HOLOGRAPHIC MIND and the Tantra Magic of Live Mantra - Chapter 2 by Edmond Chouinard copyright 1995 registered 1995 by Edmond Chouinard Metaphysical Measurements Inc - to expand measurement techniques on mind-matter inter-relationships - - to build a physical model to unveil psychic and religious experiences - 485 River Avenue Providence, Rhode Island 02908 USA TEL: 401/273-6222 FAX: 401/273-6267 E-MAIL: EdMeasure@aol.com Free download of book entitled "HOLOGRAPHIC MIND and the Tantra Magic of Live Mantra" 7.04 In return I ask for comment, either on open News Group or by private E-Mail. Download address for each of the 7 Chapters and this Overview: http://members.aol.com/edmeasure or ftp://members.aol.com/edmeasure Chapters of HOLOGRAPHIC MIND (to be individually downloaded) b0outlin.rtf - Overview - Introduction and Overview Summary b1mantra.rtf - Chapter 1 - The Floating Magic of Live Mantra b2tantra.rtf - Chapter 2 - Roving Mind among the Tattvas of Tantra b3psychi.rtf - Chapter 3 - Psychic Visions and Mystical Experiences b4tminit.rtf - Chapter 4 - Veda and its Potent Tradition of Masters b5invoca.rtf - Chapter 5 - Miraculous Power of Invocation & Hypnosis b6jesus.rtf - Chapter 6 - The Word of Jesus and Walking on Water b7model.rtf - Chapter 7 - A Holographic Model of Man in the World Roving Mind among the Tattvas of Tantra - 2 TANTRA - TATTVAS Tantra describes different states of consciousness available to us and articulates some practical techniques to rouse such states to awareness. Tantra is concerned with the transformations of life energy both in the body and throughout the universe. Tantra expresses the way of being, which ultimately is both a description and methodology of the flow of sakti energy. Tantra, therefore, is inevitably concerned with the forces of love and sex. Because of perpetually ongoing taboos concerning sex, much of the historical material on tantra has managed to be suppressed, misinterpreted, purposefully camouflaged, or lost. At best, the available literatures are confusing, often unintelligible, or even self-contradictory. This treatise certainly does not claim to have sorted out all of the enigmas and paradoxes inherent in tantra, but enough is known to get started in a real, practical way. Tantra develops a classification of stratified layers of existence called the tattvas. Tantra portrays an abstract model of the universe on a scale unparalleled in breadth and scope by any other known theoretical scheme describing creation and evolution. We here present a single extrapolation of some aspects of tantra that is reasonably consistent with all the ancient texts cited in the bibliography and which is coherently meaningful in terms of psychic experiences and the other associated concepts discussed in the following chapters. Some might say that tantra is mythological in abstract speculation, but after its abstractions become known a bit, other esoteric philosophies and religious structures fall out as subsets. TANTRA - MODEL OF CREATION Tantra is the framework under which live mantra operates. Live mantra can have meaning only when it fits into the scheme of things in the rest of creation. Capturing live mantra with physical measuring instruments is a challenge that few scientist yet want to undertake, mostly because there is no theoretical model and no suitable definitions. Toward this end, we commence to build an extended model of creation from this ancient model of tantra that includes the ingredients and perspectives of both science and the metaphysical community, simultaneously. We begin by dissecting and analyzing its ideas and then superimposing a best fit physical model which shows consistency with holographic concepts and modern theoretical physics. We simultaneously start developing a technical vocabulary to describe live mantra in terms of physical ideas that are also compatible with modern instrumentation techniques. We look for a theoretical framework where religion and science can thrive together, where psychics and physicists can become enthralled with each others' complimentary perspectives! We look forward to an evolved scientific community where the psychic will not have to remain shrouded in a world of secrecy and seclusion because of the bizarre phenomena experienced, which at best are regarded as "strange anomalies" or simply as worthless "anecdotal" stories by the scientific community. Indeed, consciousness is nothing but a continuing series of "anecdotal" events! TATTVAS - 36 LAYERS OF EXISTENCE The following tattvas describe 36 states of reality that either are known or can become known to consciousness. The tattvas are expressions conveying the whole range of possibilities of conscious awareness that are considered to form man and the universe, from the core hardness of the physical elements to the sparse abstract subtleties of pure creation. The 36 tattvas are listed by number on the following page. THE 36 TATTVAS A - unity consciousness - sƒntyƒtita-kalƒ - pure existence beyond the realm of peace 1 siva: the ultimate basis of existence and the phenomenal cause of subtle sound 2 sakti - nƒda: liveliness and power from the first movements of subtle sound domain of sat-cit-ƒnanda being-consciousness-bliss B - god consciousness - santa-kalƒ - peace and bliss in creative transcendental reality 3 sadƒsiva - bindu: reverberations of creation (icchƒ - desire) - brahma - father 4 Œsvara - nƒda: live, vibrant sounding of the lord (kriya - commotion) - visnu - son 5 suddhavidyƒ - bŒja: seed resonances (j¤ƒna - knowing) - mahesvara - holy spirit live mantra = bindu-nƒda-bŒja = kƒmakalƒ the spontaneous, irresistible flowing of love C - causal body - vidyƒ-kalƒ - the rousing emergence of selective, subtle knowledge 6 mƒyƒ - illusion 7 kƒla - time 8 kalƒ - space 9 vidyƒ - knowledge 10 niyati - order 11 rƒga - desire 12 purusa - spirit, soul D - subtle body - pratisthƒ-kalƒ (ƒtman-self) 13 prakrti and citta - matter and mind sattva, rƒja, tamas - the 3 gunas 14 ahamkƒra - ego and mind 15 buddhi - awareness and mind tanmƒtras - the 5 subtle senses 16 sabda - hearing 17 sparsa - touching 18 r–pa - seeing 19 rasa - tasting 20 gandha - smelling E - physical world - nivrtti-kalƒ mƒhabhutas - the 5 physical elements 21 ƒkƒsa - space 22 vƒyu - air 23 tejas - fire 24 jala - water 25 prthivŒ - earth F - physical body - sarŒram-kalƒ 26 manas - brain j¤ƒnendriyas - the 5 physical senses 27 srotra - ears 28 tvak - skin 29 caksus - eyes 30 jihvƒ - tongue 31 nƒsƒ - nose karmendriyas - the 5 action vehicles 32 vƒk - speech 33 pƒni - hands 34 pƒda - feet 35 pƒyu - anus 36 upastha - sex organs In contrast with physics, tantra puts forward a cosmology which jointly considers mankind and the surrounding world. Man exists with the world and the world exists with man. The contents of tantra contain a spectrum of realities which simultaneously exist in a never ending, dancing interplay. Our concern is discovering the modes of communication between the tattvas, for that defines the flow of life. For reasons that will continue becoming more obvious, the 36 tattvas are broken down into 6 sections which may be grouped into 3 ideas to correspond, roughly, to western religious delineations. Sections A and B together might be referenced as a universal potency or simply as god, sections C and D usually reference the more elusive self, the soul perhaps, and sections E and F references the well known physical universe, as follows: A - unity consciousness B - god consciousness C - causal body D - subtle body E - physical world F - physical body A & B - universal potency C & D - elusive self-soul E & F - physical universe However, most scientists, medical doctors and all others having less or no religious inclinations and having no definitive experiences into higher states of consciousness would include all of section D directly with