It is incumbent on the yogin to prevent the discharge of his semen at all cost. Semen (bindu, retas) is considered a most precious product of the life force and must be conserved. The significance of coitus reservatus is that the semen is transmuted into a finer substance, called ojas, that nourishes the higher centers of the body, thereby facilitating the difficult ordeal of psychosomatic transformation attempted in Tantrism. From ancient times a spiritual practitioner who is adept at this inner alchemy has been known as ûrdhva-retas or “one whose semen flows upward.” This can be experienced as a literal event, as is clear from Gopi Krishna’s description:
There was no doubt an extraordinary change in my nervous equipment, and a new type of force was now racing through my system connected unmistakably with the sexual parts, which also seemed to have developed a new kind of activity not perceptible before. The nerves lining the parts and the surrounding region were all in a state of intense ferment, as if forced by an invisible mechanism to produce the vital seed in abnormal abundance to be sucked up by the network of nerves at the base of the spine for transmission into the brain through the spinal cord. The sublimated seed formed an integral part of the radiant energy which was causing me such bewilderment and about which I was as yet unable to speculate with any degree of assurance.33
The climax of Tantric Yoga is not orgasm but ecstasy—the practitioner’s abiding in and as the transcendental Self beyond the ego-self-personality. The female partner, however, may come to orgasm during the maithunâ ritual. Her sexual excitement produces a much-desired vaginal secretion that the competent tântrika knows how to suck up through his penis. The female ejaculate is thought to enrich the yogin’s hormonal system. This practice is called vajrolî-mudrâ and belongs to the repertoire of Hatha-Yoga. But primarily the interaction between yogin and yoginî is one of energy exchange that goes far beyond what occurs in ordinary intercourse.
More than any other feature of Tantrism, the “Five M’s” embody its antinomian spirit: Tantric practitioners deliberately break with conventional life. Their behavior is based on the principle of reversal (viparîta). They seem to indulge in sensual pleasure (bhoga), whereas in reality they cultivate transcendental bliss (ânanda). In this way they lend a new, esoteric significance to all their seemingly mundane actions. In Hatha-Yoga, it is the headstand that best symbolizes this principle of reversal. The Tantric procedures are all intended to construct a new reality for the yogin or yoginî—a sacred reality that is analogous to the transcendental Reality: The practitioner’s body becomes the body of the chosen deity (ishta-devatâ). That is to say, it is as that deity that the yogin or yoginî approaches the transcendence of all forms, until he or she is one with the supreme Deity, or Godhead, which is sheer Being.34
IV. THE MAGIC OF POWERS
Tantrism, or Tantra, is concerned with siddhi (“attainment, realization”), both in the sense of ultimate liberation and magical power. Since the Tantric viewpoint affirms the phenomenal world, it also has a positive relationship to the cultivation of the body-mind’s innate psychophysical potential. Unlike certain schools of Vedânta, which anxiously avoid paranormal abilities (siddhi, vibhûti), Tantrism regards them as an advantage, allowing practitioners to accomplish their spiritual goals in the world more readily and fully. As can be expected, however, tântrikas have also cultivated such powers for less noble goals, and entire Tantras have been composed dealing with unsavory practices with the explicit purpose of controlling or harming others. This orientation is sometimes referred to as “lower Tantrism,” as opposed to the “higher Tantrism” motivated by liberation and the spiritual upliftment of other human and nonhuman beings.
The Yoga and Tantra scriptures mention numerous paranormal abilities, which are presented as being part of the accomplished adept’s arsenal of skillful means. The Yoga-Bîja (54) states:
The yogin is endowed with unthinkable powers. He who has conquered the senses can, by his own will, assume various shapes and make them vanish again.
According to the Yoga-Shikhâ-Upanishad (1.156), these abilities are the mark of a true Yoga adept and are encountered in the course of one’s spiritual practice, just as a pilgrim on the way to the sacred city of Kâshî (modern Benares /Varanasi) passes by a number of sacred spots (tîrtha). Conversely (1.160), in the absence of such abilities, a person can be said to be bound.
