Series
Editor: Ivan Kostka
Vishal Mangalwadi
on
[Copyright page,
as before, Verso]
[Epigraph
Recto]
[Contents
Recto – keep on one page only]
Acknowledgements (Verso of Contents page)
We should acknowledge Larry Landis, Bruce Teichroew and Brad Olson,
Ruth Mangalwadi’s contributions
to the project.
Preface
by Ivan (as before) RecContents
1. THE GLOBAL APPEAL OF YOGA
3
- The Basic Human Problem
- Biological, Metaphysical or Moral?
2.
TECHNIQUES TO ALTER
CONSCIOUSNESS 5
- Hatha
Yoga: Salvation Through Physical Exercises
- Japa
Yoga: The ‘Mechanical Path’ To Salvation
- Surat-Shabd Yoga: The Path Of Sound And Light
- Kundalini
Yoga: Salvation Through The ‘Serpent Power’
3. MANY WAYS TO SALVATION? 15
Glossary 17
Footnotes 18 List of Abbreviations (Verso of
Preface)
Text begins Recto, with
Sub-heading
1. [Level A] YOGA’S GLOBAL APPEAL
YogaYoga’s
global popularity testifies to India’s growing cultural influence. It
compensates for our recurring four-yearly embarrassment that
we don’t at of not winning
Olympic goldmedals
in at
the Olympics: that we are not a healthy, athletic people.
How can Indian culture contribute to global health via Yogayoga, and
yet not and yetif
it cannot not produce winning athletes?
The answer is simple: Yogayoga has not produced an
athletic culture in India because Yogawas never meant to be a means of physical fitness
discipline régime. In
Indian philosophy Yogayoga is a means of to salvation or liberation (mokshaM). The
original philosophy behind Yoga defined liberation
as soul’s isolation from body. Obtaining “out-of-body”
experiences is still the goal of some popular forms of Yoga. Later, after other
schools of Indian philosophy had adopted Yoga, its goal was reinterpreted as
the union
of the human self with the Cosmic
Self or God. Physical Yogayoga (that is, Hathahatha Yogayoga) is only one form of Yogayoga. Indian sages have taught many different forms of Yogayoga – or ways of obtaining one’s salvation. Indian Yogis
have a case when they say that the The Western
fans of Yogayoga abuse it when they use it primarily for physical
fitness.
Comprehending the claim that
Yoga is a stress management technique is easier than the idea that it is a way
of salvation. Jews, Christians and
Muslims naturally especially find it difficult to understand how physical
exercises could contribute to one’s spiritual salvation. This booklet seeks to
explain the religious worldview behind Yogayoga. Let us begin with a question:
[Level
B]
What is a human being’s’ The Basic Human
Problem
? Or What is the basic human problem?
Is the basic human problem it
biological, moral or metaphysical?
The
mMaterialists think that
Mother Nature (evolution) has made us bad. That . Oour problem,,
therefore, therefore, is biological or genetic. Perhaps some day
genetic engineers will be able to make us good – loving, caring, just and
upright. Scientists will ould then become our saviours.
They will determine what we can think, say and do. Butwould might we not
then lose our humanity – our ability to make moral choices? Would love
really be love when we are genetically engineered to love? Doesn’t the moral value of an act depend upon our
choosing that act voluntarily?
The Jews popularized the idea that the human problem
is moral: that the human beings are
sinners, guilty of having broken God’s
law. Christianity and Islam share the Jewish
perspective. We will return to this idea later.
[I
THINK THIS EVANGELISTIC PASSAGE SHOULD BE PUT
AT THE END. IT COULD BE SO OFF-PUTTING AT THIS STAGE, THAT NO ON READS ANY FURTHER.] The Jews popularized the idea that the human problem is moral, rather than biological. They were
taught that God created human beings “good.” (Would you expect anything
different from an almighty Creator?) Our first parents, said Genesis (the first
book of the Torah and the whole Bible)
chose to disobey God. Thereby they became sinners. That trait has been
transmitted to us all. Although we are still God’s image {“in God’s image” or “God’s image-bearers”} and capable of goodness, none of us is
perfect. From childhood our tendency is towards evil. Therefore we need
teaching and training to live moral lives. Yet, in spite of the best training
we fail morally. Our central problem, therefore, according to the biblical
(Jewish, Christian and Islamic) tradition is that we are sinners. We need a
divine Savior who will forgive our sins and transform our hearts – the core of
our being – to remake us what we were intended to be: God’s image-bearers.YogaYoga’s
worldview is different than from the Bible’s. It assumes
that the human problem is neither biological, nor moral, but metaphysical.
[Level
B] What is “Biological,
mMetaphysical, or Moral?”
Before explaining the Yogic belief that the human problem is metaphysical rather than moral, that
let me hasten to add that some ancient Hindu {Vedic?}
traditions do takeour
moral weakness and failures seriously.
They recommend ritual sacrifices for the to propitiatione for of our sins.
These sacrifices are similar to the ones taught in the Jewish sScriptures,
commonly called the Old Testament. Some of these Hindu scriptural teachings on
sacrifice foreshadow the New Testament teaching that Jesus sacrificed himself
for our sin, as our a substitute. Nevertheless, later Hinduism
does not think that the our basic human
problem is moral. [Too
much use of ‘our’ appears morally coercive here! Hindus presumably do not acquiese to this particular morality,
else there’s be no need to write the book.]
Originally Yogayoga
techniques were a part of Samkhya philosophy.
This philosophy was is dualistic in that it postulates d two
ultimate realities: purusha (soul)
and prakruti (physical nature). Samkhya teaches taught that
soul (purusha) is pure, but physical nature (prakruti) is evil. Somehow the soul has become entangled with the
physical body. Therefore oOur salvation liberation – or mMokhsha – therefore lies in isolating soul from body. YogaYoga
was the technique by which to achieve this
isolation. of
isolating soul from bodyThis low view of the physical body naturally undermined
development of a culture of physical
fitness in India.
Today, generally Yogayoga
is defined not as isolation of soul from body but as “‘union of soul (atma) with and
God (Brahma).”’ This change has occurred because
gradually Yogaother schools of Indian
philosophy that rejected Samkhya philosophy adopted yoga.
