-manifests as radiant light. Being is compassionate creative resonance. Being manifests presence. Our awareness can know the indivisible presence of the Being-ness of beings within beings and between beings. Being manifests duality, although Being is completely non-dual. By becoming aware of awareness, we experience primordial awareness which is the ground of being, which is Being itself. Awareness is Being. Awareness is Being knowing Being. Being knows Being and is the Being-ness of all the beings. Awareness can be timeless as well as awareness can be in time. Awareness can be timelessness and in time simultaneously.

- by rudolph bauer
- •
- Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, Psychology, Clinical Psychology

This paper engages Abhinavagupta’s (11th C.) philosophy of “aham,” “I”
or “I-am,” in a global philosophical platform. Abhinavagupta reads aham to ground speech in experiencing and expressing subjectivity. The aham, in this background, has three distinctive topographies: aham as the ego of the empirical subject, aham as the subject of experience that objectifies the ego, and aham as the ego that embodies the totality (It is generally problematic to assign any specific concept to a particular
philosopher. For example, the all-embracing nature of aham is already found in Utpala’s writings (Dyczkowski 1990, p. 11). Nemec (2011, p. 42) reiterates the fact that the concept of pūrṇāhantā or the vocabulary to support this concept is absent in Somānanda. Besides Abhinava, I am incorporating later Śākta commentarial texts in this analysis. My justification for giving Abhinava main credit is that he formally
established this concept and later commentators primarily expand upon his insights. While aham in its most exalted sense relates
to the absolute I-consciousness that embraces the totality, it immanently encloses all individualities within its embrace, enveloping all to find a singular identity through its transcendental gaze. Aham in this sense is the “I-am” in which all those within the parameters discover their individuality while also finding collectivity. It is the I-sense that determines or delimits the parameters of the body, and in this sense aham also stands for the embodied self-experience.

“The unification of the unit soul, the jiivátmá, with the Universal Soul, that is, Paramátmá, is Yoga. This seems to be the best, most scientific, definition,” explains Prabhat Rainjain Sarkar. “Tantra means the science which shows the path for the emancipation of the human entity through psycho-spiritual expansion. In other words, the spirit of Tantra is ever to continue expanding.” “So now yoga and tantra have come close to each other in meaning.” P. R. Sarkar, (1921-1990), was a spiritual guru in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna. He introduced the empowered universal spiritual mantra “Baba Nam Kevalam”, composed a collection of 5018 spiritual songs called Prabháta Saḿgiita, and founded the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (“the Path of Bliss”). – Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, June 6, 2021.

- by Richard Gauthier
- •
- Yoga, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Meditation, Tantra

The focus of Dzogchen practice is to experientially understand the nature of our awareness through awareness itself. To be nonconceptually aware of the nature of our awareness is rig pa or open presence.The root or the source of all phenomena is Presence. This word presence is often used by 14th century Longechenpa as well the contemporary Namkai Norbu and many dzogchen masters as the signifier of ground of being, the ground as presence. Contemporary Christian philosophers influenced by existential phenomenology, such as Paul Tillich and Karl Rahner, describe the ground of being and ground of presence as Divinity. In Dzogchen philosophy descriptors are added such as the divine presence, luminous presence, radiant presence, pure presence, immaculate presence.

- by rudolph bauer
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- Critical Theory, Religion, Gnosticism, Buddhism

Kali Vilas Tantra by Arthur Avlor

- by ASTRO TANTRA
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- Tantra, Shakta Tantra, Shaiva Tantra, Tantra Philosophy
- by Lance E Nelson
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- Hinduism, Gender Studies, Women's Studies, Medieval Women

