"Tantric Yoga and the Wisdom Goddesses is an excellent introduction to the essence of Hindu Tantrism. The author discusses all the major concepts and offers valuable corrections for many existing misconceptions. He also introduces the reader to the core Tantric practices of meditation and mantra recitation, focusing on the ten Wisdom Goddesses" states Georg Feuerstein.
Tantra - perhaps the most popular and yet most misunderstood of the yogic teachings today - is a vast ocean of wisdom for enlightening the mind. It is not merely sex, with which most Westerners identify it, but an entire science of meditation.Tantric Yoga and the Wisdom Goddesses describes the deeper system of Tantra in its psychological and spiritual sophistication - unfolding the mysteries of life and death, being and non-being. It reveals Tantra as a profound methodology for reaching the highest states of consciousness. Tantric Yoga delineates one of the most important Tantric teachings - the Ten Wisdom Forms of the Goddess (Dasa Mahavidya) - on all levels from image worship to formless meditation practices, including mantras for each Goddess. It explains these great Goddesses in beautiful poetic and deep philosophical language, making them accessible archetypes to the modern mind. These ten forms are Kali, Tara, Sundari, Bhuvaneshvari, Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Bagalamukhi, Dhumavati, Matangi, and Kamala. In a special section on the practice of Yoga, the book explains the subtle body, the chakras and their energy flows, and how these can be properly developed. For the first time in print in the West, it reveals the Ayurvedic system of inner transformation using the three principles of Prana, Tejas and Ojas, the spiritual energies of air, fire and water (Vata, Pitta and Kapha). It shows how we can develop these energies through outer and inner methods, including diet, herbs, gems, mantra and meditation. Tantric Yoga and the Wisdom Goddesses is based on unpublished teachings of the great yogi Vasishta Ganapati Muni, the foremost disciple of the great guru Ramana Maharshi. It follows the Tantric approach of Advaita Vedanta and South Indian Tantric traditions.
