Tools for Tantra

EASTERN PHILOSOPHY / RELIGION Tantra is a holistic approach to the study of the universal from the point of view of the individual. It draws on all the sciences to provide a practical means of realizing the highest ideals of philosophy in daily life. Tantric yantras are precise geometric forms that have been used for centuries as tools for self-realization and the attainment of mystical powers. Until recently the actual forms and colors of yantras, as well as their practical and spiritual applications, were largely lost to the modern world. Harish Johari, accomplished artist, sculptor, Tantric practitioner and scholar, traveled throughout India in search of ancient examples of the primordial yantras. In Tools for Tantra he has re-created their exact colors and proportions along with step-by-step instructions for the accurate construction, coloring, and use of yantras. Traditional Hindu practices associated with yantras are also fully elaborated; among these are meditation and visualization techniques, as well as methods of attuning with bodily, seasonal, and astrological cycles. A physiological understanding of these disciplines and their effects on the central nervous system is discussed in detail, reaffirming the link between the Eastern Tantric explanation of phenomena and the evidence presented by Western scientific research. Johari also includes a full description of authentic Tantric ritual as a tool for attuning with the worlds of symbol and nature. The combined powers of ritual, yantras, and the other practices delineated by the author enable us to go beyond the normal framework of consciousness to an altered state in which the experience of Tantra can be realized. The cover painting by Harish Johari depicts the dance of the eternal pair of opposites: Shiva (the male principle) and Shakti (the female principle). Shown here in the Himalayan dress of the Kirat tribe, their dance creates the primal movement and the beginning of evolution.