TANTRA

[Anonymous No.19482715]

As of lately, I've been getting interested in tantric practices and lineages. I have ordered "Tantra Illuminated" since someone here recommended it as a good introduction.
I've also ordered Tantric Physics Vol. I - II by Craig Williams. Anyone familiar with his works?

Any more recs? I guess this thread could be used as general discussion on tantra too.

[Anonymous No.19482751]

>>19482715
Read The Yoga of Power by Evola.

[Anonymous No.19482919]

>>19482715
Thoughts on Aghora: At the Lefthand of God?

[Anonymous No.19483532]

>>19482919
I already read the whole series. I thought it was great, easy-read and funny. Lot's of little gems of insight sprinkled all over the series. It kindled my interest in tantra.
I enjoyed them so much that I bought the author's other works about Ayurveda, Jyotisha and Vastu.
Have you read them?
>>19482751
I have it. But I didn't find it really enlightening, didn't really provide me with any new knowledge or insights. Neither do I enjoy Evola's way of writing to be honest. He takes a lot of unnecessary time to make his points.
I haven't read in it in a couple of years, so maybe I should pick it up again and give it a try?

[Anonymous No.19483572]

>>19483532
Yes, give it a try again. Translating from italian to english is often weird. Read it slowly and see if it matches or make sense with your newfound experiences and knowledge.
I can't speak for Tantra, but his book on buddhism is marvelous. I found the Yoga of Power a bit weak too, but maybe it's from my lack of experience and understanding of tantra (that i never practiced)

[Anonymous No.19483621]

>>19483572
>Translating from italian to english is often weird
Seems like I should have taken my Italian classes more seriously in high school :)

Is his book on Buddhism about tantric Buddhism, like Vajrayana?

[Anonymous No.19483640]

>>19483621
His work on buddhism is about every kind of buddhism. It's a very good book, but the yoga of power talks about Vajrayana more.
I'm only reccomending you the YoP because I assume that if his book on buddhism was a 10/10, then maybe he has interesting things to say about Tantra too.
But maybe he was an expert in buddhism and not so much in tantra. That's too is possible. Anyway, I think you will get at least something of value by rereading it now.

[Anonymous No.19483648]

>>19483532
I've just begun reading the first book. It's shocked me not just with its rituals but the humor and frankness you touched upon. At times I feel like I'm reading a book on esoteric things and at other times it feels very grounded and almost actively trying to not be what I expected. That said, one thing clear is that Aghora Vimalananda does not what the reader to half-ass their practice. The left hand path is not for me or for most, so I'm left wondering if I should continue reading or look for different, more tame, methods of spiritual development. I don't think I have the resolve to walk down his path. Since you've read all of them, can I ask what kept you going? I assume you aren't engaging in left hand rituals so how did the books help your development?

[Anonymous No.19483722]

>>19483640
Thanks mate, appreciate it.
>>19483648
The first book is actually the most morbid and shocking.
If I remember it all correctly, I think that's what Vimalanada asked of Robert before he wrote.
Too deter weak-stomached people away that didn't live up too the requirements.
It has a lot of foul language for the very same reason, Vimalanda hated spiritual goody-two-shoes.
The longer you venture into the series, the more you understand the Aghori mindset of succeeding or dying while trying. To be as soft as wax or as hard as diamonds when the situation requires it. Too see the divinity in every act and passage of life, no discrimination. It's the logical conclusion of non-duality for an Aghori.

My favorite one is the last book about Karma, I have never read such a thorough explanation of it's nature and implications.
There's a lot less focus on eating brains and excrement when you get past the first book, lol.
Right-handed tantra is also being explained, how to change the sacraments in the rituals from meat to grains, how to do fire-worship etc.
The books are also filled with esoteric explanations of myths like the Ramayana, which really resonated with me.

Here is Vimalananda singing, apparently he was a polymath, exceeding in many different fields:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8sp37178Uc&t=42s

[Anonymous No.19483749]

>>19483722
Thank you for your response anon, I'll probably continue reading the series now. You've especially piqued my interest with the book on Karma. Much of the religious experiences I've had have come to me inexplicably, either in the shape of a image in my head or a dream. Has tantric practice or reading the books improved your connection to the divine? I'm completely untrained. When I was a teenager I was completely skeptical of anything non scientific. But as I've grown older the more I feel myself being drawn to Hindu ideas and feelings.

[Anonymous No.19483930]

>>19483749
>Has tantric practice or reading the books improved your connection to the divine?
I'm not a practitioner of tantra as of yet. I want to be initiated by a guru from a proper lineage first. For the meantime I'm trying to consume as much literature as possible about eastern religion in large, the different sects, philosophies and myths.
The books gave me a thirst for a deeper understanding of Hinduism. Which I truthfully didn't have a good grasp on before, so it was quite painful to get through all the new terminology introduced.
But I kept on reading and after I was done I surprisingly found out that I could pick up almost any text relating to hindu thought and have a good grasp of it's meaning.
It reaffirmed a lot of the metaphysical insights I gained while dabbling with psychedelics, which only made me more intrigued.

As of now I try to cultivate my bhakti/devotion, chant mantras, sing songs for the gods and hatha yoga. I'm quite content in waiting some more years before venturing into tantric practices.

[Anonymous No.19484283]

>>19482751

Evola was never initiated into any tantric system, so his views on the subject are really shallow

[Anonymous No.19484585]

>>19484283
Guenon and Evola disagreed on the importance of initiation if I remeber it right.
Was Evola initiated into any tradition?

[Anonymous No.19484703]

Summoning resident Tantrafag Frater Anselm.
>>19483532
>Neither do I enjoy Evola's way of writing to be honest.
Not that anon, but personally I found Yoga of Power to be his driest book.