This text (1.151-155) distinguishes two fundamental types of paranormal abilities, namely those that are artificial (kalpita) and those that are nonartificial (akalpita), or spontaneously arising. The former are produced by means of herbal concoctions (aushadhi), ritual (kriyâ), magic (jâla), mantra recitation, and alchemical elixirs (rasa). In an aphorism that was probably interpolated, the Yoga-Sûtra (4.1) similarly explains that siddhis can arise from birth (janman), herbal concoctions (aushadhi), mantra recitation, asceticism (tapas), and ecstasy (samâdhi). The nonartificial or spontaneous abilities are said in the Yoga-Shikhâ-Upanishad to spring from self-reliance (svatantrya), and to be permanent, greatly efficacious, and pleasing to the Lord (îsh-vara). They manifest naturally in those who are free from desire.
The third chapter of Patanjali’s Yoga-Sûtra contains a long list of siddhis and therefore bears the title vibhûti-pâda. The term vibhûti means “manifestation” and probably stems from the Bhagavad-Gîtâ (10.16), which speaks of the far-flung powers of Lord Krishna. The fully realized adept, who is one with the Divine, has access to all the divine powers. He or she is a mahâ-siddha (“great adept”) who enjoys the mahâ-siddhis, or great powers.
Usually eight great powers are mentioned, and according to the Yoga-Bhâshya (3.45) they are the following:
Animan (“miniaturization”)35 — the ability to shrink oneself to the size of an atom (anu). According to the Yoga-Sûtra (3.44), this results from mastery over the material elements. The Yoga-Bhâshya-Vivarana (3.45) states that by means of animan one becomes more subtle than the subtle and thus can no longer be seen.
Mahiman (“magnification”) — the ability to expand to a vast size. In his Tattva-Vaishâradî (3.45), Vâcaspati Mishra explains this as the ability to become as large as an elephant, a mountain, or a whole town, and so on. However, the Mani-Prabhâ (3.45) defines mahiman as “pervasiveness” (vibhûtva), which suggests that it is not the physical body that expands but the subtle body, or mind.
Laghiman (“levitation”) — the ability to become weightless “like the tuft of a reed” (Tattva-Vaishâradî 3.45).
Prâpti (“extension”) — the ability to bridge great distances instantly. The Yoga-Bhâshya (3.45) seriously suggests that by means of this power the yogin can touch the moon with his fingertips.
Prâkâmya (“[irresistible] will”) — the ability to realize one’s will. The Yoga-Bhâshya (3.45) gives the example of diving into solid earth as if it were liquid.
Vâshitva (“mastery”) — complete mastery over the material elements (bhuta) and their products or, as the Yoga-Bhâshya-Vivarana (3.45) puts it, over all the worlds.
Îshitritva (“lordship”) — perfect mastery over the subtle causes of the material world, bringing the yogin on a par with the Creator (Brahma) himself.
Kâma-avasâyitva (“fulfillment of [all] desires,” written kâmâvasâyitva) — the unobstructed ability to will into being whatever one sees fit. The Yoga-Bhâshya (3.45), however, makes it clear that the adept’s will does not go against the will of the Lord (îshvara). Thus, as the Yoga-Bhâshya-Vivarana (3.45) explains, he does not make fire cold because he respects the preestablished order of things.
In addition to the eight classic siddhis, which vary somewhat from school to school, Tantrism also recognizes a set of six magical actions (shat-karman), which are treated in many short Tantras. One of the most widely disseminated (and medium-size) scriptures dealing with the shat-karmans is the Dattâtreya-Tantra comprising seven hundred stanzas. Even more popular is the Shat-Karma-Dîpikâ (“Light on the Six Actions”) authored by the renowned sixteenth-century Bengali adept Krishnânand
a Vidyâvâagîshvara, who also composed the Tantra-Sâra (to be distinguished from Abhinava Gupta’s earlier work of the same title). The six magical actions are standardized as follows:
Shânti (“peace”) — the ability to pacify another being by magical means, such as mantra, yantra, and visualization. As the Kalpa-Cintâmani, an abridgment of the Mahakalpa-Cintâmani, states in the section on shânti, this practice can be used to eradicate fever.
Vashîkarana (“subjugation”) — the ability to bring others under one’s complete control and make them subservient like slaves.
