SPIRITUALITY/SEXUALITY TANTRIC QUEST IN THE FALL OF 1968 DANIEL ODIER LEFT EUROPE for the green foothills of the Himalayas. Twenty-three at the time and fascinated by the Eastern mystics, he was looking for a master who could help him penetrate where texts and intellectual searching could no longer take him. He wanted everything: the wisdom and spirituality gained from the life of an ascetic and the beauty, love, and sensuality of a life of passion. It was here that Odier discovered Shivaic Tantrism, the secret spiritual path that seeks to transcend ego and rediscover the divine by embracing the passions. Tantrism is the only ancient philosophy to survive all historical upheavals, invasions, and influences to reach us intact by uninterrupted transmission from master to disciple, and the only one to retain the image of the Great Goddess as the ultimate source of power. Entire Tantric lineages have followed great women masters, and today numerous female yogis continue to transmit this age-old wisdom. After months of search ing deep into the Himalayas, Odier met Devi, a great female yogi who would take him on a mystical journey like none he had ever imagined. At times moving him beyond the limits of sexual experience, at times threatening him with destruction, she taught him what it is to be truly alive and know the divine nature of absolute love. Daniel Odier is one of France's most honored writers. He founded the Tantra/Chan center in Paris and has taught courses on the spiritual traditions of the Far East at the University of California. He is the author of several books of nonfiction, including Nirvana Tao, and many novels. His mystery novels, written under the pen name Delacorta, include Diva, which was made into an award-winning film in 1981. He lives in Paris. INNER TRADITIONS ROCHESTER, VERMONT Cover design by Tim Jones Cover photograph by Kevin Bubriski PRINTED & BOUND IN CANADA TANTRIC QUEST TANTRIC QUEST An Encounter with Absolute Love Daniel Odier 'Translated from the French by Jody Gladding Inner Traditions Rochester, Vermont Inner Traditions International One Park Street Rochester, Vermont 05767 www.InnerTraditions.com First English edition published in the United States in 1997 Originally published in French under the title Tantra: L'initiation d'un occidental a I'amour absolu. Copyright © 1996, 1997 by Daniel Odier This English translation edition copyright © 1997 by Inner Traditions International All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Odier, Daniel, 1945- [Tantra. English] Tantric quest: an encounter with absolute love / Daniel Odier; translated from the French by Jody Gladding, p. cm. ISBN 0-89281-620-1 (alk. paper) 1. Spiritual life - Tantrism. I. Title. BL1283.85204513 1997 294.5'514 - dc21 97-1786 CIP Printed and bound in Canada 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 Type design and layout by Peri Champine This book was typeset in Bitstream Charter with Delphian as the display typeface. For Kalou Rinpoche and Devi, my masters In truth, every body is the universe. Mahanirvana tantra INTRODUCTION Shivaic Tantrism of Kashmir occupies an extraordinary place in the history of thought. Originating seven thou sand years ago in the Indus valley, this mystical, scien tific, and artistic movement of the Dravidian culture en compasses all human potential and assigns a special place to the adept who is totally engaged in the way of knowl edge. Tantrism is probably the only ancient philosophy that has survived all historical upheavals, invasions, and influences to reach us intact by uninterrupted transmis sion from master to disciple, and the only one, as well, to retain the image of the Great Goddess without inverting the power between woman and man to favor the latter. Entire lineages have followed great women masters, and still today, numerous yoginis transmit this age-old wis dom. Great male masters have often retained the custom of initiating a female disciple as a way to draw from the very source of power. 1 The Dravidians, seafaring people, built the great cities of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa. Their civilization extended from the Indus valley, in what is now Pakistan, to the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. The invasion of Aryan tribes from the Ukraine, three thousand years ago, put an end to the Dravidian civilization, but the formidable mystical movement underlying it survived. The masters fled the occupied citadels and took up residence in the countryside and in inaccessible places throughout the Himalayan moun tain chain. Shivaic Tantrism reemerged openly at the beginning of the fourth century A.D. in Kashmir, located, naturally, at the crossroads of the great cultural and commercial routes. Kashmir was part of the mysterious country of Oddiyana, situated between Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. It in cluded the valley of Swat, birthplace of numerous Mahasiddhas and dakinis, great Tantric initiators who spread the doctrine throughout the rest of India, Nepal, China, and Tibet. Shiva and Shakti, the inseparable divine couple, are the gods of the ecstatic dance and the creators of the yoga that allows adepts to rediscover the divine at the root of their own minds by opening the heart. In the West, we usually move about in a universe based on duality: In the begin ning, "God separated the light from the darkness" (Genesis 1:3). It is essential to understand that Tantrism stands apart from all separation between light and darkness, humans and gods. It is non-dualistic. It considers the mind to be fundamentally illuminated. Thus, the mind harbors all di vinity. It is the source from which all is born and to which all returns: all phenomena, all differentiations, all mythi- 2 cal and divine creations, all sacred texts, all teachings, all illusory dualities. The work of tantrikas, Tantric adepts, is thus to dispense with the illusory obscurities from which the ego, which origi nated these distinctions in the first place, arises. They then realize the nature of their own intrinsically pure minds. In dualistic thought, we imagine God outside of ourselves and direct our desire for union toward the exterior. In non- duality the quest is reversed. Mystic energy is directed to ward the interior, toward the mind. To realize the nature of the mind is thus the highest accomplishment. From this perspective, the passions are no longer considered antago nistic to mystical life. Their energy is used directly by the tantrika, and it is in this great conflagration that ardor dis solves the ego. Needless to say, the widespread image that reduces Tantrism to vague sexual techniques meant to miraculously liberate their practitioners, under the guise of spirituality, has nothing to do with Shivaism. Such practices - ineffec tual, since they are not based on true yoga asceticism, which depends upon the triple mastery of the breath, mental emptiness, and bodily processes - are, at best, only harm less deviances, not so harmless if manipulation is involved. Tantrism is a way of total love, which leads to the free dom to be. It is through this story of my encounter with a great yogini and her teachings that I invite you to share this marvelous experience. 3