The Transcendental Analysis of the Sri Yantra: A Short Introduction by Stephane Laurence-Pressault
Art is an act of creation that is established inside a certain conceptual framework. Most spiritual traditions have illustrated their relationship with the divine through art due to their desire to create. This framework and its creation is the purpose of this short essay. In the tradition of Tantra, it is said that the devotee must experience the world as a whole before comprehending God. This means that the art that comes along it is representative of that world. This is the beauty and essence of the Sri Yantra which shows the two main opposing forces of the universe can unite. These two forces, known through the symbolic devas Shakti and Shiva, become themselves the key to that spiritual uplift. It is evident that the question for Truth is complex within its simplicity. People of all nations have been bewildered by the thought of these questions. Lifetimes have been dedicated to its search and its development. It seems that the major discoveries have been that the human being can only approximate the vastness of the Truth with the use of various symbols. For example, books, statues, figures, music and poetry have all been the object of contemplation of the Divine Truth. There are two methods that seem to present themselves in order to reach the state of what some mystics call enlightenment. The first is a negation of all particular things which in the Hindu tradition is known as neti neti (not this, not that). This method relates to the common notion of God in the West known through Judea-christian monotheism. In order to understand God, one must contemplate the Hereafter. The second method is closely associated to the Hindu Tantrik tradition known through the mantra So Hum (I am that). This is a method that accepts the mind's limitation in negating God and describes the attainment of enlightenment by embracing all that is. This is the method that will be observed in this work. Furthermore, Tantrik tradition believes that it is through the awareness of the Shiva-Shakti relationship that the Kundalini can rise up to the Sahasrara chakra. It is said that Shiva's dance brings movement to the timeless and spaceless reality. In the the following verses of from Tirukuttu Darshana, the significance of Shiva is further explained: His form is everywhere: all pervading in His Shiva-Shakti: Chidambaram is everywhere, everywhere His dance: As Shiva is all and omnipresent, Everywhere is Shiva's gracious dance made manifest. His five-fold dances are temporal and timeless. His five-fold dances are His Five Activities. By His Grace He performs the five acts, This is the sacred dance of Uma-Sahaya. He dances with Water, Fire, Wind and Ether, Thus our Lord dances ever in the court. Our Lord dances His eternal dance. The form of the Shakti is all delight This united delight is Uma's body This form of Shakti arising in time And uniting the twain is the dance His body is Akash, the dark cloud therein is Muya-laka, The eight quarters are His eight arms, The three lights are His three eyes, Thus becoming, He dances in our body as the congregation. 1 Shiva is significant in the tradition of Tantra because he represents all that the mind can grasp and beyond. His dance represents the complexity of the universe and the duality between movement and stillness. Shiva is often associated to the known idol of a four-armed dancing deva within a flaming circle. However, this deva can also be symbolized as a Yantra. According to Ajitcoomer Mookerjee, the 1 COMARASWAMY, Ananda Kentish. The Dance of Shiva. p.71-72
yantras exemplify dynamic relationships concretized in the rhythmic order elaborated out of the multiplicity of primal forms. 2 Thus, the Yantra is an abstraction of the primal forms into elaborate geometrical patterns. By abstracting all primal forms, the result is said to be the Sri Yantra which is also the Dancing Shiva. Before understanding the complexity of the Sri Yantra, it is important to analyze the relationship between reality and the Dancing Shiva. It was explained above that Shiva's dance is everywhere. This means that anyone can perceive his dance. This dance goes beyond our comprehension, however, it is possible to grasp the signs of this dance. The world around us is in constant movement. It is through movement that human understanding may conceptualize Time. It is empirically observable that the moon has a cycle of about twenty-eight days, and that the Earth revolves around the Sun. This galactic movement allows the human being to recognize its relationship with the world. This movement unites space and time and there would be no such thing as existence, as we know it, without it. The orderly movement of this cosmos is the Dance. Ananda Coomaraswamy explains its essential significance: First, it is the image of his Rhythmic Play as the Source of all Movement within the Cosmos, which is Represented by the Arch: Secondly, the Purpose of his Dance is to Release the Countless souls of men from the Snare of Illusion: Thirdly the Place of the Dance, Chidambaram, the Centre of the Universe, is within the Heart. 