What comes to mind when you hear “Tantra”? Aghoris, black magic, or forbidden rituals? That’s the image I have, and I kept my distance, unsure of the consequences. But is Tantra really about spiritual awakening, or have we misunderstood it as something dark and mystical?
Tantra by Khushwant Singh explores the mysterious world of ancient spiritual practices through his own past live experiences and learnkng from an enlightened teacher from 13th century. The book explains this in simple, direct language. I’ve read a few of his earlier books, and in one, he openly shares memories of past lives and the teachings he received from enlightened gurus in those eras.
Yes, only if you believe in the concept of rebirths his books will make sense to you. In this book, he similarly shares insights from Guru Gorakhnath around understanding Tantra.
Do you think ancient paths like Tantra are meant for everyone, or only for a few chosen seekers?
His journey begins with the arrival of Guru in his village, where many gather to learn and awaken to higher consciousness. There, they explore deeper truths about the human body and life experiences.
Alongside these , author shares some of his thoughts around the flaws of our society as well regarding misuse of sexual energy on which tantra is based on, even he has shared some mindful points on gender, crimes and mediations.
He explains, Tantra is about real experience, not just rituals or beliefs. I liked learning about things like The Double arrow Consciousness that he had shared in his previous book too which actually works nice to ground our focus, and things about about higher conscious levels, and truly how misguided our youth are using a powerful energy we have in us that gives us birth in this world but use it for shallow extremely short mindless pleasureful moments rather than using it for bigger humanity benefits which it allows us. This is because we are not aware of it still. Thus, it emphasizes inner transformation over external practices which is truly the way we all should follow.
Ideas in this book may feel uncomfortable or controversial. Some topics I understood, some I couldnot make sense of or came out to be bizzare to me as well but I believe we are not all knowing in this world, some concepts exists and even though they are difficult to intreprete they may also challenge us to see things differently and broaden our perspectives.
Similarly this book asks readers to stay open to topics that are socially forbidden and might be revealing deeper understanding towards higher human experiences! Now reader decodes to read it or not and understand according to their understanding ability.
If you are curious about spiritual growth through this path of life, you may find the topics covered in this book contemplative. I got my copy from Amazon as Paperback. I did find the cover attractive in matte black presentation.