To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.religion.tantra,alt.magick.tantra....
From: tyagi@arkaotika.abyss.com (nagasiva)
Subject: Correction Methods: Tantra Old and New (LONG)
Date: 16 Apr 1999 12:56:26 -0700

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    Correction Methods: Tantra Old and New

				by nagasiva, tyagi (c) 1999
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there is more than one parallel between incarceration and
incarnation according to numerous mystics, and this is 
perhaps most obvious when examining the methods used to 
'reform' the individual.

two schools seem to dominate prison metaphysics: Punishment
(for the crime) and Rehabilitation (of the criminal). the first
presupposes that incarceration is a penalty which one must
pay in order to justly compensate for an act committed in
violation of the contract to which each citizen has agreed
in order to remain unconstrained (free).

the second treats prison like a holding cell for the ill of
conscience, whence, sufficiently reformed, they are released
to once again enjoy the liberties afforded those well enough
to remain outside.

the prison system has a parallel in the practice of what is
called 'child-rearing'. the two poles appear to be (often
corporal) punishment: meting out of (sometimes violent) 
penalties in response to misbehaviour, and nurturance:
providing love and support correlative of measure with level 
of misbehaviour. 

the former proceeds from the premise that 'acting out' can 
be corrected through instructional penalty (sometimes 
coupled with positive reinforcement for proper acts -- 
cf. B.F. Skinner and the psychology of 'Behaviourism'). the 
latter integrates the presumption that all children need
is firm guidance, good role models, and sufficient attention
and affection to naturally inspire conformity to civilized
norms. the two sometimes merge or blur in approaches given
names like 'tough love'.


from the perspective of many religious the human life is
quite similar to incarceration or an ethical refinement
process. we are born so as to undergo an ethical litmus
test and be judged fit or unfit for the Final Reward of
entering heaven (spiritual freedom). or perhaps we are
reborn endlessly until reforming ourselves to some
spiritual ideal and escaping the prison of earthly
existence (spiritual confinement).

in the cultures surrounding the term 'tantra' there is
perhaps the widest span of corrective method proposed,
and this may be most clearly indicated by the differences
between traditional Indian tantra yoga and the neotantra 
of America, Europe and the general New Age culture.

yoga has for centuries been associated with severe
austerity, and it is often accompanied by a cosmological
description implying or directly identifying the
individual as an imprisoned aspirant to 'freedom',
'liberation' ('moksa').

this may be contrasted with neotantric notions of reform
which include psychological and/or spiritual restraints
that may be loosened or left behind through pleasurable
and even hedonistic methods.

we are informed that yoga is a science of liberation,
that certain key (often Sanskrit) syllables chanted in
association with bodily postures, hand gestures
and imaginative visualizations yield either a liberating
experience in this life or a release from repeated 
reincarnation in the realm of delusion and matter.

such rich rewards are achieved through ethical action
and yogic purification, purgation. the heroic challenge
of correcting, perfecting, refining the impure natural
raw material of the ordinary human life is the call and
experience of the few and dedicated, those initiated to
the psychospiritual technology made known to us by the
god(s).


this is a much different perspective than may be
presented by neotantrics or mystics who value sexuality
as a means of attaining spiritual and emotional peaks,
encountering the divine, and/or experiencing ecstatic
bliss.

the neotantric may be a complete atheist, describe
tantra not so much in terms of disciplines (or indeed
austerities), and present a cosmology wherein the
result is less an achievement reserved for the elite
than the birthright of all human beings. the
conditioning of society, so important to orientation
and support of the young, may be seen as an egg from
which the tantric aspirant must crawl in order to
reach the depths of authentic experience. for this
not only may discipline and hardship be required, but
the capacity to indulge, enjoy, to accept abandon,
may become a complementing curriculum.

like the child for whom enough love and nurturance
provides incentive to cooperate with parents and
the society into which she is born, the individual
may be seen as a kind of spiritual flower bud, given
incentive to blossom through instruction and
opportunity for intimate and ecstatic exploration.
the ideal may be that those who experience such
transporting bliss will naturally develop a greater
capacity for compassion, charity, the nurturance of
others, and may even find a way to experience 
integration with the cosmos.

these two sides of tantra (which I identify as the 
paths of 'Will' and 'Love' respectively) are easily
compared to the two perspectives presented previously
on correctional facilities and their purpose as well
as on effective child-rearing. there are advocates for
both poles of approach and countless anecdotes in
support of their respective methods and supposed goals.

may those who undertake either learn something from
exposure to the balance.

EOF