The esoteric etymological analysis of the word “tantra” already reveals its essence; namely, the word can be analyzed as being a coinage of two verbal roots, tan(oti) and tra(yate), meaning the special kind of secret knowledge that expands consciousness and by doing so liberates it from all its conditioning. The principles of this very old, very special and very precious knowledge of Tantra, on the basis of the teachings of Sri Amritananda Natha Sarasvati, can be formulated like this:
- You, the seer, are what you see, the world.
- You are the Auspicious Great Mother Goddess – Sri Maha Devi Ma.
- Divine consciousness is the cause of all matter, and they are essentially One Actuality (samvit).
- The Union of Opposites (siva-sakty-aikya) is the very root of existence, which is one integrated, immanent and transcendent Whole (brahman).
- The seen Universe (visva) in no different from the unseen Source (bindu).
- There is an unbroken and unbreakable continuity (tantra) between awareness (siva/cit) and power (sakti/ananda) that are actually the Absolute (cic-chakti/sat).
- The essence of existence is the identity (ekatva) of pure consciousness (prakasa) and its reflection, self-consciousness (vimarsa), whereas the life of the Universe is the Divine Interplay (daiva-lila) between the one timeless source (parama-siva) and the many transient beings (maya-sakti).
- The aim of all Tantrika practices is to restore the original balance between the opposites (siva-sakti-samarasya) and to have a transformative realization with the whole body that Siva and Sakti are one and the same reality, and that the aspirant is That. All the techniques are practiced at three different levels of concentration on the body/matter (sthula), mind/energy (suksma) and spirit/cause (karana, or para) as long as all the misuses of the human life are corrected and all the traumas healed. Then the aspirant gets firmly anchored in her/his own spiritual Heart (hrdaya) and feels the Source Unity of All Existence (maha-bindu/maha-yoni).
- Renunciation (samnyasa) is not necessary to achieve complete freedom (sarvatantra-svatantra) since enjoyment (bhukti) and liberation (mukti) are one integral whole – samsara is ultimately nirvana, or sensuality is essentially spirituality.
- The task of the aspirant (sadhaka/sadhika) is to evolve from beast to human, and from human to God. That is, s(he) has to break free from social conditioning by cutting off the eight enslaving ropes (ashta-pasa) – hatred, doubt, fear, shame, aversion, family, status and convention. In this way, a person who summons the courage to end his/her pettiness recognizes his/her cosmic integrality.
- This spiritual journey of self-exploration and self-transcendence starts with the empowerment (diksha) given by the grace of the guru (guru-prasadana) rooted in a tradition of transmission of spiritual knowledge (guru-sishya-parampara/sampradaya) and progresses by the virtue of the disciple’s sincere effort (sishya-prayatna) to realize that the guru, mantra, devata and atman are all One.
- The spiritual practice (sadhana) is a gradual or instantaneous realization of one’s innate divinity (divya-bhava/sahajavastha) by a careful and personalized use and combination of all effective tools (upaya) available to and appropriate for the aspirant.
- The principal means of Tantrika practice (tantra-sadhana, or sakti-sadhana) are mantra, yantra and tantra. Mantra is a vibratory/sonic emanation of Divinity, yantra is a visual/geometric manifestation of Divinity and tantra is an intricate/esoteric method of connecting mantra and yantra to the whole body (kula) of the aspirant in such a way as to awaken the transformative power of spiritual involution (kula-kundalini-sakti) hidden in the depths of one’s being and realize that we are Divinity Herself.
- The chief characteristics of Tantrika practice (upasana) are its resourcefulness, expediency and comprehensiveness, and it is usually divided into two major parts or phases: the outer ritual (bahir-yaga/puja) and inner meditation (antar-yaga/manasa-puja). The ritual usually focuses on the worship of a deity in an anthropomorphic representation (murti/vigraha), a geometrical form (yantra/mandala) or a living person (siva/sakti) and culminates in a total dissolution of the conditioned mind (mano-laya/bindu-bhedana) that leads to spiritual liberation (moksha/mukti).
- Sexual symbolism, especially that of yoni (the female regenerative organ representing sakti) and linga (the male reproductive organ representing siva), or their interaction (yoni-linga pedestal), is a useful tool to probe deeper into the real nature of existence. The sacred eroticism of various sexualized rituals may be used in a symbolic or literal way as a means to empower the aspirant for an actual male-female relationship. It can also be an appropriate occasion to break free from the limitations of the socially conditioned mind and plunge into a meditative absorption/identification with the deity evoked in the partner and a sense of union enacted in the ritual.
- The primary spiritual practice, however, is actual care, sincere generosity and deep compassion, and that in time or instantaneously leads to total freedom (svechachara) based on the ultimate principle “do as you wish”, which is true creativity, humanity, spontaneity, love and freedom.
The Fundamental Principles of Love:
- The greatest power of love is its total powerlessness.
- When you totally give up your search for power in relationship, you love.
- Love is the end of the search for love.
- Love is both the strongest and the weakest force in the universe.
- Love is deep emotivity, not sentimental superficiality.
- Love is peaceful power and powerful peace of a life lived straight from the Heart, for the Heart.
- Soft-heartedness or hearty softness is all you need for love.
- Love is your life’s fulfillment.
- Love is the only true freedom, and the other way round.
- Personal integration, moral integrity and cosmic integrality are the way of love.