In Vamachara, however, the sadhaka commences to directly
destroy pravritti, and with the help of the Guru (whose help throughout is in
this necessary) to cultivate nivritti. The method at this stage is to use the
force of pravritti in such a way as to render them self-destructive. The
passions which bind may be so employed as to act as forces whereby the
particular life of which they are the strongest manifestation is raised to the
universal life. Passion, which has hitherto run downwards and outwards to waste,
is directed inwards and upwards, and transformed to power. But it is not only
the lower physical desires of eating, drinking, and sexual intercourse which
must be subjugated. The sadhaka must at this stage commence to cut off all the
eight bonds (pasha) which mark the pashu which the Kularnava Tantra enumerates
as pity (daya), ignorance (moha), shame (lajja), family (kula), custom (shila),
and caste (varna). When Shri Krishna stole the clothes of the bathing Gopi, and
made them approach him naked, he removed the artificial coverings which are
imposed on man in the sangsara. The Gopi were eight, as are the bonds (pasha),
and the errors by which the jiva is misled are the clothes which Shri Krishna
stole. Freed of these, the jiva is liberated from all bonds arising from his
desires, family, and society. He then reaches the stage of Shiva (shivatva). It
is the aim of Vamachara to liberate from the bonds which bind men to the
sangsara, and to qualify the sadhaka for the highest grades of sadhana in which
the sattvika guna predominates. To the truly sattvik there is neither
attachment, fear, or disgust. That which has been commenced in these stages is
by degrees completed in those which follow – viz.: Siddhantachara, and according
to some, Aghorachara and Yogachara. The sadhaka becomes more and more freed from
the darkness of the sangsara, and is attached to nothing, hates nothing, and is
ashamed of nothing, having freed himself of the artificial bonds of family,
caste, and society. The sadhaka becomes, like Shiva himself, a dweller in the
cremation ground (smashana). He learns to reach the upper heights of sadhana and
the mysteries of yoga. He learns the movements of the different vayu in the
microcosm the Kshudra-brahmanda, the regulation of which controls the
inclinations and propensities (vritti). He learns also the truth which concern
the macrocosm (brahmanda). Here also the Guru teaches him the inner core of
Vedachara. Initiation by yoga-diksha fully qualifies him for yogachara. On
attainment of perfection in ashtanga-yoga, he is fit to enter the highest stage
of Kaulachara.
Kaula-dharma is in no wise sectarian, but, on the contrary, is the heart of all
sects. This is the true meaning of the phrase which, like many another touching
the Tantra, is misunderstood, and used to fix the kaula with hypocrisy –
antah-shaktah, vahih-shaivah sabhayang vaishnavahmatah nana – rupadharah kaulah
vicharanti mahitale (outwardly Shaivas; in gatherings, Vaishnavas; at heart,
Shaktas; under various forms the Kaulas wander on earth). A Kaula is one who has
passed through these and other stages, which have as their own inmost doctrine
(whether these worshippers know it or not) that of Kaulachara. It is indifferent
what the Kaula’s apparent sect may be. The form is nothing and everything. It is
nothing in the sense that it has no power to narrow the Kaula’s own inner life;
it is everything in the sense that knowledge may infuse its apparent limitations
with an universal meaning. So understood, form is never a bond. The Vishva-sara
Tantra, says of the Kaula that "for him there is neither rule of time; nor
place. His actions are unaffected either by the phases of the moon or the
position of the stars. The Kaula roams the earth in differing forms. At times
adhering to social rules (shishta), he at others appears, according to their
standard, to be fallen (bhrashta). At times, again, he seems to be as unearthly
as a ghost (bhuta or pishacha) To him no difference is there between mud and
sandal paste, his son and an enemy, home and the cremation ground."
At this stage the sadhaka attains to Brahma-jnana, which is the true gnosis in
its perfect form. On receiving mahapurna-daksha he performs his own funeral
rites and is dead to the sangsara. Seated alone in some quiet place, he remains
in constant samadhi, and attains its nir-vikalpa form. The Great Mother, the
Supreme Prakriti Maha-shakti, dwells in the heart of the sadhaka, which is now
the cremation ground wherein all passions have been burnt away. He becomes a
Parama-hangsa, who is liberated whilst yet living (javan-mukta).
It must not, however, be supposed that each of these stages must necessarily be
passed through by each jiva in a single life. On the contrary, they are
ordinarily traversed in the course of a multitude of births. The weaving of the
spiritual garment is recommenced where in a previous birth, it was dropped on
death. In the present life a sadhaka may commence at any stage. If he is born
into Kaulachara, and so is a Kaula in its fullest sense, it is because in
previous births he has by sadhana, in the preliminary stages, won his entrance
into it. Knowledge of Shakti is, as the Niruttara Tantra says, acquired after
many births; and, according to the Mahanirvana Tantra, it is by merit acquired
in previous births that the mind is inclined to Kaulachara.
