Re: Tantra and Shaivism
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté
I wrote in post 7 above:
Some say this tantra comes from tattva and mantra
- tattva तत्त्व is considered the true or real state, the essence. Various tattva-s are considered. There are 25 in Samkhya philosophy and 36 in Śaivism. Yet the essential essence comes to be Brahman.
- mantra मन्त्र is considered an instrument of thought. Yet this word also can be considered manas or mind + trai to protect , preserve , cherish , defend , rescue from. So in this instance mantra is that instrument that protects the mind, intellect, etc.
Just recently I read tantra is also tantratā. This word tantratā means the state of anything that serves as a tantra , yet also it is comprehending several rites in one. That is, an ~efficiency~ of doing one thing that acts for the many.
Now this is quite appealing ( to me). Why so? Because it is the same notion as a bīja (seed) sounding mantra. It ( the bīja sound) takes on the ~efficiency~ of the full mantra in just a few sounds. It can be considered tantratā. HP Shastri¹ suggests tantra means ' to shorten'. This falls in line with the notion of tantratā.
If we look to this word tantra , in lieu of all the definitions that are offered in the above posts, one definition of tantra is 'the essential part , main point , characteristic feature'; hence this means the core of something, the most effective and essential part, which weaves nicely into the whole conversation within this string.
The appeal is within tantra it is filled with approaches and upāya-s ( methods) to hasten one's spiritual unfoldment. Hence tantra = tantratā.
praṇām
1. HP Shastri - http://www.thehardoons.com/TNG/histo...sadShastri.pdf
Last edited by yajvan; 11 September 2011 at 05:32 PM.
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
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