A Tantra Viewpoint Of Karma

Karma has been described in many ways, but in ancient tantra it takes on a whole different meaning. This is because tantra is the science of love – of our relationship with ourselves, with our beloved and with the Cosmos. As such, the concept of karma must, for the student of tantra, also be seen in the light of relationships.

Very fundamentally speaking, karma is the accumulated results of certain actions, or lack of them. If one was meant to do a certain thing and did not do it, karma is created. Likewise, if one was not meant to do a certain thing and yet did it, karma is created. It is unfinished business, which one has to finish in this or future lifetimes before one can ultimately join the Universal Whole.

Your tantra teacher will explain to you that if you have not wholeheartedly loved your man or woman, or have not been wholeheartedly been loved by him or her, there will be a karmic backlash. If you have utterly and completely loved your beloved, you are ensuring that it is finished – a job well done. You will carry no negative traces of this relationship into your next life – and you are free of any bondage or guilt in your current life.

This is a very important point to remember. For the ignorant, there may be no karmic backlash for an ineptly conducted relationship. They have no clue of their responsibilities in relationships, and experience them more or less at the instinctive level of animals. But for those who are learning tantra from an experienced tantra master, ignorance is no longer an excuse. They have been given the sacred knowledge of their divine nature, and with such knowledge comes responsibility.

Today, we find many people going from one bad relationship into the next without ever knowing that they are playing out their accumulated karma. They do not know that they are doomed to repeat all their old mistakes, and that they will never be free of their misery.

When you learn tantra, you are given the key to living life and experiencing relationships to the fullest extent. The deep insights that you gain into yourself, your beloved and your roles in the cosmic scheme of things allow you to rectify all flawed concepts and habits that hamper or destroy your relationships.

Are you ready to free yourself – and your relationship with your beloved – from the karmic cycle? It is never too late to do so. Find a qualified tantra teacher and find this freedom. Being free of the karmic influence of botched relationships is one of the greatest gifts you can ever receive.

Acharya Subhojit Dasgupta is a Tantra Teacher with deep knowledge of traditional Indian sciences. Visit his tantra online guide for Tantra Lessons from this young Tantra Master.

The Tantric Significance Of Rudraksha Beads

Those familiar with Indian lore in general will have heard of or seen images of Shiva, the quintessential tantra god. Shiva is depicted as wearing chains of dark beads around his neck, arms and ankles. These are rudraksha beads, which have a special significance in Hindu tantra.

When we study the story of Shiva and Shakti, his consort and the traditional tantra goddess, several fascinating stories emerge. One of these is that that Shiva, who is also the Destroyer, took the incarnation of Kali and defeated several demons.

Mythology tells us that he beheaded the vanquished demons and allowed their heads to dry up and shrivel, after which he adorned himself with them. The rudraksha beads which Shiva devotees wear represent these heads of defeated demons.

How is this significant for someone learning tantra? There is, in fact, great relevance in wearing rudraksha beads if one is aware of what they represent. Your tantra teacher will inform you that in order to pursue this ancient science of life and love, one must certainly overcome some demons in one’s life – just as Shiva had done.

These demons are jealousy, selfishness, hatred, dishonesty, bigotry, misogyny and the various other negative traits that contaminate an untutored human life.

When you progress in your study of ancient tantra under a gifted tantra master, you will be confronted with these negative traits within yourself over and over again. The specific tantra instructions and rituals to which you will be introduced will help you to gradually shed these traits and evolve into a superior, spiritually accomplished person.

At this stage, you will be able to wear a chain of rudraksha beads with pride – for you have defeated the demons that hindered your spiritual progress.

These beads have various other mystical properties – they are said to reduce blood pressure, act as a detoxifying agent and have the ability to cleanse and focus the mind. This is why they are also of great help in tantra meditation. However, the benefits of wearing Shiva’s traditional adornment can only come when one’s mind has responded to them with understanding, and one’s actions correspond to their symbolism.

As a traditional tantric teacher, I am firmly against my students wearing such adornments without fully comprehending what they stand for. The fact is that wearing rudrakshas is symbolic of the fact that one has overcome base desires and drives and is committed to the study and enforcement of the Truth. Let no one belittle Shiva’s victory over evil with idle tokenism, for his battle must be ours as well.

Acharya Subhojit Dasgupta is a Tantra Teacher with deep knowledge of traditional Indian sciences. Visit his tantra online guide for Tantra Lessons from this young Tantra Master.

Tantra Is Liberation From Fear

Modern man is afraid. He is afraid of his own desires, and of the religious priests and moral policemen who say his desires are evil. The whole issue of human sexuality has been warped and manipulated through the ages to put man – and woman – into a state of fear. Tantra is the antithesis of this unnatural fear psychosis.

The origin of this fear is not hard to trace. Sex and sexuality have been tightly regimented since the Christian church got into the act, which was around the 4th Century. It was at approximately this time that human physical intimacy was first portrayed as a ‘sin’. All sorts of guilt complexes followed – complexes which a tantra teacher has to eliminate first before he can hope to help an aspiring seeker to the present day.

The Hindu Upanishads are very specific on this topic. The Chandogya Upanishad states very clearly that only where ecstasy exists can there be any sort of creation. Various other Hindu scriptures also indicate that sex and sexuality were never looked down upon, considered sin or in any way regulated in ancient India. However, today India has joined the so-called Global Village. It has adopted many of the religious beliefs, styles and customs of the West.

As a result, the very country in which the science of ancient tantra was born and fostered has become as repressed as the West. We have forgotten that physical intimacy is at the very core of creation – that it is the foundation stone of the survival of our species. How can anything creative be profane? How can it be considered as sin?

As a tantra teacher, my first and foremost mission is to rid my students of their age-old fear of their own sexuality. They come to understand that there is no evil in desiring physical intimacy. Only then will they begin to grasp the concept of tantric worship and the divinity of the Shiva-Shakti union.

This can be achieved by gradual de-conditioning of the mind from the guilt complexes imposed upon modern men and women. The process involves exposure to ancient tantra lore and the practice of tantric rituals that re-join the students to their natural state. In this state, there is no fear. There is only freedom of thought and action, tempered with a mature sense of responsibility about how this freedom must be utilized.

The result of learning tantra under a qualified tantric master is the rebirth of ecstasy in relationships. Sin, as a concept, ceases to exist. In its place comes a worshipful attitude towards all things that are joyful, intimate and natural to all human beings. Heed the invitation, because it is not natural to live in fear of the very desires that have created you and everyone you know.

Acharya Subhojit Dasgupta is a Tantra Teacher with deep knowledge of traditional Indian sciences. Visit his tantra online guide for Tantra Lessons from this young Tantra Master.