Yoga homework – Tantra Yoga

Once again, I find myself at the PC doing Yoga homework. Even though there’s been so much going on, I haven’t had all that much time to devote to – Yoga Research. Sure, I’ve had time for is a bunch or pranayama sessions, but sitting down at the PC with time to read has been something else.

Yet, here I am and I’ve got a history report to put together. The task is to “write a history report on one of the original paths of yoga.” Fortunately, the instructor has left us a bunch of hints as to what those paths are. Namely: tantra, bhakti, hatha, ayurveda, raja, and jnana.

Let’s see… what looks interesting?

If we look at the Wikipedia regarding jnana, we find the following:

In the Bhagavad Gita (13.3) Krishna says that jñāna consists of properly understanding kshetra (the field of activity–that is, the body) and kshetra-jna (the knower of the body–that is, the soul).

That’s pretty plan. What about raja?

Rāja yoga (“royal yoga”, “royal union”, also known as classical yoga and aṣṭānga yoga) is concerned principally with the cultivation of the viewer’s (ṛṣih) mind using a succession of steps, such as meditation (dhyāna, dhyana) and contemplation (samādhi, samadhi). Its object is to further one’s acquaintance with reality (viveka), achieve awakening (moksha) and eventually enlightenment, kaivalya.

That just seems like … yoga. All the paths I’ve been introduced to could be summed up that way. What about ayurveda?

To comply with Wikipedia’s lead section guidelines, the introduction of this article may need to be rewritten. The reason given is: lacks a summary of ayurvedic theory.

When I look that one up, I find that the Wikipedia has issues with the definition. Ha! Even though we learned a bit about ayurvedic theory in lectures, I’ll just take this as a sign and check out the next hint… hatha.

It is based on asanas and pranayama (breathing techniques, also known as shatkarma). As opposed to the traditional practice, physical focus on Yoga became popular in the west beginning in the second half of the 20th century, and is often referred to simply as “Hatha Yoga” in the context of health and physical exercise.

I’m sure there could be a lot of history on hatha yoga for everyone’s heard of it. But look at what the Wikipedia says about it. It linked to physical exercise. That’s not all that interesting to me. What about bhakti?

Bhakti yoga (Devanāgarī: भक्ति योग) is a spiritual path described in Hindu philosophy which is supposed to be for fostering love, utter faith and surrender to God.[1] It is a means to realize God,[2] and is the easiest way for the common person because it doesn’t involve extensive yogic practices

Utter faith and surrender to God & it is the easiest way for the common person because it doesn’t involve extensive yogic practices. Hmmm… why would anyone want to actually practice yoga if this path is easier? I’d half bet that this description is misleading. Yoga is an art. It is practicing. And, more importantly, I’ve never heard that there are easier paths of all the yoga disciplines.

Ok, one more: tantra.

Tantra (Sanskrit: तन्त्र, “loom, warp”; hence “principle, system, doctrine, theory”, from the verbal root tan “stretch, extend, expand”, and the suffix tra “instrument”), anglicised as tantrism or tantricism, is the name scholars give to a style of religious ritual and meditation that arose in medieval India no later than the fifth century CE,[1] and which came to influence all forms of Indian religious expression to a greater or lesser degree.

That sounds promising. That same link goes on to say:

The earliest documented use of the word Tantra is in the Hindu text, the Rigveda (X.71.9).[2] The word “Tāntrika” is used for followers of the Tantras in Shaivism, but Buddhist practices based on the Tantras do not use the word Tantric to refer to themselves.[3]

The historical significance of the Tantric method lies in the fact that it impacted every major Indian religion extant in the early medieval period (c. 500 – 1200 CE): thus the Hindu sects of Shaivism, Shaktism and Vaishnavism, as well as Buddhism and Jainism all developed a well-documented body of Tantric practices and related doctrines. Even Islam in India was influenced by Tantra.[4] Tantric ideas and practices spread far outside of India, into Tibet, Nepal, China, Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia.[5][6] Today, it is Tibetan Buddhism and various forms of Hinduism that show the strongest Tantric influence, as well as the international postural yoga movement and most forms of American alternative spirituality grouped under the New Age rubric.

Looks like Tantra yoga could lead somewhere! That is, if the Google search site doesn’t lead to adult websites!

