• The author tells why great caution is needed in practising Tantra Sadhana.

It is impossible to have the Tantric Siddhis in their fullness without having first the ‘indriya’ siddhis. It is not possible for anyone who has taken the human form to first not control every single sense-organ to progress in Shakta Tantra. This is what the entirety of extant Tantric texts teach. 

So also, our Dharma teaches the same truth. This is why it is incorrect to think of Tantra and other branches of our Dharma as separate. They are firmly based on Yoga --- the Yogi is a Tantric when s/he practices Shakti worship. The Yogi is a non-Tantric when she practices non-Tantric methods of worship.

Unless one has completely annihilated anger, sexual desire and speaks only the truth; does not hanker for money or fame even slightly; then only Tantric deities come and visit them and grant these Yogis every Tantric siddhi. For instance, the much-maligned Karn Pishachini Mata will destroy everyone who invokes her except the rare Tantric who invokes her for helping others in the here and now and as a Mother.

Similarly, it is impossible for ordinary people appearing on YouTube declaring they have encountered such and such Tantric Deities and then live to tell the tale. Perhaps, they indeed are meeting some entities since they might subtly crave fame and popularity and want to be Tantric Gurus. Another example will clarify this: say, one does sadhana of one of the Yogini Mothers like Mother Rati Priya.

If the Mother comes before the sadhak; the worshipper will forget his wife and family and be deranged from the beauty of this Mother. In a perverse twist to everything the sadhak will start imagining Her as his wife/girlfriend/life-partner and in a matter of few days, he will be clinically insane. We cannot resist the seduction of online pornography; we cannot resist the seductions of other women apart from our wives and here we are thinking of invoking the Yogini Mothers.

This is absurd, dangerous and the way to hell. This is why we must first be certain that the last embers of desire, anger and various other impurities of our minds are gone before we do Shakti sadhana following the left-handed path as is practised in West Bengal, Assam and in certain parts of Nepal.

Let me explain: say I need tonnes of money and say I have even one of these Tantric Siddhis a little bit. Not the Siddhi in its entirety but just a wee tiny bit. Now say, one of you reading this blogpost come knocking to me with this money for getting something morally wrong done by me. Say, I agree. You will get your wrong done and get away with it at least, for some time. But for me, all will be over as a Tantra upasak. That is the end of the line for me.

One more example to stress the point here: we have fixed notions about what we want from life. Some of us want wealth; if that does not get to us; we want fame. If that does not get to us; finally, we are caught by our desire for the good of our progeny. It may be our own kid or may be, we are excited by the idea of leaving a legacy worth following. Therein is the trap.

A compromise is bound to happen between one’s ideals and the reality one encounters: personal poverty; personal greed, the craving for name and fame and if none of these, then the need to do good for one’s children will ensnare us. The Tantric is by his calling a non-social reclusive person. Not asocial, neither anti-social. Simply non-social; that is, while being within the family unit, a Shakta Upasak decides to cut himself off from his surrounding and as it were, look into himself. This is the crux of being a Tantric. 

This is far from what is shown on streaming platforms and in movie theatres. The emphasis is to be a contemplative within the woof of samsara. To gradually cut off all ties from near and dear ones; to inwardly turn the outwardly turned senses and to finally win over all of them cannot be done without the help of a God intoxicated Guru. I think only Guigo II of the Carthusian Order could understand this in his scala mysticism.

It is sad that online and offline people are spreading lies about Tantra and its holy path.

The saying that those who know do not speak and those who speak do not know is the most apt for Tantrics. And why is there a need for secrecy if everything is so overboard in Tantra?

It is simple, unless we can control greed, anger, pettiness, jealousy, and hatred, we are going to be destroyed by this very discipline. It is too much of a risk to play with fire. Who can guarantee that one might only be singed and not burnt completely? If one were to meet the guardians of the crematoria and not have a blade with them for the right offering to them, will anyone live to tell of the meeting at all? Just since a kid wants to play with nuclear bombs and when asked not to, throws tantrums, will anyone in their right minds expose a kid to radioactivity?

गुरू ब्रह्मा गुरू विष्णु,

गुरु देवो महेश्वरा

गुरु साक्षात परब्रह्म,

तस्मै श्री गुरुवे नमः

The author, Dr. Subhasis Chattopadhyay is interested in Roman Catholicism and Shakta Tantra. He will not answer anything further than is written here on Tantra online or offline even if contacted.

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