A prominent version of
Upanishadic Hinduism, for example, taught that the
human soul is was not distinct from God. God (Brahma or the Universal Self) was is
the same as the human soul (atma or
our inner self). God and man were are ultimately one. This teaching is was called
nNon-Ddualism
(Aadwaita), meaning that the human self and the divine self are were not
two distinct entities. It is also called mMonism
– from “‘mono”’ or one
– emphasizing oneness of everything, especially of God and man. The monistic
gurus teach that man is Infinite Consciousness or God, who has somehow
forgotten his true nature and become entangled in finite, personal, rational,
consciousness. So
long as he remains in this state of ignorance, he is repeatedly born into this
world of suffering.
Salvation lies in transcending finite, personal
consciousness and merging into (or experiencing ourselves to be) the Infinite
Impersonal Consciousness, and thereby escaping getting
out of the cycle of births and deaths. , Iin this
school of thought, yoga is understood as
a technique of uniting the human soul with the divine soul.
In parenthesis it should be
acknowledged that unfortunately Mmonism or Nnon-Ddualism did not undo the damage that Samkhya
philosophy had done to the Indian view of the material
world, including the human body. In a sense it made matters
worse by declaring the material universe to be a dream (or rather a nightmare)
of God. It called the physical world maya
or illusion. A nightmare might be so vivid that it makes you
scream. But when you wake up you realize
that it was unreal – an
illusion, created by your own mind.
Likewise when you attain enlightenment and realize your divinity, you awaken to
see that the world is unreal, an
illusion. This low view of the physical
universe also , undermineding thereby any
serious interest in nature and science in
India.
Although the nNon-Ddualists
or mMonists
rejected Samkhya philosophy, nevertheless they also saw the central
human problem as metaphysical rather than moral. We are God; we cannot therefore have broken any divine moral law. , not guilty of
having broken God’s moral law Therefore, oOur problem is that somehow
we have somehow forgotten
our divinity. In other words ignorance, not sin, is our problem. We need to
experience, “‘realize”’ or perceive our divinity, not repent of anything or seek forgivenessand seek moral transformation.
To say that the human beings are not sinners; but simply ignorant of their our true self,
is to imply that the problem lies is with our consciousness
or perception. Our sSalvation lies in attaining that original
state of consciousness, that has been we have lost.
If you are God, you cannot expect a Ggod to come and save you. You have to realize
your own divinity . . . and Yogayoga is the path of by which to experience ing God
consciousness, or your inner, essential divinity. {Inconsistent ‘you’ and ‘us’ – so
I’ve dropped one.}
Salvation, in other words, is a
matter of perception or realization. You
are already God, you just have to perceive or realize this fact. Perceiving, in
this context, is not a cognitive activity. It is not a matter of intellectually
knowing or logically deducing that you are God, but rather transcending your
cognitive, rational consciousness and experiencing a “‘higher”’ state of expanded consciousness which is
believed to be God or our true self. (I have used the
term “man” in the last {next?} two
paragraphs because traditional Hinduism did not accept equality of male and
female. While some contemporary gurus affirm equality, the traditional view is
that a woman needs to be reborn male before she could find salvation or Moksha.)
Of course, not all gurus teach mMonism
or Nnon-Ddualism.
Some gurus and sects, such as Hare Krishna, do not believe that man is or ever
becomes God. God,
according to Hare Krishna, is a personal Being,
—Krishna. Man’s original state is “‘Krishna--Cconsciousness”’ and his true nature is to be a loving
servant of Krishna. Man’s problem is that he has forgotten his Krishna--Cconsciousness
and become entangled in this material world. He has to re-establish his link
with Krishna and gain Krishna--Cconsciousness. Only then will man get out of the cycle
of births and deaths and live forever in Goloka {Gokul?}or
heaven..
(I have used
the term ‘man’ here because traditionally, Hinduism
did not accept the equality of male and female. While some
contemporary gurus affirm equality, the traditional view is that a woman needs
to be re-born male before she can find
salvation or moksha.)
To sum up, salvation in Hinduism
consists in the realization, perception, or experience of our so-called “‘true
nature”’. This
realization takes place when we are able to alter our consciousness and attain
what is called a “‘higher”’ state of consciousness.
How can we alter our
consciousness? The answer is – through manipulation of the our nervous
system. This is so because our consciousness is dependent upon our nervous
system. During
the preceding millennia numerous techniques have been developed to manipulate the one’s nervous
system in order to alter one’s consciousness. These
techniques are generally called yoga. Let us discuss a few of the
those techniques
that have been popularized by modern gurus.
2. {Level A} TECHNIQUES
TO ALTER CONSCIOUSNESS
[LEVEL B]
1. HathaHatha
Yoga: Salvation Through Physical Exercises
Some chemicals make us
sleep, others excite us, intoxicate us, cause make us hallucinations e or
have psychedelic experiences in us.
Chemicals can change our moods and make us
see things inside our head that appear real. By manipulating our brain chemistry
we can experience altered states of consciousness. Because our brain needs
oxygen and blood to function normally, its chemistry can be affected by
regulating breathing and and deliberately decreasing
reducing oxygen intake, or by standing upside down on our heads and
altering blood flow. So, just as our nervous system and brain can be
manipulated chemically, they can also be manipulated physiologically.
HathaHatha yoga, which consists of
physical and breathing exercises, is a very ancient method of liberation. To
repeat, the belief that one can attain “‘salvation”’ through physical exercises rests on the
assumption that salvation is a matter of perception – of “‘going within”’ and seeing or perceiving our inner
consciousness, which is believed to be God. Perceiving, seeing, or experiencing depend on the state of
one’s nervous system, which in turn depends on one’s physical condition. By
physiological manipulation of one’s body, the nervous system can be affected
and consciousness altered.
One of the
Hhatha yoga’s attractions lies in that its stretching exercises that make our bodies extremely flexible. It also
trains us to consciously regulate
breathing and blood circulation consciously.
Its problem however is that toreally mastery
it is a long and tedious process requiring
much discipline and a competent teacher.
HathaHatha Yogayoga is often advertised as non-religious. It
is promoted for fitness, stress management, or for its therapeutic values.
The Boynton Health Services at the University of Minnesota, for example,
promote Yoga as “The practice of unifying body, mind, and spirit.” That claim
is the exact opposite of the actual goal of Yoga to isolate soul and body.
Could it be a good means for coping with stress? Obviously, taking one’s
attention off from the pressures of life and for a while focussing it on one’s
breathing can only help. Does it help more than a session in the swimming pool?