3 Coomaraswamy illustrates the effect of Shiva's dance through the symbolism. Furthermore, it is possible to notice Shiva's dance by gazing at the Sri Yantra. By gazing at this motionless symbol, one begins to recognize the difficulty to grasp the picture in its fullness. The complexity of the relationship between the triangle becomes evident. This is the Dance. However, there is more to this dance than simply Shiva's presence. As it was mentioned earlier, the inescapable unity between Shiva and Shakti becomes evident. The symbol couldn't come to life without the opposing energy as the symbol is simply a geometrical abstraction. In his Soundarya Lahari, the famous mystic Shankara wrote: Lord Shiva, only becomes able. To do creation in this world along with Shakti Without her, even an inch cannot move, 4 Once again, the unity between opposing forces becomes the essential practice behind gazing the yantra. It is, in fact, representative of worshipping unity and devoting one's spiritual life to transcending the 2 MOOKERJEE, Ajitcoomar. The Tantric Way: art, science, ritual. p.49 3 COMARASWAMY, Ananda Kentish. The Dance of Shiva. p.77 4 SHANKARA, Adi. Soundarya Lahari. Verses 1-3
illusion of duality. The worship of a deva is often confused as worshiping a partner of the Absolute. As is revealed by the Sri Yantra, the deva is an energetic contemplation of the universe in order to attain what is called samadhi or the unity with the Absolute. There are many methods to reach this inner peace that belong to a vast number of traditions. In fact, Sri Ramakrishna once proclaimed that all roads lead to God but not all roads are God. The Sri Yantra is one of these roads that was developed by Tantrik yogis. These yogis recognized that the prevailing energies in the universe were essentially dualistic. They separated these energies as prakriti and purusha. The first could be interpreted in Latin as mater which is the etymological root of words such as material and maternal. Thus prakriti represents a feminine energy and is associated with the deva Shakti. The latter, known as purusha, is associated with the Universal Man. This conceptualization is known through the essence of particular things. For example, the essence of a particular human being is the humanity that makes it human. The dualistic approach of prakriti and purusha is identical to the Aristotelean duality between substance and form. The road to God or to the Unity between these energies necessitates a certain spiritual exercise. Hence the importance of the Sri Yantra. Furthermore, the Sri Yantra channels these two forces and unites them with a point in the centre which is known as the bindu: The Sri Yantra is a configuration of nine interlacing triangles centred around the bindu, drawn by the superimposing of five downward-pointing triangles, representing Sakti, and four upright triangles, representing Shiva. 5 Essentially, this method is an attempt to help the devotee to attain a new level of mystical consciousness. There is, however, a deeper meaning associated to the symbolism. The relationship between Shakti and Shiva and their intermingling represents that the two energies mentioned above cannot be separate from one another and the state of samadhi is the recognition of their unity. Thus the contemplation of the Sri Yantra is the contemplation of non-duality presenting itself in our dualistic world. Swami Nikhilananda describes this state of unity as it is explained in the Vedas: The domain of duality is transcended. Maya is left behind with all its changes and modifications. The Real Man towers above the delusions of creation, preservation, and destruction. An avalanche of indescribable Bliss sweeps away all relative ideas of pain and pleasure, good and evil. There shines in the heart the glory of the Eternal Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. 6 The state described represents the human beings primordial nature beyond what the Christians would call the Fall. It is before the human being sought the fruit of knowledge and only tasted from that eternal Tree; the fruit of wisdom. Hence, the importance of contemplation and being devoted to that contemplation. A deva in Vedic tradition becomes the object of devotion as they guide the devotee towards transcendence. The practice of Yoga is an attempt to bring anyone to a state of inner bliss. It is the technology of ancient tradition where the human's quality of life became of utmost importance. In the modern world, this idea of quality is being stained by the prevailing philosophy of quantity. For this reason, groups dismiss other groups' traditions. In this case, the contemplation of Shiva becomes mere idolatry according to Western zealots and can only be sought after by calling one's self an anthropologist. There is, however, a manifestation of Truth that can be found within all sacred traditions. There is no exception with the Sri Yantra. Through such a beautiful symbol, the essence of our human culture resides within it. If one takes the time to look, one will find the Beauty of God's creation. 5 MOOKERJEE, Ajitcoomar. The Tantric Way: art, science, ritual. p.57 6 NIKHILANANDA, Swami. Introduction in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. p.26
Bibliography COMARASWAMY, Ananda Kentish. The Dance of Shiva: Fourteen Indian Essays. New York : Noonday Press, 1967, c1957. 182 p. MOOKERJEE, Ajitcoomar. The Tantric Way: art, science, ritual. Boston : New York Graphic Society, 1977. 208 p. RAMAKRISHNA, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. New York : Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1942. 1063 p. SHANKARA, Adi. Soundarya Lahari.