TOOLS: MANTRAS AND YANTRAS
Mantras are sacred sounds chanted by the adept to bring them into alignment with the energies of the cosmos. The famous mantra om is considered to be the sound of the universe humming. It is only when we have cleared our subtle body enough, and are able to enter states of deep meditation, that we can hear this spontaneous vibration of the universe, which is always resonating with energy.
Mantras – words of power
Seed syllables, which create the appropriate spiritual intention:
| Aim | seed syllable identifying self with teacher |
| Hrim | seed syllable of shakti |
| Klim | seed of desire |
| Krim | seed of union |
| Shrim | seed of delight |
| Trim | seed of fire |
| Strim | seed of peace |
| Hlim | seed of protection |
Another series of sacred sounds, associated with the chakras:
| Lam | base chakra (muladhara) |
| Vam | sacrum (svadhisthana) |
| Ram | solar plexus (manipura) |
| Yam | heart chakra (anahata) |
| Ham | throat chakra (vissudha) |
| Om | brow chakra (ajna) |
Mandala is Sanskrit for circle. It describes the outdoor earthen platform used for rituals, as well as being a generic term for a ritual space, and a gathering of yogis. Mandala also refers to the yoni in Tantric usage, which means an enclosed sacred space as well as the female genitals.
Mandalas are used for the ritual in which a spiritual teacher assigns a mantra (sacred sound) to her or his student. Traditionally, the teacher designs a mandala with four gates in each direction, made with coloured powders. The teacher invests the mandala with sacred power through purification practices, mantra recitation, and the visualization of deities inside the mandala. Within this space the student receives his spiritual instruction about which mantras to use for invoking deities. Traditionally, the reciting of mantras is thought to be worthless without having had some sort of initiation ritual to empower the power word.
Yantras are more simple geometric designs, which represent the energies of a particular deity. They are drawn out on the ground in sand or flour, or drawn on paper or wood, or engraved into metal. Geometric symbols such as squares or triangles are drawn within four gates surrounded by a circle of lotus petals. The dot in the centre is called a bindu, or energy spot. It represents the matrix of creation, which is the source of the yantra’s power.
Yantras and mandalas are visual representations of inner and outer energy processes in geometric form. They are used in meditation to help the meditator align themselves with appropriate energy flows.
The famous shri yantra, used on the cover of this book, is dedicated to a form of the goddess, Tripura Sundari. The design is made of five downward pointing triangles, which represent Shakti energy, and four upward pointing triangles, which symbolize Shiva energy. Where they intersect they form 43 small triangles, or yonis. This is encircled by 29 mother deities, then another sixteen. Another circle of 16 lunar energies surrounds these, then sixteen lotus petals, symbol of transformation, containing more deities. The central energy point or bindu, represents Shakti power, which is the locus of bliss.
Ritual sexual postures are also called yantras, because they create an energy field through the different energy centres in the body. They unite the energy centres of one body with the energy centres of the partner.
Mudra usually refers to a ritual gesture: a gesture using the hands which invokes the presence of a deity. It also refers to the toasted kidney beans that are used as an aphrodisiac in Tantric rituals, and in Tantric Buddhism actually refers to the female partner in couple rituals (maithuna).
Mudras are thought of as seals. They help the practitioner identify with the deity and then seal those energies in the body. The ‘yoni-mudra’ is a classic gesture for the goddess, in which the fingers are interlaced with each other. There are seals for producing amrita, the ambrosial nectar of bliss, and others for enhancing meditation states. For instance, the ‘seal of wisdom’ is used while sitting in the ‘lotus’ or ‘hero’ posture for meditation, to focus and concentrate meditation.
Daniel Odier (author of Tantric Quest): The phallus of Shiva is erect because it is raised to full consciousness, and in full consciousness it penetrates the universe. The vulva of Shakti is open because in full consciousness she lets the universe penetrate her … At the core of their mutual penetration supreme consciousness reigns.
Graphic images and sculptured representations of genitals are worshipped as symbols for the female and male energies that together make up existence.
Yoni is a sanskrit word for the vagina that connotes sacred space or sanctum. In Tantra, the yoni is worshipped with love and respect, as the gateway to a direct experience of the divine, as well as the source of universal bliss. Yoni essence is drunk by Tantrics. At a famous temple in Assam, where in one myth the goddess’s yoni fell to earth, spring water comes through a cleft in the rock. In summer, red oxide colours the water red, and this water is drunk in honour of the menstruation of the goddess.
The lotus is another symbol for women’s genitals, which is drawn around the edge of yantras, visualization aids. The symbol for the yoni is a triangle, encircled by 16 lotus petals. Lotus petals are often visualized in the location of chakra energy centres (see here) – they represent the harmonious unfolding of enlightenment. The place associated with enlightenment at the crown of the body map of energy is depicted as a thousand-petal lotus, representing the full flowering of the individual into enlightenment.
For yoni worship the vulva of a woman, or a sculpted representation of a yoni is worshipped.
Lingam is the sanskrit term for phallus, and it’s always depicted erect. The erect lingam represents the focussed awareness of consciousness. According to writer Nik Douglas, it also stands for the universe in a state of excitement – in response to the tantalizing play of dynamic Shakti energy. The phallus has long been worshipped as a