We do not yet have such comparative studies to make a judgement. However, some
critics do have a valid point: supposing this booklet of mine is so boring that
it puts readers off to sleep. Someone struggling with insomnia may decide to
read the booklet to be able to go to sleep. There can be nothing wrong with
that. But what if I started promoting this booklet as a “sleep-aid”? Most
people would consider it unethical advertising. Since the purpose of the
booklet is not to help someone to sleep. Some gurus do promote Yoga in secular,
even misleading, terms in the hope that the disciple practicing Yogayoga
for physical well- being will experience
alteration of consciousness and gain a “‘vision of possibilities”’ (Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi). This would open the disciple to the philosophy on which Hathahatha
yYogayoga rests. Obviously there are teachers of Hathahatha
yYogayoga who are not interested in propagating
its philosophical basis at all. They teach it to impart health or to make
money. Studies are now being conducted to assess the therapeutic value of Hathahatha
Yogayoga
and base its claims on sound empirical data. Such research will demystify
excessive claims. It should also refine and simplify some of the exercises to
maximize their therapeutic value to more people.
No sane person is likely to
object to Hathahatha Yogayoga’s contribution to our health. However,
an exclusively therapeutic use of Yogayoga raises the question: is it Yogayoga anymore?
Physical
exercises become yoga when they are practiced to alter consciousness or to lose
our individual consciousness into an experience called ‘merging into God.”’ As a matter of fact, the Indian schools of Hatha Yoga
put much greater emphasis on regulating breathing (Pranayam) than on physical
exercises (postures or Asanas).
That is true of Patanjali Yoga (approximately AD 300), of Yajnavalkya (AD 1300)
and of Hatha Yoga
Pradipika, written in the mid-fourteenth century by Svatmanama. Patanjali
defined Yoga’s goal as isolation (Kaivalya) or aloneness of self, divorced
entirely from any contact with nature, but not itself joined with any
all-encompassing unity (God).
Yajnavalkya, writing a thousand years later, reinterpreted Yoga as the union of
the embodied or “living self” (jiva) with the “Great Self”. His
chapter on physical exercises (Asanas) is the shortest (18 stanzas), while on
breathing (pranayama) is the longest
(80 stanzas). The Hatha
Yoga Pradipika devotes only 40 out of a total
of 400 stanzas to physical postures, while devoting over a 100 to
breathing.
It is unnecessary here to
discuss the ethical question about whether
it is OK to promote a “spiritual” discipline as a purely physical program.me. For, as we shall see, Yogayoga’s worldview is not interested in
questions of ethics, which pre-supposepresuppose a
dualism of good and evil.
Someone may ask, “‘What is
wrong with artificially altering consciousness?”’ By itself there is nothing wrong with an
altered state of consciousness. Sleepwalking, hypnosis, hallucination, even
madness are all “‘altered”’ states of consciousness. There is nothing
wrong with them in a moral sense, even if some of them are deemed undesirable
states of consciousness. The problem is philosophical. – iIs your altered state of consciousness God?
If it is not, then does it matter if you consider your own altered state of
consciousness God? Is it harmless to call yourself the President of your nation
if in fact you are not the President? If your inner self is not God then when
you look within could you be looking for God in the wrong place? Is it right to
call something spiritual which is in fact physical or psychological? Does it
matter if you are one
is mistaken in your his/her beliefs? Well, does it matter if you go
on the longest and the most important journey of your life with a map drawn by
a person who mistook East for West or North for South?
[Level B] 2.
Japa Yoga: “The ‘Mechanical
Path”’
To Salvation
Hare
Krishna, Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama,
Hare Rama
Rama Rama,
Hare Hare
Hare
Krishna, Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama,
Hare Rama
Rama Rama,
Hare Hare
To give a name to something
or someone is to distinguish it from others. The monistic gurus believe that
there is only one soul – God – and it permeates everyone, if not everything.
Therefore they prefer not to use a specific name for God.[1]
They use a symbolic name, such as “‘Om”’ or a mantra whose meaning
the meditator does not know, so that the name or mantra may not
create any thoughts or images in the mind by association.
Our mind is constantly
bombarded with many different stimuli entering our brain through our eyes,
ears, nose, tongue or touch. Our senses make us aware of the external world –
the world of maya or deception.
Entanglement with the world, including the world of thoughts is our bondage.
How can we forget the world and become aware of the inner self or God? Constant
repetition of a sound (mantra)
eliminates all other stimuli, thus concentrating the mind. If you keep
repeating the mantra
then eventually its sound itself becomes a non-stimulus. Your mind goes blank.
This induces a state where the mind is aware or conscious, but it is not aware
of anything or any thought. One may say that it is only conscious
of consciousness.
This is what is called ‘Ppure Cconsciousness’ or ‘Ttranscendental
Cconsciousness’.
In order for
this technique to be effective in “‘God-realization”’, one has to practice it for three or four
hours a day. Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi, the popularizer of Transcendental Meditation (TM) prescribes it
for only forty minutes a day to the new initiates. This is meant to give them a taste for
it and to help them have a ”‘vision of possibilities”’. In advanced stages the Maharishi
prescribes as much as one full week of silent meditation.
Because the initiation into
TM is a private affair, many consider it to be some mysterious thing. Actually
it is very simple. A seeker who is interested in taking
initiation being initiated
is asked to bring flowers, sweets, a white handkerchief, camphor, etc., along
with a substantial amount of money as a fee for a puja ceremony. During the ceremony the teacher worships a photo of
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s guru and also asks the initiate to bow before this
photo. The
teacher invokes the blessings of various gods and goddesses and then gives a mantra to the initiate. Usually the mantra is a
short word, a name of some Hindu deity
such as Ram, or Om, Hrim, {?} Sring, {?} and Aing. These words don’t have a meaning. At least the
meditator is not to know them or bother with meaning. The objective of the
mantra is to go beyond thinking of meaning, to obtain thoughtlessness. {?}[I’ve
put these words in the Glossary – they need explaining.] The
disciple is asked to sit in a comfortable position, close his eyes, and
silently repeat the mantra, like, “‘Ram.. . .
Ram.. . . Ram. . . .”’ for twenty minutes. He is told that he will
first forget the rest of the world and be aware only of the mantra. Then he
will forget the mantra
too and transcend all thoughts and feelings and become aware of the awareness.
This is the Ttranscendental state of consciousness.
