Home
Doors
Essays2007
Essays2008
Essays2009
Essays2010
Wisdom
Gallery
Links
Bios
Contact
|
..:: Tantra I ::..
"The Left Hand Path"
By
Alan Schneider
The subject
of Tantra remains one of Hinduism’s “hot button” themes today, not only
because it concerns sexuality, but because it concerns Ascension as
well. At the root of this notoriety are questions regarding both the
ultimate nature of reality, and of our human nature. Let us proceed with
this most significant inquiry.
One of
“realities” most evident characteristics is dualism – the
tendency of themes and qualities to occur between two polar extremes of
expression. Light and dark, life and death, love and hate, compassion
and cruelty – all are expressions of dualism, and the potential list
goes on and on. In fact, some philosophers have maintained that all
is dualism in the universe – even the “universe of all manifestation”
has its opposing principal of the Void – the Utterly Unmanifest. Suffice
it to say that the expression of dualism is one that most certainly
occurs in our generic human perception, both in the sense of absolutes –
conditions that are finite (on and off, for example) – and
as terminals of a continuum – hot to warm to lukewarm
to cool to cold – the principal has both digital and
analog features seen in its applications in life.
In human
terms, the most evident and significant example of dualism is seen in
our species’ differentiation into male and female, the two
expressions of our sexuality. Now, to be sure, there are hermaphroditic
expressions that sometimes occur, but these are so statistically rare
that they can be regarded as idiosyncratic in the extreme, rendering sex
as, for all practical purposes, an absolute distinction. The fact that
sex then becomes the inevitable forum of gender acculturation and
interpretation remains culturally subsequent to our polar emergence into
the world of manifest expression as either male or female.
The seminal
work of Freud has suggested a progression of stages of emergent
“sexuality” in children as they pass through maturation – these are the
well known (if controversial) oral, oral sadistic, anal, latent, and
genital phases, in the order of their occurrence. With the onset of the
genital stage in adolescence, the gonads begin to secrete sexually
definitive hormones that further enhance behavioral expression in both
sexes, with testosterone promoting more relatively aggressive behavior
in males, and estrogen more relatively receptive, nurturing behavior in
females. There is a central concept that underlies all of the phases of
sexual expression just mentioned, something that Freud felt was the
driving force at work in, at the very least, human consciousness, and
probably all life as well – a largely subconscious “presence” which he
referred to as libido – the vital life force animating all
behavior and perception. Libido at the human level can be thought of,
among other things, as the psychological motive that causes us to seek
and identify sources of pleasure associated with various bodily organs
and processes at all of the Freudian stages of sexual expression.
To Freud, libido was still a fundamentally sexual force, and we remained
fundamentally sexual beings. This is the essence of the Left Hand Path -
the practice of sexuality as a means of seeking higher conscious
expression.
And certainly most people pursue some form of sexual activity in
adulthood, albeit these activities are heavily subject to all manner of
cultural interpretation as a result of the gender conduct definitions
that delineate our sexual norms and expectations. In traditional
American society, heterosexual expression is the “preferred” gender
interpretation of sexual conduct, with most individuals conforming to
that norm. It is noteworthy here that the male/female sex role dichotomy
is still frequently seen in gay and lesbian relationships, in the form
of active role-playing, even though the genital identity of the
participants is identical. Clearly, there is some very
persuasive, if unseen, force at work determining the presence of the
aforementioned dichotomy. If this force even expresses itself in gay and
lesbian relationships, it must extend beyond Freud’s essentially
heterosexual definition of libido. What can this be?
Freud once described all religion
as sublimated (i.e. symbolic, indirectly expressed) sexuality, noting
the evident similarity of the various states of religious excitement and
ecstasies in many belief systems with the stages of sexual arousal and
orgasm in physical biology. Jung took this a step further (i.e. to a
higher level of symbolism) with his theory of the archetypes of the
collective unconsciousness, wherein the archetypal symbols of faith and
spiritual expression are defined as the specific precursors of human
consciousness, including sexuality. The implication here is that
sexual expression that is not directly manifested through the sex act
will still emerge in symbolic form with comparable or greater
intensity elsewhere in consciousness, and must be expressed in
some form as the consequence of that most basic and fundamental aspect
of the human condition – the differentiation into the male and female
physical forms. This is the essence of Tantra – the elevation of
Freudian libido (his term for vital sexual or life force) first
to recognition as a spiritual force present in physical
sexuality, and thence on to higher and higher levels of increasingly
potent symbolic spiritual levels. This duality of form is a
fundamental expression of the Tao – the polarity of force
generating all manifestation in the universe – along with light and
dark, hot and cold, strong and weak, love and fear, and the great
multitude of other polar extremes through which the Self appears
to be expressed. The human Taoist expression of male and female is the
one upon which the philosophy of Tantra rests.
