Tantra has the flawed reputation as a belief system based entirely on the physical desire for sex. While intimacy does play an important energetic role in Tantric spirituality, this belief system equally emphasizes the power of meditation, visualization, yoga, and mantra to achieve enlightenment and worldly insight. Aspects of Tantra are present throughout numerous cultures and belief systems including Hinduism, Buddhism, Esoterism, and New Age philosophies. It’s believed that the mysterious tradition of Tantric Buddhism, or Vajrayana, was founded by an even more mystifying group of nomadic and magickal yogis known as the Mahasiddhas.
The Mahasiddhas lived in the wild outdoors of northern India and the Himalayan mountains. There are conflicting opinions over when they first inhabited the area, but historians agree that it was before 1200 CE. Although Vajrayana is a branch of Buddhism, Mahasiddhas do not agree on major Buddhist fundamentals such as the denouncing of worldly desire to free the soul of suffering. In fact, there are theories that suggest Vajrayana may have evolved from the Mahasiddhas’ desire to reject the traditional monastic Buddhist practices of the time.
These traveling yogis celebrated the bodily pleasures of life through frequent parties, feasts, sex, magick, and extended periods of meditation. The ritual celebrations were often filled with alcohol, dancing, singing, and chanting. Mahasiddhas did not concern themselves with strict morals or worry about the afterlife, instead they enjoyed all that life could offer in the mindful present. Despite appearances, the purpose of these rituals wasn’t simply to satiate physical desire, Mahasiddhas were powerful manifesters who used the divine energy generated from their practices to realize their inner spiritual powers and magickal abilities. These magickal powers were called Siddhis and included clairvoyance, the ability to fly, and powerful visualization techniques that could influence the future.
At first glance, Vajrayana and traditional Buddhist values may appear to be complete opposites, but both belief systems believe in the importance of breathwork, movement, and meditation to generate and shift the energy within the body. The wandering yogi and the moral monk also share another powerful similarity: the shared spiritual objective of awakening the soul. This objective is known as Buddahood, a sense of pure enlightenment that all awakened Buddhist practitioners experience. Today people choose to connect with Tantric Buddhism because it’s rumored to be the most effective path to enlightenment and the one that Buddha himself followed. Those who are drawn to Vajrayana may wish to deepen their spiritual connection through working with the energy of mandalas, one of the Mahasiddhas’ essential spiritual tools.
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