What is Yoga ? Yoga is the manipulation of the body in the service of meditation. Well now the question is Why do these things ....well for "liberation", but are we ready or looking for right kind of Liberation is another question and an altogether different topic ( and a complex one, to say). Here i just wanted to jot down the few basics what i gathered so far about yoga and tantra as a path of liberation. well many can say we don't do it for liberation & Knowledge, but to just get in good shape. I will agree to most of you but you must know the span and possibilities it provides us.
Our textbooks list six traditionally recognized Hindu philosophical schools, six approaches to the path of knowledge that claim the Vedas as their basis. The dividing lines between the six systems are
1) the texts that they deemed central to the quest for knowledge;
2) their emphasis on the spectrum from the individual’s practice of yoga to the priestly rituals; and
3) their assumption about the relationship between the material world and the immaterial “self”.
Of the six, three are essentially footnotes to Hinduism’s history.
Another focuses exclusively on yoga, and will be considered later in that context.
The fifth is the oldest of the six schools, known as Samkhya. It offers a philosophy of dualism; that is, it assumes that one’s liberation comes through the proper distinction between the two eternal orders: physical and spiritual. Neither is the product of a Creator, and indeed, the spiritual Self cannot influence nor is it influenced by the material world. As the material world changes and evolves, the Self can simply watch silently. Samkhya continues to influence Hindus in large measure because Pajantali absorbed its ideas into the Yoga Sutra, the basis of much of the Yoga school already mentioned.
Vedanta, the sixth philosophical school, is the most influential in modern Hinduism. Its central position is “non-duality,” the idea that there cannot be two realities, physical and spiritual. Sankara, the primary voice of Vedanta tradition, developed his thought based heavily on the principal Upanishads, although he also sought to incorporate the Bhagavad-gita. Sankara insisted that Brahman alone was ultimately real, and the fleeting, ever-changing nature of the universe was evidence that it could not be real. The other great Vedanta thinker, Ramanuja agreed that there could not be two realities, but was not willing to deny the physical universe its reality. He taught instead that the universe was the emanation of Brahman.
Now we discuss the meditation. In the path of meditation, one turns inward to realize the Oneness and as i said earlier that Yoga is the manipulation of our body in the service of meditation or for meditation. It takes many forms, with names like Ashtanga, Hatha, Kriya and Kundalini.
Ashtanga (a word that means “eight-limbed”) is often referred to as “Raja Yoga,” that is, “the Royal Path.” Its eight limbs include morality, ethics, posture, control of breath, control of the senses, concentration, meditation and absorption (the ultimate goal).
Hatha yoga moves beyond simple sitting with a series of exercises whose purpose is to enable the body to approach the other aspects of Ashtanga with fewer limitations.
Over time, the yogi (as practitioners are known) will come to master his or her body in ways that otherwise might seem impossible. They can come to control heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing – even to the point of seeming cessation of breathing altogether. In time, the unconscious use of energy for maintaining body activity is minimized completely, and the yogi is said to enter psychic realms that may include awareness of others and events far away (the way one twin might sense the need of the other in another city), levitation and the manipulation of physical objects using only the mind.
A lot of us are confused with Yoga & Tantra. What is Tantra? well if we put it in simple words - Yoga in Action is Tantra. The word tantra is derived from two words, tattva and mantra. Tattva means the science of cosmic principles, while mantra refers to the science of mystic sound and vibrations. Tantra, therefore, is the application of cosmic sciences with a view of attaining spiritual ascendancy. To be fair, discussing Tantra under Yoga is something of a bait and switch.
Tantra is an Agama branch of School(Agamas are those which are revelations, while Nigama are the traditions), and hence it is called "srutishakhavisesah," which means it is a branch of the Vedas. The Atharva Veda is considered to be one of the prime tantric scriptures.
The two are distinctive paths, but they have interacted deeply throughout the centuries. Meditation techniques from Tantra are now fully incorporated into schools of yoga associated with Raja Yoga. Still, Tantra pushes back against the Vedas and while it now appeals to a significant population in India, it stakes out an approach to which many Hindus object.
Kundalini is an outgrowth of Tantra, The name “Tantra” dates to the 500s C.E., but the practices may predate that by as much as 2000 years. At the heart of Tantra is an emphasis on the feminine, especially as the goddess Devi. As India’s history unfolded under the authority of the Brahmins, the goddess was (they thought) reduced in power, relegated to the status of wife to the gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
By the time Shankara and Ramanuja offered their own definitions of the relationship between the purely spiritual and unchanging Brahman and the very physical and ever-changing universe, Tantra had already resolved the question in another direction. The writer of the text known as the Visvasara Tantra asserts, "What is here is elsewhere. What is not here is nowhere." In other words, the physical universe is itself the very Brahman that Vedanta thinkers were seeking. The physical is the spiritual, and any attempt to separate the two would simply result in nothing. Pulling all the layers off the onion in order to find an essential onion at its center is absurd. Tantric tradition is the experience of divine bliss through the very tangible experience of the world. There is, however, more than one way to do this.