the physical body of section F, which of course includes section E. Section D is the domain of present day psychology and of the many communication sciences of cognitive and artificial intelligences, all of which are fundamentally based on or around the mind and physical brain. Sections A, B, and C might together still be thought of as some sort of universal potency or energy, if considered to be existing at all, as follows: A - unity consciousness B - god consciousness C - causal body D - subtle body E - physical world F - physical body A, B & C - metaphysical world if existent at all D, E & F - physical world and the physical body Regardless of personal beliefs, we can uniformly agree that sections E and F (tattvas 21 through 36) depict well known aspects of the physical world and the physical body. Indeed, relative to sophisticated modern science, these categories are not only quite familiar but they would seem overly simplistic as here depicted. However, the style chosen by the ancients for categorization of the tattvas is still most useful for our continuing descriptions and analysis. Our prime concern is to develop a model to depict the communication mechanisms between the tattvas which can simultaneously explain a host of extraordinary metaphysical anomalies that have been experienced since the beginning of time, while still complying with the physical world of modern science. We will be particularly concerned with the interrelationships across sections D and E (between mind and matter) and across sections D and F (between mind and body). The tattvas are progressively numbered according to increasing levels of density and condensation, more or less. We shall progressively analyze these tattvas with more of the tools and vocabulary of the physicist. Siva in #1 position is so abstruse and ethereal that we may never really get to know it (him or her) while there is no one who is not aware of the solid mass of the earth in #25 position of the physical world and of sex in #36 position of the physical body. We begin from the top at section A. A - UNITY CONSCIOUSNESS - sƒntyƒtita-kalƒ - pure existence beyond the realm of peace Section A, unity consciousness, is concerned with the fundamental basis of existence in a rarefied atmosphere that is even beyond god consciousness, where only a vague idea of creation is alive. This section is concerned with the Vedic notions of siva and sakti, the domain of sat-cit-ƒnanda, where only being, consciousness, and bliss exist. Pure existence is only interrupted by the potential urge to move, sakti. This sakti is the source of all energy and power in creation, yet it simultaneously exists in harmony with the ultimate peace of siva. This siva-sakti duality will further expand into a triad of activities in god consciousness. 1 siva: the ultimate basis of existence and the phenomenal cause of subtle sound. All of creation has its source in siva. Siva and sakti are dual aspects of the same thing. Siva is that void of apparent nothingness which is yet the fullness of everything, or equivalently, the fullness of all creation finds itself located within the emptiness of the void. Siva is the most abstract and rarefied reality existent. Siva is known by its twin aspect, sakti, the first dispelling of movement and sound. The vacuum state of outer space is similarly described by modern physics. Out of the apparent void is the potentiality for everything. 2 sakti - nƒda: liveliness and power from the first movements of subtle sound. Sakti is the spontaneous appearance of energy, the subtle sounds of nƒda, out of the void of siva. A slight movement arises, a transformation occurs from the hardly discernible reality, siva, to a barely more perceptible form, sakti. The two exist together. One does not exist without the other, like two sides of a coin. A formation of energy springs from the void, like the spontaneous creation of a particle with its anti-particle, out of "nothing" (though of course, actually "everything"). Siva-sakti space is called sat-cit-ƒnanda, being-consciousness-bliss. The three exist together. The three are one. This is that supreme state of all states of human consciousness which is referred to as the end goal of life's activities, where only the most rarefied realities exists, the unsurpassed thrill of ecstasy. This ultimate ecstasy is experienced as pure existence beyond the realm of peace, sƒntyƒtita-kalƒ. Kalƒ means a portion of infinity and is here associated with various energy transformations involved in the different states of existence. A state of existence is only known by comparison with another state of existence. Two such states must communicate with each other and from physics we know that this involves an energy transformation. We make the assumption that such siva-sakti energy transformations are by means of light photons, but of extremely high frequencies and of imperceptibly small wavelengths, which is why they have not yet been seen with the measuring sensors of physics. More specifically, we shall assume that the siva-sakti photon's wavelength, as it exists in unity consciousness, is of the order of 10*-33 centimeters (where 10*-33 here means 10 raised to the -33 power), called a Planck length, which is that dimension of pure vacuum state where random quantum turbulence first becomes noticeable. We shall be using this very important physical dimension again, as energy transformations associated with different states of existence are persistently reoccurring themes throughout the tantras. This dimension is of particular interest for expanding a more quantitative, scientific vocabulary which can eventually be used in making physical measurements of this divine sakti. SAKTI - YOUTHFUL INNOCENCE "The divine power (sakti) of desire is the splendor of youthful innocence." (S1.13 - icchƒ saktir umƒ kumƒrŒ) The divine power of sakti is most clearly seen in the splendor of youthful innocence. Indeed, all that can be seen is but pure sakti, assuming that such a youth has not had the karmic misfortune of being saturated with huge samskƒra stresses that tend to wipe away the innocence. The values of life from any perspective ultimately lead to this sakti. All joys, all fulfillment, all strength, and all health revert back to this fundamental sakti. The more we have of it, the better we like it, and the better off we are. B - GOD CONSCIOUSNESS - santa-kalƒ - peace and bliss in creative transcendental reality Section B, god consciousness, is a peaceful transcendental reality, santa-kalƒ, which is described by the triad of tattvas: sadƒsiva, Œsvara, and suddhavidyƒ. These three tattvas are the source of live mantra. Indeed, they are live mantra. It is the interaction, a never ceasing dance, among the three tattvas which makes mantra live. Live mantra is further described by kƒmakalƒ, the spontaneous, irresistible flowing of love. Mantra must be caught at these levels of consciousness (tattvas #3, #4, and #5) to be live. These three tattvas also locate the homes of the Vedic triad: brahma, visnu, and mahesvara, and of Christianity's Trinity: father, son, and holy spirit. This section on god consciousness is a most exciting and potentially visible realm of consciousness which has stimulated the imaginations of many enthusiasts over the centuries. Incredibly, religions sometimes try to make this realm of god consciousness less accessible to people by interceding with priests, which indirectly suggests that average folks and sinners can't find the right path to the lord without an intermediary. In addition, there can be lingering feelings that there must first be a sufficient amount of intellectual learning (perhaps a dozen years or so) and some minimum amount of suffering and penance before one should dare to approach the lord too closely. Though certainly not their original intentions, large religious organizations tend to keep people further away from the lord rather than to draw them spontaneously closer. In contradistinction, the fundamental scriptures of all persuasions (and especially including this tantra) say to the effect, "god consciousness is here, now; just come". However, in due deference to the plight of priests, the original details concerning the "just come" aspect have either been lost or ignored. It is said that the teaching of live mantra gets lost over time because it is so subtle. 