The Path of the Devotee

Tantra Yoga is not about explaining why, they show us the way; the path, they are the how. And the how is in, not out; through discipline so we do not get entangled with our compulsions.

Compulsiveness is our repetitive nature. We go beyond compulsiveness to consciousness. Connecting to our True Self. This is the path of self-annihilation, which is liberation, where we carry the mind with us without becoming attached to it.

As Patanjali says in the first three sutras of The Yoga Sutra:

1.    Atha Yoga Anushasanam, we gain Union ‘right now’ in the present through the practice of discipline gained through right guidance. The body needs to go through preparation for the yogic journey to reach our True Nature (Oneness).

2.    Yogash Chitta Vritti Nirodha, the yoga practices of working with the body, breath and mind ends the mental cycle of repetitive thoughts and attachments.

3.    Tada Dvastuh Svarupe Avasthanam, so we can then be seen and see the True Self for self-realisation, standing in our True Nature (Atman/Soul), ie, when the circular patterns of thought cease we transcend our vrittis (Obstacles). We see through the eyes, outwardly this is the door to the mind, inwardly to our Atman (True Self). Once we do this we transcend the Ego and are restored to our original state.

A growing sense of trust and wonder in life ‘as it is’ shows us we are on the right path.

But before we get complacent or arrogant in thinking ‘ours’ is the only right path, we must recognise, as Sadhguru noted in his book ‘Adiyogi: the Source of Yoga’, there are different paths.

We might take the path of the motionless ascetic or the ecstatic dancer. This will depend on our temperament, and the many different methods allow for different temperaments, abilities and orientations to find that which suits the individual the best.

Sadhguru illustrates the point of not taking our path to an extreme, becoming too literal or fundamental, through the example of Sage Bhringi, who’s exclusivity to Shiva excluded Shakti, culminating in Shiva merging with Shakti to bring Bhringi to his senses.

And so, all very intriguing.

This is not to say Tantra Yoga does not have a philosophy, a why.

Indeed, it has a rich historical and philosophical tradition through the classical texts. The oldest text are known as the Vedas. The Vedas are written as Mantras, with the 6 Elements (paths) being: Rishi (researcher approach), Chandas, Devata (deity initiation), Beej (Tantra), Shakti (energy/kundalini), Keelakan (Black Tantra).

The Upanishads are derived from the Vedas. Upanishad means, UIpa (near), ni (down), Shad (sat) – Sitting down near – sitting at the feet of Guru.

There are then 18 Puranas, which are all story based. To simplify the Puranas for the ordinary person, came the Shad Darshanas (6 Philosophies), also known as Sutras: Nyaya, Sankhya, Mimamsa, Vaisesiko, Vedanta and Yoga (the Yog Darshan, Yoga Sutra, was written by Patanjali to bring a coherence to the diverse practices that existed at the time).

The Bhagavad Gita then deals with our inner battle, the Ranayana deals with finding life balance, and the Ravan Samhita concerns itself with Mantra, Tantra, Yantra.

So, the philosophy is rich and varied, resulting in the Tantra and Yoga paths continuously crossing and intermingling. Indeed, it is thought Yoga originated 10-12 thousand years ago with Adi Yogi, the first Yogi (Shiva). This was specific to a select few who gave up everything else in life, called NATH. This is the Tantric path. Part of the Vedic path, noted above, as exemplified by Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, is the researcher, called Rishi, knowing through experience, Beej (Tantra), Shakti (energy/kundalini, which has streams of Tantra and Yoga) and Keelakan (Black Tantra).

This crossing and intermingling has resulted in numerous lineages and orientations, from extreme left to right, non-dualistic to dualistic, sex as something to be shunned, visualised, or practiced, and the mind-body as an illusion to be transcended or as reality to bring our transcendent wisdom to bear on.

All of which can become frustrating to get our heads around.

Bringing it all together

There are numerous paths we can take as an aspiring Tantra Yoga devotee. However, the steps towards becoming a devotee, of whichever path, is fairly well understood, where we shift through various stages of questioning, from the curious to the receptive to the devotional. I can see this reflected in my own journey, from an interest in neo-tantra, to a seeker through classical tantra, to a follower of kundalini tantra yoga, and now as a devotee of tantra yoga.

Two key things that are going to help us on our journey are;

1.    Find the path that feels right ‘for you’, and to stick with it, rather than jumping from one path to another. This does not mean, don’t grow or develop. As you can see from my journey above, it is important we expand and focus our practices, but the basic path stays the same.

2.    To stay open, curious and questioning throughout, without falling into a literalism or fundamentalism about ‘our’ path being the only path, or the right path. It is only the right path for us. This is only too obvious when you see the strife there is around the globe, when people stop seeing with empathetic eyes (the true practice of darshan).

Connect on Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

Message me direct if you are interested in yoga, therapeutic yoga, kundalini tantra yoga, tantra practices, trauma-informed coaching, spiritual coach, gay coach, mindfulness and behavioural coaching, Reiki or stress management robert.pinktantra@gmail.com

See my personal development / personality profiling book DISCover the Power of You published through John Hunt Publishing Ltd, 2017. ISBN: 978-1-78535-591-2

And for those who enjoy historical fiction, stories of underrepresented life’s, see my first novel Fermented Spirits published through Austin Macauley Publishers, 2022. ISBN-13: ‎978-1398437159