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.