Stambhana (“stoppage”) — the ability to completely immobilize another being or render a situation ineffective.
Uccâtana (“eradication”) — the ability to destroy someone at a distance and without visible means.
Vidveshana (“causing dissension”) — the ability to create discord among people.
Mârana (“death-ing”) — the ability to kill someone at a distance.
The above practices amount to black magic and seem to fall short of the high Tantric ideal of liberation through gnosis and spiritual upliftment. They have, no doubt, been deployed for millennia, however, and even today it is not difficult to find tântrikas who, for a few rupees, will use their magical skills to harm others. In this respect, India is not different from other countries with a strong premodern cultural base. Such degenerate practices, however, do not characterize higher Tantrism, which is first and foremost a path to liberation that entails elevated moral values.
What are we to make of these abilities? Are they merely the product of a lively imagination triggered by too much solitary introspection? Or are they manifestations of a psychic dimension of reality that science still needs to discover? Over the centuries, all kinds of anecdotal reports have come down to us of the uncommon powers of yogins and strange phenomena witnessed in their company. While there is today ample evidence of yogins’ incredible control over bodily and mental functions that had long been thought to be outside the reach of our personal will, their claims to paranormal abilities have so far been only scantily researched. The cumulative weight of the findings of parapsychological research on nonyogic subjects, however, increasingly lends credence to at least some of the claims made in yogic circles.
Rather than offhandedly dismissing the siddhis as mere fantasy, it would be more prudent to appreciate them as an integral aspect of the experiential world of yogins and as worthy of unbiased investigation. As is evident from the massive evidence accumulated by parapsychology, the human potential is extraordinary. Anyone who reads, for instance, Michael Murphy’s The Future of the Body with an open mind cannot fail to be struck by the scope of the available scientific and anecdotal evidence for paranormal abilities.36
SOURCE READING 20
Kula-Arnava-Tantra (Selection)
The Kula-Arnava-Tantra (written Kularnavatantra), one of the most important scriptures of the Kaula tradition, was probably composed between 1000 and 1400 C.E. According to its own testimony, the extant version of a little over 2,000 stanzas constitutes only the fifth chapter of a text that originally comprised 125,000 stanzas but is no longer available (if it ever existed in such a comprehensive form). Following is a rendering of the ninth chapter, which contains many valuable definitions of the Kaula approach.
Shrî Devî said:
Kula Lord! I desire to hear about Yoga, the characteristics of the foremost of yogins, and the fruit of adoration for the kula worshiper. Tell me that, O embodiment (nidhi) of compassion! (1)
The Lord (îshvara) said:
Listen Goddess! 1 will tell you what you ask of me. Merely by listening to this. Yoga is revealed directly. (2)
Meditation is said to be twofold, due to the difference between coarse (sihiila) and subtle (sûkshma) [objects]. They call the coarse [meditation] “with form” and the subtle [meditation) “formless.” (3)
Comments: This distinction is also found in the scriptures of Hatha-Yoga, where coarse meditation is meditation having an internalized image of a deity, one’s teacher, and so forth. Subtle meditation is equated in the Gheranda-Samhitâ (6.9) with the slidmbhavi-mudrâ (“Shambhu’s seal”), which consists in the direct experience of the union of Shambhu (i.e., Shiva) and Shakti.
When the mind has a stable object [to concentrate on], this is styled “coarse meditation” by some.
The mind must be immobile in the coarse [meditation] and likewise immobile in the subtle [meditation], (4)
One should contemplate the supreme Lord [who is] impartite Being-Consciousness-Bliss lacking hands, feet, belly, face, and so forth and consisting entirely of [unmanifest] light. (5)
He does not rise; he does not sink; he does not undergo growth; he does not undergo diminution. Himself being resplendent, he illumines others, without performing [any actions whatsoever], (6)
When the infinite, luminous, pure, transcendental (agocara) Being is experienced purely by the mind, then the [arising] wisdom is designated as the Absolute (brahman). (7)
Comments: From the vantage point of enlightenment, there is no distinction between the Absolute, or Self, and the enlightened being’s knowledge thereof.
