Master Thesis Proposal
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Author:
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Ravi
Devaraj
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guide:
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Mr.N.Nandhivarman
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E-mail:
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ravivararo@gmail.com
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E-mail:
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nandhivarman@gmail.com
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Phone:
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+919884942966
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Phone:
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+919244445508
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Specialization:
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Linguistic, Mythology,
History
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Period:
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Aug 2021
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(Transformations and Transfer of Tantra in India and Beyond)
Topic Characteristics:
My thesis will focus on
Tantra and Tantric rituals and its role in Saivism and Buddhism. Tantra is a
esoteric principle that holds an important place in both Hinduism as well as
Buddhism. The spread of Buddhism to East Asia and Southeast Asia gave rise to
the introduction and evolvement of tantra in these regions of the world as
well. Tantra is a esoteric principle that holds an important place in both
Hinduism as well as Buddhism. The spread of Buddhism to East Asia and Southeast
Asia gave rise to the introduction and devolvement of tantra in these regions
of the world as well.
The aim of Tantra is to
guide aspirants to realise both the supreme end of liberation and the secondary
ends of wealth, sense-pleasure, and righteousness, according to their inner
evolution and desires. It therefore lays down an endless variety of rituals
suited to different times, places, and individual competencies. Usually a
Tantric ritual consists in the assigning of the different parts of the body to
different deities, the purifying of the elements of the body, breath-control,
meditation, imparting of life to the image, and mental and physical worship.
The regular rituals in
Tantrism include poojas or prayers being offered, making use of Mantras,
Yantras and Mandalas. Both Hindu and Buddhist yoga traditions make use of these
tools for prayers. Tantric Buddhism, also known as Vajrayana Buddhism, is an
ancient and a highly complicated system of Buddhist philosophy. Because of
usage of language, structure and rules, Vajrayana is complicated one. Vajrayana
branched mainly from Hinduism and hence, the rituals need to be analyzed more
before embarking on a research on the subject. Pooja is an ancient and powerful
Tantric system of worship consisting of mantra, mudra, visualization, ritual
action, meditation and offerings. There are layers of symbolic, philosophical,
mystic and devotional meanings in each practice. What follows is a simple
introduction to some of the technical aspect of puja based on the Tantric
scriptures and oral tradition.
Tantric texts employ
twilight language, which is purposely coded in order to keep it complex and
sacred. This script relies on the use of symbolisms, metaphors, synonyms and
associated words, thereby making it very difficult to decode its many niceties.
The Tamil Siddhas are a
religious order of mystics. They form a distinctive part of a larger movement
which spread throughout South Asia, from Sri Lanka in the South to Tibet in the
north. Siddhas everywhere share common practices, cosmology, and symbols in
Tantrism whether the practitioner is Hindu, Buddhist, or Jain. All are part of
a "pan-Indian tantric institution.
Tirumandiram (or
Thirumandiram) written by the Yoga Siddhar Tirumular (or Thirumoolar) in Tamil,
in more than three thousand verses, probably between the 4th and 6th centuries
A.D., is the oldest and most important text of Yoga from south India, It is a
work of Yoga, tantra, mysticism, mantra, kundalini and monistic theism. The
12th century philosophical school of Saiva Siddhantha traces its origins to it.
Four major components of
(broadly-defined) Tantrism:
1.
sources relating to shamanic and yogic
beliefs/practices
2.
Sakta worship - particularly worship of the
matrikas and fierce goddesses
3.
sources relating to the particular schools of
tantra
4.
'Tantric' texts themselves
Tirumular - Saivaite - was
aware of the SriVidya system, and incorporated elements of it into the Tirumantiram (a text comprising of three
thousand verses. Brooks sees this as evidence for a 'pan-Indian' Sakta Tantrism
in early medieval India, and also suggests that elements of Sakta Tantrism may
have been transmitted orally at least two centuries prior to them appearing as
Sanskrit texts.
Tantra, which in its
earliest written form was a distinctly iconoclastic, private, and esoteric
practice, evolved into a number of respected, exoteric orders (sampradaya). It
is convenient, although somewhat false, to group the orders into two
categories: left-handed and right-handed. Left-handed tantras (vaama marg)
incorporate five sacraments (pancamakarapuja) of fish, meat, parched grain,
wine and sexual intercourse into ritual practice. Right-handed tantras, on the
other hand, advocate the visualization of these antinomian practices.
