03.15.06
Posted in Articles and Essays at 11:57 am by Adityanath
While the International Nath Order is not a Hindu order, many of our members do enjoy the occasional Hindu festival. That being the case, I’d like to share my experience of Holi with our readers.
Atmadevi, our daughter and I attended Holi at the Neem Karoli Baba Ashram in Taos, New Mexico. Holi is a celebration of the coming of Spring and of color. We dropped Atmadevi off early as she took charge of the menu and had to be there to instruct the kitchen crew. When my daughter and I arrived at the temple, there was snow on the ground which, after a warm morning, was finally wet enough to build a snowman.
Next, we proceeded to the dhuni where my daughter helped Nikesha and Chandra Giri who were laying out a colorful yantra using colored rice. Once the yantra was complete, the dhuni walla carefully laid a fire built of juniper branches, wood, incense, and dried flowers on top of the yantra.
Inside the temple, the arti lamp was lit. I blew the conch as the lamp was brought outside to the dhuni. After offering arti (the waving of lamps) to the dhuni, the flaming ghee was shaken into the dhuni to start the fire.
The children had mixed the remaining colored rice and had drawn symbols and the name of Hanuman in colored rice on the surface of the rice in the bowls. Everyone took rice from these bowls to make offerings of color by throwing and sprinkling rice on each other’s heads.
Next there was chanting of the Hanuman Chalisa and mantras in the temple. The prasad was blessed and taken into the kitchen where dinner was served. As the chanting continued in the temple, some people went to eat, while others chanted in shifts. After a long day, we went home tired but happy.
Peace, Freedom & Happiness,
Adityanath
(Photos by Ram Rani used with her kind permission)
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03.02.06
Posted in Articles and Essays at 4:56 pm by Adityanath
In the context of the International Nath Order, it is important to understand that what we study, practice and teach is Tantra and not Neo-Tantra.
Neo-tantra (see the Wikipedia article) is nearly always used as a synonym for sacred sexuality. While neo-tantra may use many of the same terms and concepts as tantra, it discards some of the most central elements of traditional tantra. In doing so, it inverts the very process by which tantra works and devolves simply into an exotic form of sex therapy. Typically, the Kama Sutra and/or Ananga Ranga are referenced and even referred to as “Tantras.” In actuality, these works are simply sutras on love and sex and are unrelated to the traditional Tantras.
The central features of traditional tantra are Guru transmission and ritual discipline. The practitioner cultivates the spirit and works to dissolve the Five Kleshas leading to spiritual development, Divine Awakening, and a deepening relationship with space and energy or Shakti. Only once that relationship is established can sexual union be integrated into the practice with any hope of a spiritual result. As Shri Kapilnath related in a previous post,
“The Yogi unites with his Shakti before he unites with his Shakti.”
Neo-tantra, on the other hand, typically represents that the sexual act itself is the practice by which one may elevate oneself to a higher spiritual plane. The question naturally arises that if this is the case, why isn’t everyone enlightened? The answer, of course, is that we must somehow be doing it wrong. Thus does neo-tantra descend into the teaching of a set of techniques for achieving better sex or more and better orgasms. Candles and incense assume an exaggerated importance, and the right background music is a must. Of course, the teachers of this creative art form are very important people and fees for workshops and private sessions typically run from $150 to $250 an hour or more.
It may well be that some people do need these remedial sexual therapy sessions, but it is misleading to call it tantra and thus the doublespeak term neo-tantra was born. It’s not tantra, but everyone pretends that it is, and thus the money continues to flow and make the neo-tantric world go ’round.
Peace, Freedom & Happiness,
Adityanath
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While the International Nath Order is not a Hindu order, many of our members do enjoy the occasional Hindu festival. That being the case, I’d like to share my experience of Holi with our readers.
Next, we proceeded to the dhuni where my daughter helped Nikesha and Chandra Giri who were laying out a colorful yantra using colored rice. Once the yantra was complete, the dhuni walla carefully laid a fire built of juniper branches, wood, incense, and dried flowers on top of the yantra.
The children had mixed the remaining colored rice and had drawn symbols and the name of Hanuman in colored rice on the surface of the rice in the bowls. Everyone took rice from these bowls to make offerings of color by throwing and sprinkling rice on each other’s heads.