Tantra Illuminated: The Philosophy, History, and Practice of a Timeless Tradition

What we discover is that instead of walking a path to reach a specific final destination, we are walking it to learn how to walk it. The moment we fall into simple harmony with the walking, dissolving ideas about our destination or our identity as a walker, path and goal merge into one. In other words, liberation is complete when we are no longer w

It’s called the parable of the Dream Machine.

Let me clarify that here “worship” means—at the very least—the actual evocation of the power of the Deity and interaction with it. More commonly, it means becoming that deity through techniques of ritualized meditation and/or meditative ritual, either temporarily or as part of a process by which any perception of difference between oneself and the

At the deepest level, the one without whom none of this would have happened is Gurumayī. The spiritual awakening I had through her grace catalyzed a process of unfolding that allowed me to encounter the words of the Tantrik master Abhinava Gupta as palpably living energy, not mere fossils. Without Gurumayī’s unfailing love and grace, I would likely

But, and this can hardly be said too many times, ānanda is simply the chief by-product of realization, it is not the goal of the path, and it is not more divine than anything else. If you think otherwise, you will starting grasping after it and building a new “spiritual” self-image around it, and then you are caught again. Probably the greatest pit

This state of awareness in which you are completely in tune with reality, immersed in your divine nature, is called samāveśa.

Tantrasāra

Unlike the history you might have been forced to learn in school, the history of the Tantrik traditions is a fascinating story that consists not merely of information, but of inspirational and powerful ideas—some of the most original ideas ever conceived concerning human potential. Historically, these ideas were inextricably wedded to transformativ

section.) The Krama school of NŚT teaches that we can observe the divine acts of sṛṣṭi, sthiti, and saṃhāra in the arising and falling away of each and every cognition