Overview Studies on the pantheon of Kālī have either focused on autochthonous rituals and practices, or have read the canonized Tantric texts in relation to the Kashmiri traditions. In these readings, what has been overlooked is the lived Śākta worldview that integrates philosophies and practices from various Ve-dic and Tantric traditions. My effort here is not to find the most archaic form of Kālī practice or to say which of the practices represents the most authentic form. Any and all practices are authentic as long as they reflect the beliefs of the real people in the field and are not fabricated by ethnographers or historians. The Kālī text I am reading is Vedāntic, and non-dual through and through. To engage the texts like this, one has to evolve from the parameters of what constitutes Tantric and has to be willing to walk through the blurred lines of Vedic and Tantric. This is what living Hinduism is all about: it is a synthesis of everything that has evolved in the pan-Indian cultural milieu. Vedas, Purāṇas, Tantras, folk rituals and practices, dualistic and non-dual philosophies, everything blends in a real-life Hindu practice. And for the laymen, Kālī stands for a mother goddess like any other, and the categories of Vedic and Tantric are irrelevant. Kālī may have been the central goddess of the folk cultures and could have evolved in an extra-Vedic religious paradigm. 1 However, she is not less popular among the Vedic scholars or Smārta householders. The text under consideration is an epitome of this synthetic tendency. 1 I have used 'Vedic' and 'Tantric' as working categories and do not accept this distinction in the absolute sense. It is problematic the way contemporary scholarship divides Vedic and non-Vedic. I do not believe that there were ever two separate closed systems as some scholars have imagined. Although the particular text I am examining dates from medieval times, there are some earlier texts in the Upaniṣadic genre that are dedicated to Durgā or Kubjikā. Most importantly, the text being examined here defies the distinction of the Ve-dic versus Tantric, as it is a synthesis of the Vedic Upaniṣads while at the same time is a section in one of the key Tantric texts. Zeitschrift für Indologie und Südasienstudien 34 (2017)

- by Sthaneshwar Timalsina
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- Hinduism, Theology, Sanskrit language and literature, Tantric Studies

THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF ESOTERICISM AND MYSTICISM (ASEM) 12th International Conference MYSTICAL AND ESOTERIC TEACHINGS IN THEORY AND PRACTICE: ESOTERICISM IN PHILOSOPHY, LITERATURE, AND ART February 3–5, 2022 Moscow, Russia in... more

THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF ESOTERICISM AND MYSTICISM (ASEM)
12th International Conference
MYSTICAL AND ESOTERIC TEACHINGS
IN THEORY AND PRACTICE:
ESOTERICISM IN PHILOSOPHY,
LITERATURE, AND ART
February 3–5, 2022
Moscow, Russia
in
RUSSIAN INSTITUTE OF THEATRE ARTS – GITIS
Department of History, Philosophy, Literature

- by Olena Kalantarova and +1
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- Buddhism, Buddhist Studies, Deconstruction, Tantra

Masaje tantrico... para todos

- by Ramon Lopez Palomino
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- Tantra Philosophy, Hindu Shakta Tantra

“The six branches of Vidyá Tantra are: to awaken benevolent intellect, to awaken noble propensities, to arouse a sense of humility, to arouse a sense of dharma, to arouse a sense of self-surrender, and shántikarma [propitiatory rites for others’ welfare]”, according to Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar, a modern Tantric guru. “So as we see, shántikarma is an element common to both Vidyá and Avidyá.” “The secret processes of Vidyá Tantra and Avidyá Tantra are called guhya vidyá. The motivation behind the practice of Avidyá Tantra is Máraya máraya náshaya náshaya uccát́aya uccát́aya mama shatruńám [“Kill my enemy, kill. Destroy my enemy, destroy. Uproot my enemy, uproot.”] This sort of mentality should not be allowed to develop in a person. This sort of prayer should also be avoided.” P. R. Sarkar, (1921-1990), was a spiritual guru in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna, who founded the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (“the Path of Bliss”). – Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, May 21, 2021.

- by Richard Gauthier
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- Buddhism, Hinduism, Indian Philosophy, Indian studies

En el mundo occidental se suele identificar el Tantra con el Kama Sutra, o lo que es más exacto, se suele identificar el Tantra con los manuales eróticos de la India y sus alrededores. Este artículo analiza brevemente las diferencias entre el Kama Sutra y el Tantra, a partir de relacionar a aquel con la tradición de la erótica sánscrita o Kama Shastra, y a éste con una de las dárshanas más antiguas del Indostán: el Vedanta Advaita.