After some time, the
meditator reaches a higher state of consciousness, called ‘cCosmic Cconsciousness’, in which he is aware, both of the world and of the ‘pPure cConsciousness’ {italicize?
No. Mahesh Yogi (as an Indian) capitalizes these terms and that may be the simplest
thing to do, instead of
putting them in italics or quotes.}. Then after some more years of meditation, he one can attain ‘God Cconsciousness’, in which he comes to perceive the subtler levels of
the objective world, which appear as personal. In this state it is said that one can even
communicate with birds, animals, plants, and rocks. After this state comes the final
state of ‘Uunity Cconsciousness’, in which one perceives oneness of himself with
the universe. This is liberation. {Should the types of Consciousness be in quotes or italics?
Consistency!}
Mahesh Yogi calls this path
the “‘Mechanical
Path to God-realization.”’ He says it is possible to realize God
in a mechanical way because “‘God-realization”’ is a matter of perception and “‘the process
of perception is both mechanical and automatic.”’ In order to perceive the external objects,
we just “‘open
our eyes and the sight of the object comes automatically without the use of
intellect or emotions.”’ Likewise in order to perceive the inner
consciousness, we just have to turn the attention inside and we automatically
come to perceive it.
“‘Whether perception is outward or inward,”’ writes
the Maharishi, “‘it is automatic and mechanical. Perception
in the outward direction is the result of a progressive increase of activity of
the nervous system. And perception in the inward direction is the result of
diminishing activity . . .. until the entire nervous system ceases to
function and reaches a state of stillness, a state of restful alertness. This
brings the realization of “‘Be still and know that I am God”’. 5
[I cannot retrieve this footnote]Mahesh
Yogi’s brilliance lay in the fact that he developed very effective marketing
techniques for his brand of Japa Yogayoga. that hHe called it
TM™ {sic}. He insisted that it was
not a religious but a scientific technique to reduce stress, induce relaxation,
lower blood pressure, increase concentration, creativity and productivity. He
also emphasized the social benefits of
TM – better relationships, lower crime, higher economic growth and a better
world. This enabled TM to gain acceptance in
the academic, corporate and political world. More committed followers,
however, were taught that reciting mantras that are names of demidemigods
will also connect them to the world of
spirits. [Ivan
you could add a footnote here – Monistic
“God” does not have a name.
For a name distinguishes one entity
from another. But in monism there is only one ultimate reality.
Only finite demigods
can have names.
From ultimate standpoint they are as unreal as we are.
Demigods is there term, not mine.] will also connect them to the world of spirits.
In my book The World of Gurus I have told the story
of my own initiation into TM that took place in Maharishi’s living room in
Rishikesh in the Himalayan foothills. [2]
I had to give up TM for practical reasons – my experiment resulted in insomnia.
However, I was also having getting doubts about its worldview. : iIt does sounds good to know that deep down in your essence
you are God. But if God alone is real and all human beings are God, then what
happens to my uniqueness? Is the philosophy behind Yogayoga offering me dignity without
uniqueness? I am might be God, but what about my personality? Is that not real? is
not real?In the name of enhancing my consciousness, am was I not being
led to abandon my
consciousness as a unique individual? TM’s claims to achieve of political,
economic and ecological utopia through meditation were enticing, but if my very
individuality was is
unreal, then how
could I have claim such basic political privileges as
individual rights? To attempt to lose one’s individual consciousness into a
larger whole seemed to me to be a recipe
for totalitarianism, not political freedom.
“‘God is
Light,”’
many gurus affirm, and add that this light is within us. “‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God,”’ declare many sects, and add that this Word
is within us. When
a soul establishes a contact with this
Word, the Word takes it back to the Godhead, its original home.
The Divine Light Mission [can’t incorporate this
footnotes] and Radha Soami Satsang (Beas) [or
this] have been chiefly responsible for popularizing sSurat-Sshabd
yoga in our day. Surat in this tradition means soul {not
“‘beauty”’?} and Sshabd means Word or
Sound; so sSurat-sShabd
yoga is union of the soul and the Word. It is also called Nam Bhakti, or meditation on the Sound.
The sects that teach this
path try to keep their techniques completely secret.
The techniques are called by various names, such as Nam (name) and Updesh
(knowledge), to deliberately to mislead non-initiates. The name and
knowledge actually refers to techniques of physiological manipulation
of the senses, or to meditation on what
is called the “primeval sound” or “Logos”and meditation on one’s
breathingand to breath
control.
Unlike
TM, Tthe
sects that teach the path of sound and light,
unlike TM, do not initiate everyone who asks for it. One has to be
spiritually “‘ready”’ for initiation. There is no objective, declared criterion for judging whether or
not a person is ready; it depends on the arbitrary feelings of the initiator. The initiator claims that he has his reasons, but
they are not revealed. Some sects stipulate a few objective
conditions, too, such as giving up liquoralcohol ,
non-vegetarian food, and drugs., etc.
After one has been chosen
for initiation, he is taken into a closed room,
conveniently available, where the initiator explains the importance of
the “‘knowledge”’, Ssatsang (the
weekly gathering for fellowship and teaching) and Satguru (the
True Teacher). In most sects Tthe
would-be initiate takes a vow of secrecy and to follow no other guru except his
own. Although some sects forbid idolatry, generally the would-be initiate Then hebows, kneels, or generally prostrates
before the guru or his photographss, and worships
them. him/it.
Sects such as the Divine
Light Mission teach the following four techniques:
In order to see the “‘divine
light”’,
the initiator asks the devotee to close his eyes; then he to place s his middle finger and thumb on his eyes. Then , and starting, from the corner of the eyeballs, he presses
the eyeballs up from the bottom, so that in actual fact if the eyelids were
open the centerr of the pupils would be
looking at the point between the two eyebrows on the forehead just above the
nose, which is supposed to be the location of the “‘third eye”’. If the initiate concentrates on this
point, he can see a light.
Some people see only a small
point, others see a blinding light, some others see a psychedelic “‘movie”’ of movingpulsating patterns and brilliant colours,
and some do not see anything at all. The rReaders
can try it for themselves.himself and You will most probably he
will see the light. Some devotees train their eyes so they
can see this light without using their fingers.
In order to hear the “‘divine
music”’
or “‘the
sound”’,
novices are one
is asked to block his their ears with the thumbs so they he cannot
hear any external sounds. When one listens long enough to one’s his
inner silence, he one can eventually hear some noises. To
some devotees this sounds like celestial music, whereas others think they are
hearing their favorite tune played on a heavenly instrument.
