When you look at the Kama Sutra and their amazing erotica, it beggars belief how much taboo India has against nudity. It's all-powerful.
... Of course, when you think about it, basically the same thing could be said about many places, like USA.
Maybe we need to face that nothing and nobody has a single mind, it's all split.
I'm not an expert about Tantra history in India, but as far as I know there were a few up and downs - partly it was highly revered, and partly condemned by the mainstream and had to go underground. Also, many Tantra temples were destroyed in these times by prudish religious people, a few (being forgotten in the jungle) have survived, e.g. Khajuraho.
ReplyDelete... it beggars belief how much taboo India has against nudity.
The contemporary taboo in India is mainly (or at least partly) an heritage of the British colonial supremacy, influenced from the Victorian era. When I was in Pune a few times (end of eighties and nineties) there was a constant struggle between very prudish Indians (there were exceptions, too) and the "immoral" behaviour of Osho's sannyasins.
Tantra is neither moral nor immoral, it is a-moral - it has nothing to do with morality, it is a "subjective" science of consciousness in order to transform yourself: Basically a big YES to all what really is - now go and explore yourself honestly ... and if you understand sex, then you know life, and if you understand death (which is of course also that which is), then you know eternal life. "Memento mori" is a basic key to life (Jed McKenna has described it to the point in his 3rd book "Spiritual Warfare").
E.g., a famous couple of Tantra masters has shocked the people, because they were living and dancing their love and ecstasy on a cremation place, surrounded by skulls and bones. (I have often taken a walk or sit on the cremation place near the ashram, and I recommend something like that to everyone, assumed you want to explore yourself.)
Ancient temples in Far East were designed by spiritual masters, and they have mirrored the inner journey into the architectural structure in order to help it. For example, before going into the inner core you have to encounter your inner "demons" and have to leave them behind you, so that you can surpass - there is no short-cut.
Tantra is often misunderstood as indulging in sex, but the contrary is the case: The
illustration of all kinds of sexual behaviour on a Tantra temple is a means to be confronted with your own attachments/demons concerning sex, and you go further only by letting go and embracing ... which doesn't mean you have to be celibate - enjoy life fully (remember the joke about "celebrate"?), and you can do that only purified, without all your "demons": Free flowing, simple, natural, innocent, making you whole and, yes, holy. "Naked is sacred".
Suppressing will make the demons stronger, and split yourself constantly into the demon living within you and your panicky struggling to suppress it, taking all your life energy. And this madness spreads out from such people, resulting in violence against others ... just look around.
P.S.: captcha "antic" ...;-)
Such a nice short article, Neeraj!
ReplyDelete:-)
And such a nice post on my blog, I have just read it and it is so good!
Tantra in sex, Tantra in university dissertation writing, all life is about Tantra isn't it? :-)
I am myself just watching recordings I made in a cremation ceremony. Nobody dancing naked, but there are demon statues with naked breasts and horrible smiles...
Hehe!
Thanks for the compliments, Aniko.
ReplyDelete... all life is about Tantra isn't it?
At least, Tantra is basically a non-dual approach to life, and can be a powerful "tool" for subjective transformation and a good map for understanding life, depending on the quality of the teacher/master and of the disciple's honesty/sincerity. But of course, in the "spiritual marketplace" it is also often misused.
Generally this seems to be the fate of many or maybe all spiritual traditions: Powerful at their core, at their source with a living master, but pulled down after some time by ego forces of successors in order "to get the gig". Also regularly leading to fundamentalism with all ugly consequences.
Therefore the emphasis in Indian tradition (and similar in other traditions) on "darshan", of being in the energy field of a true awakened master ... that's a big paradox: Any step of transformation you have to go utterly alone, but the presence of a true master can ignite you.
Eolake, I forgot to mention: The picture is beautiful, and high quality.
Nice post again. :-)
ReplyDelete