Most people don't want to talk about tantra. And when they do, it's usually in whispers or in jokes. If the word comes up in a conversation, someone quickly tries to move on or make it about obscurantism, superstition or black magic. It is uncomfortable territory for many, even for people who are otherwise deeply spiritual. That in itself is not surprising. For a long time, most of us were either told nothing about tantra or told things that were distorted and extreme in all ways possible. There was never a clear space to ask what it is in reality or why it is treated so differently from everything else. This book comes from the vacuum that exists in the primary information about tantra. It is not aimed at the scholar or the sceptic or atheist, but for one open to understanding and developing a new perspective towards an otherwise mischaracterized path of Hindu spirituality. I do not consider myself a spokesperson for tantra, even though my public talks and podcasts may have created such an impact or impression. Tantra was, is and will always remain a divine path of progress ordained by Lord Shiva.
My first steps into the world of spirituality happened quite unexpectedly-organically without any formal moment of entry, during a casual meeting with my first guru and mentor during college days, who gave me the upadesam for Bhairava Sadhana. As I kept exploring, it became evident to me that Tantra Upasana was the field I liked the most, for that was also the path for the worship of the deities whom I revered and deeply admired-Kamakhya and Bhairava, who were instrumental in activating many transformative experiences for me. In the course of my journey, I met various spiritual characters; some genuine and some fraudulent, often wasting time pursuing them and being misled by the dubious ones, until a course-correcting became necessary. But what never shifted was the absolute single-pointed devotion towards the primary devatas. With time, gradually and inevitably, I entered the formal tantric path connected to the secretive ancient yogini Kaula Marga of Kamakhya. My poornabhishekh diksha guru Sri Sri Satchidanandanath, belongs to an unbroken lineage of Kaula gurus tracing a continuous transmission of more than thirty generations, starting from the great tantric master, Sri Krishnaram Bhattacharya. He was brought from the Nadia district of Bengal and settled in Kamakhya Pitha by the Ahom king Shiva Singha, and given charge of conducting pujas for Parashakti Kamakhya and all the Mahavidyas. My guru ordained tantric name is Tripuranandanath, though I prefer being known simply as Rajarshi Nandy.
Tantra, as I've come to know it, is not a club, nor a brand. It's not something you can pick up and then put down like a recreational workshop or a wellness trend. It is a living, breathing system of practice. It comprises structure, discipline, responsibility and tradition. It is also deeply intimate and personal. You don't just casually read about it. You do it mindfully and live within it. There is a general portrayal of tantra-both in India and in the West-either as a highly dangerous practice or as an extremely superficial one. On one end, there is fear; on the other, there is fantasy. Between the two, the nuance and truth gets lost. That's partly because of how tantra has been represented publicly over the last few centuries. A lot of it was misunderstood, deliberately hidden or sensationalized. Colonial narratives portrayed it as irrational and dirty, while some modern gurus repackaged the practice as a path to instant power. Social media has now reduced it to aesthetics and algorithms. However, in reality, tantra doesn't look like any of that. It's not easy, and not always comforting, but it is precise. It is intelligent. It works through mantras, rituals, deities, visualization and inner alignment. It follows a clear structure for interacting with the Divine in forms that are not symbolic or abstract but very much real. The results are not imaginary but direct and often unsettling, because they unsettle what is false. There are many different paths within the field of tantra, and anything that has survived centuries of unbroken tradition is deemed authenticated by nature. All the paths are tailored to suit the needs of different individuals.
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