The third technique in
Divine Light Mission is a difficult yogic exercise: tasting the “‘divine
nectar”’. Usually
one experiences the nectar only after much practice. One You have has to
curl your one’s
tongue to come up to the back of the throat, then swallow the
tongue in such a way that it points upwards. Here the tongue is supposed to hit
a point and make contact with the “‘divine nectar”’ that is constantly flowing through one’s
body. It is
claimed that this nectar is the “‘living water”’ {Bible reference?
Your decision! I don’t think so.}oof which
Jesus spoke, and it is indescribably delicioustasty. Some devotees claim this nectar is what Jesus called the “‘bread of life”’, {Bible reference?} and after
making contact with this ever-flowing stream of nectar, one can live without
water or food.
The main meditation is a
breathing exercise called hearing or contacting “‘the Word”’. The devotee is asked to sit in athe
lotus position (if possible) with both hands on the knees, and to concentrate
on his the
breath going up and down, up and down. This is supposed to tune one into that “‘primordial
vibration”’,
the Word or Logos, which has created the universe and sustains it. By
constant meditation one reaches Ssamadhi,
or the expanded state of consciousness. According to the Divine Light Mission,
when you achieve Ssamadhi, you become full of the divine
light. At initiation, the light may
appear as a small dot, but in Ssamadhi
it overtakes you and you feel (or perceive) that you have become that {Divine?}
Light.
The other sects, who teach
salvation through this path, describe their experiences differently. According
to some sects, such as the Radha Soami Satsang, during meditation the “‘third
eye”’
is opened. The soul leaves the body through this eye with the “‘Sound
Current”’
(Logos), and travels up to heaven. On the way it has many wonderful
experiences, and finally it merges into God.
There can be no reasonable
doubt that these experiences are real in the sense of being vivid psychological
experiences within one’s head. But are they real in an objective sense? Does
the soul ((Ssurat)
actually leaves one’s body with the Word (sShabad)
and visit other worlds? A meditator follower of the Radha Soami
Satsang once said to me, “‘These
Americans have gone to the moon only now. We have been travelling to other planets
and galaxies for ages – ever since we learnt Ssurat-sShabad
Yogayoga!”’ [Omit para.]
“‘You may be right.,”’ I
replied, “‘tThe only problem is that you don’t
bring the rocks back from these planets for us to have some evidence that you
actually left your body.”’
[Level
B] 4.
Kundalini
Yoga: Salvation Through The “‘Serpent Power”’
Hindu psychology teaches
that in the human body, three
centimeters above the rectum and three centimeters below the genitals, at the base of the spines, is a beautiful {?} triangle in which lies
the Kkundalini ,
shakti, or the “‘Sserpent Ppower”’. What Kkundalini really is,
nobody knows. It is supposed to be red and white in colour. It is
also described as “‘coil power”’ or the “‘creative sex energy”’. Normally it is taught that kundalini lies coiled and
dormant, but when it is awakened, it arises and begins to travel upward. In
its journey from the base of the spine to the top of the head, it passes
through six psychic centers called chakras. When
it passes through a chakra, it gives various psychic
experiences and powers. When at last it reaches the top chakra, called
the sahasrara chakra, one can
supposedly attain the power to perform miracles and achieve liberation.
Many means are used to awaken the Kkundalini. They
range from breathing exercises, like Ppranayam,
to the homosexual handling of the genitals. The most influential guru in the
last few decades who preached Kkundalini yoga was Swami
Muktananda of Ganeshpuri, near Bombay. He described kundalini yoga as “‘Mmaha
yoga”’ (Great yYogayoga) or “‘Ssiddha
yoga”’ (Pperfect yYogayoga), for he said it was the only yYogayoga in which the aspirant does not have to
do anything. He
just surrenders to the guru and the guru’s grace does everything for him.
Thousands of people have
testified that Muktananda had awakened
their Kkundalini, but that the method he used is
was “‘occultic”’ (hidden or secret). This e secrecy implies
gives the impression of the power and experience being
spiritistic or demonic power.
Kundalini yoga
has not been very popular in India because many of the experiences it gives are
what William James, the great
Victorian expert on comparative religion, called “‘diabolical mysticism”’.[3]
It gives pain, makes people depressed, and even produces madness. {Brief description on who James was or footnote
reference.}
Muktananda’s own initiation
into Kkundalini Yogayoga is explains what William James meant. Muktananda
had left his home early in quest of spiritual enlightenment. He went to all the
holy places in India that he heard about,
and met with all the holy people he could, but he did not find anyone who was
truly enlightened and could help him. Discouraged, he was ready to quit, when he
found a naked ascetic sitting on a pile of human excreta. (In those days poor
people went outdoors for to relieve
ing themselves on the ground, while
and the richer people would have had an outdoor ‘toilet’ consisting of a tin, upon which they would squat.
outside their housesThey would squat on a tin. Later aA sweeper will would later come and carry away the “‘night soil”’ outside and
dump it in one place on the ground.) No body liked going near that dump, but the ascetic was not only sitting on it, but he
was brimmingful of with bliss. Muktananda was
intrigued. The naked ascetic invited Muktananda to come and sit on his lap and
lick his head. Then he initiated Muktananda into kundalini
Yogayoga.
Muktananda described his own experience of “‘diabolical mysticism”’ after leaving the ascetic:
[Ivan
– I am asking Vishal to check the following quotes. They do not tally in some of the detail, with
the versions in his other books. The ellipses are particularly important.]
That evening,
at about nine o’clock, Muktananda sat again for meditation:.
. . . I felt there was great commotion
around. My entire
body started aching and I automatically
assumed padmasana, the lotus postureition. The
tongue began to move down the throat, and all attempts to pull it out failed,
as I could not insert my fingers into the mouth. My fear grew; I tried to get up, but I
could not, as my legs were tightly locked in padmasana. I felt severe pain in the knot (manipur chakra)
below the navel.
I tried to shout but could not even articulate. It seemed as if something was stuck in my
throat. Next, I saw
ugly and dreadful demon-like figures. I
thought them to be evil spirits.
[Ivan
don’t forget to indent the indent here, to denote paragraph.]
