siddha) Abhinava Gupta The great Tantric Tantric master ( mahāsiddha (10th cen.) on tarka (spiritual (spiritual discernment) discernment) and its relation to the other yogic practices: Thus, Thus, among among the limbs limbs of Yoga, Yoga, there there is truly truly nothing nothing that surpasses surpasses tarka. [And by tarka is here meant] an extraordinarily acute and intense cognition [that penetrates] ever more deeply within and within. [tantra], ‘When the sun and the moon [enerAs it is said in the Vīrāvalī [tantra] gies of inhalation and exhalation] are completely dissolved, silenced, and reabsorbed, by means of the reabsorption and dissolution of the ordinary awareness into the nature nature of of Śiva, which is awakened awakened Consciousness only, and when the living sun, our very own awakened consciousness, has reached the twelfth level [of the dvādaśānta], then that alone [merits] being called ‘liberation.‘’… yama) and the other practices up to and including But [if the] restraints ( yama the meditative absorption ( samādhi) have been here described as being limbs of Yoga, this is because each such preceding limb is a means to attain the next, and so on, in order to serve as a means for the attainment of the last [and most fundamental limb of Yoga] which is the perfected reason (tarka). For what burgeons within consciousness, can be transmitted by that very consciousness into the breath, the body, or the mind by means of repeated and sustained practice. But not the other way around… Nevertheless, Nevertheless , because in our system we accept the universality of the Self which blossoms clearly even within the breath, mind, and body, [we can allow that] the practices that are based on them [i.e., on the breath, mind, and body] do serve to eliminate their opposite.
As it is taught in the Ancient Treatise, [the Mālinī -vijayottara-tantra] where it says, ‘Tarka or perfected reasoning is the highest among the limbs of Yoga. Yoga. All efforts efforts in its applic application ation and practice practice are are praise praised, d, for for it permits permits one to discern what is to be avoided (and what is to be adhered to).‘ -- translated by Dr. Paul Muller-Ortega
Saṃ skā ra and adhikāra : two key terms in the philosophy of Tantrik Yoga You may be familiar with the term saṃ skā ra from Patañjali’s Yogasūtras, where it refers to the subliminal impressions of past actions. But this important term has other meanings as well that are central to yogic practice. Its commonest meanings are in fact: ’polishing, refining, cultivating,‘ ‘purifying, cleansing‘ ‘training, forming the mind‘ and ‘consecrating, rite of passage‘. • • • •
Adhikāra is a term that has several interrelated meanings, including ’privilege, obligation, entitlement, readiness, aptitude‘. In order to practice any yoga, but especially Tantrik Yoga, one must have adhikāra, or the practice will not be successful. Therefore, gaining adhik āra is of prime importance. This brings us to the sūtra (concise yet profound teaching in a single phrase) that links the two terms and will be a subject of discussion for us:
Saṃskāra grants adhikāra
