Tantrics are wild people with ingenuous tastes, possessing an intense love of freedom of the will. They can be hailed as the predecessors of the hippie movement in America in the sixties, for they have much in common. It is particularly interesting to note that, in the 17th century British-India, when tantrism was extant, the English were horrified to discover such a barbaric practice and tabooed it as a kind of obscene voodoo.
Obsession for the Female FormFor the tantrics, the object of devotion is not the male God, but his wife. They fanatically admire the woman form in all her aspects. The cruder the better. Their frenzy goes to the extent of abasing themselves before motherhood, the apotheosis of womanhood. The tantric devotee yearns for mother to take him on her lap. He craves for the security and warmth of her breasts.
Sex for Nirvana
Tantism upholds the view that the best way of being godlike is to have intense
sex with a woman. Having sex to the point of utter exhaustion can attain nirvana.
While meditating, it is usually the woman's sexual organs that arrest their
concentration, especially when it is combined with the mental picture of penetration.
Gender Bender
One tantric sect believes that every human being has both the male and the
female attributes within. Similarly, gods too have bisexual characteristic.
A representation of Lord Shiva, at the Elephanta Caves, show the right side
of the god being masculine, the left having a female rear and a breast. Another
sect of tantrism opines that the male devotee, to complete himself, must think
of himself as a woman. He should walk like her, talk like her, have her emotions,
and dress like her. Some men, by nature, are more feminine than male and these
are particularly holy. They are of several kinds: the eunuch, hermaphrodite,
the neuter whose sex has dried up and so on. The devotee, in his search for
sexual experience, can try out having sex with such kinds of people.
The orthodox Hindus shun and fear a tantric. He is detested and persecuted by the police, who considered him a charlatan, and an antisocial. Large tantric gatherings are banned. So, very little of it is left in actual practice. Nevertheless, its legacy cannot be ignored.