I then saw blazes of fire on
all sides and felt that I too was burning. After a while I felt a little better. Suddenly
I saw a large ball of light approaching me from the front; as it approached,
its light grew brighter and brighter. It then entered unobstructed through
the closed doors of my kutir [hut] and merged into my head. My
eyes were forcibly closed and I felt a fainting sensation. I was
terrified by thate
powerfully dazzling light, and it ???? oput me out
of gear.[5] [I cannot access Vishal’s
notes for some reason. Would you please merge them all as endnotes.]9 {Jenny: Correct indentation
and font? See above}
Was Muktananda
silly to think that a naked ascetic sitting on a pile of stinking filth must be
an enlightened being? Most people would indeed have considered the ascetic mad.
But Muktananda was more intelligent. He understood that if Aadwaita
or Mmonism
is true, if everything is Oone divine consciousness, then that ascetic
had really become one with everything. The ascetic was the only one who really
knew that the filth was also God. only an illusion (maya),
God alone is real, HeGod (or rather It)is
everywhere and everything – including that detestable pile of filth. God is
blissful consciousness and that is what the ascetic was radiating!
You cannot discard some things as non-divine and
also claim to have become one with EEverything. Holy
men who go to the holy places on earth (or to the “‘psychic centers”’ of the earth’s energy as they call it) only
betray their faith that everything and every place is God. There is no
difference between good and bad, demons and gods.
With that kind of map of as a guide to realityas
its guide, it should be not no surprise
anyone that Muktananda’s sect split with following
umpteen court cases withmultiple court cases alleging ations of rape,
sexual and financial abuse, and murders, in pursuit of capturing institutional worldly power in for his otherwise
spiritual empire.
It was the ‘‘Ccounter-Cculture’’ movement of the 1960s in the West that revived
Ttantra and gave it fresh
respectability. by It fused ing sexual permissiveness and the occult
with and “‘spirituality.”’ Although still suspected
and despised in India, in the WestTtantra is now at the root of virtually
all religious forms of Yogayoga and other Eastern religious practices
adopted by the West. This point has been made repeatedly by Professor Johannes Agaard
of the Arhus University in Denmark. He is one of Europe’s leading authorities
on eEastern
religious influence in the West. Agaard’s contention can be illustrated in many
ways. An obvious example is Dr. Fritjof
Capra’s highly influential book The Tao
of Physics.[7] Capra, a physicist turned mystic /environmentalist, reproduces in the book, a photograph entitled, ‘Self-Rrealization in the experience of sensual love; stone
sculpture from the Citragupta temple at Khajuraho, Ccirca A. D. 1000.’[8]’ . It is so important to him that it
is placed
as the first among
the photographs in his the book. This sculpture, only thirty 30 kilometers from my hometown, is an explicit scene portrayal of sexual intercourse. To represent depict a
goddess in the
sexual act has a tremendous shock value for young people, especially if they come from a Catholic background where the highest
portrayal of femininity has been is as a holy
virgin. For the an average wWesterner, the shock lies in the fact that the sculpture is not regarded as pornography, to
be suppressed, but is blatantly a part of
incorporated
into a religious site., not underground pornographic
art.
One of Ttantra’s assumptions is that cosmic sex
lies at the root of creation. Tantra
accepts the Nnon-Ddualistic (Aadwaitic) idea that reality is one. Our normal
(rational/sensory) perception of duality – of male and female, right and wrong,
good and evil – is a perception of unreality, maya, or lila. Lila is the play of cosmic consciousness (God) or illusory magic.
Before the beginning, beyond time, was pure consciousness, existing in perfect unity or equilibrium, having no polarity, no form, no thought, no distinction. Something disturbed this primeval, pure and still ocean of consciousness. The divine stability then turned into an oscillating instability, imbalance or insanity. God was divided. The first duality to appear as a result of this ‘insanity’ was male and female. This original duality produced a series of waves, further disturbing the tranquil surface of the sea of bliss (God). A criss-crossing of these waves created elaborate patterns. The farther these waves were removed from their original state as divine consciousness, the ‘grosser’ they became; appearing finally as condensed matter, the world of sense experience. The cosmos, in other words, is a divine devolution – densified frequencies or compacted waves of consciousness that conceal their divinity because they are convoluted divine emanations. The original polarity of male and female manifests itself as the polarity of mind and matter.
Capra finds this tantric view of
the ultimate oneness of mind and matter to be a a mind-blowing {Jenny: acceptable –
without quotes?
A bit colloquial, but that’s Vishal’s style.} scientific insight. for scientists
He notes that it took centuries of painstaking research to lead wWestern
science to the conclude sion that
matter and energy were one. Science, he feels, is has yet to catch up with the discovery of the
mystics that even mind (or consciousness) is not
different from matter, but it is only the ultimate form of energy. Is the
energy of physics the same as the consciousness of the mystics ( and yogises)?
Capra believes that it is, but he is
cautious enough not to say so. We cannot know for sure because, “‘Mystics understand the roots of Tao but not
its branches; scientists understand its branches but not its roots.”’[9]
The tantricTantric
thought says that human beings are the
microcosmic microscopic {man
as macrocosm? Yes, I’d say so}
versions of the cosmos, because the finer
‘consciousness’ and the grosser ‘body’ coexist in a human being. Polarity is
the key to existence, and gender
division of male and female is the basic polarity in human beings. The reunification
of male and female in sexual intercourse is our point of contact with the
cosmic powers. Tantra
uses duality as the surest path to cosmic unity. It defines our sexual function
as the means of our direct connection with the divine. It reaches {capital?}
RrReality by embracing illusion – our own
bodies. [Ivan – “Reality”
here stands for God, not god]
Tantra is unapologetic about using
insanity to reach {capital?}rReality. Creation itself is divine insanity; therefore
sanity has to be left outside the temple of God. Although Ttantra entered the West
in 1893 through Swami Vivekananda, it was not until the 1970s that the West
embraced tantrictantric insanity in a big
way via Bhagwan (later Osho) Rajneesh. Rajneesh iwas as famous for his Rolls Royce fleets
at his ranch in Oregon as he iwas for his book From Sex to Superconsciousness.[10]
It summed up his tantrictantric creed. Rajneesh,
of course, was no foolsimpleton. He had taught philosophy in an Indian
university before becoming a guru. He knew that the wWestern ‘Age
of Reason’ had reached a dead end and
that human reason by itself was incapable of knowing truth. Boldly, therefore,
Rajneesh described the human mind as our “‘chief villain”’. Intellect, he said, acteds like a prism. It divided one ray into many.