3 sadƒsiva - bindu: reverberations of creation (icchƒ - will) - brahma - father. The bindu is a point or dot which signifies a merged state of pure awareness. It is curled up potentiality which explodes into the notion of "tat- tvam-asi", that-thou-are. The emphasis is on "that" which refers to "being". It is a first awareness of being, total subjectivity. The idea of entertaining an object of awareness in consciousness has not yet distilled. Sadƒsiva is simply the will of perpetual existing siva being transformed to a more condensed and usable form. This is done through a continual merging of the original subtle sounds of nƒda produced by sakti, by a transformation which refocuses nƒda to a point, bindu. The bindu are tiny localizations of high energy density (like the tremendous energy stored in a nuclear particle for instance) available for use by the lord, Œsvara. Bindu, dots or points, by their very definition, are tiny, discreet energy packets. It is amazing that the ancient seers, who bring forth these tattvas, thought in a discreet, digital fashion, right from the very beginnings of time! We shall also call these sakti to bindu transformations, inverse holographic transformations. These are mathematically defined transformation functions to describe the behavior of sakti photons, that we will deal with in chapter seven. 4 Œsvara - nƒda: live, vibrant sounding of the lord (kriya - commotion) - visnu - son. The lord, Œsvara, appears after nƒda (the subtle sound from sakti) first merges to a point, in bindu, and then again expands in this transformed state. Nƒda is the commotion of the expansion. It is the live, vibrant sound of the lord, Œsvara, who directs the flow of energy and passes joy and love throughout the world. This is the creative domain of both an abstract god and a personal lord, whichever may be desired within our own creations. Everything, including ourselves, proceeds from this source of light and illumination. Isvara tattva is the active phase of live mantra, nothing more and nothing less. It is sakti in the Œsvara state of consciousness. The sakti in this state of evolution is the lord's ultra subtle nƒda soundings. It is vƒcaka pranava, the lord's pronouncement of live mantra, as discussed at s–tra Y1.27 in chapter one. 5 suddhavidyƒ - bŒja: seed resonances (j¤ƒna - knowing) - mahesvara - holy spirit. The nƒda soundings emerging from the lord, Œsvara, remerge again to seed resonances, bŒja, at the suddhavidyƒ tattva, after which they again emerge as striated tubes of knowing. Knowing is simply an awareness of existence itself, as there is yet no object of consciousness and no subject of consciousness. There's no ego, no self, and no soul. They have not yet been formulated. The lord has started the differentiation and multiplication of pure knowing by refocussing and condensing nƒda into distinct seed resonances, bŒja. The bŒjas give rise to a knowingness of all the attributes of the causal body, tattvas #6 through #12. Pure being is experienced and a knowing arises of mƒyƒ, of kƒla, of kalƒ, of vidyƒ, of niyati, and of rƒga, which together form the sum total being of the purusa itself, the spirit or soul. The process of creation is unfolding and innumerable spirits and souls sprout up, heading steadfastly to full condensation once again into the prakrti and citta of the subtle body, where the self, ƒtman, is born. The Vedic masters were truly gifted psychics to have divined such a cosmic plan from the highest heavens themselves. MANTRA - AT LORD'S CENTER "From this rising pure and subtle knowledge the lord's center of influence is attained." (S1.21 - suddha vidya udayƒt cakra Œsatva siddhih) "Through a suitable connection to the great ocean of divine power (sakti), the vital energy of mantra is experienced." (S1.22 - mahƒ hrada anusamdhƒnƒt mantra vŒrya anubhavah) From a rising pure knowledge, the lord's center is attained, and through a suitable connection to this great ocean of divine sakti, the vital energy of live mantra is experienced. Live mantra is here for us to use. We just need a suitable connection. We will be discussing various hook-ups and methodologies that are suitable to enhance the flow of sakti through many of the following pages, particularly in chapters three and six. The beginning of direct appreciation of sakti in the form that it exists in god consciousness is called live mantra. live mantra = bindu-nƒda-bŒja = kƒmakalƒ, the spontaneous, irresistible flowing of love. Live mantra is a quivering among the tattvas of god consciousness. Mantra fluctuates in time, moving from a distilled bliss in bindu while at sadƒsiva, through the thrilling commotion of nƒda in Œsvara, to the reflective awareness of both a sequential and composite medley in bŒja of suddhavidyƒ. This is the outward stroke of mantra fluctuation, moving from bindu to Œsvara to bŒja. The inward stroke is simply moving in the reverse direction, from bŒja to Œsvara to bindu. The siva s–tra S1.21 above was speaking of this inward stroke, for indeed, to find live mantra, it is the inward stroke that will first catch our attention. Thus, we move from the world to the lord and then from the lord to the world. Live mantra takes over and automatically moves our attention forward and backward through the three tattvas of god consciousness, sometimes slower or faster, sometimes fainter of stronger, and with all sorts of other playful variations. We just sit and enjoy. Mantra passes through states of relative condensation in bindu and in bŒja, resulting in experiences of pure awareness and sheer knowing, first in the experience of pure existence only and then in noticing faint variations within existence itself. Between these two states there is a lot of commotion from Œsvara as we witness the pulsating of life. These three layers of existence, situated in god consciousness, come to our attention after we repeatedly become aware of live mantra. When god and unity consciousness are visited for a few brief intervals, say for a few minutes twice a day, we call it dipping into transcendental consciousness. This is the fourth state of awareness that is often mentioned in Vedic literatures and which is cited below. FOURTH STATE - TRANSCENDENTAL "In piercing the waking, dreaming, and sleeping states, the transcendental state appears, that most enjoyable fourth state of consciousness." (S1.7 - jƒgrat svapna susupti bhede turya ƒbhoga sambhavah) The fluctuating tattvas of god consciousness also possess the qualities of kƒmakalƒ, the spontaneous and irresistible flowing of love. For Christians, this region can be recognized as the source of the Trinity; sadƒsiva, the father in bindu characterized by will; Œsvara, the son in nƒda characterized by commotion; and suddhavidyƒ, the holy spirit in bŒja characterized by the pure knowing and the crystallization of energy. The Vedas similarly characterize the triad: brahma, visnu, and mahesvara. In both cases, the three aspects, of course, exist as one. Live mantra automatically moves among the three, as one. Live mantra is precisely this throbbing pulsation, the vehicle and grease that spontaneously takes mere mortals to the realm of god consciousness. C - CAUSAL BODY - vidyƒ-kalƒ - the rousing emergence of selective, subtle knowledge Section C is about the awakening causal body, a nebulous, imprinted