Tantra yoga is the science of energy. It is within this department that we find the knowledge of the chakras and the dualistic energies that empower them. In traditional yoga these are referred to as Pingala and Ida, two currents of energy that work together to create a complete flow. These are seen to be expressed as masculine and femine forces that work together to manifest life as we know it in this material world.
In Tantra these complementary forces are harnessed and brought together in a union that we feel as blissful orgasm. Some schools use external sexual practices to achieve this, others are more esoteric, keeping the energies within and uniting the forces of Pingala and Ida into one current in Shushumna (central spine), so that it becomes the force known as Kundalini.
Either way there are inherent dangers involved; since we are working with primal energies that maintain basic life functions, moving those energies around can interfere with the stability of body health or even the balance of mental functions. For this reason an experienced teacher with whom you have personal rapport can be very important. There is a secondary danger that arises when using the external sexual methods - that of the distractions and addictions to pleasures of the external senses which can keep you forever away from the internal realm of orgasmic bliss.
The dual aspect of energy can be found virtually everywhere, from the yin/yang of the Chinese to the twin serpents of the caduceus used as a medical symbol.
In the energy world of electricity
we find all plugs have two poles and batteries
have
a positive and negative end.
It is a fundamental law of the energy world that energy be separated into positive and negative charges and these are always
working together: from the proton and electron of the basic atom, to the male and female required for reproduction. |
 |
The Serpent Symbol:
In order to explain some of these concepts about energy, the sages of old used parables and symbols. Because energy is not always directly perceivable to our senses, it was and still is necessary to draw symbols and make comparisons in order to explain certain concepts. We have done so with sounds and subsequently developed many languages, written and spoken like our modern English script, or, languages that are more pictorial like the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt. In the symbolic cosmos of the Old World cultures, the symbol used for energy by most, if not all, was the serpent. The serpent moves like a wave, and those who develop their inner sight or inner hearing to the level of the buddhi see and feel this wave-like movement, like a serpent. The seers could observe this movement and sensation of the serpent no matter which culture they were indigenous to.
More to come..., or come and learn more at the Pyramid Yoga Center in Thailand.
|
