TANTRA-DARSHAN...01

Tantra means a system or method of doing or achieving something. Tantra tells us how to do things. It is not science that answers to questions beginning with ‘What’ and ‘Why’; Tantra answers questions beginning with ‘How’.

Darshan means how to view the truth in/of things. We normally use the word ‘philosophy’ in English for the Sanskrit word ‘Darshan’.

Let us take Tantra-Darshan to mean ‘philosophy of how to do things’.

I strongly suspect that Tantra-Darshan was evolved during the intervening period between the two world wars. As human beings we understand wars as violent efforts made by a few to snatch something from others or impose something on others; and also the violent efforts made by ‘the others’ to counter the violence against them. All those who had power and resources made use of scientific inventions and discoveries to strengthen themselves for violent action or violent defense. The prevailing thought in their minds was, “How to use scientific knowledge to win the war or to avoid a possible defeat?”

The war ended but Tantra-Darshan, that is, how to use information and knowledge for one’s materialistic gains, was well settled in intellect of those who believed that they were constituted by nothing but the body, mind, desires, intellect and ego (I am-ness).

They eliminated the ‘conventional God’ and installed a new God, ‘The God of Technology’, and that served them well. They ‘used’ their newly acquired God to gain more comfort, more luxuries, more conveniences, more speed and advanced methods to enjoy sensory pleasures and so on and so forth. This happened to be a new philosophy of maximizing physical advantages with minimum efforts by making use of human intellect and not through the physical (bodily) strength.

A few centuries ago the powerful and the violent used bodily power of ‘many’ human beings to corner the natural wealth the planet earth owned for fulfilling their desires. Today, the same thing is being done by making use of intellectual power of ‘a few’ human beings. We know human intellect is less limited than human body. It can deliver much more than human body can deliver.

We cannot realize God or Truth by making use of our bodies, but we can grow food for our survival by making use of our physical strength. Perhaps, we can realize God or Truth making use of our intellect; but we can also blow our planet earth by using it. Maybe, it would not be necessary to blow the earth because the pace with which we are consuming its productive natural resources for maintaining our luxurious life styles and dumping unproductive junk on it; it shall die its own death.

I also suspect that about one tenth of the self-centered population of the world has accepted Tantra-Darshan as a philosophy of life; and they are making use of nine tenth of inhabitants of earth, treating them as usable or discardable commodities or inputs, to satisfy their insatiable desires. The nine tenth of world’s population timidly honours the law framed by the followers of ‘The God of Technology,’ instead of the ‘out of date divine laws.’

I am leaving the issue for the time being because it is difficult to conclude anything when humanity becomes subservient to human intellect.