Editor: Prabuddha Bharata, the magazine from the Ramakrishna Mission came out with a special issue in January 2016 titled ‘Reflections on Tantra’. Esamskriti is uploading select articles from this masterpiece issue. If you like to download the entire issue (one with brown cover) http://advaitaashrama.org/pbarchive

Excerpts from article – “This is an experiential view of tantra. The purpose of this article is to demystify tantra and establish the path of tantra as a valid contemporary spiritual method to attain to the supreme Godhead qua Brahman.

But what if, a tantric spends one’s time and power acquired by sadhana for the wellbeing of fellow human beings and helps in the alleviation of their suffering without ever causing any harm to anyone? What if a group of practitioners of this vast and majestic spiritual discipline of tantra, decide to use their spiritual wisdom in mending the matters of worlds and phenomena not perceptible through ordinary means? This is an account of such an anonymous tantric adept whom this author knows. This tantric is a strong and wise mentor to the author, a reluctant and unworthy disciple of both the tantric and the discipline. The tantric in question has forbiddeneven the writing of this article. But the world should know that tantra is a living and benign part of Hinduism.

I write here about the experiences of being with a contemporary tantric. And particularly being his reluctant disciple from 1998 till date. He has flatly denied me permission to either write of his or my experiences with him and his work. But if this section about the praxis of tantra is missing, then this issue will probably be incomplete and merely abstract. Because of a very strong secular Western education, which I received and transmit to my students, I am sceptical about such esoteric practices. I do not consider tantra or tantrics to be the resort of anyone in distress. This is a disclaimer: please do not even show curiosity about tantra in the form described here. However, I do present here my observations just to place on record that such a form of tantra does very much exist, even today, when the age of the post-human is imminent and the world is in the cusp of a paradigm change to be brought about through the dominance of the simulation of reality through what is otherwise known as the World Wide Web.”

Author is an Assistant Professor of English at Ramananda College, Bishnupur; a Biblical Theology scholar; and a trained psychoanalyst.

To read article in PDF format.

This article was first published in the Prabuddha Bharata, monthly journal of The Ramakrishna Order started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896. This article is courtesy and copyright Prabuddha Bharata (www.advaitaashrama.org). I have been reading the Prabuddha Bharata for years and found it enlightening. You can subscribe online at www.advaitaashrama.org. Cost is Rs 100/ for one year, Rs 280/ for three years, Rs 1,200/ for twenty years and Rs 2,000 for twenty five years.