The libido was Freud’s characterization
of another, much more anciently recognized force, known as the
aforementioned Tao in Chinese philosophy, arguably the Mojo of many
primitive (and modern) African systems, the Chi of Japanese and other
Pacific island cultures, and, above all, the Kundalini of India and
South Asia – almost all historically Asian as White observed. Of
these, it is the Kundalini, through Kundalini Yoga practice, which has
been expanded most thoroughly and completely as the explanation of the
action of Tantra. This is the theory which I have found to be most
plausible as the explanation of Ascension and Enlightenment after a
lifetime of investigation into many traditions, and the one which I will
offer here.
And, as is frequently the case, we must
depart initially from the comfortable security of absolute science to
begin this presentation by accepting the premise that the Self is the
origin of all consciousness, something which cannot be objectively
proven as yet. As the Creator of all knowable manifestation (i.e.
everything present within the Universal Field of Consciousness that
is the Self) the Self expresses manifestation in an infinite variety
of processes and forms in The Presence of Universal Love. Even the
frequently seemingly cold and impersonal physical universe is the result
of this Divine Love radiating forth from the Self. At this latter
level of cosmic vibration, the condition of the Self has become quite
dense and impacted, resulting in the perceptible world of the Physical
Plane and, above all, Karma, the spiritual action which agitates
this Plane into moral consequences and expression. Karma is the Self
manifest on the Physical Plane, particularly the “Karma” known as the
physical human body. This body is essentially trapped in its native
sensory condition, at least initially wholly dependent upon the senses
for all information about, and subsequent knowledge of, its condition
and circumstances. The Freudian ego cannot penetrate this shroud
concealing the Truth of Consciousness from the organism.
The Hindu
interpretation of the Vital Life Force is frequently specified as the
Kundalini Energy. This “energy”, or driving force, is usually
depicted as initially residing in a more or less dormant condition in
the First, or Root, Chakra, designated as Muladhara. Kundalini
means “coiled serpent” in Sanskrit, the ancient spiritual language of
the Vedas. This energy is thought of as essentially “spring loaded”, and
ready to be released up through the sequence of spinal chakras, when
given the right activation sequence. The interpretations vary regarding
what that sequence is, and even extend beyond Hinduism to other
spiritual philosophies. The specific Hindu approach that presents itself
as geared toward activating the Kundalini energy is, not surprisingly,
Kundalini Yoga, but this author has experienced Ascension in other
traditions as well, most notably the Jewish Cabala system of practice.
(3)The “drive” to Ascend in the Spirit is one that sees universal
expression across traditions. It would seem that we have an integral
need to seek beyond the superficial meaning of the events we perceive,
in search of the Original Meaning of all of the events of
perception – God, and Kundalini Yoga has a fairly effective,
simple theory describing the “Seeking” process involved. A brief
description of this theory follows.
When the
correct sequence of postures and breathing techniques is followed under
the guidance of a competent agent (frequently a Guru of some measure of
distinction), the Kundalini Energy is activated and, preferably
SLOWLY, begins to move upward through the sequence of the seven
Chakras, which act as psychic energy centers nominally conceived
of as contiguous to the spinal column. There are accounts of inadvertent
spontaneous full Kundalini Ascensions (attaining the Seventh Chakra),
but this is usually a disaster for the unfortunate practitioner,
resulting in permanent mental impairment. As each Chakra is encountered
and assimilated by the Kundalini Energy, the qualities inherent to it
are idealized and converted to mental expressions that can be carried
forward and upward by the rising Kundalini. What is most significant
here is that there is an assumed sexual differentiation present
that compels this process. The Kundalini is described as being
fundamentally female in nature in both men and women. The
Sanskrit term for this female energy is Shakti. The male pole of
the mechanism is generally represented as the God Shiva, thought to
reside at the center of the Seventh, or Crown, Chakra, called
Sahasrara, immediately above the head. Shiva personifies the
Ultimate state of Consciousness – Nondual Awareness of Total Creation –
and the attainment of this state is the goal of the Kundalini Ascension
process. As Shakti, who longs for reunion with her partner Shiva (a
libidinal condition?) travels up the succession of the Chakras, she
comes ever closer to her beloved, finally uniting with Him in His abode
in Sahasrara, creating the state of Cosmic Bliss known in Sanskrit as
Ananda – a condition associated with the aforementioned Nondual
Awareness. It is understood that this process may take years, decades,
and/or lifetimes to achieve by even the most dedicated practitioner, and
involves a lifestyle of spiritual focus and austerity. Ascension
is not easy...
