1. In general, tantra may refer to different kings of texts describing ritual or codified practices. In specific, tantras refer to various texts relating to the practice of laya yoga detailing ritual worship of deities with an emphasis on developing magical powers and abilities.The word tantra originally meant a loom, or the long threads on it. In the West, tantra is usually associated with sexual yoga. Most sexual yoga consists of techniques for retaining and channeling sexual energies (related in most cultures to health, regeneration, and longevity). These primary physical techniques may also be combined with various practices used to consecrate the sexual act and to aid in viewing one’s sexual partner as a god or goddess, transforming sex into a conscious embodiment of cosmic process. See Magick; Sexual Magick; Yoga.
2. Tantra also refers to continuity of practice while on a path of enlightenment. The seeker must realize that the basic nature, the Suchness which give birth to samsara, is also the cause of the path of Buddhahood. Everything is part of this continuity. For the seeker, this means that body, speech, mind—indeed, everything, however seemingly impure or confused—is included in the path. This is why tantric practices span every conceivable form of human endeavor.
1. Purusha 2. Prakriti 3. Mahat, or Buddhi 4. Ahankara | Pure consciousness Basic substance (the undifferentiated Gunas) Cosmic consciousness resulting from the action of purusha upon the gunas The “I” maker, archetypal ego | |
The Six Senses | 5. Sight 6. Hearing 7. Smell 8. Taste 9. Touch 10. Manas (mind as organizing faculty) | Dominated by Sattva-Guna |
The Five Motor Organs> | 11. Hnads 12. Feet 13. Speech organs 14. Excretory organs 15. Generative organs | Dominated by Rajas-Guna |
The Five Potentials (Tanmatras) | 16. Light 17. Sound 18. Smell 19. Taste 20. Touch | Dominated by Tamas-Guna |
The Five Atoms | 21. Earth 22. Water 23. Fire 24. Air 25. Ether | The reflection of the tanmatras in matter |
Letter | Element | World | Personification |
Yod | Fire | Atziluth (origination) | Father |
He | Water | Briah (creation) | Mother |
Vau | Air | Yetzirah (formation) | Son |
He | Earth | Assiah (materialization) | Daughter |
Oceanus | Tethys | The Sea | |
Hyperion | Thia | The Sun | |
Crius | Eurybia (Mnemosyne) | Memory | |
Coeus | Phoebe | The Moon | |
Kronos | Rhea | Time and Harvests | |
Iapetus | Themis | Fate and Justice |
Bindu | Shonabindu | Sitabindu | Misrabindu |
Color | Red | White | Mixed |
Guna | Rajas | Tamas | Sattva |
Western Alchemical Principle | Sulfur | Salt | Mercury |