The mind was is the source of
our bondage and ignorance of the ultimate reality because it can only could see an object only by separating it from others, by
labeling or categorizing it. Therefore, the aim of the religious quest
according to Rajneesh iswas to
‘kill the mind,’, to choose insanity.
Tantra, like other schools of
Hindu thought, admits that the world is maya
– or unreal in a fundamental sense. However,
unlike other Hindus the tantrictantric does not scorn
the world as a source of temptation. He embraces it as the raw material of
enlightenment. For Ttantra,
the realm of maya
is the only available context of liberation.
Tantra uses mantras as one of the weapons to kill the mind. Words are sounds
with meaning. Mantra
is The mindless repetition
of words aims to sever sense from sound. Prayer is an attempt at a meaningful
conversation with our Creator. Mantra is a deliberate
annihilation of meaningful language by mechanical, non-personal repetition of a
word or sound Professor Mircea Eliade says, “‘All indefinite repetition leads to
destruction of language; in some mystical traditions, this destruction appears
to be the condition for further experiences.”’[11]
The sexual ritual in Ttantra is called maithuna. The
‘right hand’ tantrictantrics,
also called “‘white
tantrictantrics”’, believe that the maithuna
passages in the tantrictantric scriptures are to
be understood figuratively. The ‘left-hand’ or “‘red tantrictantrics”’ advocate a literal enactment of the
rites,.
Tthough
some of them would reserve it for advanced practitioners. One has to first to find
an experienced guru, because the deepest tantrictantric
traditions are oral, not written. Even the written texts are ambiguous. They
use symbolic language called sandha-bhasha,
which cannot be understood without a guru’s help. This language is intended to
discourage the non-initiate and to remind the enlightened tantrictantric
that the reality he seeks is beyond logical language. {Jenny: Here and elsewhere please establish
consistence between single and double quotes,
e.g. para after next.}
During a secret initiation
ceremony the guru connects a disciple to the spiritual tradition he embodies.
The ceremony may consist of the worship of the guru, receiving of a mantra,
instruction for meditation and visualization, and purification of chakrachakras (psychic centers of one’s
body) by the handling of a disciple’s genitals.
During maithuna a male
disciple usually prefers a female tantrictantric
who takes on the role of a guru. But in Ttantra it is not
essential for a man to have a woman companion. For in serious Ttantra, maithuna does
not aim to achieve physical release through ejaculation and orgasm. It seeks
psychic experiences by the ‘threefold immobility’ of semen, breath and
consciousness. TantricTantric transcendence
takes place when the mind is completely still but focused, breathing has ceased
and sexual arousal is arrested at the point of maximum tension. Thus maithuna first
stimulates and then traps the energies of sexual arousal to be able to release
them through the channel of a still mind. This is “‘spiritual orgasm.”’ It does not seek to make a man and a woman
‘one flesh’. Its aim is to help fuse a tantrictantric’s own inner polarities
into one; that is to give him a mystic experience of oneness. That is why most
Hindu and Buddhist tantrictantrics are unmarried. They do
not seek an abiding, growing, fulfilling love-relationship with a member of the
opposite sex. Rajneesh said, Ttantra treateds sex
as ‘simply a door. While making love to a woman, you are really making love to
Existence itself. The woman is just a door; the man is just a door.”’
[12]{Footnote}
Once you have learned to
reach samadhi or
superconsciousness through sex, said Rajneesh, you do not need a woman for you
can have sex with the whole universe, “‘with a tree, with the moon, with anything.”’[13]
Footnote}Or you can simply shut
yourself in a room and reach superconsciousness using the female Kkundalini within you.
Some interpreters, like Amaurey de
Riencourt, see Ttantra as a celebration
or affirmation of life, a human counter-attack on other life-negating forms of Yogayoga.
They suggest that it was a manifestation of human instinct for
self-preservation, an attempt to save India from the destructive consequences
of religious outlooks, which view life as suffering, if not illusion.[14]
Although there is an element of truth in this interpretation, by and large it
is little more than wishful thinking. For, as Brooks Alexander wrote, “‘Even in
its affirmations, Ttantra is haunted by paradoxes.
The naturalness of human life is affirmed, but only as a means for its
dissolution. Human existence is validated, but only as a platform for leaving
humanity behind.”’[15] {Footnote}
As Rajneesh admitted, and
many female devotees of Muktananda have testified, a tantrictantric
does not make love to a woman or a man. He uses his partner as a means of his
own enlightenment, leaving him or her sexually frustrated. Shirley MacLaine,
Hollywood actress and a popularizer of Ttantra,
admits that sex in Ttantra
is not meant to fulfill two people by
uniting them in one bond. It is used by one (or both) partner(s) to discover his or her own completeness
as an androgynous being so that each may become complete without the other.[16]
Tantra does
unabashedly embraces human
sexuality in its spirituality. But because it by using es sex for individual personal gain rather than for human bonding in lovebinding
two people in love, it turns frustrates sex into
frustration. It does not cause
sexual fulfillmentl men and women as sexual
beings, nor does it celebrate life. It seeks to deny or by transcending the essence of what we are as
male and female.
3.
[LEVEL
A] MANY WAYS OF TO SALVATION?
As
we have seen, wWhether you
define Yogayoga
as an attempt to isolate the soul (purusha) from the body or nature (prakriti), or as an attempt to unite the human self with the divine self, you end
with a low view of physical reality and of the human body. The logic of the yogic worldview undermines the motivation
to pursue science – the study of nature – as well as the pursuit of bodily well- being.
The monistic idea that the
human self is the same as the divine self and that everything is one, makes our
individuality illusory, thereby destroying the very foundation for affirming
the unique value of every individual. It should not surprise us that the Indian
philosophical tradition, in spite of all its brilliance, could not produce a culture
that recognized human rights and the intrinsic
worth of every the individual. Nor could Yyogic monism give to Indian society a
framework for moral absolutes, a strong sense of right and wrong, fair and
unfair. Yogic exercises indeed gave flexibility to our bodies but unfortunately
the yogic philosophy gave too much flexibility to our morals – making us one of
the most corrupt nations in the world. That is why St.
Paul wrote, “‘physical training is of some value, but
godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life
and the life to come.”’ (1 Timothy.othy 4: 8).
