Aspects of Tantra Yoga
A Worthwhile Tantra Text
[My 4-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Aspects of Tantra Yoga†by Debabrata SenSharma.]
This was my second Debabrata Sen Sharma text, and given that I loved the first one (see my five-star review of his “The Philosophy of Sadhanaâ€), I expected another enlightening and enjoyable read – and that’s what I got with “Aspects of Tantra Yoga.â€
According to Sen Sharma, the Hindu Tantrika tradition (which he focuses on while ignoring Buddhist Tantra), “can be broadly classified under three heads, viz the Vaisnava, the Sakta, and the Saiva.†And he pays short shrift to the Vaisnava (which is associated with “left-handed†and sexual tantric practices). Regarding the focus of his study, he writes: “As our present study of tantric lore is concerned with Saiva and Sakta tantras, we shall confine ourselves to their study only. The Saiva and Sakta traditions have so much in common with one another that it’s very difficult to draw a demarcation line between the two.†Hence, in his words, “The Saiva and Sakta scriptures are inter-changeable.â€
Unfortunately, the hoary history of the Saiva and Sakta traditions is shrouded in mystery because, in the words of Sen Sharma, “Vast literature was produced under the Saiva and Sakta traditions, but unfortunately most of it is lost or remains unpublished... As most of the tantric text mentioned in these lists [which he provides] is not available now in any form, it is extremely difficult to come to any definite conclusions.â€
While the first half of the text focuses on the history, schools, literature, and language of the tantras, I was more interested in the second half of the book, which focuses on the metaphysics of the Saiva and Sakta tantras. Sen Sharma excels in this area, and his description of Saivism tattvas and malas in this text seemed even better than in “The Philosophy of Sadhana.†But a major disappointment was the sketchy and superficial treatment he gives the upayas. Hence if one wishes to understand the hierarchical spiritual practices of the Tantras, this is the wrong text for that.
A seeming sine qua non for those who write texts on Saivism is to contrast the metaphysics of this tradition with those of Advaita Vedanta. While I’m very familiar with these comparisons, given that my sadhana focuses on Relationship (Satsang, or Divine Communion), I was particularly taken with Sen Sharma’s description of the relational Jhana of Advaita Saivism (as opposed to the relation-less jhana of Advaita Vedanta). He writes:
“The Jhana Shakti is that aspect of the divine Shakti which brings in and holds all his self-manifestations as (prameya kalpa) in conscious relation with Himself. It is true that the very act of bringing something in relationship presupposes the existence of duality, but in the case of Parama siva, the sole Reality, the question of something existing apart from Him does not arise. Parama Siva, therefore never experiences complete duality between Himself as the Knower (aham) and His self-manifestation as the object (idam) as he always experiences them to be bound by a thread of unity. Thus the duality of His self-manifestation as the universe is always revealed in His experience (paramarsa) as it were, in the background of an all-embracing Unity (advaita).â€This was my second Deba Brata SenSharma text, and given that I loved the first one (see my five-star review of his “The Philosophy of Sadhanaâ€), I expected another enlightening and enjoyable read – and that’s what I got with “Aspects of Tantra Yoga.â€
[My 4-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Aspects of Tantra Yoga†by Debabrata SenSharma.]
This was my second Debabrata Sen Sharma text, and given that I loved the first one (see my five-star review of his “The Philosophy of Sadhanaâ€), I expected another enlightening and enjoyable read – and that’s what I got with “Aspects of Tantra Yoga.â€
According to Sen Sharma, the Hindu Tantrika tradition (which he focuses on while ignoring Buddhist Tantra), “can be broadly classified under three heads, viz the Vaisnava, the Sakta, and the Saiva.†And he pays short shrift to the Vaisnava (which is associated with “left-handed†and sexual tantric practices). Regarding the focus of his study, he writes: “As our present study of tantric lore is concerned with Saiva and Sakta tantras, we shall confine ourselves to their study only. The Saiva and Sakta traditions have so much in common with one another that it’s very difficult to draw a demarcation line between the two.†Hence, in his words, “The Saiva and Sakta scriptures are inter-changeable.â€
Unfortunately, the hoary history of the Saiva and Sakta traditions is shrouded in mystery because, in the words of Sen Sharma, “Vast literature was produced under the Saiva and Sakta traditions, but unfortunately most of it is lost or remains unpublished... As most of the tantric text mentioned in these lists [which he provides] is not available now in any form, it is extremely difficult to come to any definite conclusions.â€
While the first half of the text focuses on the history, schools, literature, and language of the tantras, I was more interested in the second half of the book, which focuses on the metaphysics of the Saiva and Sakta tantras. Sen Sharma excels in this area, and his description of Saivism tattvas and malas in this text seemed even better than in “The Philosophy of Sadhana.†But a major disappointment was the sketchy and superficial treatment he gives the upayas. Hence if one wishes to understand the hierarchical spiritual practices of the Tantras, this is the wrong text for that.
A seeming sine qua non for those who write texts on Saivism is to contrast the metaphysics of this tradition with those of Advaita Vedanta. While I’m very familiar with these comparisons, given that my sadhana focuses on Relationship (Satsang, or Divine Communion), I was particularly taken with Sen Sharma’s description of the relational Jhana of Advaita Saivism (as opposed to the relation-less jhana of Advaita Vedanta). He writes:
“The Jhana Shakti is that aspect of the divine Shakti which brings in and holds all his self-manifestations as (prameya kalpa) in conscious relation with Himself. It is true that the very act of bringing something in relationship presupposes the existence of duality, but in the case of Parama siva, the sole Reality, the question of something existing apart from Him does not arise. Parama Siva, therefore never experiences complete duality between Himself as the Knower (aham) and His self-manifestation as the object (idam) as he always experiences them to be bound by a thread of unity. Thus the duality of His self-manifestation as the universe is always revealed in His experience (paramarsa) as it were, in the background of an all-embracing Unity (advaita).â€This was my second Deba Brata SenSharma text, and given that I loved the first one (see my five-star review of his “The Philosophy of Sadhanaâ€), I expected another enlightening and enjoyable read – and that’s what I got with “Aspects of Tantra Yoga.â€
