p. 234

“the absolute godhead, which is effulgent pure consciousness, communicates itself to the world and especially to the human microcosm as a stream or wave of phosphorescent light … . And because the universe is {continuously} brought into being by

a divine outpouring of light and

sound,

the Tantric practitioner may return to … this pure consciousness by meditatively recondensing those same photemes of light and

phonemes of sound into their higher principles.”

p. 235

“Through meditative practice

of mantras (phonematic, acoustic manifestations of the absolute) and

of yantras … (photemes, i.e., luminous, graphic, visual representations of the same),

the consciousness of the practitioner is uplifted and transformed to gradually become god-consciousness.”

p. 236

“The simplest translation of the term [/kama-kala/] might well be “The Art (kala) of Love (kama).” … The S`ricakra is portrayed as a “drop” (bindu) located at the center of an elaborate diagram of nine nesting and interlocking triangles …, surrounded by two circles of lotus petals, with the whole encased within the standard gated frame, called the “earth citadel” (bhupura). ...

p. 237

It is, then, a phosphorescing (sphurad) drop of sound (bindu) that animates this cosmogram and the universe”.

“The absolute flashes forth, in phosphorescent effulgence (sphuratta; ullasa). [p. 330, n. 8:120 : “sphurad is the cognate of pho-sphoresc-ing; and urmi of welling or swell. The term sphurad[-]urmi is found in YH 1.55.”] … The Goddess is luminously conscious (prakas`amars`ana) … . She is “throbbingly incarnate” (spandarupini)”. (Padoux, “Introduction” to Yoginihr.daya, p. 15)

“a maiden's naked body was used as the meditational substrate. [Ramacandra Rao 1989, p. 68-9] A number of S`rividya commentators, led by the venerable seventeenth-century master Bhaskararaya, insisted on the literal use of this meditational support, together with the referents of the five M-words, all of which smacked of the Kaula practices.” (p. 330, n. 8:123 : “Brooks [1990], p. 82, referring to Tripura Upanis.ad 11-12, with the commentary of Bhaskararaya.”)

“This is the explicit teaching of the (twelfth-century?) Vatulanatha Sutra (VNA) and its commentary by the sixteenth-century Anantas`aktipada, according to which the mystic is effortlessly initiated by … “Yoginis.” … It is in this way that the overtly sexual language of the fifth sutra, “From the sexual union of the Siddha and the Yogini the great mingling (mahamelapa) arises,” [Silburn 1995, p. 89] is … semanticized by Anantas`aktipada :

… By virtue of this embrace, an uninterrupted “great mystic union” (mahamelapa) occurs; … and everywhere in the ether of transcendent consciousness, … the duality of subjectivity and objectivity has melted away.”

“Here, the ritualized and sexualized Kaula “minglings” (melapas) of flesh-and-blood Yoginis and Siddhas … took place on isolated hilltops on new moon nights”.

“The Goddess is said to have a “body composed of letters” (lipitanu), which renders the act of reading them an audiovisual {and putatively voyeuristic} voyage of sorts through her body. …

“the phoneme E, whose grapheme, in the Sanskrit {Deva-nagari} alphabet, has the form of a downturned triangle. Because of its form, E is considered to be the privileged grapheme of the Goddess, … As … the Goddess's or Yogini's vulva, which is called a site of creation and joy and “beautiful with the fragrance of emission”” (Dyczkowski 2000, p. 43 n. 125; citing Jayadratha's commentary on Tantra-aloka 3:95a).

Malini … : “Now, it is true that the Goddess … is described in the high Hindu Tantras as bhinnayoni [p. 331, n. 8:142 : “With specific reference to the goddess Malini … : Padoux [1994], pp. 165-71.”], “she whose vulva is spread” … .

This depiction … is indeed found in a discussion, by Abhinavagupta, of Malini … :

[quoted from Tantra-aloka 3:199ab, translated in Skora 2001, p. 151 :] “And this [Little Mother], by banging together …, becomes … whose vulva is spread.””

“This … is made explicit in Kubjika traditions, which locate the Goddess's yoni at the level of the End of the Twelve of the subtle body, impaled there upon a subtle S`iva linga”.

“a Yogini lay at the heart, … the source, of Kaula initiation and ritual. At the same time, many of these ritual brought a male actor into play in the person of the teacher or master (guru or acarya),

[p. 331, n. 8:150 : “Whereas a guru can initiate a disciple into various Kaula … practices, only an acarya can consecrate …, that is, empower … to initiate or consecrate”.]

{This is the distinction between a priest/presbyteros (who can initiate by baptism-and-confirmation) on one hand, and a bishop/episkopos (who can consecrate, empowering to initiate or to consecrate) on the other.}

with the combined sexual emissions of the pair transforming the initiand”.

“Bengali traditions of

the diks.a guru (… of initiation)

and the s`iks.a guru (teaching …).

