Tuesday, April 23, 2013

TANTRA.

 


What comes to your mind when you read the word 'Tantra?' Sexual liberation? Black magic?

Tantra is one of the most misunderstood branch of Indian spiritual or yoga traditions.

When I was young, I was fed stories about Tantriks. It was believed that Tantriks had powers to evoke the negative forces in the Universe. Roughly put, they were the opposite of Saints.

I chanced upon Osho's Tantra some time back. Osho - some love to hate him and many hate to love him. Me? I am hooked to his words.

Buddha preached from his experience and so did Osho. It is just that we tend to take in and believe what suits us.    


From the book - 
 
"Tantra says a transformation comes when you accept your total being. Then suddenly everything falls in line, it takes its own place. Then without trying to cut anything out of your being, your whole being rearranges itself. If you accept and say yes, a rearrangement happens, and where before there was a noisy clamor inside, now a melody, a music is born."

The way of Tantra is neither one of blind sensuality nor only of spirituality. It is of both/and. Tantra does not support the philosophy of both/and. It does not reject anything - It transforms everything.

Tantra is the way of wholeness - neither obsession with the world, nor withdrawal from it. It is being in the world lightly, with a little smile. It is playfulness. It does not take things seriously. It is the light of heart; it laughs. It is unashamedly earthly and infinitely otherworldly. The earth and the sky meet in Tantra; it is the meeting of polar opposite.

Leaving you with this thought - Except for human beings, everything is fresh, because it is only we who carry the load, the luggage of memory.


Posted by at

23 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 23, 2013 at 11:43 AM

    Osho intrigues me...and honestly, Tantra had a very negative aura about it till this moment.
    I am left pondering over the quote...That was a very helpful post Janu - and I hear you have teenage kids? You are a hot momma I say! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. sulekkhaApril 23, 2013 at 11:45 AM

    Love Tantra, didn't know what it actually meant. Thanks for sharing this with us.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousApril 23, 2013 at 11:46 AM

    Yes the word Tantra has been tainted and many are still ignorant about its true meaning. Good one..

    PhenoMenon
    http://capturedalive.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/tree-tragedy/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mina MenonApril 23, 2013 at 11:59 AM

    Interesting one simply cause i was havng a conv wth a frnd yest abt black magic n stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  5. SuzyApril 23, 2013 at 12:05 PM

    I've always thought of tantra as spiritual. Loved your post.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Priya SreeramApril 23, 2013 at 12:23 PM

    I recently read a book called Tantra by Adi - it was a vampire thrillewr interlaced with Tantra and from there I understood that tantra is often misunderstood. nice post janaki. BTW osho's words do have a strong impact :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shilpa GargApril 23, 2013 at 2:13 PM

      Yeah, got some newer concepts about Tantra from this book. Looks like Osho has explained Tantra in a different perspective in his book. Thanks for sharing.

      Delete
  7. Cynthia Rodrigues ManchekarApril 23, 2013 at 12:26 PM

    That was a very interesting quote, about carrying the luggage of memory. How heavy it must be. Thank you for providing so much information about Tantra.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Tall Girl in Japan April 23, 2013 at 12:59 PM

    T-shirts come to my mind when someone says Tantra :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shilpa GargApril 23, 2013 at 2:10 PM

      LOL :D Ruchira! That's kid's favorite brand! :)

      Delete
  9. Afshan ShaikApril 23, 2013 at 3:47 PM

    When some one says Tantra I remember mantra a shopping mall in vijayawada and Tantri the mantri from tinkle
    anyway some nice words there by OSHO!
    loved reading them. Transformation it is - well said

    ReplyDelete
  10. Brian MillerApril 23, 2013 at 3:54 PM

    being in the world lightly...
    i like the sound of that...
    what we take in and believe that suits us...
    another one to think on today as well...

    hello.

    smiles.

    ReplyDelete
  11. MymindApril 23, 2013 at 5:05 PM

    I subscribe to Osho and J Krishnamurthi school of thoughts.You have summed up a much misunderstood concept of Tantra so effectively here. !

    ReplyDelete
  12. WEApril 23, 2013 at 7:08 PM

    Very informative...thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dr Genevive AngelaApril 23, 2013 at 8:09 PM

    I too have always heard tantra to be something negative, thanks for enlightening. I liked Osho's writing, and i have read a few of them, and I found it was good.

    ReplyDelete
  14. ShailApril 23, 2013 at 11:01 PM

    Thanks for sharing. Now I am curious to know more.

    ReplyDelete
  15. UnknownApril 24, 2013 at 1:39 AM

    So very interesting; I didn't have much knowledge about Tantra

    ReplyDelete
  16. eNApril 24, 2013 at 2:15 AM

    Osho is awesome. Thanks for sharing this, it was quite interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  17. UnknownApril 24, 2013 at 6:28 AM

    Very intriguing!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sridevi 1974April 24, 2013 at 9:39 AM

    Intriguing and Interesting :) Never knew about this :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Corinne RodriguesApril 24, 2013 at 9:55 PM

    Thanks to Janet (Genevive Angela), I was introduced to Osho's writings and find that they make so much sense.

    ReplyDelete
  20. UnknownApril 26, 2013 at 7:17 AM

    Tantra sounds like a beautiful thing. Thank you for the lesson.

    Have fun with the rest of a-z.

    ReplyDelete
  21. CuckooApril 27, 2013 at 9:20 PM

    Tantra always reminds me of the t shirt brand!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting and sharing your thought.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)