- by SusanayMisael Mas-Verdazco
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- Tantra, Tantra Philosophy

This article presents a first edition and translation of the commentary of the tenth-century Saiddhāntika theologian Bhaṭṭa Rāmakaṇṭha II, an older contemporary of the Kashmirian theologian Abhinavagupta, on the Tattvatrayanirṇaya of Sadyojyotiḥ. Sadyojyotiḥ was probably active between 675 and 725 CE and is the first systematising theologian of the Śaivasiddhānta of whom works survive. The three entities alluded to in the work’s title are God, souls and primal matter (māyā), but much of the work is devoted to determining the nature of a fourth entity, an innate impurity (mala) that afflicts all souls (except Śiva himself) and that determines the relations between the three entities of the title.

- by Dominic Goodall and +1
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- Tantric Studies, Tantric Soteriological Methodology, Sanskrit Philology, Saiva Siddhanta
- by Olena Kalantarova
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- Buddhism, Tibetan Studies, Philosophy of Time, Tibetan Buddhism

Although tantras, first took root in Tibet during the 7 th and 8 th centuries C.E., it was during the 11 th century C.E. that Indian tantric Buddhism left India and relocated in Tibet. The 11 th through 14 th centuries was a transition period in which Indian Buddhism took the form of Tibetan Buddhism. Within the Tibetan tradition, there was a re-configuration, both of the experiencing of embodied awareness and of the praxis or process that invoked the realization of the field of awareness and corresponding states of liberation. We might consider that this transitional period was especially focused during the 12 th century, for not only were the Indian tantric practices affected by the seminal heart essence tradition, but so too were the Dzogchen praxes or forms of practice similarly affected. Eventually, however, both Tibetan Dzogchen and Atiyoga traditions went beyond the Indian forms of tantra.

- by rudolph bauer
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- Religion, Buddhism, Sociology, Cultural Studies

“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” claims Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar, a Tantric Guru and preceptor. “To remain satisfied with a little is contrary to human nature. That is why, since the dawn of creation, human beings have been worshiping 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.” P. R. Sarkar, (1921-1990), was a spiritual teacher (also known as Shrii Shrii Anandamurti) in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna, and founded the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (“the Path of Bliss”). – Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, May 2, 2021.

- by Richard Gauthier
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- Buddhism, Hinduism, Indian Philosophy, Indian studies

What is amazing is that the unfolding of our felt sense of ongoing continuity of Being and the felt sense of the continuity of our sense of self is a convergent experience. Our very sense of self and our very sense of Being are intimately... more

- by rudolph bauer
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- Critical Theory, Religion, Gnosticism, Psychology

Most of the studies on the Buddhist tantra have identified tantric mandalas, either as representations of Indian feudal polity, or the sacred transcendental illustrations. The aim of this chapter is to exemplify the manner in which the Buddhist tantra appropriate the non-intrinsic nature of space of mandalas and use them as a tangible and schematic plan for constructing a localised imaginary space and shape their spatial configurations. This notion of non-intrinsic nature of space of mandala is derived from the doctrine of Emptiness, the central doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism, which allows for conceiving this localised space as a microcosmic reality that interplays with the macrocosmic world. Within the framework of the Buddhist highest yoga-tantra, a mandala is conceptualised as a tool that governs the duel-layered cosmic interplay of the subjective and objective worlds, and provides a cogent means for analogical correspondence between the planes of epistemological and ontological reality. This chapter delineates the course of actualisation of such correspondence wherein the tantric deities are placed or visualised as spatial signifiers. On epistemological level, the schematic representations of tantric mandalas are meant for contemplative internalised practice aiming for soteriological goals. On an ontological level, such schema of mandalas has been used as the architectural basis for construction of the temples, stupas, monastic establishments and rock-cut caves across the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, Tibet, China, Mongolia, Japan, and South-East Asia, around the 7th through 13th centuries, when the tantric Buddhism was in its ascendancy.

Phenomenology is the study of different kinds of giveness, the giveness of experience.There are various ways of being open to experiencing the world and the phenomena of the world. The phenomena and the objects of the world and the world itself can be experienced and perceived more or less directly and more or less in the present. The phenomena, the objects of the world and within the world as the world, can be experienced more or less in breadth and depth, and more or less in obviousness and more or less in subtlety. The world can be experienced more or less in translucidity and more or less in darkness, and more or less in openness and more or less in hiddenness, and more or less concealed and more or less unconcealed. There are many ways of experiencing the world and objects of and in the world which are the appearances of the world.

- by rudolph bauer
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- Critical Theory, Religion, Gnosticism, Buddhism