The Serpent Power. Arthur Avalon

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СКАЧАТЬ announcement. All that is opposed to Veda and Smriti must be rejected. Of the enemies of the Vedas{69} for whom such Shāstras were designed, some became Vaishnavas, and other Shaivas. One of such Scriptures was the Tantra with a materialistic Yoga system called Shatchakra-Sādhana, which is nothing but a trickery on the part of the professional Gurus, who have not hesitated also to promulgate forged scriptures. ‘The very mention of Tantrik Shāstra fills us with shame.’ The Shatchakra Sādhana is a mere obstruction to spiritual advancement. The bliss which is said to be attained by leading Kundalī to the Sahasrāra is not denied, since it is affirmed by those who say they have experienced it. But this Bliss (Ānanda) is merely a momentary superior kind of physical Bliss which disappears with the body, and not the Bliss which is Brahman and liberation. Moksha is not to be got by entering the Sahasrāra, but in leaving it by piercing the Brahmarandhra and becoming bodiless.{70}

      “The Tantrik seeks to remain in the body, and thus to obtain liberation cheaply, just as the Brahmos and Members of the Ārya Samāja have become Brahmajnānīs (knowers of the Brahman) at a cheap price. Nectar, too, is cheap with the Tantriks. But what is cheap is always worthless, and this shows itself when one attempts to earn some fruit from one’s endeavors. ‘And yet all men are attracted when they hear of Shatchakra.’ ‘Many are so steeped in Tantrik faith that they can find nothing wrong with its Shāstras.’ And the Hindu nowadays has been put in such a maze by his Tantrik Gurus that he does not know what he wants. For centuries he has been accustomed to the Tantrik Dharma,{71} and his eyes are therefore not clear enough to see that it is as truly unacceptable to a Hindu as it is to a Mussalman. In fact, these persons (for whose benefit the Guru makes these remarks) are full of Mlechchhatā,{72} though, after all, it must be admitted to be some advance for such a creature as a Mlechha to adhere even to Tantrik doctrine. For bad as it is it is better than nothing at all. All the same, the Gurus delude them with their fascinating talk about Shatchakra. Like a lot of the present-day advertisers, they offer to show their so-called ‘Lotuses’ to those who will join them. Men are sent to collect people to bring them to a Dīkshāguru (initiator). In this respect the Tantriks act just like coolie recruiters for the tea-gardens.{73} The Tantrik says there are really ‘Lotuses’ there; but if the Lotuses are really there, why are we not told how we may see them?{74} And there also are supposed to be Devatās, Dākinīs, Yoginīs, ‘all ready at every moment for inspection.’{75} And, then, how material it all is! They speak of a Parashiva above Shiva, as if there was more than one Brahman. And, then, the nectar is said to be of the color of lac. Well, if so, it is a gross (Sthūla) and perceptible thing; and as a doctor can then squeeze it out there is no need for a Guru.{76} In short, the Tantrik Shatchakra is nothing but ‘a sweet in the hands of a child.’ A child who is wayward is given a sweet to keep him quiet. But if he has sense enough to know that the sweet is given to distract him, he throws it away, and finds the key to the locked doors of Yoga, called Karma and Jnāna. This process of Yoga was expelled from Hindu society centuries ago. For nearly 2,500 years ago Shangkara,{77} when destroying atheism, exterminated also Shatchakrayoga. (When Shangkara disputed with the Kāpālika Krakacha, the latter invoked to his aid the fierce form of Shiva called Bhairava. But on Shangkara’s worshipping the God, the latter said to Krakacha, ‘Thy time has come,’ and absorbed His devotee into Himself.){78} Shangkara then showed the worthlessness of the Tantras. They are again to-day attempting to enter Hindu society, and must be again destroyed.”