structure of knowingness which animates the subtle body and passes forward various "waves of predisposition" from the source of creation itself. The causal body is the link between the source of all life energies and the subtle body. The soul connects to various combinations and permutations of bŒja, to first experience a differentiated emergence of: time, space, knowledge, order, and desire. The developed causal body is called purusa, the spirit or soul. The soul is now composed of a rich variety of textured nƒda striations of sakti which have developed and expanded out of the bŒja seed resonances of god consciousness. This spirit or soul again refocuses and coagulates as tiny grains of prakrti in the subtle body and citta in the subtle mind, presumably it is said, the subtlest aspects of physical creation. Now we delineate some of the key features of the causal body and simultaneously continue building a better scientific vocabulary. TATTVAS & MAYA "The non discernment of the fundamental forces of the subtle realities (the tattvas) gives rise to the great illusion (mƒyƒ)." (S3.3 - kalƒ ƒdŒnƒm tattvƒnƒm aviveko mƒyƒ) "The remergence of these fundamental forces (of the tattvas) occurs in the physical body." (S3.4 - sarŒre samhƒrah kalƒnƒm) "Through remergence (of the tattvas) into hollow channels, mastery comes to existence, liberation comes to existence, and separate individualities come to existence." (S3.5 - nƒdŒ samhƒra bh–ta jaya bh–ta kaivalya bh–ta prthaktvƒni) Mƒyƒ is illusory magic. Suddenly space-time appears, but at the cost of non discernment of the fundamental forces of the subtle realities, the raw sakti of god and unity consciousness. The tattvas remerge in the physical body where separate individualities, liberation, and mastery come to existence. The hollow channels refer to the fine tubular structures in the subtle body which superimpose in parallel over the spinal cord in the physical body. This is also a suitable location for a holographic connection between the subtle mind and the physical nervous system. Holographic connections could be as straight forward as three dimensional holographically configured electromagnetic fields which are superimposed over the brain and spinal column, and which communicate with specially adapted bio-potential neurons. The encoding may be both analog, as with brain waves, and digital, as with typical neuron response. 6 mƒyƒ - illusion: fortunately mƒyƒ comes along to provide us with the first glimpses of duality. It is called illusion only with respect to the nebulous, creative world of siva-sakti, otherwise it is the beginning of the real world as we know it, which certainly is not illusion. It is simply a matter of floating perspective. Mƒyƒ is that precious beginning of magic where the subjective consciousness of pure knowledge begins to discriminate among different aspects of sheer existence. The dance of life moves out of god consciousness and into distinctly differentiated and striated causal bodies. The next five tattvas, #7 through #11, are essentially modifiers to mayƒ, creating the key features of knowingness: namely time, space, knowledge, order, desire, and finally the soul itself. These subjective states of reflective presence are further filtered and solidified in the subtle body to become objects of consciousness along with the full birth of self, the ƒtman. Tattva #12, the purusa, the spirit, or the soul, are all names which singly reference all tattvas of the causal body, #6 through #12, inclusively. We note, however, that when the word "soul" is used in typical Christian context, it is usually referencing the causal body and the subtle body simultaneously. It references everything that is not part of the physical body and not part of god consciousness. 7 kƒla - time: time makes its first appearance. The feeling of time and eternity arise. There is no time in kƒmakalƒ, the worlds of pure consciousness and god consciousness, because the reflective relationships among the tattvas hardly exist yet. Now, after a suitable selection among the permutations and combinations of available bŒja, there comes a knowing of time and eternity. The idea of time is yet to be further developed and defined in connection with the reoccurrence of thought. 8 kalƒ - space: space (a portion of infinity) appears for the first time. Objectivity now arises for subjectivity to see. The incredible triad relationships between seer, seeing, and seen is born. The process of seeing occurs between the seer and the seen, and this is coincident with the sprouting of space-time! Even the Sanskrit language seemingly preempted Einstein's monumental discovery that space and time are inextricably connected. Just as the physical reality is now called space-time, so also the Sanskrit kalƒ and kƒla, space and time respectively, surely look etymologically interrelated, and they also look bizarrely similar to some of the operator notation used in the mathematics of quantum mechanics and relativistic field theory! Two such operators might be joined together in this operator notation, say as "kƒlƒ" for instance. Though the Sanskrit word "kƒlƒ" breaks down into two separate words, the meaning would indicate "toward time" or "from time" which is surely quite meaningful in reference to special relativities time-cone coordinate portrayal of space-time. Furthermore, the notions of "toward time" or "from time" only have meaning and only make sense in relativity's four dimensional coordinate system of space-time. We will deal more with relativity in chapter seven. 9 vidyƒ - knowledge: knowledge can mean many things, but it here primarily references the interrelationship between subject and object, the verb. The subject-seer, the verb-seeing, and the object-seen are all available now, each member of the triad being as important as the other. The study of tantra can almost be reduced to the study of the fluid positioning of this triad among the 36 tattvas. Who is the seer? What is the seen? How does seeing occur? We again are arriving in a world where the "normal" events and relationships can be reversed or simply turned upside down. If this occurs, it behooves us to again entertain the humor of it, like in Abbott and Costello's, "Who's on 1st base?" comedy routine. However, this is part of the fun in what we are doing and even physicists have gotten accustomed to dealing with a little chaos from time to time, as in a case where certain valid scientific implications in the established field of quantum electrodynamics suggest that a precognitive faculty seems to exists between particles? One particles "knows" that another is going to move before it actually moves? Relativity eventually straightens out such seemingly correct thinking, but through the use of other equally baffling and abstract notions. Relative to this strange evolution of physics, the occasional disorientation in thinking which tantra can initially bring about is very mild! The nature of seeing is always a matter of perspective between the seer and the seen. Physics has to deal with the floating multidimensional coordinate systems of relativity, and tantra has to deal with the floating multidimensional states of consciousness. The parallels between the two seem less than accidental. More than all else, relativity focuses on securing the same laws of nature (the same energy transformations) for all inertial frames of reference, while tantra focuses on securing the same flow of sakti between the seer and the seen (the same energy transformations) for all floating states of consciousness. 