Continued------------
Guhya samaj also commences with the question what is Bodhi Chitta? posed by the haloed ones to Bhagwan-the Blessed Supreme and then comes the detailed philosphy of kalachakra, of five Buddhas, of five consituent aggregates of the individual and, of course, the answer that the ' Adamantine integration of body,speech and mind hold the key to the highest attainment i.e.Bodhi-Chitta. The importance of the work consists in the first enumeration of five Dhyani Buddhas whopreside over the five spi-rals of spiritual graph-vairochana, Akshobhya,Ratnaketu, Amitabha and Amogha Siddhis. Kala-Chakrastands for the identification of human body with the universe. The entire expanse with all its object and events is located really in one's own body and the time with its divisions,hour, day, night, month, year etc. is accommodated in the Pran currents that flow in the network of carriers. By controlling prana currents the movement of fragmented time can be controlled. Thought alone can not help in this feat. It is the teachique of Pranayam-the graded breath-con-trol fortified by psychic centrality that the desired result can be obtained. Invocat ory string of words' Om Ah Hum 'serves as a booster and accelerates the process of centrality. In this way the sadhaka moves towards Maha Mudra " The great seal ' There are many ladders to ascend before the state of ' great seal ' is reached. The stages of action seal-karam mudra-which impresses the external reality and mind seal( Dharma Mudra ) which impresses the internal reality are regarded preparatory to Maha Mudra. With the attainment of Maha Mudra the two earlier realities get integrated and the Sadhaka attains the most rare state of mental poise. The roots of the individual's attachment with the world get blasted. His longing for phycial encasement is no more with him and he lives simply to liberate others from the senses-led earthly existence. After the attainment of Bodhichitta-one lives for the welfare of others. He gets identified with the cosmic forces of Nature and the ground he touches with his feet is allowed. True greatness in spiritual fields can never be bound within the confines of a sect a philosophy or a religion. It is the flowering of human soul and is independent of geography, History, space and time. But the number of true greats is not very large and so for the purpose of enlistment and detailed study Tantric sadhanas have been put to many schools. In one sach division eight distinct schools of Saiva tantra have been mentioned. They are Pasupata,Lakulisa, Saiva Siddhanta, Vira Saiva,Nandikesvara, Rasesvara Saiva, Trika Saiva and Vishistadvaitya Saiva of Sri Kantha. It would be appropriate to mention here that although Sakta schools form a separate category yet there is so much overlapping that both these schools have been put together, more so because of simillar thought contents and rituals. Maha Pndit Gopinath kaviraj has listed fourteen Saiva and Sakta schools. It is a long list but since the very names throw sufficient light on the nature of ritu-als it is useful for a better understanding to give the names. The fourteen schools are -Kapalika, Kalamukha,Karunika, Kalanala, Jangmarandra, Bhairva, Bhatta, Mahavrata, Soma, Vama, Ksapanaka, Krama and kaula. There are slight variations in names in certain tantric record,for example , Bhairva is named as Bharavi or Svacchand Bhairva as well. Acharya Ksemaraja in his commentary on vijnanabhairva Tantra has praised Kaula Siddhanta but lakshmi Dhar in his commentary on Saundrya Lahari has condemned Kaula philosophy as being anti-vedic and there-fore not acceptable. Vbviously Kaula philosophy in its practical form had taken to certain rituals that were considered vulgar and impure by traditional Tantra Pandits and as such it fell from the grace of the high -born. One more reason that might have contributed to the sliding down of Kaula Tantra was its association with Siddhas and Tantrics coming from the lower ranks of the society. In all schools of Tantra the element of super natural power forms the central theme. In Kaula this element got an over -does and that is why it assumed a form that bordered on sorcery,witch-craft and demonolatory. But as for the Philosophy part of Kuala Tantra it does have a sound base and can be adjusted as one of the numberless off-schools of post -vedic thought variations. Kaulacharya Bhairva Nand , Shivshankar Swami Nathan , The Tantric Sadhaka of Shivani's Bhairavi has been shown ash-smeared, naked-bodied with long matted hair. His eyes are blood-shot under the influence of marijuana and perhaps also because of the intensity of the inner search. He sits amidst piles of dead human bodies and fondles the hissing cobra. Lost in the mystic trance he sits stone-like firm and immovable in the cremation ground. The shooting flames from the burning bodies add to the glow of his face. Nothing disturbs his mental poise not even aneruption. Both female co-dwellers Maya didi and Charan -one middle aged yet youthful and the other in early teens-fail to arouse any desire in the heart of Bhairvvanand-the Sahajiya Siddha- who moves naked with the unconcern of a child. Of course , he gets moved when Chandan , the moon-faced beauty , is introduced in the Aghori settingsof the novel. But that is a dramatic part of story development. Indian Mythology offers innumerable examples of deities and saintts who fall prey to the shooting arrows of doe-eyed maidens. This is what happens to yogi Kumargiri in Chitralekha and we can get examples of this type in the Scarlet letter ( Nathiel Hawthorn), the Thais ( Anatole France ) and she (Andre Zeid ) . The philosophy of Bhairvanand is perfectly sound and in line with great Indian thought -pattern. A look at what he writes in English and gives it to Chandan for translation will make the point amply clear. ' I am the Lord of all my senses/ all attachments have I shed / Even freedom lures me not / changeless am I formless/And omnipresent / I am Shiva ,Shiva is in me .' And ' into the fire , which is the Supreme self -brightened by the pouring of the ghee of merit and dement -I by the path of sushamna, ever sacrifice the functions of the senses. Using the mind as the ladle'. This is philosophy of the soundest order and there is noting Anti-Vedic in it. ( Continued in next issue )
