Tantric philosophy can sometimes seem quite complicated and confusing. But once you understand how a Tantrika thinks it’s easier to understand how a Tantrika acts.
The Tantric lineage of the Krama was one of the later and more sophisticated of the Tantric lineages. The Krama tradition was extremely non-dualist, stating that anyone could achieve enlightenment and liberation because they were themselves divine, and that this was possible without excessive acts of religious devotion or ritual worship. For many, enlightenment was possible following contact with an enlightened guru and contemplation on the Krama texts. Given that the Krama lineage of gurus is long extinct, we will have to rely on contemplation of the texts … So what are some of the key concepts contained within the Krama system?
One of the difficulties in understanding the key concepts of the Krama Tantras is presented by the variation in the number of goddesses they seem to revere. Sometimes they talk of five goddesses, at other times twelve or sixteen (although there is actually seventeen, but I’ll explain this later!). What’s important to understand at this point is that these goddesses are not necessarily attached to any particular iconography or Vedic backstory, rather, they represent the deification of certain key features of the subtle body. It’s a little bit like worshiping the heart, lungs, brain etc. as individual gods or goddesses.
The starting point of this system are the five foundation goddesses who form what is termed as the “sequence non-sequence” of the cosmological process of creation. What this means is that the process itself is not something that occurs linearly or progressively, rather, it is a constantly re-occurring cycle, like the spinning of a wheel – or cakra, in Sanskrit.
At the centre of the wheel, the axle around which the rest of the goddesses rotate, is the all-pervading void – the primary goddess. The process of creation that spins around this axle contains the remaining four goddesses: concealment, expansion, stasis, withdrawal. Concealment involves the emergence of subjectivity, the ego or false self, that is necessary for the material universe to exist – without this there would be no illusion of separation, and divinity would be unable to explore and experience itself through the process of existence. Expansion, or emanation, is the part of the process that gives form and substance to the manifest universe, and stasis represents the period of time that the manifest universe remains in existence (this period changes with different texts, for some it is a mere instant). Withdrawal, or destruction, is the re-integration of the manifest universe back into the all-pervading void of consciousness. In many Tantras this process is compared to breathing and forms the basis of many Tantric breathing exercises.
This wheel is perceived as having no fixed point in time and space – it exists everywhere all at once. It is the subtle body in the microcosm of the tiniest organism whilst simultaneously being the unseen map of the macrocosmic universe. Therefore, as practitioners, we are the wheel, but we also exist on and within the wheel – and we could exist at any point of the wheel. The aim of a Tantric practitioner is to experience our own divinity by collapsing our own wheel and experiencing the all-pervading void as our true Self. But how do we collapse the wheel?
Imagine that each of the four points on the outer rim of the wheel – concealment, expansion, stasis and withdrawal – are supported by their own individual spoke, and each spoke consists of the three facets of manifestation: subject, cognition and object. Every false dualistic experience at any point of the wheel contains these three facets – an observing or experiencing subject, the thought or cognition of experience, and the object of experience. This then gives us the twelve goddesses: four spokes (supporting concealment, expansion, stasis and withdrawal) multiplied by three facets (subject, cognition and object). And if we wish to collapse our own subtle wheel we must dismantle these spokes - removing objectivity and moving beyond the limitations of our cognition - so that we no longer experience our self as an individual subject, but can instead experience our true Self as the all-pervading deity at the centre of the wheel.
When these twelve goddesses (constituting the spokes) are added to the four goddesses on the outer rim we are left with sixteen goddesses. These numbers also share a significant correspondence within Sanskrit grammar, and the cosmic process is often compared to the outpouring of sound and the condensing of this sound into language – without which we could not experience cognition and objectification. There is of course a further goddess – the one all-pervading presence that occupies the centre of the wheel that is in fact our true Self.
This then is the structure of the Tantric universe, at least according to the Krama tradition. Accordingly, contemplation of this process alongside some yogic exercises and meditation (and of course interaction with an enlightened guru) can bring about liberation in this lifetime. However, whilst understanding the structure is important, there is one key feature of this cosmic process that is so far absent, and that is the energy that is required to power the wheel.
Across most Tantric traditions – including the Krama – the creative force required to manifest the universe involves the unification of two essential elements: passive consciousness (deified as the male god Shiva) and active, dynamic energy (deified as his female consort, Shakti). When these two aspects conjoin the cyclical and unending process of universal manifestation and collapse is set in motion. But this unification doesn’t only occur at the centre of the wheel – these two aspects, the male and female, consciousness and energy, exist at every point of the wheel and their union continuously drives the process. And it is this process that gives us one of the few known Krama rituals – the cakramelakah.
This ritual involves positioning Tantric couples at various points of the wheel – or cakra. Positioned this way the couples represent the structure of the entire universe at every level and every point in time, but to energise the structure they must unite in sexual intercourse.
The fact that a tradition that was staunchly anti-ritualist practiced this particular ritual highlights its significance. In fact, it may be a mistake to call it a ritual at all. It is actually a yogic practice, because the purpose of the practice is to unify practitioners with their own subtle energy. But it doesn’t stop there; no doubt taking part in a group sexual practice had a psychological impact on practitioners, challenging their socially constructed identities and binding a community of practitioners together, but the practice was also designed to unite their subtle energy.
As they engage in intercourse the energy they create empowers the entire structure, spinning through and around them in every direction. More than that, it is not only the practitioners who benefit from this energy; the energy they create is shared across the entire mandala, spreading enlightenment and liberation throughout society, multiplying its effect and enhancing universal connectivity.
This then is how Tantrikas effect change; not through protest or riot or revolution, but by generating and spreading the essential energy that powers and drives the entire process of creation, without which nothing at all could exist. One of the Tantric masters renowned for engaging in this practice was once punished by his king and literally branded as a deviant. I do not know if such practices continue to this day, or if the significance of the practice is known to the practitioners, but given the violence and instability of our modern world, surely this is a far more peaceful means of engendering change than most of the alternatives!
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