Tantra exists in Vaisnava,
Shaiva, and Shakta forms, among others. Extolled as a short-cut to
self-realization and spiritual enlightenment by some, left-hand tantric rites
are often rejected as dangerous by most orthodox Hindus
A 'union' could mean the
actual act of sexual intercourse, ritual uniting of concepts through chanting
and sacrifice, or realisation of one's true self in the cosmic joining of the
divine principles of Shiva and Shakti in Para Shiva.
Mantra and Yantra: As in all
of Hindu and Buddhist yogas, mantras play an important part in Tantra for
focusing the mind, often through the conduit of specific Hindu gods like
Shiva, Kali (mother Kali, another form
of Shakti) and even Ganesh , the elephant-headed god of wisdom (refer to the
Ganesha Upanishad). Similarly, puja will often involve concentrating on a
yantra or mandala.
Tantra, being a development
of early Hindu-Vedic thought, embraced the Hindu gods and goddesses, especially
Shiva and Shakti, along the Advaita (nondualist Vedic) philosophy that each
represents an aspect of the ultimate Para Shiva, or Brahman. These deities may
be worshipped externally (with flowers, incense etc.) but, more importantly,
are used as objects of meditation, where the practitioner imagines him- or
herself to be experiencing the darshan or 'vision' of the deity in question.
Tantras prescribe a strict
regimen of penance, meditation, sensory control, cleansing the self of negative
thoughts and seeking truth and justice before an individual can hope to
transcend from her or his natural state. However Tantra is used now as a
general term which relates to sexual practice as a spiritual evolutionary
scheme.
In traditional pockets of
Tantric practice in India, such as in Assam near the venerated Hindu temple of
Kali, Kammakha, in parts of West Bengal, in Siddhanta temples of South India,
and in Kasmiri Shiva temples up north, Tantra has retained its true form.
Tibetan Tantrics emphasize
the true Mahayana ideal of rapidly gaining the enlightenment that characterizes
a Buddha entirely dedicated to the purpose of relieving the suffering of
others.
Tantra may be divided into
practices based on Hinduism and Buddhism and needs to be studied in depth.
Hypothesis:
1.
TANTRA is an encyclopedic literature.
2.
TANTRA has contributed much towards
Ayurveda, Alchemy , Symbolic Science ,
Yoga, History , Literature, Philosophy , Religion.
3.
Where Theravada urges us to reflect on
the repulsiveness of the body, Tantric Buddhism tells us to revere it as a
temple and to indulge its most sensual impulses. Theravada preaches the
renunciation of all desires: Tantric Buddhism their over-fulfillment.
4.
Tantra is not a technique, but love; a
prayer.
5.
Tantra is neither philosophy, nor
religion in the rigid sense, and yet it doesn’t oppose either of them.
Methodology:
Concerning
the Tantric literature in the first part of the thesis, I am going to employ
the qualitative literature review methodology, using research tools like
interviews, surveys, and Observations.
I am going to use especially the classical models of Structural
Anthropology, by Claude Lévi-Strauss.
Outline:
1. Introduction
2. Theoretical
background and the review of Tantra
3. An
Analysis of Tantra
a.
Philosophical Significance
b.
Tantra in Saivism, Indo-Tibet and Thai
Buddhism-Religious Significance
c.
Literary Analysis
d.
Historical Cultural analysis
4. The
Ritualistic Tradition of Tantra
a.
Erotic Rituals
b.
Non erotic rituals
5. The
Sacred Secrets of Tantra
6. Tamil
Siddhas and Tantra
7. Conclusions
8.
References / Bibliography
References / Bibliography:
·
Thirumandiram, Thirumoolar.
·
Tantra Sastra
·
Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric
Buddhism of Tibet; Reginald A. Ray
·
Uttaratantra Shastra,
·
Tantric Temples: Eros and Magic in Java,
Peter Levenda – 2011
·
Tantra and Dharma Teachers from Kashmir
in Nepal, by Michael Witzel
Author D.RAVI DEVARAJ Guide
N.NANDHIVARMAN
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