The practice of Kundalini seeks the unification of feminine and masculine powers within one’s own body. The focus is on the coiled serpent that runs from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. Rather than attempting, as in Raja Yoga, to still all physical activity so as to set the spirit free, Kundalini intentionally seeks to stimulate the sexual energy that resides within us. This is much more complicated than many assume. For most, sexual energy is the driver; for the Kundalini yogi, that energy must be absolutely mastered. Even more challenging is the effort to realize that energy on every level of our selves, becoming conscious on even the cellular level.
For many (probably most) Tantra practitioners, there is no need to go looking for that energy. In other words, sexual energy is explored within the context of individual exercises and meditation. This is usually referred to as “Right-handed Tantra.” “Left-handed Tantra” is, however, the headline grabber in the West. No one is certain just how widespread this practice is, because social context usually requires that it be kept very quiet. But we do know that this too is a centuries-old practice.
Left-handed Tantra goes beyond visualization to actual participation in socially-forbidden behaviors. There are five “sacraments” of this tradition: wine, meat, fish, bread, and sex (all start with “M” in Sanskrit). Under the guidance of a guru (no one can pursue this path solo), an initiate prepares for as long as several years to be able to be the master of his or her own mind when the time comes to participate in the sacraments. To partake is to be intensely aware of each of one’s own senses and to focus them to the deeper essence of reality. Food is not simply food, sex is not simply sex.
Tantra says: Existence is an orgasm, an eternal orgasm going on and on and on. It is forever and forever an orgasm, an ecstasy. antra is not about being flamboyantly sexual, or tantalizing a lover to the point of exhaustion. Elements of sexuality do emerge through the tantric experience, but it shouldn’t be the focus. In essence, tantra is a practice for transcending the root, material experience towards an existential state of bliss and harmony. It can be argued that tantra has been referenced since pre-vedic times, and then mentioned for the first time in the Rigveda. Actual practices and formulations of what make up tantra didn’t form until sometime between 600 and 800 AD. Even so, today, it is still rather vague. This vagueness, however, is not in terms of defining tantra, but in the details of what make up tantra. The practice of tantra can comprise of various different methods for which to cultivate this root energy and allow it to filter into other parts of your life. When you think about it in terms of your energy body, or your chakras, your root or base energy is the seat of your fundamental needs. Physically, it’s located in your seat. The next chakra up is your sacral chakra, or the seat of your creation. Sexual energy that stems from these two energy regions, being your basic needs and your creation, can easily be expelled and released from the body through ejaculation. Tantric philosophy claims that this root-base creative energy can be powerfully transformative if you hold it in and allow it to travel up through your other chakras. Mapping it out, this energy can travel through to your solar plexus (the seat of self-knowledge, confidence, and “I Can”), then to your heart (the seat of compassion, understanding, and love), then to your throat (the seat of communication, listening, and expressing creativity), then to your third eye (the seat of your intuition and regulation of your cycles), then finally to the crown of your head (the energy region that allows you to experience oneness and connection with everything).
As you can imagine, the best way for this root and creative energy to be evoked is through sex, hence the strong correlation between tantra and love making. But that’s just where it begins. As this energy is held in the body and not released immediately through ejaculation, it can travel up through the energy body and influence other aspects of your life. Don’t worry though, running away from the finish line is not a requirement of effective tantra work. The experience of cultivating and moving this energy can include a proper finish after some time spent with the practice. An example can be of two lovers engaging in tantric love-making and cultivating this root energy through the technique of tantric touch. This energy has a very strong charge from the physical and sensual experience. Usually, this charge would be diffused quickly upon ejaculation. What tantra aims to do is harness this charge and transfer it through the energy body over a period of a few hours. After a tantric session, something that could happen is a boost in confidence, or an opening of the heart, or a looming creative idea may become clear and ripe with inspiration. The cultivation and pouring this energy into other energy regions of the body is the art of tantra. With that in mind, you might see how the practice of tantra is not just a physical practice between two lovers, but a personal and deeply spiritual practice with yourself. While cultivating that root/creative/sexual energy with your lover can be a beautiful act, it is not what defines tantra.
Here are few points to keep in mind if tantra is something you’d like to further explore:
Enjoy your physical body. Experience it as your home. Without an awareness and love of your physical experience, your cultivation of this root energy may be blocked. Physical yoga practice is a great way to connect with and understand your physical form.
Purify the body, both energetically and physically. Continue to explore yourself, what you’re made of, and how your system operates.
The idea of nonduality. See the material of the body and the other realms of the spirit as holding the same weight. One is not higher or lower than the other. Both can be experienced as one thing, each with its own contribution to the experience of existence.
See sex as a way to appreciate the body and life. Allow the idea of it being a “means to an end,” or of it being an act that leads to ejaculation, to be put aside. Experience sex as a devotion to this union of the physical and energetic bodies.
I think i have written much more than what i intended and making it heavy in for Tantra, but like i said its just another path to pursue and i would stop to make it more confusing for others as some times i myself got confused in many of these things. And interesting thing is i even didn't scratched the surface of it.