Mantra
Shabda, or sound, which is of the Brahman, and as such the cause of the
Brahmanda, is the manifestation of the Chit-shakti Itself. The Vishva-sara
Tantra says that tha Para-brahman, as Shabda-brahman, whose substance is all
mantra, exists in the body of the jivatma. It is either unlettered (dhvani) or
lettered (varna). The former, which produces the latter, is the subtle aspect of
the jiva’s vital shakti. As the Prapancha-sara states, the brahmanda is pervaded
by shakti, consisting of dhvani, also called nada, prana, and the like. The
manifestation of the gross form (sthula) of shabda is not possible unless shabda
exists in a subtle (sukshma) form. Mantras are all aspects of the Brahman and
manifestations of Kula-kundalini. Philosophically shabda is the guna of akasha,
or ethereal space. It is not, however, produced by akasha, but manifests in it.
Shabda is itself the Brahman. In the same way, however, as in outer space, waves
of sound are produced by movements of air (vayu); so in the space within the
jiva’s body waves of sound are produced according to the movements of the vital
air (prana-vayu) and the process of inhalation and exhalation. Shabda first
appears at the muladhara, and that which is known to us as such is, in fact, the
shakti which gives life to the jiva. She it is who, in the muladhara, is the
cause of the sweet indistinct and murmuring dhvani, which sounds like the
humming of a black bee.
The extremely subtle aspect of sound which first appears in the Muladhara is
called para; less subtle when it has reached the heart, it is known as
pashyanti. When connected with buddhi it becomes more gross, and is called
madhyama. Lastly, in its fully gross form, it issues from the mouth as vaikhari.
As Kula-Kundalini, whose substance is all varna and dhvani, is but the
manifestation of, and Herself the Paramatma; so the substance of all mantra is
chit, notwithstanding their external manifestation, as sound, letters, or words;
in fact, the letters of the alphabet, which are known as akshara, are nothing
but the yantra of the akshara, or imperishable Brahman. This, however, is only
realized by the sadhaka when his shakti, generated by sadhana, is united with
the mantra-shakti.
It is the sthula or gross form of Kulakundalini, appearing in different aspects
as different Devata, which is the presiding Devata (adhishthatri) of all mantra,
though it is the subtle or sukshma form at which all sadhakas aim. When the
mantrashakti is awakened by sadhana the Presiding Devata appears, and when
perfect mantra-siddhi is acquired, the Devata, who is sachchidananda, is
revealed. The relations of varna, nada, vindu, vowel and consonant in a mantra,
indicate the appearance of Devata in different forms. Certain vibhuti, or
aspects, of the Devata are inherent in certain varna, but perfect Shakti does
not appear in any but a whole mantra. Any word or letter of the mantra cannot be
a mantra. Only that mantra in which the playful Devata has revealed any of Her
particular aspects can reveal that aspect, and is therefore called the
individual mantra of that one of Her particular aspects. The form of a
particular Devata, therefore, appears out of the particular mantra of which that
Devata is the adhishthatri Devata.
A mantra is composed of certain letters arranged in definite sequence of sounds
of which the letters are the representative signs. To produce the designed
effect mantra must be intoned in the proper way, according to svara (rhythm),
and varna (sound). Their textual source is to be found in Veda, Purana, and
Tantra. The latter is essentially the mantra-shastra, and so it is said of the
embodied shastra, that Tantra, which consists of mantra, is the paramatma, the
Vedas are the jivatma, Darshana (systems of philosophy) are the senses, Puranas
are the body, and Smriti are the limbs. Tantra is thus the shakti of
consciousness, consisting of mantra. A mantra is not the same thing as prayer or
self-dedication (atma-nivedana). Prayer is conveyed in what words the worshipper
chooses, and bears its meaning on its face. It is only ignorance of shastrik
principle which supposes that mantra is merely the name for the words in which
one expresses what one has to say to the Divinity. If it were, the sadhaka might
choose his own language without recourse to the eternal and determined sounds of
Shastra.
A mantra may, or may not, convey on its face its meaning. Vija (seed) mantra,
such as Aing, Kling, Hring, have no meaning, according to the ordinary use of
language. The initiate, however, knows that their meaning is the own form
(sva-rupa) of the particular Devata, whose mantra they are, and that they are
the dhvani which makes all letters sound and which exists in all which we say or
hear. Every mantra is, then, a form (rupa) of the Brahman. Though, therefore,
manifesting in the form and sound of the letters of the alphabet, Shastra says
that they go to Hell who think that the Guru is but a stone, and the mantra but
letters of the alphabet.
