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Tantra: The Extreme Dangers of the “Path of Power”

tantra textQ: You have written that Tantra is dangerous, having seen half a century of people harmed by it. Could you expand on this? Why is it dangerous? Which practices for example are dangerous? How was it harmful in your observation?

The “path of power” is always dangerous, whether yogic or occult/esoteric. Our nature is consciousness, not shakti, and obsession with and cultivation of shakti leads to delusion.

But the ego, being energy itself, naturally loves it because it will increase the ego and eclipse the Self whose realization puts an end to our involvement in prakriti and the various worlds formed of it. One former Christian (Franciscan) monk who had become deeply involved in a tantric/occult tradition told me: “I feel like I am dying inside.” And he was. There was no way to help him because he was deeply enmeshed in his self-disintegration. It pleased his ego.

The difference between Yoga and Tantra

Tantra is not Yoga, though of course it seems to be so since they appear to have elements in common. But they are opposites, for Tantra is involved with shakti and Yoga deals with consciousness (chaitanya) alone. For example, they both work with mantra and breath. But the mantras and the breath modes are completely different because they do not at all have the same purpose. They are two different paths and do not lead to the same result.

It is the nature of Tantra to alter the configurations of the subtle bodies and the mind rather than to resolve the awareness into Self-awareness. Oh, of course tantrics talk about realization, but it is only talk. Sincerity on their part in no way protects them from the harm they inflict on themselves ignorantly.

Tantric distortion

Just as there are drugs that so distort the mind that the addict is not even aware of the distortions until the drug wears off, so tantric practices do the same. I have met people who lived on the edge of mental collapse from the practices given them by a tantric guru. (Suicide is not unknown among such people.)

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9 Obstacles to Yoga Meditation You Need to Overcome

The following is an excerpt from Abbot George’s soon-to-be-published Commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Yoga Sutra I:30. Disease [vyadhi], languor [styana], doubt [samshaya], carelessness [pramada], laziness [alasya], worldly-mindedness [avirati], delusion [bhranti-darshana], non-achievement of a stage [alabdhabhumikatva], instability [anavashtitatvani], these (nine) cause the distraction … Continue reading

How You Can Overcome Negativity by an Effective Positive Attitude

Blessing evil spirit with a positive attitudePart 3 of Demons and Dunces (See Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.)

Positive attitude

Always remember that the positive expels the negative and do not fear or feel animosity for the spirits, for fear and hatred attract evil. Many of the exorcism prayers for both Eastern and Western Christianity are ridiculously negative and even hateful, and can prolong the disturbance and even guarantee its continuation.

Furthermore, a psychotic individual pretending to be possessed by spirits and undergoing such exorcism is capable of producing all kinds of phenomena that read like the best of horror stories. I have witnessed this nonsense myself. Here, too, sincerity on the part of the exorcist is no safeguard.

Blessing

Blessing is usually the best form of exorcism. I have seen possessed and obsessed people freed quickly and easily (and without drama) by such means. On occasion I have found that praying for an entity can benefit it. This is because some spirits actually come for help, but at the same time their deep negativity may impel them to be hostile and threatening–they cannot help themselves.

Do not let spirits fool you by pretending they need you to keep on “helping” them by praying and suchlike. This is just a way to tie you to them. If something does not get rid of them right away, then another approach is needed.

Evil spirits come for help

One of Swami Sivananda’s disciples told me that in an Indian scripture it is written that once many evil spirits came to Brahma the Creator and asked how they could be delivered from their negative condition, for their evil rendered them unable to help themselves. Brahma told them to seek out true yogis and sadhakas and stay near them and in time they would be freed.

In India I have been in some ashrams and holy places that were incredibly haunted by such spirits.

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