      The writer of the note thus summarized omitted to notice that the Chakras are mentioned in the Upanishads, but endeavored to meet the fact that they are also described in the Purānas by the allegation that the Pauranik Chakras are in conformity with the Vedas, whereas the Tantrik Chakras are not. It is admitted that in the Shiva Purāna there is an account of the six centers, but it is said that they are not there alleged to actually exist, nor is anything mentioned of any Sādhanā in connection with them. They are, it is contended, to be imagined only for the purpose of worship. In external worship Devas and Devīs are worshipped in similar Lotuses. The Purānas, in fact, according to this view, convert what is external worship into internal worship. If, according to the Purāna, one worships an interior lotus, it is not to be supposed that there is anything there. One is worshipping merely a figment of one’s imagination, though it is curious to note that it is said that this figment secures certain advantages to the worshipper, and the latter must commence, according to this critic, with the Chakra which he is qualified to worship. It is not obvious how any question of such competency arises when each of the Chakras is imagined only. Attention is drawn to the fact that in the Linga Purāna there is nothing about the rousing of Kundalī, the piercing of the six centers, the drinking of nectar, and so forth. The Purāna merely says, “Meditate on Shiva and Devī in the different lotuses.” There is, it is thus contended, a radical difference between the two systems. “In the Pauranik description of the Chakras everything is stated clearly; but with the Tantriks all is mystery, or else how indeed, except by such mystification, could they dishonestly carry on their profession as Gurus?”

      Buddhists may dispute this critic’s understanding of their Shūnyavāda, as Tantriks will contest his account of the origin of their Shāstra. The Historian will call in question the statement that Shangkara{79} abolished the Tantra. For, according to the Shangkaravijaya, his action was not to abolish any of the sects existing at his time, but to reform and establish bonds of unity between them, and to induce them all through their differing methods to follow a common ideal. Thus, even though Krakacha was absorbed into his God, the extreme Tantrik sect of Kāpālikas which he represented is said to have continued to exist with Shangkara’s approval, though possibly in a modified form, under its leader Vatukanātha. The Brahmos, Āryasamāj, Vaishnavas, and Shaivas, may resent this critic’s remarks so far as they touch themselves. I am not here concerned with this religious faction, but will limit the following observations in reply to the subject in hand:

      The criticism, notwithstanding its “pious” acerbity against forms of doctrine of which the writer disapproved, contains some just observations. I am not here concerned to establish the reality or value of this Yoga method, nor is proof on either of these points available except through actual experiment and experience. De experientia non est disputandum. From a doctrinal and historical point of view, however, it seems that this critic did not have a sufficient knowledge{80} of the subject which he has thus so vigorously condemned, or of the wide acceptance which this Yoga has received in India. It is true that Karma with Jnāna are means for the attainment of Moksha. These and Bhakti (devotion) which may partake of the character of the first or the second, according to the nature of its display,{81} are all contained in the eight processes of Yoga. Thus, they include Tapas, a form of Karma yoga,{82} and Dhyāna, a process of Jnāna yoga. As will be later pointed out, the “eight-limbed” yoga (Ashtāngayoga) includes Hatha processes, such as Āsana and Prānāyāma. What Hathayogīs have done is to develop the physical or Hatha processes and aspect. The true view of Hathavidyā recognizes that it is an auxiliary of Jnāna whereby Moksha is obtained. It is also obviously true that all Bliss is not Moksha. Ānanda (Bliss) of a kind may be secured through drink or drugs, but no one supposes that this is liberating Bliss. Similarly, Hathayoga processes may secure various forms of gross or subtle bodily Bliss which are not The Bliss. There is, however, a misunderstanding of the system here described when it is described as merely materialistic. It has, like other forms of Yoga, a material side or Hatha aspect, since man is gross, subtle, and spiritual; but it has a Jnāna aspect also. As the Jīva is both material and spiritual, discipline and progress in both the aspects is needed. Kundalī is aroused by Mantra, which is Consciousness (Chaitanya) embodied in sound. “It is he whose being is immersed in the Brahman,” who arouses the Devī Kundalī by the Mantra Hūngkāra (v. 50). The Devī is Herself Shuddha Sattva{83} (v. 51). “The wise and excellent Yogī, wrapt in Samādhi and devoted to the Lotus Feet of his Guru, should lead Kulakundalī along with Jīva to Her Lord the Parashiva in the abode of liberation within the pure Lotus, and meditate upon Her who grants all desires as the Chaitanyarūpā Bhagavatī (that is, the Devī whose substance is Consciousness itself); and as he leads Kulakundalī he should make all things absorb in Her.” Meditation is made on every center in which She operates. In the Ājnā center Manas can only unite with and be absorbed into Kundalī by becoming one with the Jnānashakti which She is, for She is all Shaktis. The Layayoga is therefore a combination СКАЧАТЬ