Ritual

More documents

Recommendations

Info

consciousness, came spontaneously in the aesthetic vision of the tantric artist within the defined collective sign-system. There is a similarity between the spiritual aspects of tantric art and the works of several twentieth-century abstract artists, such as Klee, Mondrian, Brancusi. For these artists, art was not merely an optical manifestation but a revelation of certain metaphysical concepts. Mondrian's chief concern, for example, was to transcend the particular in order to express the universal. Throughout his life he was interested in Hindu philosophy and was so inspired by mystic ideas that he equated 'plastic' expression with the 'spiritual'. The vertical and horizontal theme in his work reflects Linga-mandala. The lingam as the symbol of Siva also signifies the all-pervading cosmic space. The diagram is used for ritual and meditation. Rajasthan, c. 18th century. Gouache on paper. 89
Bala Yantra. Rajasthan, c. 18th century. Gouache on paper. 90 the interplay of contrasting forces: male and female, active and passive, spirit and matter; he expressed it himself as the 'static balance' and 'dynamic equilibrium' which constitutes reality. Mondrian identified the vertical with the male principle and the horizontal with the female. In a similar way, Paul Klee explored spatial energy through the concept of polarity: 'A concept is not thinkable without its opposite - every concept has its opposite more or less in the manner of thesis-antithesis.' To express the eternal dialectic of the static and dynamic in its essence, he aligned the notion of polarity to geometry, creating an infinitely variable harmony of coloured planes. These artists' pictorial affinities to tantric art and their metaphysical ideas suggest a link with tantra's dualistic philosophy. A striking sculptural similarity is in the primordial ovoids of Brancusi and the Brahmandas of tantra. Metaphysically, both forms operate on the same level - the projection of total unity. Indeed, in 1933 the Maharaja of Indore commissioned Brancusi to construct a model for the Temple of Deliverance based on this primordial ovoid form. Kandinsky, too, recalled the sound-form dialectic in the tantras when he said: 'Sound, then, is the soul of form, which comes to life only through sound from the inside out.' More recently, Delaunay, Rothko, Reinhardt, Newman, in the West, and particularly Biren De in India, have demonstrated a striking visual relationship between
Page 2:
$9.95 Printed in England The life-a
Page 5 and 6:
Frontispiece: Manuscript leaf illus
Page 7 and 8:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Archaeological Surv
Page 10 and 11:
Introduction Tantra is a creative m
Page 12 and 13:
number of tantric texts were assemb
Page 14 and 15:
Saktas (worshippers of Sakti, or fe
Page 16 and 17:
The basic tenets of tantra can be e
Page 18 and 19:
the union of opposites, the male an
Page 20:
notions concerning time and space,
Page 23 and 24:
Cosmic energy symbolized as the ser
Page 25:
Tantric asana, or sexo-yogic postur
Page 28 and 29:
The washer-maid represents the prim
Page 30 and 31:
the five ingredients beginning with
Page 33 and 34:
32 but at the same time maintains p
Page 35 and 36:
Om, the cosmic sound, is a combinat
Page 37 and 38:
Brahmanda, cosmic spheroid, a symbo
Page 39 and 40: Hari-Hara. Painting illustrating Vi
Page 42 and 43: ART The art which has evolved out o
Page 44 and 45: spective, tantric imagery is not an
Page 46 and 47: Symbolism and Imagery Tantric forms
Page 48 and 49: visible and eventually apprehended.
Page 50 and 51: figurative representation. The Sukr
Page 52 and 53: uilt up in stages during the entire
Page 54 and 55: The Universe and the terrestrial sp
Page 56 and 57: Point, and signifies the starting-p
Page 58 and 59: The Sri Yantra is a configuration o
Page 60 and 61: The Sri Yantra is called 'Nava Chak
Page 62 and 63: The seventh chakra, consisting of e
Page 65 and 66: 64 The mandala indicates a focaliza
Page 67 and 68: The Kundalini Sakti, symbol of coil
Page 69 and 70: The creative spiral, Kundalini. 68
Page 71 and 72: A cosmographical schema showing Jam
Page 73 and 74: Cosmogram: an astronomical computat
Page 75 and 76: Cosmographical scheme showing Jambu
Page 78 and 79: so they signify the action of karma
Page 80 and 81: The terrifying aspects of these ima
Page 86 and 87: Modern research into the compositio
Page 88 and 89: 'Krim', the bijamantra, almost an e
Page 92: tantric art and their own. Like the
Page 95 and 96: 94 ancient Hindus. Some inferences
Page 97 and 98: Bindu. The universe in its unmanife
Page 99 and 100: 98 units of energy called tanmatras
Page 101: V Astronomical equations, based on
Page 106 and 107: Samkhya's view that it is possible
Page 108 and 109: Atoms The atomic hypothesis of the
Page 110 and 111: matter or the remaining sediment of
Page 112 and 113: The Siddhayoga of Vrinda is an Ayur
Page 114 and 115: The science of mathematics was clos
Page 116 and 117: Solar orb. An astronomical chart us
Page 118 and 119: Extant astronomical charts were use
Page 120 and 121: (beginning with the new and full mo
Page 122 and 123: ecorded in 1954. Though science has
Page 124: Being residing in heaven. The real
Page 127 and 128: 126 Moscow Institute of Oriental St
Page 129 and 130: 128 of realization. Harmony is the
Page 131 and 132: Symbolic marks painted on wooden ma
Page 133 and 134: Yantra with mantra. 132 guru select
Page 135 and 136: Chakras in the etheric body. Rajast
Page 137: IX A practising Tantrika from north
Page 143 and 144:
142 Both mudras and nyasas are exte
Page 145:
Schematic representation of how a y
Page 148 and 149:
absorbed within the system and a gr
Page 150 and 151:
object of concentration. Meditation
Page 152 and 153:
After such a survey of various tech
Page 154 and 155:
(from the root nad meaning motion,
Page 156 and 157:
a red triangle 'radiant like the ri
Page 161 and 162:
XVI
Page 164 and 165:
to balance the dialectical process
Page 166 and 167:
that involves the sperm's odyssey t
Page 168 and 169:
inner spiritual urges to flow natur
Page 170 and 171:
chaksuratatam'. He then salutes his
Page 172 and 173:
Only when she is seen through divin
Page 174 and 175:
IV Ram vanhyatmakam dipam sasaktika
Page 176 and 177:
Sakti worship It is not physiologic
Page 178 and 179:
om anaisvaryaya namah om avairagyay
Page 180 and 181:
om Im madanaye namah om Im utpadiny
Page 182 and 183:
haga, which means both female organ
Page 184 and 185:
That Power who exists in all beings
Page 186 and 187:
either position, both the adepts en
Page 188 and 189:
the Ida and Pingala subtle channels
Page 190 and 191:
outgrow the merry-go-round of self-
Page 192 and 193:
of beings and forms; (6) Chinnamast
Page 194 and 195:
of the discipline may even abandon
Page 196 and 197:
chants mantras, nor performs mudras
Page 198 and 199:
BHUTA, any of the five elemental co
Page 200 and 201:
PARA, last stage of consciousness.
Page 202 and 203:
Bibliography Abhinavagupta, Tantras
Page 204 and 205:
Panday, K. C, Abhinavagupta, Varana
Page 206 and 207:
Index Abhinavagupta, 80 Absolute, 1
Page 208 and 209:
Mercury, 19, 73 Mevlevi Dervishes,
show all

Ritual

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?