10 niyati - order: the eternal fixed order of things. Order is ushered into the universe by the eternal cosmic forces of creation itself. Order is the bases of intelligence and knowledge. More and more it is the mathematics of physics that is structuring and predicting the nature of the universe and mathematics is sheer precision in perfected order. Mathematics knows nothing about photons or energy measurements or the natural world. It know only pure order. We have to make the connections with reality. These last four tattvas establish the essential ingredients for a developing science of physics: kƒla - time, kalƒ - space, vidyƒ - relativity, by way of the floating seer-seeing-seen positional relationship among tattvas, and now, niyati - eternal order, epitomized by mathematics. 11 rƒga - desire: desire arises from seeing. It is a hunger to pull between the different possible combinations of the seer and the seen. Quite literally, rƒga is the irresistible attraction which links the subject with the object. It is the verb, an unyielding urge which draws separate realities together into a single, undivided wholeness. Rƒga is the sakti of the causal body. According to the degree of hunger, sakti is more or less driven and directed. Rƒga in the causal body, though still very fine, is in a much larger and more coagulated state of sakti than is the sakti of live mantra in god consciousness. Another holographic transformation has taken place. The nƒda of god consciousness has condensed to bŒja seed and then reawakened as rƒga striations in the causal body. The holographic transformations downwards from unity consciousness, progressively coagulate the sakti to sturdier and hardier forms that are dimensionally much larger, as will be needed and finally used in real physical world. SOUL - PURUSA 12 purusa - spirit, soul: this spirit or soul is the most abstract representation of oneself. The purusa is the composite of tattvas #6 through #12. We are all closer to god than we ever imagined! In fact, we are so close that sometimes we don't like it at all, and we do not mind having a priest or other intermediary to keep us some distance away, less some of our less than god like qualities be too easily seen. Jesus and other avatars like him were right, of course, in that we need not go far to reach the lord. We don't need to hold an anthropomorphic creation in mind to pursue the enlightening forces, though we may if we prefer. Better yet, we simply hold a live mantra in view momentarily and it quickly moves by itself with no effort or pain, and if we want, we can simultaneously pursue both mantra and an anthropomorphic form. Though creation itself has formed most of the rules of engagement up to now, we alone must take full credit and responsibility for what is to occur from hereon through the following tattvas! The creator setup the stage and poured in the sakti. Now we find ourselves alive to begin the play. The curtain rises as the causal body makes connection to the subtle body by way of prakrti and citta, and self, ƒtman, is born. SAKTI & LIVING BEINGS "From uniting the pure subtle realities (the tattvas) comes the divine power (sakti) of living beings." (S1.16 - suddha tattva samdhƒnƒd vƒ pasu saktih) The divine power of sakti is ready for us to use, or misuse, as we see fit. The simple cause and effect law of karma is active, and we are generally the first to know if misuse has occurred. The law of karma works in a couple of interrelated ways. A wrong thought hurts us by setting up a reactionary samskƒra within ourselves that we will have to deal with later. In addition, the sakti waves of inappropriate thinking, let alone inappropriate behavior, spread throughout the universe to perturb or modify the existing fluctuations of creation. These directly and indirectly reflect back on us through natural calamity, individually and collectively. Sometimes they are given other names as, bad luck, accident, dis-ease, sickness, etc. Whether we like it or not we have to pay for our sins, for unnatural behavior due to stresses. That's the law of karma. It carries over from incarnation to incarnation, so if we've somehow slipped by the toll booth in one life, we can be assured that we'll have another chance to pay up! This is probably the biggest single reason why reincarnation is disliked and rejected when first taken seriously. The responsibilities come back to us, all of them. The solution is to dissolve the stresses as soon as possible. D - SUBTLE BODY - pratisthƒ-kalƒ (ƒtman-self) Section D is about the subtle body. Much of our concern throughout this book is on how communication occurs between the subtle body and the physical body and between the subtle body and the physical world. The subtle body is an autonomous existence of specific personality and individuality (like you or me) which survives independently of a physical body but which is usually closely attached to the physical body while such a body is alive and breathing. Note that the subtle body is similarly defined, more or less, throughout the world, in virtually all religions, dogmas, or thought forms which also include reincarnation. It is logically expedient that we take and accept this concept of reincarnation, at least for time being, as we can always drop the idea anytime we wish. Western world science keeps the attributes of the subtle body locked up in the physical body. Christianity does nearly the same, except that upon death of the physical body, it allows the subtle body to float away to various afterlife options. We, in accordance with tantra, keep the subtle body distinct from the physical body. A free, independent subtle body is a necessary cornerstone for developing a full theoretical model of man in his universe along with being indispensable for explaining a lot of empirical data which is to follow. If there is another, better way, to create such an all inclusive man-world order, we should want to know about it. We will now be able to solve many disturbing and often unexplainable "anomalies", those troubling annoyances that are quickly dismissed or swept under the rug to keep our presently working paradigms and world order conjectures intact. For instance, near death experiences reported by many thousands of people can now be quite simply understood, at least in principle. The subtle senses remain with and move around with the subtle body. Some near death experiences report seeing angels, another group of subtle bodies. We can now conjecture that such helping subtle bodies, angels of various sorts, are either just hanging around for us to stumble into or they have purposefully been called upon by us in a time of need. As will become more apparent, many other "anomalies" and idiosyncrasies in human behavior become deciphered upon admitting the subtle body into our thinking. We may not like the idea at first, because it imposes more personal responsibility on our every thought and action. However, whether we care to recognize the new responsibilities or not, they remain our responsibilities anyhow. As we quickly come to realize in this domain, continuing ignorance (avidya) promotes and maintains suffering, not bliss! Avidya means ignorance, but specifically it means not vidya, which from tattva #9 means not the flow of knowledge, which for us in this context means not the flow of sakti, nƒda, and rƒga, which means a constriction in the joy flowing from the lord, which means added suffering. The subtle body would certainly be a useful and consistent phenomena in Christian thinking, for when one admits to heaven and hell, then it is surely appropriate to define a vehicle to visit these realms. However, a subtle body never matures in Christianity. Its qualities are simply lumped together among other vague, generalities concerning the soul. In our present world of super scientific techniques and blatant materialism, it seems almost ridiculous to talk about something like the subtle body that seemingly cannot be measured with scientific instruments, and of course, that is the view taken by many. On the other hand, no one, absolutely no one, is ever going to be