RELG 254: Lecture 8 Yoga in the Tantras

5

Tantric traditions

• circa ___th century CE onward

Text, system, soterological, ritual, praxis, powerful, Vedic, deity, deities, Buddhism, ritual, worship, mantra, yoga, supernatural powers, siddhis, consciousness, proximity, union, metaphysical

• Tantra can refer to a ___ or the ___ that text teaches, but also a “body of ___ knowledge, ___ and ___ regarded as distinct from, and more ___ than ___ revelation”

• Usually associated with a ___ or ___ (even in doctrinally atheistic systems like ___), the practices of tantra, which include___, ___ and ___ repetition, as well as ___, have as their aim either the attainment of ___ ___ (___) or the ascent of the practitioner through manifold stages of ___ until he or she reachers either ___ to or non differentiated ___ with the deity (the nature of the goal varies according to the many tantric traditions’ different ___ systems).

Tan, extend, spread, weave, text, test, system, south, Central, Southeast, 6, 13, assimilated, marginalized, 6, sadanga

Tantric traditions: an overview

• Sanskrit word tantra from root of word ___: to ___, to ____, hence to ___, display, put forth, compose

• A tantra often refers to a ___ or set of ___ or else the ___ taught in such texts

• Historically, tantric traditions were a dominant form of religion in ___ Asia (and parts of ___ and ___ Asia) from approximately ___th century CE until around the ___th century CE, and they remained influential in the centuries that followed even as they were ___ and ___

• These included Saiva, Vaisnava, Sakta, Buddhist and Jain tantric traditions

• Many but not all tantric yoga systems are ___ limbed (___)

Vedic, initiatory, diksa, social markers, ritualistic, yoga, disciplined, deities, non dualistic, mantras, sound, language, repetition

In general, Tantric traditions:

• are extra ___

• Are ___ traditions; initiation (___) seen as superseding other ___ ___ (gender, caste, community)

• Are hyper ___

• Teach special forms of ___ and other types of ___ practices

• Are linked to particular ___ in intimate ways, even if they are also philosophically ___ ___

• Emphasize the use of ___ (through practices such as nyasa) and develop complex theories about ___, ___ and ___ of mantras

Ritual technologies, diagrams, yantras, mandalas, cakras, visualization, subtle, tantric, cakras, nadi, prana, kundalini, mantras, microcosm, guru

In general, tantric traditions (ctd.):

• develop other types of ___ ___ such as ritual ___ known as ___, ___ or ___ and complex ___ techniques

• Develop complex conception of a ___ or ___ body (including energy centers (___), channels (___), vital energy (___), and the movement of ___ in the body) that can be manipulated through ritual yogic practices and the use of ___

• Take the body as the ___ of the cosmos

• Emphasize the role of the ___

Male, female, Siva, Sakti, expeditious, dangerous, secret, advanced, convention, symbolically, substances, alcohol, meat, antinomian, sexual, worldly powers, liberation

In general, tantric traditions (ctd.):

• frequently conceive of the divine or god as a combination of ___ and ___ deities or principles (ex: ___-___ pair)

• Are presented as being ___ but also ___, and therefore ___ and limited by tantric teachers to the most ___ practitioners

• Often involve the transgression of ___, either in actuality or ___, through the use of conventionally prohibited ___ in ritual like ___ or ___, and engage in ___ practices, including ___ practices outside of the conventionally accepted context

• Promise both ___ ___ (siddhi) and ___ (conceived in different ways in different traditions)

4, ritual, knowledge, rules, yoga, ritual, conditions, visualization, ascent, tattvas, 25, 11, dissolution, deity, meditation, mantras, breath control

Yoga in the Tantras

• many tantric scriptures divided into ___ sections of ___ (kriyapada), ___ (vidyapada), ___ (caryapada) and ___ (yoga pads), though the ___ section is usually the most important and the others provide ___ for success of the rituals

• Tantric yoga commonly involves complex ___ of an ___ through the ___ or elements taught in a particular system (usually ___ of Samkhya + ___ additional levels) until the yoga achieves ___ (laya) in the supreme tattva, which is usually the ___ of the systems concerned.

• Tantric yoga also usually includes ___ on the body as the microcosm of the cosmos, the use of ___, ____ ___ (pranayama) and other related techniques

Nyasa, mantra, power, divine, mundane

___ : the ritual placing or depositing on the body of a ___ (of a supernatural ___, that is) or of some other element, ___ or ___

Visualization, initiation, mantras, yogic body

Yogic practices: examples from the “Tantric body”

• Tantraloka: ___ during ___

• Yoginihrdaya: recitation of ___ linked to ___ ___

Dharanas slide? Excerpt ??