The pursuit of physical
fitness is desirable because our bodies are a part of God’s good creation. God does want to makemade
our bodies Hhis temple. The Yyogic tradition is right in making
spirituality the real goal of physical training. By the same token the Western fans abuse Yogayoga when they use it only for physical
fitness. The problem is not with Yyogic exercises, but with its understanding
of spirituality.
God is holy – morally pure. We are sinful, – not
merely ignorant. We have done what we know to be wrong and not
failed to do ne what
we know was
to be right. A holy God must judge and punish our sin. God and sin cannot
co-exist anymore than light and darkness. Our need is not to
altered our consciousness, but to have our transformation
of the – the core of our being and our
character transformed. YogaYoga seeks our union with God. The question
is: How is that union really achieved?can a sinner be reconciled to God?
The Jews popularized
the ideaBible teaches
that the human problem
is moral, rather than biological or metaphysical. They were taught
that God created human beings good. (Would you expect anything
different from an almighty Creator?) Our first parents, says id Genesis (the first book of the Bible) chose to
disobey God and thereby became sinners. That trait has been
transmitted to us all. Although we are still God’s image-bearers and capable
of goodness, none of us is perfect. From childhood our tendency is towards
evil. We need teaching and training to live moral lives.
Yet, in spite of the best training, we fail morally. Our
central problem, according to the biblical Bible traditionis that we are sinners. We need a divine FatherSavior who
will forgive our sins and transform our inner self.
Our
reconciliation wWith God this
is possible because Hhe not only created us but he also loves
us. He wants to forgive our sin. That is why Jesus came and died as our
substitute. He took the punishment of our sin upon himself. In order to be
reconciled with God we need to repent for of our sins and accept his gracious offer of
forgiveness through Christ. He will then replace our sinfulness with his godliness.
This, God’s Word says, is valuable for all things – for the present life as
well as for the life beyond our physical death. The
salvation that Jesus offers does bring about our reunion with God. This union fulfills, not
obliterates our individuality. It makes our bodies precious – temples of the
living God.
Glossary
adwaita = non-dualism (God and human self are not distinct)
Aing =
a mantra whose meaning you are not supposed to know
atma
= soul (human self)
devas = nature spirits
Brahma = God (the Universal Self that permeats us all, including physical
nature)
chakras = the six psychic centres of the body
Hrim =
a mantra whose meaning you are not supposed to know
Jainism = non-Brahminical
Indian religion of strict asceticism, founded c.BC600; ‘saint’ or ‘victor’
karma = good or bad deeds or destiny; past lives dictating present and future
lives
kutir
= hut
lila =
the play of cosmic consciousness
maha =
great
maithuna = the sexual ritual in tantra
mantra = chant; sacred sound or name of God to be repeated as meditation
maya = illusion, unreal (as a
dream)
Om =
sound representing ultimate reality or God
padmasana = the lotus position
prakriti = physical nature
pranayam = breathing exercises
purusha = soul
sadhu =
holy man, ascetic
samadhi = expanded state of consciousness.
samsara = world or life as a wheel of suffering
samkhya = Indian dualistic philosophy concerned with pure soul and impure body
sandha-bhasha = symbolic language of tantra
satsang = the weekly gathering for fellowship
and teaching
surat = soul; beauty
shabd
= word; sound
siddha = perfect
Sring
= a mantra whose meaning you are not supposed to know
FootnotesDear Ivan, I am attaching the Yoga booklet. It is done except for the footnotes - thatis relatively a simple thing since all the quotations are from my Yogatract, Gurus book or the New Age book. If you are able to add them it willbe a big help to me, if you can't do them, do number them as you edit sothat I can fill in the blanks. The next two weeks are extremely busy for me, so I need you to run withthis now - Getting feedback from Prabhu and perhaps one or two moreexperts, working with Jenny on editing and with Borsada on cover design, wealso need to craft the back page more carefully. {what “back page”(s)?} We had a great planning meeting today with Bob Brydges and Larry present.Brad will send the minutes of today's meetings and will work with you inmaking sure that every one knows what we are doing when - we do want to getall the ten booklets out by March 1st. This means that you have got todrive the whole project - editing, designing, production. Bruce will beginworking on publicity, promotion and marketing and he will be in touch withPrabhu and you with details. You can put this attached booklet in a format so that different people canedit in different colors. IMPORTANT - Bob Osburn suggests that we have the SAR meeting on Sunday Feb4th after lunch. Can you please send out the notice. We can send the agendalater. Feb 2-3 is L'Abri conf. it will be great if Silvia, you & LT wereable to join us there - Prabhu and I are speaking. There will be about 700people and we should have good booksales. In haste - Vishal
[1] The monistic ‘God’ does
not have a name. For a name distinguishes one entity from another. But in
monism there is only one ultimate reality. Only finite demigods can have names.
From their ultimate standpoint they are
as unreal as we are.
[2] Vishal Mangalwadi, The World of Gurus (Mumbai:
GLS Publishing, 1999) Revised edition,
pp. 96ff.
[3] See his famous The Varieties
of Religious Experience: A Study in
Human Nature, Being the Gifford Lectures
on Natural Religion Delivered at
Edinburgh (London and
Cambridge, Mass: Longman’s & Co,
1902), p. 410f.
[4] Amma, Swami
Muktananda Paramhamsa (Ganeshpuri, 1971) p. 32ff.
[5] Ibid.
[6] S. Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore (eds.), A Source
Book in Indian Philosophy (Princeton:
Princeton University Press and Bombay: Oxford University Press, 1957).
[7] Fritjof Capra, The Tao of Physics (London: Flamingo, 1990).
[8] Ibid. p. 322.
[9] Ibid. p. 338.
[10] See Vishal
Mangalwadi, The World of Gurus (Landour,
Mussoorie: Good Books, 1987), ch. 7.
[11] Cited in Brooks Alexander, ‘Tantra: the Worship and Occult Power of Sex’, SCP Newsletter vol. 2, no. 2 (Summer 1985).
[12] Bhagwan Sri
Rajneesh, Neo-Sanyasa 2,4 (1973), p. 20.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Amaury de
Riencourt, The Soul of India (London: Honeyglen
Publishing, 1985).
[15] Alexander, ‘Tantra: the Worship and Occult Power of
Sex’.
[16] See Shirley MacLaine, Going Within: a Guide for Inner Transformation (New York: Bantam Books, 1990).
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