sivasakti.net - Tantra Yoga and Meditation

Links in this section:

T A N T R A Y O G A a n d M E D I T A T I O N

Real life experience shows that there never was any advanced Tantra practitioner that did not practice the yoga meditation as well. You cannot do Tantra and not do meditation. But what is this so called MEDITATION and what is it good for ?

In sanskrit meditation is called dhyana. It is defined as a constant flow of mind towards an object. Meditation is also a union of the mind with one and only one single object of concentration and avoiding any secondary objects and thoughts. It is a discipline of the mind.

Many people practice prayer, but they might not know that prayer is very close to the yoga meditation; a prayer is focusing the mind and the emotions of a person to a specific point exactly like the meditation. We can say that meditation is a prayer without words; meditation is listening to God, beyond words.

The yoga system prescribes many stages that precede the actual state of meditation. First of all there are the basic rules of moral and ethics and self discipline (yama and niyama). Then, the discipline of the body (asana) and the rythmation of the breath (pranayama). After that there is the so called retraction of one's senses (pratyahara), in fact a separation from any kind of distraction. After this stage we continue by focusing the mind to a single point - the object of your meditation. When all these preparatory stages are completed, you enter into meditation. When meditation is perfect, there is no distinction between the subject (you) and the object. This is called SAMADHI, the yogi ecstasy.

Another description of the same process, based on notions of energy and resonance and attention : first of all, attain an upright position (sitting or standing) and close your eyes. Be sure to keep your spine perfectly straight and vertical and relax your muscles. Forget all your other concerns and daily problems and focus your mind on the object of your meditation, for example the state of unconditional love. You will begin to perceive it and identify with it, you will feel the correspondent energy of the object of your meditation and concentrate on this energy. By focusing your attention you create a process of resonance between you and the energies of the object of your meditation.

Gradually, you begin to amplify the energy by RESONANCE, attracting it from the universe (MACROCOSM), until you create a huge sphere of energy around yourself. This energy will help you stay focused on the object of your meditation and will stop all your other thoughts. Gradually you become IDENTIFIED with the object of your meditation thanks to the intense field of energy that surrounds and pervades you. The state of perfect unity with the object of your meditation, when the thought process is stopped, is called SAMADHI.

Meditation is a state of mind, it is a state of consciousness. When meditating you open your consciousness to energy and with this energy you expand the limits of your perceptions. Every person in this world perceives the subtle energies of his aura. You don't need to have a special birth gift to be able to have subtle perceptions and to meditate with the energies of your body.

Futhermore, you must know that the human being contains seven energy centers called CHAKRAS. These seven centers correspond analogically to seven plans of energy in the universe. Each of this types of energy has it's own function inside the human body and outside, in the universe. The difference between interior and exterior is just a matter or quantity, not of quality. An old yogi maxim says "What is below is also above." Everything that is in the human being (MICROCOSM) is also in the MACROCOSM (Universe). Nothing that does not exist in the MICROCOSM (interior) exists in the MACROCOSM (exterior). Of course this correspondence functions on a proportional scale. So, we argue that by perfectly understanding the subtle energies of your body you get to know the whole universe.

Tantra sees the human body as an extraordinary tool. The body is surrounded by many subtle energies and these energies are gateways towards any aspect of the universe. By being aware of these subtle energies of the human body the Tantra adept can gradually discard all the human limitations and achieve the supreme spiritual liberation.

Many spiritual traditions reject the physical body in order to achieve the union with the spirit. They think that matter is an obstacle in their pursuit for the spirit, but Tantra has a different approach. In Tantra we do not repel the body, we do not mortify it, we do not condemn it in any way, we do not even ignore the body but instead we use it in such a way that it becomes the fundamental tool for us in the spiritual journey.

As we explained before, the meditation is the key to your subtle energy body. When you meditate, you do for the "subtle" body (i.e. your aura) the same thing you do to your physical body when practicing body building ... you increase the benefic energies, you expand the limits of your consciousness. But unlike the physical body which is limited in size, the energy body is not limited at all - you can make it expand until it is infinite.

Consciousness is closely related to the subtle energies of the body. The consciousness will expand when your aura expands and it will contract itself when your aura contracts. The consciousness will become more and more elevated and subtle as your aura (energy body) becomes more and more elevated and the vice versa is also true.

Meditation is a divine tool, it can be your best friend. You can enjoy subtle energies (which correspond to different feelings, emotions, sexual impulses, vitality, and other functions of your body) and you can control the energies like you do when practicing sexual continence. You can project benefic energy to heal someone or you can use spiritual energy to identify with God experiencing the state of absolute transcendence, beyond any mental concept.

TantraMag will publish a lot more about meditation. This practice will be the basis of our Tantra yoga training lessons as we will present them to you. You will be able to develop powers and abilities you never thought possible. This practice was a secret science transmitted for many millennia from master to disciple, but now it is available for everyone.