motivated to perform measurements on something which is categorically defined to be non existent! Hence our desire to set up a suitable theoretical model about which to make such measurements with scientific instrumentation, as is further discussed in chapter seven. We therefore postulate an independent existence for the subtle body and see where this will lead us. It is not necessary to simultaneously adopt the doctrine of rebirth, as the existence of the subtle body does not depend on its rebirth. We need not yet necessarily ponder questions such as "Do I go to someone else's body in rebirth?" but we still must ask "Who am I if I am not my body?" and "Who is the seer?" Exactly who or what is the seer? Precisely what is the process of seeing, the interrelationship between the seer and the seen? What is actually seen, that with which the seer becomes involved? Fortunately, we have already delved into these questions rather extensively in chapter one. Tantra is an expression of relationships between the seer and the seen. The 36 tattvas can be imagined over a floating scale denoting changes in levels of consciousness, a moving hierarchy of shifting relationship among the subject, verb, and object of expression. Any of the first appearing tattvas, having lower identifying numbers, may be a seer (the subject) relative to a seen (the object) which appears further down the list, having higher identifying numbers. For instance, Œsvara the lord is the seer (subject) relative to purusa, the soul, who is the seen (object), connected by the seeing saktis nƒda and rƒga (verbs). Similarly, purusa, the soul, might be the seer (subject) relative to buddhi, the mind, which is then the seen (object), again ultimately connected by the seeing sakti of ahamkƒra, the ego (verb). The seeing connections take on different appearances and have distinct names since their basic ingredient is always some appropriately transformed version of sakti. We can continue this same process and further move down the floating scale of tattvas (while simultaneously flipping through different levels of consciousness) and have buddhi the awareness as the seer with manas the brain as the seen. This is the holographic connection between subtle mind and the brain. We shall come back to this connection many times yet, with ever greater purview. SUBTLE MATTER - PRAKRTI & CITTA 13 prakrti and citta - matter and mind - of sattva, rƒja, and tamas gunas, a triad of qualities in material creation. The subtle body is made of prakrti which is deemed to be the subtlest form of solidification in creation. Citta is the mind of the subtle body, also made of prakrti. The purusa focuses the striated sakti nƒda, that has evolved out of the various bŒja, into a more coagulated and dimensionally larger condensation to form prakrti. Thus, the spirit of the soul coagulates into prakrti and a self, ƒtman, is born. The seer is purusa. The seen is prakrti. The seeing is ultimately the sakti nƒda, and the associated experience is a feeling of being. Prakrti manifests itself over three continuously roving and transmuting states of guna qualities: sattva for creation and development; rƒja for maintenance and activity; and tamas for destruction and inertia. All three states are simultaneously active, but one of the states is always more dominate than the others. A self is born with a dominate guna, but is then found continually fluctuating in the other two gunas, about the norm of the dominate guna. In short, we all experience shorter and longer phases in life when we first are operating in a more creative mode, while during other periods either the inertial state takes over for a time or the maintenance stage controls with steady activity. The gunas of prakrti control the body life cycles themselves, in setting up birth, in maintaining activity, and in terminating activity with death. Quantum mechanics has three transformation functions which are analogous to the gunas, called the creation, maintenance, and destruction operators. Even particles mimic the life strategies of gunas, as they are found to be spontaneously created, maintained in existence for awhile, and then self annihilated. MIND AS FOG HAZE We can think of the subtle mind, citta, as a very fine mist of haze that is made of extremely subtle particles of fundamental matter, prakrti. This haze or fog like reality can be spread out thinly throughout the entire creation, or more usually it is localized at areas of interest. As the mind focuses attention on some particular object, then the haze localizes itself accordingly, wrapping itself around the object of attention. The fog haze can thus be found extending itself from the body area to the actual object of attention in tandem with the physical senses. There is a continuous extension of this haze like plasma field from the body to the object being concentrated upon. The more focussed is the attention, the more localized and contained is the haze. We ordinarily see with the physical senses. Upon closing out the physical senses, we call the continuously emerging awareness, imagination, and on rare occasions, perhaps hallucination. By focussing attention on any specific object anywhere in the universe, some small amount of this fog haze finds itself so localized. The subtle mind directs the subtle senses to localize on an object and then extends itself back to the body's brain with a thin streamer of haze, like a connecting umbilical cord. The fog haze connection is thought to be an electromagnetic field that precisely envelopes around the brain in a suitable holographic and isomorphic spatial format so as to fire appropriate neurons. When the attention is not focussed but rather when the imaginative or meditative states are dominate, the fog haze is spread out over considerably larger areas of space, similarly and quite literally as is implied by being "spaced-out". As mantra comes to attention, the fog haze wobbles and pulsates to the tune of the lord. As thoughts materialize, the fog haze takes on corresponding forms. As mantra or thoughts dissolve, the fog haze spreads itself out more thinly in space. The mind is seen appearing and disappearing from thought to thought, as localized or spread thin. Similarly, live mantra appears and disappears from time to time. Reality is seen as breathing, pulsating particles of consciousness. At first we will undoubtedly call such fog haze a wild imagination. Indeed that is precisely what it is, imagination! We can also call it the subtle body. Later we can still choose to call the imagination, wild, if we like, but we must let the imagination loose and allow it to function freely. In due time we find that imaginations are no longer flimsy whims of unreality. On the contrary, they express another aspect of reality as dramatically and as accurately as the normally perceived objects of the senses. By way of this fog haze, which is responsible for the roaming imaginations, no less than the whole universe becomes available for our attention. We become aware of the vibrating pulsations on the fog haze and we find it interacting with other passing fog haze. We start to fathom how one consciousness can become superimposed on another consciousness. We see how the fluctuations of one consciousness can directly affect the fluctuations of another consciousness. A consciousness is no longer an isolated reality as the fog haze is literally a free spirit. MIND DELUDED We note the definition of paranoid schizophrenia: a chronic psychosis characterized by systematized delusions and commonly displaying hallucinations and marked behavioral deterioration. It is no wonder that some discomfort occasionally arises between psychologists and the serious devotee! The possibility of having experiences that resemble experiences of the paranoid schizophrenic is very real. More realistically