topics: |  religion | philosophy | india | tantra

Tantra emphasizes the cultivation of "divine power" "(shakti) as a path to
infinite bliss or the attainment of a higher consciousness.  Tantric masters
often sanction practices that are deviant in a larger context [antinomianist
- going against the norm or nomos p.8]; and left-hand (vAmAchAra) tantra
practice ritualized sexual intercourse (maithuna) and the consumption of
alcohol and meat, as well as frequenting burial grounds.  These have led to a
association in the West of Tantra with eroticism and licentious morality.

But in the main, the Tantric teachings are geared toward the attainment of
enlightenment as well as spiritual power.  It constitutes an important part
of not only Hinduism but also Jainism and Vajrayana Buddhism.

The first part of the book describes the cyclicity and time cycles, within
which the concept of mAyA describes the illusion of reality, where life is
full of impermanence and suffering (duHkha).  In tantra, the
escape path from this cycle is through realizing that the other world, the
world sought for in nirvANA is nothing but this saMsAra itself, this cyclic
existence. This may mean that even in this world there is some underlying
reality that is unchanging.  p. 46

Tantra's model of existence (ontology) consists of 36 principles or
categories (tattva) - Pratyabiijna of Kashmir school p.62:
Universal principles: shiva / shakti / sadAkhyA [sadA-shiva=ever-benevolent]
	/ Ishvara creator / sad-vidyA or shudhya-vidyA - pure knowledge
Limiting principles: mAyA
Five coverings (kancuka) assoc with mAyA:
	kalA (part) - occludes unlimited creatorship of universe
	vidyA (knowledge) - omniscience of consciousness is curtailed
	rAga (attachment) - wholeness of consciousness is disrupted
	kAla (time) - eternity of consciousness reduced to temporal existence
	niyati (necessity) - indep of consc is limited wrt cause, space, form
Individuation: Purusha or Anu - the conscious subject /
	       prakriti (creatrix) - objectified reality, or nature
Inner instrument (antahkaraNa): buddhi (understanding, intelligence) /
	ahaMkAra (I-maker) / manas (mind)
Experience:
Five jnAna-indriyas : smell, taste, sight, touch, hearing
Five karma-indriyas (powers of conation): speech, hand, foot, anus, genitals
	[vAc, hasta, pAda, pAyu, upastha]
Five subtle elements [tanmAtra]: [shabda, sparsha, rUpa, rasa, gandha]
	-tanmatra;
Materiality (bhUtas): AkAsha ether / vAyu air / agni / Apo water / prithvI

The ultimate reality though singular, includes the trasncendental
_Shakti. Shiva without shakti is powerless.  60-68

Upto ch.5, basic principles; ch. 6-9 : Tantric training process, Guru-shishya
system; ch. 10-16 - essence of Tantric practics, kundalini, mantra, etc.