Soteriology of Hindu Tantric Sādhana Part I

Abstract

The article deals with the central aspects of tantric practice (sādhana) related to soteriological issues. Sādhana aims at siddhi as an ideal realization; liberation (mokṣa) is considered the highest siddhi. It is permissible to discern two interre­lated aspects of sadhana, i.e. narrow (specialized) and wide (coinciding with the whole way of life of the follower). Tantric sādhana positions itself as a highly effective tool for human improvement in Kali Yuga. While addressing all people, Tantra at the same time requires the observance of the secret of practice. Leading, as it were, a “double life”, a number of tantric traditions (Śrīvidyā, for example) adapt to the needs of the orthodox Hindu society. Tantric works sometimes report the “lightness” of the spiritual path, which means the acquisition of the highest ideal during the earthly life of the practitioner, but does not mean the ease of the tantric procedures themselves. In general, Hindu Tantrism agrees with general In­dian soteriology that sādhana is a “return” (nivṛtti) process, which is accompanied by an increase of holistic perception of reality. Nevertheless, in Tantrism, nivṛtti and pravṛtti (deployment) are closely related to each other, since they represent different phases of the Śakti’s “game” (B.K. Majumdar), also understood as the divine vibration-spanda. Depending on the level of his development, sādhaka is engaged in exercises either in the spirit of nivṛtti or pravṛtti. The effectiveness of pravṛtti at the final levels of the path is turned against pravṛtti itself. The vari­ability of tantric methods and ethical standards correlate with the level of con­sciousness of the practitioner. The stage of nivṛtti, as it were, models the ultimate state reached by the tantric adept after the end of his spiritual path.