The
preceding is a description of what is generally known in Tantra as the
Right Hand practice, given “in a nutshell”. And although it is not the
only Ascension Theory in existence, it is definitely a very
comprehensible one for the lay individual. Now, as the reader may have
noticed, this first article on Tantra is concerned with the Left Hand
practice, and it is this practice that gives Tantra a bad name.
Why? Because it involves genital intercourse, generally with an
opposite-sexed partner! Why is this so fallen? Because the sex orgasm so
experienced dissipates the Kundalini Energy, leaving little or nothing
available for conversion into Right Hand ascension experience. And it is
for this reason that the author equates the Kundalini Energy with
the Freudian libido – both are distinctly sexual in nature and
symbolism. It is most interesting in this case that Freud considered all
religious expression as sublimated sexuality – and particularly
any ecstatic states experienced as part of the religious
involvement present. This would certainly include the Ananda of
Kundalini Ascension.
One finds
oneself compelled to note that a diametrical relationship exists here.
The more oriented to left-hand practice one is, generally the less
oriented to right-hand practice one is. Even when the “fruits” of the
sex involved are consciously and deliberately offered to the Glory of
God, as Hinduism instructs married partners to do, the fact remains that
the orgasm occurs for the glory of the human participants, and still
dissipates the Kundalini Energy in the process. So we are required to
make a harsh choice in this matter – a choice of the “Godly” process to
be worshipped – physical orgasm or Divine Ascension. Although left-hand
Tantra maintains that the level of spiritual ecstasy that can be
attained through “holy sex” with a “holy partner” is tantamount to the
Ananda of Shiva reunited with Shakti, this is almost never the case in
real practice, because such efforts require a phenomenal level of
spiritual focus on the part of both participants – the kind of focus
that only results from years of right-hand practice! How ironic
this is...
The first
three Chakras are variously associated with successively more involved
functioning on the manifest physical, material plane of existence –
Muladhara with rote survival activities, Svadisthana (the second Chakra)
with reproductive pleasure, and Manipura (the third) with social power
and prestige. Perhaps not surprisingly, these are also Left Hand centers
of involvement, focused as they are on material manifestation. Of the
three, Svadisthana is the primary Left Hand operator, and the easiest
place for the rising Kundalini to become diverted. One expression of
this diversion is the well-known Freudian “sex obsession”, something
that Freud himself is frequently accused of! Another is the occurrence
of the practice of Tantric Magic by the Left Hand aspirant. This “magic”
is generally color-graded into at least three categories – Black, Red,
and White. The first is allegedly used for cursing, assaulting, or
killing, the second for seducing, and the third for blessing, or
obtaining blessings. None of these is a fit spiritual activity –
all involve various degrees of attempts to manipulate the Kundalini
Energy for one kind of personal, ego-focused motive or another, with the
possible exception of White Tantra, in the case of soliciting blessings
for another, not oneself. As legitimate practitioners of
spiritual methods, we are expected to work as well and honestly with our
Karma as possible, until the Dharma that we may be able to achieve
dissolves it, and we progress thereby in Ascension toward God. Any
attempt to “con” this process is doomed to eventual failure by
reinforcing the Dualistic Fallacy that constructs that flawed perception
of life known to Hinduism as Maya – the illusion of the sensory
world of experience appearing as the only (and most important)
world of experience. The Truth is that God is creating everything that
we experience on any level as a gift of Love. Even the Sufferings are
such gifts, because they burn away the dross elements of our experience,
and create challenges to be overcome and assimilated as we attain
ongoing spiritual growth.