In both Sahajiya Vais.n.ava and Baul traditions,

the former, who is a male transmitter of mantras, plays a secondary role

to the latter, who is female and whose “teaching” is received through her sexual emissions.”

“Most often dreams and visions involve possession by a demonic {divine} being, which can be … {appeased} by a narrativized interpretation (… in these cases, Tamil or [Simhal]ese) followed by a dramatic ritual … {appeasement} either improvised by the dreamer or choreographed by an independent ritual specialist, or cami. These camis, generally low-caste individuals, do not choose to practice their charismatic calling. Rather, they have been “recruited” by a deity, generally a goddess; that it, they too have been objects of repeated possessions, invasions of their person, by a foreign being. It is their prior and ongoing possession experience that empowers them to diagnose and cure other similarly possessed persons. [Nabokov 2000, pp. 23-4]

{This (the appeasement of, with abject submission to, any possessing-deity; undertaken under initiative by a fully-empowered shaman who had received guidance in the same way for the same reason) is likewise the usual mode of vocation into shamanhood in Siberia and elsewhere.}

In this role, camis are similar – if not identical – to tantrikas. As Michel Strickmann has observed [1996, p. 322], the Tantric mantra master is a person who is enveloped by his dreams and visions, with the goal of Tantric ritual being to generate … (wakeful) dreaming”.

{There is, howbeit, usually some distinction between becoming spirit-possessed, versus dreaming or having visions.}

p. 248

“the practitioner seeks to know his past lives – in order to discern whether … those lives may be creating impediments to the success of his Kaula practice in his present life – by …

p. 249

the vulvas of a circle of ritual consorts. These rites therefore involve the “viewing of ...” … at once the vulva that is his meditation support and the womb of {the woman whom he formerly had in that era as mother} of the prior existence he is seeking to know.

“Concerning the 'viewing of his own {former-life mother's} yoni,' … It is the bestower of … the [“eight supernatural powers”] beginning with atomicity.”

{Perceiving how one entred into the embryo of a praevious life would entail shrinkage of one's [subtle] body's size, even unto the dimension of an an.u (properly quarkicity, rather than atomicity) – this tiny dimensionality being perhaps needful in order to fit into the interdimensional wormhole. Rotating (like a cakra), such a wormhole is “this interdimensional vortex” (IPh, p. 160) disclosing the “purpose of life” (IPh, p. 161). “Call it a quark” (IPh, p. 214), “he is living directly in the middle of this … interdimensional vortex.” (IPh, p. 215)}

Here, the practitioner is instructed to take a group of eight women, “... who have authority over the pure stream {of transmission of the empowerment?} … .” … Then [“on the second day of the practice, following an initial day of preliminary rituals” (p. 332, n. 8:175)],

he sexually arouses his S`aktis in succession, “effecting as many 'rebirths' … as his energy allows. … Having aroused the eight S`aktis by day,

{The sexual acts would have been intended to re-enact (in a way noticeable to the redincarnation-providing deities) the sexual acts between the parents which he had in a praevious life, which sexual act of theirs enabled his incarnating into a body for that life.}

the practitioner eats with them by night. In this way, he “sees the vision of his own {former-lives' mothers'} yoni, going back over eight births.” …

{“secrets … of the past lifetimes … express themselves … for the different Meats” (VGW, p. 190).}

The male practitioner, who is “sealed in” here by a circle of … women, now experiences …

the great obstructors … .

He … sees a fearsome serpent that seems to be devouring [“him”].

He sees a she-cat with sharp teeth and a deformed body. …

He sees a very terrifying she-rat, with the body of an obstructor. …

[There will be] buck-toothed S`aktis licking [“him”] with their tongues. …

p. 250

While this is taking place, …

His supernatural power, pervading the triple-world, will manifest itself. …

He becomes a Virile Hero, surrounded by yonis.”

“This he has succeeded in doing through his “dream work,”

{“Meat of Type I : … the dream life of the spirit” (VGW, p. 188)} {“The Meat … is tied up with … past … lifetimes” (VGW, p. 189).}

through … hordes of demonesses … with … long tongues … . This is the modus operandi of the modern-day tantrika, a visionary who induces … – … the vision of – a divinity, through a series of “spiritual exercises” by means of which … usually demonesses, are … brought under control by the higher god”.

p. 251

“the highest S`aivasiddhanta initiation, called nirvan.a-diks.a” : “instruction to the Tantric guru to “install … his disciples [“for the night”] … . After having prayed to the God of Dreams, he leaves them.”” (SS`P, ed. by He'le`ne Brunner, 3^rd pt., p. 219)

p. 252

“the aim of this initiation rite is to stimulate dreams in the initiands through the teaching of the mantra of the “Little Dream Man” (svapna[-]man.avaka)”. (SS`P, ed. by He'le`ne Brunner, 3^rd pt., p. 216-7, nn. 131, 132) [p. 333, n. 8:184 : “The svapnaman.ava[ka] is attested to in … the KSS (1.6.137 and 12.5.103)”.]

