Archives for June 2015

The triune nature of God, the vibration of Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram, which permeates all life, is perfect, Om Purnam. To understand this perfection or essence of the triune nature, we look at the analogy of H²O. The scientist, or devotee, that looks for H²O can recognize the molecular compound (H²O) in ice, water, or vapor. To the uneducated, it just seems like three different substances or forms that are “solid,” “liquid,” or “vapor,” and are not viewed as the same substance. The aspirant on the path of Tantra looks to see the essence of the triune nature (Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram) and not just the forms of the three states of manifestation (Causal, Astral, Physical).

The Tantric process also differs from Yoga, not in how we meditate, nor in the necessity for consistent meditation, but in what we look for and desire outside of meditation. Looking for the harmony of Shiva and Shakti will bring a wholistic harvest of insights and revelations to our meditations, and into our daily life.

With the practice of looking for the beauty of life (God), we come across the first and foremost difficulty on the path of Tantra. If all life is legitimate, and all life comes from the Divine desire, how do we explore and study life and remain focused on attaining the absolute God Consciousness? How do we make the return trip through the Physical, Astral, Causal, and realm of the Soul, Holy Stream, Christ/Krishna Consciousness, and God Consciousness without being distracted by the beauty of Shiva and Shakti (Lila)? This is where the guidance of a Realized Soul is beneficial to help keep us focused on our Wholistic journey (dharma). In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was from God, of God, and is God, and if we keep our focus on the Word (Om) it doesn’t matter if we are male or female, young or old, nor whether we are yogic or tantric. By focusing on the Om, we will be able to fulfill our dharma and surrender into the God Consciousness.

The Guru-preceptor’s role is to help us attain greater awareness of our Divine nature, thereby discovering the inner guru, that of the triune nature of God, which in turn leads us to the realization of the true Guru, the eternal Satyam Consciousness of the absolute God Consciousness.

On the path of Tantra each person will have unique interests or desires to explore, and this leads to the fulfillment of their dharma. It must be acknowledged and realized by the devotee that their Soul’s interests are legitimate, and each Soul’s unique dharma is a legitimate worship and expression of God. The Guru-preceptor’s role is to help the devotee to discern and explore their desires in a manner that is in harmony with their dharma (rajasic-to-sattvic).

The practices of the Tantric path are directed towards seeing and experiencing the Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram in all life, and this is why meditation is absolutely necessary. Without meditation, we cannot realize we are created in the image of God. The Tantric path is about the direct experience of our Divine nature and the Divine nature of all life. Love and devotion to God and Guru (and all Realized Souls) are utilized to help us experience our Divine nature, and progress on the journey of our eternal Soul.

The practice of meditation is to calm the mind, breath, and ego. Although all life is legitimate, we must be able to calm down the mind, breath, and ego, and “be ye still” in order to experience our Soul as pure Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram. Without this glimpse that we are created in the image of God, that our nature is Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram, we cannot embrace the Tantric path. We learn to embrace the oneness of God and Soul through the direct experience with Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram (the triune nature of the Soul and God). We utilize meditation to calm the mind, breath, and ego, and attain a state of union with God. We follow the guidance of the guru preceptor in order to help us focus on that which is essential for our liberation into the absolute God Consciousness, and into realizing that Shiva and Shakti are ever in union.

The path of Tantra is the path of surrendering to the nature of love, beauty, harmony, and ecstasy that permeates God. In order to practice this path, we need to have a theological or philosophical understanding and acceptance of a few things about this path:

1) At this time, just coming out of the Kali Yuga, Tantra is the only path being taught that accepts and teaches the oneness of God.

2) Tantra is the only path that says that God is Wholistic, from God the absolute that always has been, is now, and forever shall be (God as pure Consciousness). Then God moves into Shivam, or the Christ/Krishna Consciousness (the Word). This is now God (Satyam) in motion. Then God continues to manifest into Om Sundaram (Aum, Holy Spirit) with the idea of separateness, but is still God in motion with form. This Satyam (pure Consciousness), Shivam (Satyam in motion), Sundaram, with the mayac sheath (diversity of God in motion), is the triune nature of God. Around a tiny piece of this triune nature is thrown a tiny golden net. This is the creation of a new unique Soul.