From manana, or thinking, arises the real understanding of the monistic truth,
that the substance of the Brahman and the brahmanda are one and the same. Man-
of mantra comes from the first syllable of manana, and -tra from trana, or
liberation from the bondage of the sangsara or phenomenal world. By the
combination of man- and -tra, that is called mantra which calls forth
(amantrana), the chatur-varga (vide post), or four aims of sentient being.
Whilst, therefore, mere prayer often ends in nothing but physical sound, mantra
is a potent compelling force, a word of power (the fruit of which is
mantra-siddhi), and is thus effective to produce the chatur-varga, advaitic
perception, and mukti. Thus it is said that siddhi is the certain result of japa
(q.v.). By Mantra the sought for (sadhya) Devata, is attained and compelled. By
siddhi in mantra is opened the vision of the three worlds. Though the purpose of
worship (puja), reading (patha), hymn (stava), sacrifice (homa), dhyana,
dharana, and samadhi (vide post), and that of the diksha-mantra are the same,
yet the latter is far more powerful, and this for the reason that, in the first,
the sadhaka’s sadhana-shakti only operates, whilst in the case of mantra that
sadhana-shakti works, in conjunction with mantra-shakti, which has the
revelation and force of fire, and than which nothing is more powerful. The
special mantra which is received at initiation (diksha) is the vija, or seed
mantra, sown in the field of the sadhaka’s heart, and the Tantrik sandhya,
nyasa, puja, and the like are the stem and branches upon which hymns of praise
(stuti) and prayer and homage (vandana) are the leaves and flower, and the
kavacha, consisting of mantra, the fruit.
Mantra are solar (saura) and lunar (saumya), and are masculine, feminine, or
neuter. The solar are masculine and lunar feminine. The masculine and neuter
forms are called mantra. The feminine mantra is known as vidya. The neuter
mantra, such as the Pauranik-mantra, ending with namah, are said to lack the
force and vitality of the others. The masculine and feminine mantra end
differently. Thus, Hung, Phat, are masculine terminations, and "thang," or
svaha, are feminine ones.
The Nitya Tantra gives various names to mantra. according to the number of their
syllables, a one-syllabled mantra being called pinda, a three-syllabled one
kartari, a mantra with four to nine syllables vija, with ten to twenty syllables
mantra, and mantra with more than twenty syllables mala. Commonly, however, the
term vija is applied to monosyllabic mantra. The Tantrik mantras called vija
(seed) are so named because they are the seed of the fruit, which is siddhi, and
because they are the very quintessence of mantra. They are short, unetymological
vocables, such as Hring, Shring, Kring, Hung, Aing, Phat, etc., which will be
found throughout the text. Each Devata has His or Her vija. The primary mantra
of a Devata is known as the root mantra (mula-mantra). It is also said that the
word mula denotes the subtle body of the Devata called Kama-kala. The utterance
of a mantra without knowledge of its meaning or of the mantra method is a mere
movement of the lips and nothing more. The mantra sleeps. There are various
processes preliminary to, and involved in, its right utterance, which processes
again consist of mantra, such as, purification of the mouth (mukha-shodhana),
purification of the tongue (jihva-shodhana), and of the mantra
(ashaucha-bhanga), kulluka, nirvvana, setu, nidra-bhanga, awakening of mantra,
mantra-chaitanya, or giving of life or vitality to the mantra.
Mantrarthabhavana, forming of mental image of the Divinity. There are also ten
sangskara of the mantra. Dipani is seven japa of the vija, preceded and followed
by one. Where hring is employed instead of Ong it is prana-yoga. Yoni-mudra is
meditation on the Guru in the head and on the Ishta-devata in the heart, and
then on the Yoni-rupa Bhagavati from the head to the muladhara, and from the
muladhara to the head, making japa of the yoni vija (eng) ten times. The mantra
itself is Devata. The worshipper awakens and vitalizes it by chit-shakti,
putting away all thought of the letter, piercing the six Chakra, and
contemplating the Spotless One. The shakti of the mantra is the vachaka-shakti,
or the means by which the vachya-shakti or object of the mantra is attained. The
mantra lives by the energy of the former. The saguna-shanti is awakened by
sadhana and worshipped, and She it is who opens the portals whereby the
vachya-shakti is reached. Thus the Mother in Her saguna form is the presiding
deity (adhishthatri Devata) of the Gayatri-mantra. As the nirguna (formless)
One, She is its vachya-shakti. Both are in reality one and the same; but the
jiva, by the laws of his nature and its three guna, must first meditate on the
gross (sthula) form before he can realize the subtle (sukshma) form, which is
his liberator.