One of the first sites to come up when researching Tantra Yoga is Lovers-Secrets where they’re selling the idea of you can Master the Skills of Love. There, they mention:

Tantra from the other hand is depicted as some kind of Kinki new age sexuality that usually come with deep breathing, eye gazing and dolphin music.

Ok. I have to admit, kinki new age secuality does come to mind when I see the word tantric. You don’t have to go far to get definitions like:

Dear Alice:

What exactly is tantric yoga and how does it affect prolonged love- making? I heard something about this resulting in a dry orgasm, but I don’t know what that is… some information, please.

—Guru

Dear Guru,

Tantric religious traditions, found in both Hinduism and Buddhism, worship divinities concerned with sexual and cosmic energy. Tantric yoga, which has become popular in the United States, stresses the idea that a great vein runs from the lowest part of the spine, where the serpent power, Kundalini, rests, to the highest and most psychic center, the mind, symbolized by the lotus. In Tantra, the greatest source of energy in the universe is sexual and ritualized intercourse, and orgasm is considered a cosmic and divine experience

Hmmm… ritualized intercourse – as yoga? Ah ha ha ha ha… I must be in the wrong yoga school! If that’s what yoga’s about, dang, I’ve gotten onto the wrong boat!

As it turns out, a number of the first sites to come up when searching to tantra yoga really do have sexual overtones. It seems that sex is a part of it, but when you look deeper it’s like finding that love is just another word in the language that is filled with lots of different words.

If you dig a bit deeper, you’ll find tantra descriptions that are a bit more thought out. Like this from the Wikipedia:

Rather than a single coherent system, Tantra is an accumulation of practices and ideas, characterized by ritual that seeks to access the supra-mundane through the mundane, identifying the microcosm with the macrocosm.[31] The Tantric practitioner seeks to use prana, an energy that flows through the universe (including one’s own body) to attain goals that may be spiritual, material or both.[32] Most practitioners of tantra consider mystical experience imperative. Some versions of Tantra require the guidance of a guru.[33] In Hindu Tantra practices when bringing together the deity and the devotee, they use both meditation and ritual practices. These practices are divided into three classes of devotees: the animal, heroic, and the divine. In the divine devotee, the rituals are internal. The divine devotee is the only one that can attain the object of the rituals, which are directed to awakening kundalini energy.[34]

Well, that seems to cover just about everything. I’d have to say that to describe tantra this way would be a little too broad.

Looking around a bit more, I find a paragraph at the Yoga Journal. It’s a bit more light hearted.

Tantra Yoga

Probably the most misunderstood or misinterpreted of all the yogas, tantra, the sixth branch, is the pathway of ritual, which includes consecrated sexuality. The key word here is “consecrated,” which means to make sacred, to set apart as something holy or hallowed. In tantric practice we experience the Divine in everything we do. A reverential attitude is therefore cultivated, encouraging a ritualistic approach to life. It is amusing to note that, although tantra has become associated exclusively with sexual ritual, most tantric schools actually recommend a celibate lifestyle. In essence, tantra is the most esoteric of the six major branches. It will appeal to those yogis who enjoy ceremony and relate to the feminine principle of the cosmos, which yogis call shakti. If you see—and are deeply moved by—the significance behind celebration and ritual (holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, and other rites of passage), tantra yoga may be for you. Many tantric yogis find magic in all types of ceremony, whether it be a Japanese tea ceremony, the consecration of the Eucharist in a Catholic mass, or the consummation of a relationship

Again, sacred, rituals, feminine, holy – that’s sounding a bit more like the yoga that I know.

Looking at another site, we find:

Desire for Worldly Pleasures

Tantra is different from other traditions because it takes the whole person, and his/her worldly desires into account. Other spiritual traditions ordinarily teach that desire for material pleasures and spiritual aspirations are mutually exclusive, setting the stage for an endless internal struggle. Although most people are drawn into spiritual beliefs and practices, they have a natural urge to fulfill their desires. With no way to reconcile these two impulses, they fall prey to guilt and self-condemnation or become hypocritical. Tantra offers an alternative path.

