One of the most weighty factors that establishes the supremacy of the Tantra Sastra in the modern context of life standard is its balanced approach towards Sansara -the material world with all its paraphernalia. Unlike the great Shankara's philosophy of treating the world as illusion-Maya and as such to be shunned and discarded Tantra treats it as a stepping stone towards higher bliss true ,that the world is not the ultimate end -truth ,that sensuous pleasures are not of enduring substance yet the have to be lived and enjoyed without getting lost in them and they have to be made the stimulants of higher mental activities that would lift a true sadhaka from morass to sublimity in due course of time . samsara is not a hell for a Tantric . He knows that it is there and it would continue to be there . It can not be escaped as imaginary escapes lead to booomeranged bondages. The universe is not Maya but an expression of Brahman in the eyes of a Tantric rightly perceived it never veils but reveals Brahman . it is the required material and chosen field for sadhana. Tantra Sastra does not see a hell in Women. It takes her to be an embodiment of divinely charged components. it is trough the sensuous that super sensuous is to be attained . this attitude in its sweep and range can provided even a non-practising Tantra believer with the ideal code of conduct for the journey of life . a Tantric,it is widely believed,gets acquainted with the super sensuous powers of nature. These powers like the woven matrix off the universe are both good and bad . He,if hi has learnt to walk on the razor's edge-a spiritual balancing of the highest order,teaches himself how to utilize the services of the high toward off the evils of the low. After all , the path that leads to ultimate reality , is through the crowded happenings of the material world ,and impediments on the way have to be cleared off.This knowledge is essential for the pilgrim on the path to Shaktipeeth Tantra Shastra therefore is not total renunciation. It is not an exclusive penance of totalisolation. It is a sastra to be made applicable to the happenings around with a view to increasing the total goods against the total evil. A tantric therefore is a highly gifted versatile individual who is adept at numerous techniques of sublime order and has a very deep acquaintance with related disciplines of Alchemy , Astronomy, Astrology , Herbiology, and Metallurgy. He is in touch with the cosmic laws of nature. He was first in the world to use Mercury . Snake Poison and the metals as medicine. But before he becomes an adept, a siddha, a divinity in human form ,a Bodhi Sattv in buddist tradition , he must have got the blessing and transmitted Tejas -superior energy of a true preceptor-a guru . Let us have a look at the concept of Guru outlined in Tantra texts. In fact the importance of Guru was already there in vedanta and tantra being a Pratyaksha Sastra needed a Guru all the more . In Taittirivopanished Acharya has been placed on equal pedestal with mother and father. ....................
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