[Anonymous No.19484822]

>>19484585
If you think 'Sufi of Rome' is true, then yes. If not, then no

[Anonymous No.19484943]

Tantra Illuminated is good.

The other popular intro is Path of Ecstasy which is more Buddhist.

I have not read Tantric Physics but enjoyed Craig's other more occult works.

Aghori is awesome! This may sound weird but Kali Kaula by Jan Fries is quite good albeit occult influenced.

The big bad boy is abhinavagupta and tantrasara and tantraloka. Most translations are shit tho. Waiting on a critical edition myself.

Have you read the Yoga Sutras? Tangential but quite good

Jaidev Singh has translations of core tantric texts. I like bhairava a lot. Shiva sutras are also good.

David Gordon White is controversial but nice if you like alchemy

SUNY has some series on Shaivisn too which I have heard good things on

[Anonymous No.19486244]

>>19484703
Evola is overrated on all topicsa8td

[Anonymous No.19486297]

>>19486244
No, he's really not.

[Anonymous No.19486339]

>>19482715
>As of lately, I've been getting interested in tantric practices
I hate rootless cosmopolitans so much, bros

[Anonymous No.19486353]

>>19486339
Ah yes, retvrn to your trans-positive Methodist roots.

[Anonymous No.19486492]

>>19486353
Still thy tongue, heresiarch

[Anonymous No.19486499]

>>19486492
My mistake.
Retvrn to your trans-positive Novus Ordo mass.

[Anonymous No.19487459]

Bump

[Anonymous No.19488478]

>>19484943
Thanks for all the recommendations my man! I have not read the Yoga Sutras yet, which is the best translation? I enjoyed the little I have read in Kali Kaula, but I'm more interested in something.. traditional I guess?
>The big bad boy is abhinavagupta and tantrasara and tantraloka
I have some books from the Lakshmanjoo academy like Paramarthasara of Abhinavagupta, Shiva Sutras and "Kashmir Shaivism: The Secret Supreme".
The actual texts referenced are great, but I can't bring my self to enjoy the transcripts from his seminars with the students.
I'm pretty interested in Kashmir Shaivism so I'm currently reading the doctrine of vibration by Mark Dyczkowsk, which is a lot more interesting.
After that I'm going to read The Aphorisms of Siva and The Triadic Heart of Siva by Paul E. Muller-Ortega, are you familiar with his works?

[Anonymous No.19488496]

>>19482715
Tantra leads to transgenderism

[Anonymous No.19488590]

>>19482715
>Any more recs?
The books of Douglas Renfrew Brooks are what you should get if you want to learn about and read some of the texts of Sri Vidya Shakta tantrism

[Frater Asemlen !XS8vrClKs2 No.19489144]

>>19482715
Haven’t read tantrik physics because with a title like that I immediately discount it, tantra illuminated isn’t bad though the author’s writing style is pretty rough, a lot of the voices of these western tantrik writers are horrible. My reading list is the following.

Shiva Sutras
Shiva Samhita
(Optional=abhinavagupta commentary of the gita)
Bhairava tantra (112 meditations )
The secret supreme:Kashmir shivaism (very simplified but still good.)
Kali Kaula(skip if you don’t want Neo-tantra+ historical analysis of tantra and its relations to stuff like Taoism and the general arising of Vedanta and Buddhism from the Upanishads and other such )
Tantra Illuminated (Skip if you don’t want modern lit)
Kaulajnananirnaya
Kularnava Tantra
Anandalahare
Matrikabheda Tantra
Spandakarikas
Paratrisikavivirana
Tantraloka (You can also read when you feel up to it the Tantrasara which is a condensed normie friendly version of the tantraloka written by abhinavagupta to give people a tldr)

The lower on the list it is, the harder it is.

>>19482751
It’s not a good introduction, you’ll find in evola a lot of things incorrect due to sources available at the time, for example the 7 chakra model isn’t even the common/shilled tantrik model but he shills it. Then the specifics of kundali the goddess, kalas, from my memory lack of elaboration on the mahavidyas and just in general a pretty weak take on the various yogic methods. He shouldn’t be your intro.

>>19482919
I read him, he’s mid-tier at best, mixes tantra with some new age and folk appealing junk which you won’t find in more hardcore manuals, though he will explain pretty well certain symbolism like the charnel fire.

>>19483532
I’m a dry dude desu, while it’s good he introduced you I much prefer primary sources when available.

>>19484943
There’s some good tantrik commentaries on the yoga sutras, definitely worth the read, I’m a lover of singh’s work but I would also shill Boris Marjanovic in general and his tantrasara is very good, depuche is also worth the read.

The Gautam Chatterjee and Satya Prakash Singh work on the tantraloka I highly shill.

>>19488478
Mark is pretty good and I’m a big fan of the triadic heart of shiva, Jan fries in kali Kaula is again an annoying author who gives good information. Definitely read the yoga sutras.

[Anonymous No.19489371]

>>19484943
>>The other popular intro is Path of Ecstasy which is more Buddhist.
impossible, tantras are not compatible with buddhism, like all the other things invented by hindus.

>>19483722
>>My favorite one is the last book about Karma,
>>19483749
Reminder that according to hindus' retardation, bad karma can be cleaned by literally splashing water on one's body.

>>19482751
>>19483621
Evola is pretty weak on buddhism.

[Anonymous No.19489612]

>>19489371
this guy has never heard of tantric buddhism lol

[Anonymous No.19489644]

>>19486339
I am (genetically) part of the most ancient christian ethnic community in the world but I'm interested in eastern religion anyway