What is tantra – is it material or spiritual?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, what exactly is Tantra? Is it material, non-material? See, basically, there is left hand Tantra and right hand Tantra.
Both are there. Tantra basically is Vedanta and Tantra. These are two broad approaches.
Many approaches, but these two. Vedanta focuses on a radical separation of matter and spirit. Now, Krishna says, you are not the body.
nainam chindam syasvani nainam dhahati pavaka Basically, he says, the spirit is different from matter. The Bhagavad Gita’s focus is on the Vedantic or Upanishadic separation of matter and spirit. And that’s why the Bhagavad Gita doesn’t talk about deity worship.
Krishna is not giving an exhaustive description of bhakti anyway. He is just talking about which method, which practice to follow. But the Bhagavad Gita’s focus is more Vedantic, which focuses on separation of matter and spirit.
Whereas Tantra is actually the joining of matter and spirit. The purpose is that matter can be used to access spirit. Matter can be used to access spirit.
That is the basic principle of Tantra. So deity worship is actually a part of Tantra. We use the word Tantra for a particular meaning quite often.
But there is a book, Sattva Tantra, in the Bhagavad Gita, that Vishnu Sthitrini Rupani, the Purusha Avatars. That is again the Lord manifesting in the material world. So basically Tantra talks about how matter and spirit are harmonized together.
So matter can be used as a tool for approaching spirit. That is the methodology of Tantra. And deity worship comes in that.
And many of the bhakti rituals, they are also part of Tantra, where we use material manifestations for remembering Krishna or going closer towards Krishna. Now, this is the white Tantra or the bright Tantra. The dark Tantra also, where the whole thing is misused.
So when we talk about matter being used to approach spirit, in matter also there is gross matter, subtle matter and spirit. So in black magic, in Tantra, basically more than the spirit, it is the subtle matter that is used to influence gross matter. So subtle matter, so for example, and this is there not just in Indian tradition, it is there all over the world, black magic.
In Africa, there is the voodoo magic. So all this is what basically there are ways in which certain people have the skills to tackle, to get access to subtle powers, to get access to subtle matter and through subtle powers, they can influence the gross matter. Now, it is not that everybody who claims to do black magic, they are actually doing black magic.
So it’s not that every problem is because of black magic. There is one devotee who wrote to Prabhupada, Prabhupada, I am feeling very weak and fearful. I think a ghost has haunted me.
Prabhupada says, no, it’s not a ghost, you are simply Maya. So it’s not that we have to jump for a supernatural explanation for every problem. That is not our tradition’s idea.
There are problems, we look at the problems and try to solve them in normal way. If I have got a disease, I try to solve it by taking medicines, whatever it is. But there are possibilities when there can be supernatural phenomena also, which may be, some people may put some spirits or some ghosts or something like that.
So that is a part of black magic. So that is also within the broad Vedic tradition, but that is not considered sattvic, that is usually tamasic. We have it in the Bhagavatam also that Dakshinagini was sent by the Kashi Raj to kill Krishna and then he turned around and burnt Kashi only.
Or in Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s time, there was that Ghishek Singh, he tried to attack him by subtle means. So these are there in our tradition and they are basically, so the whole tantra is that matter is used for various purposes. So we use matter as a means for approaching spirit.
But there is in black magic, subtle matter is used to try to control gross matter. That is a part of the broad Vedic tradition, but our Acharyas don’t focus much on that. Just like we have siddhis, which is more through, the siddhis are not considered tamasic, these are considered, they are transcendental, but they are a result of sattvic austerity.
So even the Acharyas don’t, even if they have siddhis, they don’t use it, only rarely use it. So what to speak of these tamasic skills. So now if some devotee is affected by that, then we have to see practically what is to be done.
Usually it is recommended that chanting some Narasimha mantras or reading 7th Canto Bhagavatam, praying to Narasimha Dev, that acts as a protection. But in some cases, if that doesn’t happen and if a devotee feels very strongly that I should go to some exorcist or something like that, we don’t have to make it a matter of faith and obstruct that devotee. So whatever is required, they can do.
But in general, by specific practices within bhakti, not just general practice, chant Hare Krishna, but specific practices related with specific manifestations of Lord Narasimha Dev, that can be done to help if some devotee is affected by that.