perhaps, we should inquire as to precisely what is going on in paranoid schizophrenia? We have now discovered one important reason for secrecy in esoteric organizations! Privacy is sometimes needed to avoid very real forms of ostracization in social and work environments. The wise who are most successful in the real worlds of professions and business generally remain more silent than vocal about their subjective experiences. Unfortunately, this generally translates to being more repressive in allowing subtle experiences to flourish even, for if no subtle experiences germinate, there is no fear of being rebuffed. Behavior does not deteriorate while moving to higher consciousness. This clearly delineates one who is moving toward higher states of consciousness from one who is moving toward paranoid schizophrenia. Higher consciousness is associated with behavior that is more attuned to the needs of others and which expresses a more friendly and congenial atmosphere. Such a person is typically quite self sufficient. In contrast, paranoid schizophrenia is associated with helplessness and different degrees of incapability in dealing with the surrounding world. Associated subjective experiences are dismissed as insane and drugs are used to quench behavior altogether. Hence, when the devotee does have experiences that seem arbitrarily close to experiences recorded in the annals of insanity, he is wise enough to remain quiet and to use discretion, particularly when among those whose own perspectives are known to be locked in direct opposition. We have now uncovered an important reason for wanting additional objective verification of subjective experiences, namely, to sort out differences among hallucinations, imaginations, visualizations, invocations, and hypnosis. As we come closer to knowing god, we absolutely do have new and brilliantly luminous, subjective experiences, and it would be a great shame for us to repress or ignore these experiences because of fear. These phenomena are more natural and more spontaneous than most of us allow ourselves to think. We are purposefully slowing down our own evolution by forcefully repressing the natural occurrence of psychic and mystical experiences. If a transitory confusion does arise, we simply pause for a moment and get more involved in worldly affairs. It's that simple. Meanwhile, the s–tras are an excellent starting point for verifying valid experiences. EGO - AHAMKARA 14 ahamkƒra - ego and mind - literally, "I doing". The self is no longer simply an agent of the creator, translating the will from sadƒsiva above, downwards. The self now possesses ego. The self is doer. There is a known identity of personality and individualistic traits. This ego is absolutely distinct and different from all other egos. It can choose to act or react, presumably in any desired manner which an appearing thought might indicate. Upon being born into a physical body, the ego picks up its personality, first from original combinations of bŒja springing from the lord in god consciousness, and secondly from the left over stores of samskƒras from previous lives that are sitting and waiting in the subtle body. The new born baby is mostly the innocence of pure sakti out the original bŒja seeds, a joy to the world. Such sweet innocence also assures its survival. At puberty, the mind-body system starts activating some heavy flows of sakti, which starts to arouse some of the more deeply ingrained samskƒras, and the fun (or terror) of adolescence begins. AWARENESS - BUDDHI 15 buddhi - awareness and mind: the awareness and deliberation (buddhi) of the subtle body is analogous to the brain (manas) in the physical body. The five subtle senses extending from the overall mind (citta) are also analogous to the five physical senses extending from the brain. This is a rather neat configuration since the mind normally is coupled closely to the brain as are the five subtle senses coupled closely to the corresponding five physical senses. The coupling between the subtle and physical bodies is so close and efficient that we are not normally aware of the separate existence of two bodies. A near death experience is perhaps the most well known reality experienced by thousands, which clearly indicates the separation of the two bodies. During such separations, life remains with the subtle body while the physical body is being sustained by the autonomic nervous system. The subtle cogitative and sensory apparatus have taken a temporary trip away from its home base in the body, though still attached by a thread of fog haze. The temporary release from the tight grip of the physical body gives the floating mind a free reign of priority. SUBTLE SENSES - TANMATRAS tanmƒtras - the 5 subtle senses. We postulate that the connections of the subtle senses to the physical senses are controlled by the mind, for it is the mind which can turn the information throughput ON and OFF even though the physical senses may continue to be bombarded by environmental stimulation. The key concern is precisely how the subtle senses (tanmƒtras) communicate with the physical senses (j¤ƒnendriyas). We postulate that the subtle sense terminations within the subtle mind superimpose themselves upon the corresponding sensory receptor terminations in the physical brain. The transfer of information is done point by point between the brain terminations of the physical senses and the mind terminations of the subtle senses. The three dimensional spatial structure of these point to point interface locations is the holographic connection in space- time. This domain of physical space literally forms the mathematical holograms of images relayed by the senses and of images so interpreted by the mind in the subtle body. The subtle senses themselves project outwardly from this same holographic plane. If the physical senses are closed off, impressions from the subtle senses appear as imaginations. If the impressions carried on the subtle senses are sufficiently strong, they may appear as mystical or psychic sightings, even with the physical senses open and functioning. The subtle mind can accept inputs from two sources simultaneously: from the physical body senses and from the subtle senses. These two seen inputs will superimpose in consciousness. We shall sight corroborating experiences of such in chapters three and six. The holographic mathematics of Fourier transforms is further postulated in chapter seven, as being a highly plausible communications mechanism for such a man-world theoretical model that is based in physics. Hence, the transfer of an image across the mind-brain barrier is spatially spread-out according to the physical structure of the brain and therefore enjoys the data transmission enhancements of neural networks and parallel processing as do all holographic processing networks. Even if some of the parallel transmission lines are inoperative, nothing much will happen to seriously impair the transmission of images. The mind can redirect the tanmƒtras anywhere, say to the ocean bottom or to the moon, by visualization or other evolved mental techniques. Again, good transmissions will arrive to the brain according to how well the subtle senses overlay upon the objects of interests. Indeed, according to virtually all the mystical and esoteric traditions, the tanmƒtras can carry on a life of their own, independent of the physical body! If the connection is broken, life continues, differently of course since physical embodiment has been severed. Such an independent existence of the mind is the basis and reality of dreams, daydreams, imaginations, visualizations, invocation, hypnosis, sleep, and for a host of other experiences yet to be covered. tanmƒtras - the 5 subtle senses 16 sabda - hearing 17 sparsa - touching 18 r–pa - seeing 19 rasa - tasting 20 gandha - smelling The tanmƒtras are