Guhya samaj also commences with the question what is Bodhi Chitta? posed by the haloed ones to Bhagwan-the Blessed Supreme and then comes the detailed philosphy of kalachakra, of five Buddhas, of five consituent aggregates of the individual and, of course, the answer that the ' Adamantine integration of body,speech and mind hold the key to the highest attainment i.e.Bodhi-Chitta. The importance of the work consists in the first enumeration of five Dhyani Buddhas whopreside over the five spi-rals of spiritual graph-vairochana, Akshobhya,Ratnaketu, Amitabha and Amogha Siddhis. Kala-Chakrastands for the identification of human body with the universe. The entire expanse with all its object and events is located really in one's own body and the time with its divisions,hour, day, night, month, year etc. is accommodated in the Pran currents that flow in the network of carriers. By controlling prana currents the movement of fragmented time can be controlled. Thought alone can not help in this feat. It is the teachique of Pranayam-the graded breath-con-trol fortified by psychic centrality that the desired result can be obtained. Invocat ory string of words' Om Ah Hum 'serves as a booster and accelerates the process of centrality. In this way the sadhaka moves towards Maha Mudra " The great seal ' There are many ladders to ascend before the state of ' great seal ' is reached. The stages of action seal-karam mudra-which impresses the external reality and mind seal( Dharma Mudra ) which impresses the internal reality are regarded preparatory to Maha Mudra. With the attainment of Maha Mudra the two earlier realities get integrated and the Sadhaka attains the most rare state of mental poise. The roots of the individual's attachment with the world get blasted. His longing for phycial encasement is no more with him and he lives simply to liberate others from the senses-led earthly existence. After the attainment of Bodhichitta-one lives for the welfare of others. He gets identified with the cosmic forces of Nature and the ground he touches with his feet is allowed. True greatness in spiritual fields can never be bound within the confines of a sect a philosophy or a religion. It is the flowering of human soul and is independent of geography, History, space and time. But the number of true greats is not very large and so for the purpose of enlistment and detailed study Tantric sadhanas have been put to many schools. In one sach division eight distinct schools of Saiva tantra have been mentioned. They are Pasupata,Lakulisa, Saiva Siddhanta, Vira Saiva,Nandikesvara, Rasesvara Saiva, Trika Saiva and Vishistadvaitya Saiva of Sri Kantha. It would be appropriate to mention here that although Sakta schools form a separate category yet there is so much overlapping that both these schools have been put together, more so because of simillar thought contents and rituals. Maha Pndit Gopinath kaviraj has listed fourteen Saiva and Sakta schools. It is a long list but since the very names throw sufficient light on the nature of ritu-als it is useful for a better understanding to give the names. The fourteen schools are -Kapalika, Kalamukha,Karunika, Kalanala, Jangmarandra, Bhairva, Bhatta, Mahavrata, Soma, Vama, Ksapanaka, Krama and kaula. There are slight variations in names in certain tantric record,for example , Bhairva is named as Bharavi or Svacchand Bhairva as well. Acharya Ksemaraja in his commentary on vijnanabhairva Tantra has praised Kaula Siddhanta but lakshmi Dhar in his commentary on Saundrya Lahari has condemned Kaula philosophy as being anti-vedic and there-fore not acceptable. Vbviously Kaula philosophy in its practical form had taken to certain rituals that were considered vulgar and impure by traditional Tantra Pandits and as such it fell from the grace of the high -born. One more reason that might have contributed to the sliding down of Kaula Tantra was its association with Siddhas and Tantrics coming from the lower ranks of the society. In all schools of Tantra the element of super natural power forms the central theme. In Kaula this element got an over -does and that is why it assumed a form that bordered on sorcery,witch-craft and demonolatory. But as for the Philosophy part of Kuala Tantra it does have a sound base and can be adjusted as one of the numberless off-schools of post -vedic thought variations. Kaulacharya Bhairva Nand , Shivshankar Swami Nathan , The Tantric Sadhaka of Shivani's Bhairavi has been shown ash-smeared, naked-bodied with long matted hair. His eyes are blood-shot under the influence of marijuana and perhaps also because of the intensity of the inner search. He sits amidst piles of dead human bodies and fondles the hissing cobra. Lost in the mystic trance he sits stone-like firm and immovable in the cremation ground. The shooting flames from the burning bodies add to the glow of his face. Nothing disturbs his mental poise not even aneruption. Both female co-dwellers Maya didi and Charan -one middle aged yet youthful and the other in early teens-fail to arouse any desire in the heart of Bhairvvanand-the Sahajiya Siddha- who moves naked with the unconcern of a child. Of course , he gets moved when Chandan , the moon-faced beauty , is introduced in the Aghori settingsof the novel. But that is a dramatic part of story development. Indian Mythology offers innumerable examples of deities and saintts who fall prey to the shooting arrows of doe-eyed maidens. This is what happens to yogi Kumargiri in Chitralekha and we can get examples of this type in the Scarlet letter ( Nathiel Hawthorn), the Thais ( Anatole France ) and she (Andre Zeid ) . The philosophy of Bhairvanand is perfectly sound and in line with great Indian thought -pattern. A look at what he writes in English and gives it to Chandan for translation will make the point amply clear. ' I am the Lord of all my senses/ all attachments have I shed / Even freedom lures me not / changeless am I formless/And omnipresent / I am Shiva ,Shiva is in me .' And ' into the fire , which is the Supreme self -brightened by the pouring of the ghee of merit and dement -I by the path of sushamna, ever sacrifice the functions of the senses. Using the mind as the ladle'. This is philosophy of the soundest order and there is noting Anti-Vedic in it. ( Continued in next issue )
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