The Self has left within
every human body the means of rediscovery of the Divine Presence in the
form of an initially dormant “packet” of the Kundalini Energy
symbolically present in the Sacrum at the base of the spine. The
Kundalini Energy is the Self in microcosal form – a little
package of God symbolically nested at the skeletal foundation of
the organism. It is interesting that neither Freud nor Jung, although
postulating the existence of libido or archetypes, could say where they
were to be found, but Kundalini Yoga is quite specific about this – the
base of the spine. This specificity is the foundation of all Yoga
practice – not solely Kundalini Yoga – and, as a result, any
postural Yoga system is working with the activation and release of the
Kundalini. This is why the practices of Hatha Yoga and many schools of
meditation can result in spontaneous release of the Kundalini
along the sequence of the spinal Chakras – often with severely
disruptive results for the unprepared practitioner. The Kundalini
represents God seeking reunion with God, the ultimate force in the
universe, and something to be treated with great respect and caution
in application!
The theories of most schools of Yoga and
meditation are aware of this risk, and proceed slowly with the
spiritual development and training of the aspirant for that reason, at
least in the case of the correctly trained instructor working in
a valid spiritual lineage. One should always make a point of selecting
such an individual for any spiritual undertaking – the generic
study from a generic guide can be very risky indeed.
The sequence of the first three of
the total of seven Chakras – the symbolic spinal energy centers
of human consciousness – are all concerned with the operation of the
limited sensory consciousness of the body on the Physical Plane. Chakra
One, Muladhara, expresses the basic survival valence of the organism –
work, cleanliness, habitation, transportation, eating, and sleeping in
the material world. Chakra Two, Svadhisthana, expresses mating and
sexuality, as we enter adolescence (and perhaps even long before that,
if Freud was accurate in his theories of infantile sexuality). It is
with the onset of the influence of Svadhisthana that the hitherto
dormant Kundalini Energy which is the driver of Tantra becomes active
within consciousness. In the cases where the child has experienced a
relatively benign, largely trauma-free existence, the initial
demonstration of the Tantra involved is largely Left Hand in
nature – focused on external sexual interest in a physical partner. In
cases where significant trauma has taken place for the individual, the
customary Left Hand orientation may emerge in distorted, perverted
contexts, and may also emerge prematurely in a Right Hand
orientation toward spiritual practice. These are the two Paths of
Tantra – the Left Hand physical and the Right Hand spiritual. Many
people predominantly experience the Left Hand Path for most of their
lives, as it processes in adulthood through Svadhisthana into Chakra
Three, Manipura, the social Power Center, and primary focus of
ego awareness in the organism as the predominantly social process that
it is. This Center was discussed at some length in my last essay,
entitled The Ego, and represents the terminus of the Left Hand
Path in consciousness.
The Paths of Tantra can diverge at either
Svadhisthana or Manipura toward Chakra Four, Anahata, The Heart Center,
and first genuinely spiritual Chakra. I say this because this is the
Center where selfless love, compassion, the conscience, and the Soul
are focused and symbolically expressed in the organism. In order
to continue working with the Right Hand Path, this Chakra must be
successfully entered and experienced in consciousness, and represents
the Gateway to all of the higher levels of consciousness and spiritual
attainment to follow: Chakras Five – Vishuddha, the Throat Center – Six,
Ajna, the Brow Center – and Seven, Sahasrara, The Crown Center.
The progression of the Chakras from the
perspective of the Ascending Kundalini is that of decreasing
literal sensory experience and increasing intuitive spiritual
experience. Muladhara is very literal and material, anchoring as it
does the physical survival of the organism and the Karma that it
represents. Svadhisthana is also very material and literal, at least
as it pertains to the Left Hand Path and associated physical sexual
practices, but this is also where the possibility of spiritual symbolic
manifestation associated with sexuality – the Right Hand Path –
begins. Manipura is the focus of social reality, and the manipulations
for power, prestige, and advantage – all abstract symbolic concepts that
have, however, clearly defined literal material expressions. Anahata
marks the great divide between the observably physical and the
intuitively spiritual – all of the characteristics associated with
Anahata must be sensed intuitively, as opposed to experienced
literally. Vishuddha is the focus of vibrational manifestation in human
consciousness, representing the spiritual power of chanting and
atonement to elevate perception beyond Anahata. Ajna is the so-called
Third Eye – the Inner or All-Seeing Eye of the advanced
perception that occurs well beyond even the intonation and tonal
vibration of Vishuddha – manifesting as the extrasensory perception of
psychic events, power, and insight. Sahasrara is the literal Seat
of the Godhead, the abode of Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma, existing
beyond all human (i.e. even remotely ego-based) consciousness – and the
location of the Jungian Self, the origin of all Being.