free as the wind, to go where they want, whenever they want. At some point in time, either through the will of the creator or through the unending desires of the previously born samskƒras, the self decides to take on a body. A body is found that is to be born, which genetic structure closely resembles the karmic needs of the self searching for a vehicle. It is not as though many subtle bodies are found fighting to provide a soul for some young infant who has newly arrived into a womb, but rather, it is a matter of sympathetic attunement and overwhelming attraction with regard to compatible needs. Hence, in a very pragmatic sense, we choose our parents, not vice-versa. When a soul and an embryo join, it is a real marriage, literally a lifetime commitment before they part again. However, the soul loses nothing in this commitment, for it can still prance around, almost anywhere at anytime, and it gains all of the fantastic embodied experiences. Enlightenment, it is said, only occurs from the platform of physical embodiment and even angels are in a hurry to get back into a physical body. E - PHYSICAL WORLD - nivrtti-kalƒ mƒhabhutas - the 5 physical elements Section E is about the physical world. The physical elements, the domain of physicists, are better known by the modern world than at any previous time. However, the classification of matter into what appears to be a most simplistic five categories of space, air, fire, water, and earth (as so did Aristotle and the Greeks) may not be so primitive after all. While the five groupings do not meaningfully correlate with the modern day periodic table of elements, they do correlate precisely with the five tanmƒtras, the five subtle senses. The subtle senses can be redirected into any of the physical elements according to these five categories and the magnification can be zoomed up or down. There are the five basic properties that are communicated through the sensory brain-mind connection: hearing, touching, seeing, tasting, and smelling. Since the tanmƒtras are assumed to always be in the holographically transformed (spatially spread-out) mode, then each subtle sense is a spectral analysis (literally a Fourier transform) of the basic sensory input. For instance: hearing is a spectral analysis of pitch; touching is a spectral analysis of count distribution; seeing is a spectral analysis on spatial sharpness and color; tasting is a spectral analysis on digestibility; and smelling is a spectral analysis of odors. The creator apparently set up the world as a continuing set of transforms. We describe such a presumption in great detail in chapter seven. mƒhabhutas - the 5 physical elements 21 ƒkƒsa - space 22 vƒyu - air 23 tejas - fire 24 jala - water 25 prthivŒ - earth SAKTI & PHYSICAL BODY "Through the uniting of divine powers (sakti) the physical body is produced." (S1.19 - sakti samdhƒne sarŒra utpattih) "Worldwide separated existences become united beings through rubbingly close contacts." (S1.20 - bh–ta samdhƒna bh–ta prthaktva visva samghattƒh) The sakti of various bŒja was first setup and filtered by the lord, and then further filtered and made more dense on its way to purusa. The filtering of sakti continues throughout the subtle mind and subtle senses, accompanied always with increasing spatial dimensions of the holographically transformed coagulations. Samskƒras are enlivened to carry over memory impressions from previous incarnations, and finally, through the uniting of these divine powers of sakti, the physical body is produced. Worldwide separated existences become united beings through rubbingly close contacts; the various bŒja may be far separated on the space-time relativity cone, but they nevertheless become united after transformation to purusa soul sakti, through rubbingly close contact. We'll be back to this in the final chapter after we fill in more details in the ensuing chapters. F - PHYSICAL BODY - sarŒram-kalƒ Section F is about the physical body. The physical body, the brain, the physical senses, and the action vehicles are well known in the modern world, and surely they are even overwhelmingly better known than they were by the ancient sources of the tattvas and the tantra. Our only concern with the remaining tattvas is with the holographic connection between the subtle mind and the physical brain. 26 manas - brain: j¤ƒnendriyas - the 5 physical senses 27 srotra - ears 28 tvak - skin 29 caksus - eyes 30 jihvƒ - tongue 31 nƒsƒ - nose karmendriyas - the 5 action vehicles 32 vƒk - speech 33 pƒni - hands 34 pƒda - feet 35 pƒyu - anus 36 upastha - sex organs SEX AND TANTRA "With chastity established, vitality is acquired." (Y2.38 - brahmacarya pratisthƒyƒm vŒrya lƒbhah) Brahmacarya literally means the conduct or behavior of brahma, living like brahman, or living in a state of unity consciousness. Brahmacarya also means chastity and continence and vŒrya means vitality, sexual energy, virility, and semen virile. Hence we have: with chastity established, vitality, virility, and energy are acquired. Tantra is concerned with the flow of divine energy, sakti. Sex is a significant aspect of all divine energy and to shy away from it because of a regressive Protestant fundamentalism, because of distorted Catholic celibacy, or because of contaminated Hindu tantras is to hinder our quest for expanded consciousness and enlightenment. Conducting oneself like brahma or brahman in unity consciousness is yet far removed for most of us, though we should not be surprised to find that sexual matters may have changing meaning at different levels of consciousness. Vedic commentators allude to a reverse flowing of semen, that an internal abundance of semen in the body is transformed into ojas, a form of energy that produces light, luster, and splendor inside and outside of the body. The ojas presumably affects the chemical structure of the body so as to support higher levels of consciousness. The basis of celibacy ultimately derives from this concept, the conservation of virile energy, and is not (or should not be) a moral issue. These two issues, the conservation of virile energy and the morality of sexual activity, have been inextricably intertwined over the centuries and are hardly distinguishable any more. The conservation of virile energy is not necessarily inconsistent with sexual activity. Needless orgasms may deprive us of additional divine sakti, though love and sexual activity is undoubtedly most beautiful. Celibates seem to have turned a simple and beautiful principle upside down. Their life is presumably devoted to the search of the divine, yet they try (mostly unsuccessfully) to restrain and inhibit the natural divine flowing of sakti throughout the physical body. Celibacy rightly amounts to the withholding of orgasm, not to the withholding of sexual activity. Sexual activity enlivens the flow of sakti. It is not mandatory to spill over the seed. The seed can create a new living being by moving outwards or it can create a new living consciousness by spreading inwards. The withholding of orgasm is the spreading of sakti throughout the body. The refrain from orgasm keeps the mind-body system vibrant and energetic for days, weeks, and months, apparently because of the cumulative effects of flowing sakti. This is an accumulation of ojas, an accumulation of bodily warmth, strength, vitality, light, splendor, luster, energy, and power. Hence, anyone and everyone can be authentic celibates, including those who are raising a family, simultaneously while having a quite normal, active, and most enjoyable sexual agenda. As with any new activity, simply grow into such new behavior over a period of time. We invite any and all of good will to inquire to Edmond Chouinard at: Metaphysical Measurements Inc, 485 River Avenue, Providence, RI 02908 USA TEL 401/273-6222 FAX 401/273-6267 E-Mail EdMeasure@aol.com