“the [Kaula-jn~ana-nirn.aya] enjoins the Kaula practitioner to eat “the flesh, clarified butter, blood, milk, and yoghurt of a cow,” … with an orthodox requirement (three of the pan~cagavya, the five pure products of the cow)”.

“The Viravali Tantra, quoted by Jayadratha in his commentary to TA 4.243, … stating that “the ancient r.s.is ate both beef and human flesh””.

M-word

its signification

Madya 'liquor'

“the nectar … in the cranial vault at the culmination of yogic practice”

Mamsa 'meat'

“practitioner's tongue in … khecari mudra”

Matsya 'fish'

“absorption into the medial channel of the breaths {psychic energies – cold and hot} moving in the right and left channels of the subtle body (these breaths {psychic energies}, styled as two fish swimming in the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers, are to be swallowed into the central sus.umna channel ...)”.

Mudra 'gesture'

“dawning of inner knowledge in the sahasrara cakra”

Maithuna 'copulation'

“supreme essence (paramatattva), from which siddhis and knowledge of the absolute arise”

9

Tantra for the New Millennium

258 to 272

“the “citadel of mantras” constructed to protect sleeping initiands from demonic invasion, … is of a piece with

a standard preliminary ritual called “binding of the directions” (digbandhana), by which hostile demonic forces are fenced outside the worship man[.]d[.]ala.”

“As Michel Strickmann has argued [1996, p. 43], the data throughout medieval Asia indicate that Tantra was the province of the the highest strata of Asian society – of kings and pretenders to kingship – and that it therefore spread downward and outward … to the lower echelons of society located at the periphery. … In other words, the low-caste, rural margins of medieval South Asian religious society would have adopted the Tantric practices of their rulers as a means of social uplift”.

“An examination … of the hymns of the Atharva Veda shows that over half of these are devoted to protection against disease …, or for sorcery … .

One finds the same preoccupations in much of the earliest Kaula literature”.

“The gods and goddesses … controlled by the Bhopas, the low-caste or tribal “shamanic healers”” : “the Bhopas would “embody” these divinities by becoming possessed by them”.

{“As a Bhopa is possessed of the spirit, his body starts convulsing and jerking in a curious way. The Bhopa, under influence of the deity, answers questions, suggests remedies for ailments, and acts as a fortune-teller. The institution of Bhopas in Rajasthan is widespread” (PF&FP, p. 29).} {3-stringed musical instrument for singing to god Nara-ayana : “After preparing a new jantar, the Bhopa performs the initiation ceremony of the new instrument” (PF&FP, p. 33).}

{“Even when women consult bhopas to interpret dreams ..., a bhopa is ... possessed … by a deity (almost always Bheru or Dharmaraj)” (R&RW, p. 136).}

“documentation of the spirit world … . Pages … with strange shoadowy characters from no known script traced across their surface : this was “ghost writing that would appear on paper inside the private homes of his clients. …

Women with their hair chopped away at crazy angles – again, the work of bhut-prets … .

The roof of a factory covered with stones that had rained down on it, the work of demons.”

{In Bali, “my workers and I got up on the roof and ... We found it covered with sand and rocks. We don’t put sand and rocks on our roofs. The big god was here” (FG, p. 169).}

“in the Kulu region of Himachal Pradesh, Jognis are dread goddesses {= Yaks.ini-s} of the uninhabited “jungle” to whom elaborate blood offerings must be made whenever one of their trees is cut down. … every February, all the Jognis of the entire region, from as far away as Chamba and Tibet, come to the village of Lahaul, each straddling a roof beam as she flies through the air, carrying a sacrificial animal (a yak, ibex, dzo …) to consume at the feast.” (Desirens 1991, p. 67)

“In Bengal d.ains (a vernacularization of the term d.akini) are human witches who serve as accomplices to the … supernatural Yoginis.” (Carrin 1997, pp. 94-6, 113)

“in many other parts of village India, … aged, widowed … women are accused … of consorting with the Yoginis”.

[p. 334, n. 9:10 : “a dhyana of the medieval Tantrasara ... states that any woman who takes this … “not only becomes a d.akin.i along with other d.akin.is, but, losing her husband and son, she becomes a perfected Yogini who can move about at will” : Donaldson [1987], p. 349, n. 11.”]

“the Jogammas (“Yoga-Mothers”) of Karnataka, … the female servants of Yellamma, the south Indian goddess of sterility” : “low-caste families continue the custom of offering … a daughter, to Yellamma, to serve as her servant … . [Assayag 1992, pp. 160-5, 308] … Jogammas are, like Yellamma, sterile …, who offer their … sexuality without reproduction : Jogammas never become mothers. This is of a piece with their role in Karnataka society, where they are prostitutes.”