Certain additional observations may
serve to further enhance the reader’s understanding of post-Manipura
consciousness. Since they are all more or less concerned with the body
and physicality, the first three Chakras exhibit a linear relationship
with each other in perception – they seem to demonstrate logical
interconnects in the terms that the ego understands and can at least
attempt to manipulate. Now, inasmuch as the following three Chakras
have physical correlates, they do not exhibit the same extent of
linearity and logical connectivity as the first three do. Rather,
they represent three regions of involvement that are spiritually
complementary and mutually supportive, but capable of independent
manifestation. Compassion, communication, and psychic insight are all
linked together, and may spontaneously arise and wane within their
respective pervues individually in response to the synchronous inputs
emanating from the Seventh level of Sahasrara, the director of all
spiritual awareness and consciousness. This level stands apart from
the three preceding Chakras in yet another realm, protected from any
possible residual ego vibration by a psychic barrier that acts as a
variable filter permitting only pure vibrations of collective
consciousness to pass, and blocking all others. Although it can be
perceived from the perspective of Ajna, even that level of
activity still manifests too much ego involvement to allow entry.
Essentially, one must die and surrender all subjective, personal
knowledge (i.e. worldly experience) to enter the domain of Sahasrara –
therein to experience the Godhead and the Self.
And the Seers of history have identified
another region lying even beyond Sahasrara, referred to in Hindu Vedic
cosmology as the Brahman – the universal, omnipresent Essence
of God permeating everything everywhere, without being solely present in
any one object or process anywhere. This level is so rarefied that
even to label it is considered inappropriate, and this is done only to
permit verbal and written reference to this mode of experience, which
really cannot even be properly considered as experience, since that
requires some kind of subject observing some kind of
object or process, and the Brahman is none of these, transcending
everything knowable or conceivable. Here, the last traces of
consciousness dissolve into eternity in perfect peace as pure non-dual
Bliss, without subject, object, or evaluation…
Thus, we have four discernable modes of
consciousness defining existence – the lower triad of three
physical Chakras, logical and linear, but spiritually superficial,
followed by the next sequence of three higher Chakras, spiritual,
but not linear or logical in their actions as the ego understands these
things, followed by the Seventh Chakra of the Self, serene and
unmoved by all lesser vibrations, as their Creator must be, and
finally the Void of Brahman, the great unknowable reservoir from
which all manifestation issues, and unto which all eventually returns,
to be released again in some other aspect at some other time according
to the humanly inscrutable forces present there. This constitutes the
full range of Tantric manifestation, from the first Left Hand
manifestations of Svadhisthana, through the Right Hand compassion of
Anahata, to the ultimate level of the Self and the Brahman lying beyond
in Sahasrara. At the Brahmanic level, nothing exists, and yet,
everything exists in the apparent logical impossibility that nonetheless
constitutes the supreme Truth of Consciousness.
To my knowledge, only Kundalini Yoga,
certain transcendental meditation techniques, and the observance of
specific austerities and worldly non-attachment can successfully deliver
consciousness from the confines of the Left Hand Tantra that is natural
to the physical organism, but holds us in the first three Chakras.
This is true, even if we revert to the strictly scientific paradigm and
terminology generally used in these essays. The first three Chakras
constitute the realm of Freudian psychodynamics – superego, ego, and id
(Manipura, Svadhisthana, and Muladhara, loosely in that order, subject
to the details presented elsewhere in this essay). The following three
Chakras correspond to the realm of Jungian psychodynamics – as the
Freudian id is passed through into the region of the collective
unconscious and the archetypes – culminating in the experience of the
Self at the Seventh, deepest level, and finally vanishing into the
infinity of the Void. As one embraces particularly the
practices of meditation and Yoga, conscious perception can be and is
carried through the Freudian unconscious region (the id) into the
Jungian collective unconscious, where many forms of enhanced archetypal
symbolic perceptions occur according to the general design of the Self,
manifest through personal Karma (or destiny, if you wish). It is
absolutely necessary to adopt some kind of meditation regimen to
liberate consciousness from the Mind Trap of the lower physical Chakras,
as a bare minimum of spiritual practice.
