This short study is the report of a Westerner who has practiced yoga under a teachers from India and Tibet and Japan. The primary purpose of my investigation was to test by personal experience the techniques of Tantra Yoga. So, after getting an initiation with the requisite mantra and instruction on their use, I went to various yoga camps with the aim of testing the techniques and to follow a course of traditional training, taking notes and making critical observations in order to appraise the results in the light of my own personal discovery.
I was one of the first in the U.S. to be initiated into Tantra Yoga. In order to further my studies, I have delved deeply into the subject of meditation that is transcendental for over forty years, I still find nothing to match the work done by MMY. In my continued research I have found that almost all the writings fail to mention where the TM mantras came from. In fact, according to my research, all the MMY mantras come from the Sri Vidya tradition which is in turn based on the "Shat Chakra Nirupana," which elaborates on the seven chakras corresponding to the seven states of consciousness in the subtle body. You will find illustrations of the chakras along with the vertical axis of the spine and the various petals that emanate from each chakra, and the diagram of the Sri Yantra mandala. [image: Inline image 1] There are numerous commentaries explaining the esoteric meaning of the Sri Yantra and the mode of worship, such as the commentary by Lakshmidhara on Sound Arya Lahari and on the Ananda Lahari, both composed by the Adi Shankara. There is a chapter in the Tripura Upanishad and one in the Bhavano Upanishad and the importance of the importance given to the worship of Sri Yantra. Worship of the Sri Yantra is as interesting as it is complex: it is ritualistic, abstract and esoteric, and yet the Sri Yantra is one of the most meaningful and useful symbols that has been handed down to us from the Adi Shankaracharya: The essence of the vibration is the ecstatic self-recurrent consciousness. Impelled by universal welfare, the Adi Shankara gave great importance to Sakti worship. And to this end, the Adi Shankara installed a Sri Yantra in at places of Sakti worship. The very quintessence of the Sri Vidya is a chapter which deals with the fundamentals of the ancient mystic syllables that constitute Devi worship and the relevance of simple worship of Sri Saraswati - Lalita - Tripurasundari and the place where the Sri Yantra is installed. There is also the life story of Bhaskararaya which shows how effective are the mystic diagram and the mantras used in the meditation on Devi Shakti. The most complex yantra, like the Oregon yantra, is the Shri Yantra of the tantric school of Sri Vidya. Khanna says that the structure of this yantra is described in the Shankara's Saundaryalahari (Wave of Beauty). "Mantras, the Sanskrit syllables inscribed on yantras, are essentially 'thought forms' representing divinities or cosmic powers, which exert their influence by means of sound-vibrations." Works cited: Sri Saraswati : The Goddess of Knowledge (Sakti Darsan 6) by T.R. Ramachandran Tattvaloka Publication, Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri p. 112 'Yantra: The Tantric Symbol of Cosmic Unity' by Madhu Khanna Inner Traditions, 2003 p. 21 Other titles of interest: 'Meditation Revolution: A History and Theology of the Siddha Yoga Lineage' by Paul E. Muller-Ortega and Douglas Brooks Agama Press, 1997 'The Doctrine of Vibration: An Analysis of the Doctrines and Practices of Kashmir Shaivism' by Mark S.G. Dyczkowski Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1987