To this Soul, of Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram within a golden net, is given the Causal body with the higher mind, the lower mind, field of memory, and ego (idea of ownership). To this Causal being is given the Astral body with the five senses (touch, taste, sight, hearing, and smell), along with the corresponding desires to experience the delight of the beauty and joy of these senses. Finally, to this manifestation is given the Physical body with the organ of senses. With the completion of the physical body, the person is also given the four primal instincts. These four primal instincts are the need for food, sleep, procreation, and self-preservation. When the Soul is hosted in the bodies, it will also have the four natural inclinations: the desire to learn and grow, the desire to delight and celebrate, the desire to have motion or harmonious action at the physical, and at the end of the day, the desire to have peace or rest.[1] Tantra is the only path that sees this whole creative process as God, from God, of God and is God. God the absolute and God in motion (Lila) are ever in union. During a creative day you cannot have Shiva without Shakti, therefore the Path of Tantra strives to see and experience the oneness of this Wholistic God.

3) The philosophy of Tantra states that all is from God, of God and is God. The absolute God Consciousness is the eternal God Consciousness. The Word, Holy Stream, Soul, Causal, Astral, and Physical are all from God, of God, and is God. Therefore, one must go beyond the idea of incompleteness (Original Sin,[2]) to know this Wholistic God.

4) The Tantric path says God is worshipped, not as a separate entity, but appreciated as our larger Wholistic Self. There is only God, both unmanifested and manifested in different vibratory forms. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was from God, of God, and is God, manifested all the way to the Physical. This creation is the manifestation of the Divine impulse, or the creative Consciousness manifesting all the way to the Physical, and is also referred to as the creative flow of Shiva and Shakti ever in union.

5) The Path of Tantra recognizes there is the manifestation of God, all the way to the Physical. Now we must accept the personal responsibility of becoming aware of this Divine impulse, the downward flow, and bring it back upward so we can experience the harmony and the beauty of the whole God. We are personally responsible to consciously become aware of the Divine flow[3] and reverse the flow inward and upward, all the way back to God the Absolute. When we do this, we will see that all of life is harmonious and beautiful. The Tantric process is learning to appreciate or worship God at all seven levels of the God Consciousness. This process utilizes the study of the chakras to help us attain knowledge of a Wholistic God. With the acceptance of these five principles, we can begin to practice the path of Tantra.

The first practice of Tantra is meditation. The techniques are very simple because the Tantric techniques are based on the Word, the divine impulse that reaches all the way to the Physical. This vibration is light and sound, and by focusing on an aspect of this vibration (sound or mantra), we can reverse this process of the downward flow into an inward and upward flow, attaining the awareness of the God Consciousness. The path of Tantra practices harmonizing with the Word, which is the divine impulse that brought everything into manifestation, This Divine impulse (Word) is also perceived as the Divine force of the creative energy. From this divine desire, which is from God, of God, and is God, there is only Om Purnam, perfection. The Tantric process acknowledges that there is a diversity in the downward flow, but a harmony and oneness in the realization of the completion of both the downward and upward Wholistic flow. This awareness of the Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram triune nature of God, and the perfection of the Divine impulse as a part of a Wholistic Shiva and Shakti Consciousness that is ever in union, is the goal of the Tantric studies and practices.

The Tantric process looks for the perfection, beauty, and harmony of all life, and ultimately liberation into the pure state of Satyam Consciousness. Looking for love, harmony, beauty, and joy, is the premise upon which all the practices of the path of Tantra are built. When we calm down the mind, breath, and ego in meditation, we can realize the harmony of the perfect God that is both unmanifested and manifested. The Tantric practitioner begins to experience Shiva and Shakti as Om Purnam (perfection), first in their meditation, and then they begin to study and see the perfection in the motion of the patterns of living energy the Physical, Astral, Causal (form). The Physical, Astral, and Physical are manifested from the Divine impulse of the Soul, Holy Stream, and the Christ/Krishna Consciousness, which is the creation of the “always has been, is now, and forever shall be. Shiva and Shakti ever new, ever in union.

[1] For more information of creation, the books The Book of Wisdom by Swami Rama (Himalayan Institute) or The Holy Science by Sri Yukteswar (Self-Realization Fellowship) both talk about this manifestation process.

[2] Original Sin is a term that is used to refer to the idea of incompletion that comes into manifestation with the combination of the mayac sheath and the individual ego, and is the idea that we need something from the external to complete us.

[3] The Divine impulse is the creative force that brings the form into manifestation all the way to the Physical, and sustains and transforms it on the way back upward to the God Consciousness.