In the theory of Kundalini Ascension,
once Tantra is diverted from Left Hand practice to Right Hand practice
through the employment of the above referenced techniques (and there are
others), the Kundalini (or Freudian libido, again, if you wish) is free
to continue upward movement through the sequence of the higher Chakras,
successively enervating and activating them, again according the map of
personal Karma. Our personal Karma is the Self’s Divine Love and Will
manifest at the lower vibrational levels of the dense forms perceptible
in the physical senses as the “real” world of manifest physical objects
and events occurring in three dimensions, with time as a forth. One’s
map of Karma may or may not even include higher spiritual activity
according to the Divine Plan of the Self for the Cosmos, and it is up to
us to accept and understand the wisdom of this, and the many other
hardships and forms of ignorance demonstrated on the Physical Plane.
Even when one does succeed in attaining higher spiritual
consciousness and Enlightenment, even Samadhi of the kinds
already noted in this essay series, even Buddhist Satori,
this is to be understood as the manifest Divine Grace of the Self,
not willful personal achievement in any sense of the term. Only
the Self is real, acting and flowing through individual human awareness
as synchronicity, epiphany, and grace when and where appropriate in the
Psyche – the collective Soul of humanity. By acknowledging this
process as the ultimate mechanism of Enlightenment and Balance on the
Physical Plane we are liberated from our worldly bondage and ignorance.
Some final words of caution
are in order regarding the panorama of Enlightenment cast against the
background of an as yet still relatively unenlightened world.
Enlightenment is not something to be sold in the world marketplace,
although many partially ascended Gurus and would-be spiritual Masters
purport to do so. Enlightenment is the God-given gift of higher
consciousness available to every human being on Earth without regard to
any other consideration, and the true Guru and Master knows this,
offering guidance along the Path without the requirement of material
compensation or monetary reward. An implicit part of this guidance is
the practice of deliberation and forbearance on the part of the guide in
never encouraging the aspirant to make a goal of spiritual
Ascension, a regrettably common feature of achievement in our
relentlessly ego-driven world culture today. If this error in judgment
occurs, the risk of inappropriate, psychologically harmful
Kundalini Ascension becomes much more significant for the aspirant. No
legitimate guide will ever order or otherwise direct anyone to take any
steps along the Path before they are ready, and this readiness has been
described in great detail by the Seers of history in terms of the clear
signs of preparation – the Initiations – having been attained.
Every spiritual tradition has a series of such Initiations prescribed by
the Guru, Gurus, or Masters associated with it, and it is highly
recommended that the aspirant seek out an acceptable, legitimate
tradition and work within its framework for at least the initial period
of some years of spiritual practice. I did this, and so
should you.
The Kundalini is the most powerful force
in the universe, capable of taking us directly into the Divine Presence
and beyond, but woe be it to the naďve person who rashly rushes
toward the Holy Self – the Angel of God is there before the East Gate of
Eden, armed with a Sword of Fire that cannot be evaded for the sole
purpose of destroying the remaining ego of those who make it this far,
and if you are identified in the least way with your material mind, that
Sword will destroy you, or at the very least your
sanity. Heed my words, and proceed slowly along the Path of
Enlightenment – you will arrive at and pass the required Initiations in
God’s good time, as it should be.
Please try to understand that this world
and Physical Plane is not in any way intended by the Self to be
perfect in the terms that ego can comprehend – the sufferings that we
experience are real on their level, and must be accepted as such, and
worked through as patiently as possible. This can require a very
great deal of patience and tolerance on many occasions – life is a
school, not a playground, and, although the playground is there, the
point of existence is to learn the lessons set before us in the school
room. It has always been thus, and always will be in the
schoolroom of the flesh and senses of this life.
- With Love, Alan -
(CR2007, Alan Schneider)
Return to Top
|