The Tantrik Approach To Life

The tantrik approach to life avoids this pitfall. Tantra itself means “to weave, to expand, and to spread”, and according to tantrik masters, the fabric of life can provide true and ever-lasting fulfillment only when all the threads are woven according to the pattern designated by nature. When we are born, life naturally forms itself around that pattern. But as we grow, our ignorance, desire, attachment, fear, and false images of others and ourselves tangle and tear the threads, disfiguring the fabric. Tantra “sadhana” or practice reweaves the fabric, and restores the original pattern. This path is systematic and comprehensive. The profound science and practices pertaining to hatha yoga, pranayama, mudras, rituals, kundalini yoga, nada yoga, mantra, mandala, visualization of dieties, alchemy, ayurveda, astrology, and hundreds of esoteric practices for generating worldly and spiritual prosperity blend perfectly in the tantrik disciplines.

This description, which actually starts to make sense to me, sheds a lot more light on the subject of tantra yoga. And, while looking around for more information, I found a nice little short description that feel like it’s more in line with tantra yoga is to the common person then what I first quoted above.

tantra yoga is the path of self-awareness through religious rituals, including awareness of sexuality as sacred and vital.

Well, ok. So back to the homework. This homework lists 4 questions that I need to answer.

Question 1:

How would you describe this type of yoga to a fellow practitioner?

I would say that even though tantra yoga is commonly thought of as being sexual yoga, it’s a form of yoga that doesn’t back away from the realization that we are spirits in human form. At its root, there is duality (feminine and masculine) that always seek to be in balance. Physical, along with emotional and mental activities are all part of our experience. Tantra yoga embraces the energies that we experience and teaches people how to channel those energies in ways that can ultimately lead to enlightenment. Most all yoga disciplines embrace tantric principles.

Question 2:

How does one achieve enlightenment, Samadhi, nirvana, or ecstasy on this path?

That’s a good question! I would guess that it would be through practice and great understanding. All the standard principles apply to this form of yoga including ananas, meditation, devotion, but as the quote above says: “The divine devotee is the only one that can attain the object of the rituals, which are directed to awakening kundalini energy.[34]” Thus the goal of the practice is to awaken the kundalini energy.

Question 3:

What are typical practices for this path?

To really give a feel for this, it makes sense to Google up information pertaining to awakening the kundalini. The ABC of Yoga says:

The practice of Kundalini Yoga includes Yoga Poses and Meditation, but focuses more on Chanting or Mantra and Pranayama.

Once the Kundalini (the energy in the form of a snake) is awakened, it passes through the different Chakras, or centers of consciousness, that are thought to reside in the human body. There are a total of seven chakras, each providing a certain power or experience when stimulated. For more information, read our section on the Seven Chakras.

To understand the movement of Kundalini better, you must have adequate knowledge of the Nervous System, particularly the spinal cord. This is because the Seven Chakras are believed to be found in this area of the body.

So how can the Kundalini in your body be awakened? This can be done through:

  • the practice of Asanas, Pranayama, and Mantras
  • concentration and training of the mind
  • the practice of Hatha Yoga, Bhakta Yoga, and Jnana Yoga
  • selflessness and intellectual inquiry
  • the help of a guru

This fits with all the other information that I found with regards to tantra yoga.

Basically, it is said that if you practice bringing your physical body in line using asana, pranayama and mantras and practice the appropriate amount of mental focus and clarity all the while feeling and refining these practices you will awaken the kundalini. Generally, these practices seem very much in line with other forms of yoga.

Question 4:

How could you include these practices in your daily life? (list 1-3 examples)

Here, it might be worth focusing on what make tantra yoga different rather than what makes it the same. Unfortunately, the tantric principles are so fundamental to all the common types of yoga that it’s hard to separate out things that are completely different. Tantra yoga has an undertone of being ritualistic, thus I would bring that element into my yoga practice. Rather than simply showing up to exercise, I would embrace the activity as if it’s the movements of a sacred ceremony that actually leads to self awareness and divine understanding.

It is also highly energy based. With regards to energy, it really means how the energies flow throughout your whole Being. Attention should be applied towards actions that help focus your awareness on the energy systems within the body so that the subtle effects can be felt and experienced. The practice would take on activities that bring conscious understanding to how the chakra system functions in the body.

And finally embrace the essence of bring a physical Being. Feel. Use your senses. Smell, see, touch in everything that you do. Use the most important tool we have – ourselves – to fully experience everything that we do.

I guess if I were to sum this all up, I would have to say that the tantric principles are something that resonates well with me. Even if it doesn’t lead to enlightenment, the principles make sense if someone is on the path to experience what it is to be a human that acts consciously.

Maybe there is a little tantic yoga coming your way. If you’re practicing yoga, you’re probably already move involved then you thought.

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