There are three stages or schools of Tantra: the left-handed path, the middle path, and the right-handed path. The left-handed path of Tantra is when we begin to study God. This will begin with meditation, theology, and practicing the virtues, along with our desires of looking for Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram in the creation. The aspirant is looking for love, beauty, joy, and appreciation of life, inclusive of knowledge of God, both inwardly and outwardly. This study is limited in the beginning. The Tantric teachings will include the transformation of the four primal instincts,[1] study of Tantric theology, and beginning to practice meditation. Meditation is what makes the practices the left-handed path of Tantra, rather than just philosophy or worldliness. Without meditation, without striving to calm the mind, breath, and ego to “be ye still and know that I am God,” one will only harvest the positive and negative results of our desires that are under the influence of Original Sin, which is legitimate, just limited. The left-handed path of Tantra includes daily meditation, which will help us realize both our Wholistic nature, and our desires for and in the creation, which we must purify in a rajasic-to-sattvic manner. In the left-handed path, we purify the four primal instincts, the senses, and our thoughts and concepts by bringing them into a positive and uplifting state that is beneficial for the individual and the international community. This will then lead to the middle path of Tantra.

The middle path of Tantra begins when we attain sabikalpa samadhi[2] in our meditation. When we calm the mind, breath and ego and attain sabikalpa samadhi, we can experience the triune nature of the Soul. In this state of meditation, we will distinguish or discern our higher nature of Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram from the sensual pleasures of our lower nature. We can clearly distinguish the difference between the higher triune nature of the Soul and God, and the pleasures of the lower nature of the three bodies (Causal, Astral, Physical) and instincts for seeking outwardly fulfillment. Attaining sabikalpa samadhi at will is what distinguishes the middle path of Tantra from the left-handed path of Tantra. In the beginning, we may only be able to attain sabikalpa samadhi occasionally, but the goal is to attain this identity with our triune nature of the Soul, both in meditation and outside of meditation. As we move into the middle path, we begin to study the triune nature of the Self and the triune nature of God, both inwardly and outwardly. We are trying to see the Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram essence or nature in all life, including the primal desires of the Physical, the sensual desires of the Astral, the knowledge and power of the Causal, and strive to attain “be ye still and know that I am God” and experience the Soul, the Holy Stream, the Christ/Krishna Consciousness, and the absolute God Consciousness. This middle path may take us years or even incarnations. This study and practice will lead us to the right-handed path of Tantra.

The right-handed path of Tantra is when we calm the mind, breath, and ego, and begin to experience the God Consciousness without form. This then becomes the harmonization with, and the study of God, both without form as pure Consciousness, and with form or God in motion. We strive to identify with the pure Satyam Consciousness because this is the only aspect of our Self, life, or God that is eternal. Once we begin to attain the state of God Consciousness without form in our meditation, we begin our study of God, both without form and God manifesting in form, both in meditation and outside meditation. This study of a Wholistic God is the right-handed path of Tantra.

The three stages of Tantra (or schools of Tantra[3]) are easily recognizable. The left-handed path: If we are meditating consistently and also have desires of the Causal, Astral, and Physical, but are trying to make them harmonious, then we are practicing the left-handed path of Tantra, which includes Sex, Love, Prayer. The middle path: When we attain sabikalpa samadhi in our meditations, we add Transcendence so that we now have Sex, Love, Prayer, and Transcendence. This Wholisticness of Sex, Love, Prayer, and Transcendance is practicing the middle path of Tantra. The right-handed path: When we are able to be still in our meditation to realize the absolute God Consciousness without form, that always has been, is now, and forever shall be, this is true Transcendence. As we come out of meditation (Transcendence), we will have the divine vision to appreciate a Wholistic God, or have Prayer. We will be Love, because we have been able to identify with the triune nature of the Soul beyond Original Sin (idea of incompleteness). We can then include the enjoyment and appreciation of the Physical (Sex) in a manner that is beneficial for the individual and the international community. This is a very simple definition of the three paths of Tantra.

All three stages or schools of Tantra are striving to attain knowledge and a harmony of Soul and God. Tantra is the study of God, the study of the God Consciousness without form, and the study of God Consciousness in motion or with form. It is Shiva ever in union with Shakti. Tantra is a dance of form and formless Consciousness throughout eternity.

[1]            Four primal instincts: The need for food, sleep, self-preservation, and procreation. The Tantric process of transforming these instincts is to make them beneficial and uplifting for the individual and the international community, and to be wholistic so that they include body, mind, spirit, and consciousness.

[2]            Sabikalpa Samadhi: union with God, but with a slight perception of individuality. With sabikalpa samadhi in meditation, there is identification with one’s Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram nature, but there is a conscious awareness of the Self, and there is usually a suspension of breath.

[3]            In the Eastern traditions they refer to the three schools of Tantra as: kaula tantra (left-handed path), mishra tantra (middle path), and samaya tantra (right-handed path), and consider these three schools of Tantra as successive stages of the inward journey, of touching and perfecting both the inner life and the outer life.