Tantra philosophy of Ananda Marga
By Chien Hui Liu, Ph.D.
Introduction
Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha (AMPS) is a spiritual social organizationfounded by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, also known by his spiritual name, Shri ShriAnandamurti, in Jamalpur, Bihar, India in 1955. Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar wasan Indian philosopher, author, social revolutionary, poet, composer and linguist
. Thespiritual practice of Ananda Marga is rooted in the intuitional science of Tantra andYoga. In this paper, I will present the spiritual philosophy of Ananda Marga onselected topics in
Tantra, Nirguńa and Saguńa Brahma, Taraka Brahma, Shiva and Shakti, Jiva and Parama Purusa, Concept of Atman, Brahma Cakra,
and
Paincamakára
̭
from Shri Shri Anandamurti’s discourses with some comparisons toother school of thoughts.
Tantra in brief
As noted in the contemporary scholar works, there have been existing controversiesand differentiations on the subject matter of Tantra regarding its history, origination,definitions, and practices. It is difficult to find a unified interpretation that fits for various sects under the name of Tantra. In this paper, I am going to present Tantrafrom Shri Shri Anandamurti’s point of view specifically.There is differentiation regarding the history of Tantra as it is presented in thescholarly work today than that described by Anandamurti from his intuitionalknowledge (one is able to access infinite knowledge of the Cosmos whether worldlyor subtle when one merges his/her mind with the Cosmic mind). I will give a brief
1
Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananda_Marga
(accessed on April 20, 2011)1
history of Tantra from Anandamurti’s view here.It is not possible to talk about history of Tantra without Shiva. Shiva came to earthabout 7000 years ago. It was a turbulent era for India. The Aryans started enteringIndia, bringing the Vedic tradition mixing with the Tantra-oriented culture of theindigenous people. Tantra is indigenous to India, and existed before Shiva’s time, butin a scattered form. The
Ká shmiirii
and
Gaod́iiya
Schools of Tantra existed beforeShiva’s time as classical Tantra. Shiva was the one who gave a systematic form toTantra and propounded both the crude and subtle form of practices to bring human being onto the path of spiritual evolution.
There are several reasons contributing to lack of Tantric texts in the present age.Firstly, in ancient times, people did not have knowledge of the alphabet and were notable to put the teachings into a written form as Vedic texts. Additionally, Tantraemphasizes practice, and Shiva did not like the teachings to be put in a written form.Lastly, throughout time, due to lack of proper preceptor- disciple structure, theteachings gradually got lost
. Both the
Vidya
and
Avidya
practices have been forgotten by people with the passage of time. Anandamurti suggests the spiritual aspirant moveon the path of
jinána, karma
̭
, and
bhakti
in the present age
. Now let us look at the meanings of Tantra from Anandamurti. There are twomeanings given to the word Tantra. According to Anandamurti, the first meaning of Tantra from scripture is –
Taḿjád́ yát tárayet yastu sah tantrah parikiirttitah
「
Tantra is that which liberates a person from the bondages of staticity.”
」
Here,
Taḿ
is the acoustic root of staticity. The root verb
trae
+
d́a
=
tra
.
Tra
means“that which liberates.” Therefore, the first meaning of Tantra is that which liberates
2
“
An introduction to Shiva
” in Discourses on Tantra Volume one
3
“
Tantra and Indo-Aryan Civilization
” in Discourses on Tantra Volume one
4
“
Vidya and Avidya Tantra
” in Discourses on Tantra Volume two2
one from bondages of inertness. Another meaning of Tantra is “the practical sciencethat leads one to expansion and attains liberation.” The Sanskrit root verb
tan
means,“to expand.” Therefore, the definition of
Tantra
here is a spiritual science thatliberates one from bondages of animalistic tendencies and expands the unitconsciousness into the Cosmic consciousness
.Furthermore, there are many characteristics that distinguish Tantra from other spiritual practices. I will present two main points here.First, the main characteristic of Tantra is that it represents vigor, the fighting spirit.This is a fight that occurs both internally and externally. There are two aspects to thefight within a person. The subtle fight is the rising of
kulakuńd́alinii
through differentchakras and finally reaches its final destination-
Parama Purusa.
The crude form of the fight is shattering the bondages of anger, suspicion, fear, shyness, etc. - toovercome one’s mental weakness. These two fights must happen simultaneouslywithin a person for spiritual advancement and growth. The external fight is thecourageous spirit fighting against injustice or evil to establish righteousness and peacefor the welfare of living being without compromise. It is a fight for ideology, and notfight for the sack of fight. The underlying intention is love, not hatred. It is importantto note that it does not support violence or war here.Moreover, the second characteristic is the practical essence of Tantra. There aretwo main parts within
Tantra
–
nigama
and
a
’
gama
:
Nigama
is the theoretical, and
a
’
gama
is the practical. Tantra is based on practice rather than philosophy. Accordingto Anandamurti, ninety percent of the intuitional science is practical, and only a verysmall portion is theoretical in Tantra.
Sadhana
is the intuitional science that has beengiven the most significant role in the practice of Tantra
. The essence of
sadhana
is a
5
“
Tantra and sadhana
” in Discourses on Tantra Volume two
6
“
The Intuitional Science of Tantra
” in Tantra Volume two3
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