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Sacred-texts home
These
texts describe the esoteric teachings of Tantra, a belief system which
originated in India, praticed by a small number of Hindus and
Buddhists. Tantra has become a synonym in the West for unbridled
sexuality; however sexuality per se is only one facet of this
elaborate spiritual practice, as a representation of the union of the
soul with the Goddess. Rather, this attitude reflects the spiritual
vacuum of mainstream Western religions when it comes to sacred
sexuality. A deep study of Tantra can take a lifetime, and is not for
the undisciplined or the thrill-seeker. Tantra
does not advocate an epicurian or libertine philosophy. Quite the
contrary, the practices which involve behavior which is regarded by
conventional Hinduism as 'sinful' (such as eating meat, drinking
alcohol, and having sexual union), normally requiring expatiatory
behavior, are supposed to only be engaged in by spiritually advanced
practicioners in the appropriate ritual context. A set of alternative
practices are recommended by Tantra for general use (substituting
sweets for meat, and praying and chanting for sexual union). (It should
also be noted the Hindu concept which we describe here as sin is
somewhat different than the Christian version). Taken
with these caveats, the assertion of Tantra that sexual energy can be
harnessed to achieve union with the divine is fairly unique among world
religions. The encounter with this school of thought by western
occultists had a profound impact on the development of modern Neo-paganism. Mahanirvana Tantra The text
of the Mahanirvana Tantra has been suspected to be partially or
completely fabricated by Hariharanandanatha to support his reformist
views, and apparently dates to the 18th Century A.D. This is not to say
that it is invalid, just that it is a comparatively recent text which
puts forward an unorthodox branch of Hinduism. This should be kept in
mind when reading it. Shakti and Shâkta |
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