The yogin who knows the singular splendor (dhâman) of the supreme entity (jîva), [which is] immovable like stone [or like] the discontinued motion of the wind [i.e., windstillness], is called a knower of Yoga. (8)
Thai meditation that is devoid of its essence but illuminating and steady like the unruffled ocean is styled “ecstasy” (samâdlii). (9)
Comments: This stanza echoes the Yoga-Siitra (3.2-3). The “essence” (sva-rûpa) of meditation is the contemplation of a chosen object, implying a division between subject and object. In the ecstatic state, this schism is overcome, and instead the yogin becomes identified with the object of contemplation, in the present case the Divine itself.
The (ultimate] Reality shines forth of itself, not by any mental effort (cintana) whatsoever. When Reality shines forth of itself, one should immediately assume its form. ( 10)
He who abides sleeplike in the dream and waking state, without inhaling or exhaling, is certainly liberated. (11)
Comments: Here liberation is equated with the state of trancelike ecstasy. A higher realization is the open-eyed state of sahaja-samâdhi, which includes the external world in the blissful condition of enlightenment.
He who is like a corpse, having the “wind” [i.e., the breath and subtle life energy] and the mind merged in his Self, with the host of senses motionless, he is clearly called “liberated while alive.” (12)
Comments: The supreme realization of living liberation (jh’an-mukti) is here identified with the state of trancelike ecstasy corresponding to asamprajnàta-samâdhi in Patanjali’s Classical Yoga. In other schools, living liberation is based on sahaja-samâdhi.
[The yogin in the ecstatic state] does not hear, smell, touch, see. or experience pleasure and pain, and his mind does not conceptualize. (13)
He experiences nothing and. like a log, does not comprehend [anything]. Thus, with the [individual] self merged into Shiva, (the yogin] is here called “ecstasy abiding” (samâdhi-stha). (14)
As water poured into water, milk into milk, and ghee into ghee becomes indistinguishable, so [also is the merging of] the individual self with the supreme Self. (15)
Comments: This definition of ecstasy, or of the goal of Yoga, is widely found in the Tantras and Purânas, as well as in the textbooks of Vedânta.
Just as through the capacity for meditation a worm comes to be a bee. so a man, through the capacity for ecstasy, will assume the nature of the Absolute (bralimun). (16)
Comments: The ancient Hindus believed that a worm becomes a bee because of its mental focus.
Like ghee extracted from milk when poured back into it is not as before, so is said to be the (individual] self here [in this world], which is rendered distinct [from the transcendental Self] by the qualities (guna) [of Nature], (17)
Comments: The three qualities are sattva (principle of luc
idity), rajas (principle of dynamism), and tamas (principle of inertia). These define a person’s body-mind and create the illusion of the individual being separate from every other individual and from the divine Source itself. Upon enlightenment, this misapprehension falls away, and the yogin realizes the supreme Self, which is said to be nirguna, that is, beyond the qualities of Nature.
Just as one afflicted with total blindness perceives nothing here, similarly the yogin does not perceive the manifest world (prapanca), (which is] invisible [to him], (18)
Just as upon closing (nimllana) [one’s eyelids] one does not perceive the manifest world, so will be [the yogin’s consciousness] upon opening (unmilana) [the eyelids]; this is a sign of meditation. (19)
Comments: In the state of deep meditation, or ecstasy, yogins do not perceive the ordinary world, regardless of whether their eyes are open or shut. Their field of vision is the infinite Self itself.
Just as a person experiences an itch in the body, similarly he who is coessential (sva-rupin) with the supreme Absolute knows the motion of the world. (20)
Comments: For the yogin who has realized the Divine, that is, become identical with Shiva, the world is like the body is to the mind.
When the unchanging supreme Reality (tattva) transcending [all] letters (varna) is known, the mantras go into servitude together with the mantra rulers [i.e., the deities). (21)
Whatever activity [is engaged) by him who abides in the condition of the singular Self, that is adoration (arcanâ). Whatever conversation (he makes), that is true mantra. That which is called “meditation” is introspection (nirikshana). (22)
When identification with the body has ceased and the supreme Self is known, then wherever the mind roams it [experiences) ecstasy (samâdhi). (23)
The Yoga Tradition Page 70