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Vamachara In this article I would like to introduce you to the concept of vâmâchâra in Indian Tantra. In Hinduism vâmâchâra is considered to be a closed form of worship. It is closed for many reasons, three of them, the most significant, are listed below: Vâmâchâra uses “impure” (as considered by the orthodox Hindu religion) elements as offerings to deities. These elements are alcohol, meat, fish and practice of sacred sex. It can cause the feeling of blame (guilt) and misunderstanding of the majority of Hindus who have rigid criteria of what is pure and what is impure. A closed system of practice, that is closed, should not be transmitted to those individuals whom Guru considers as morally unscrupulous, able to use these practices to harm themselves and others. Vâma-Mârga practices should not be disclosed to those individuals who have no proper dikshâ and blessings from their Guru, it is a secret associated with dikshâ. Actually the practices of vâmâchâra exist in any tantric system, you can find their analogues even in Christianity, which uses the communion by bread and wine in the church, in Gnostic cult, Kabbalah and Sufism, in Chinese tradition (there these practices are predominantly associated with the control of energy), and in Buddhism vâmâchâra methods are known as the practice of karma-mudrâ. The practices like vajrolî mudrâ, sahajolî mudrâ, amarolî-mudrâ, and also the worship of the Goddess with the using of “impure” elements can be found in Nathism. All these methods have their differences, and

some features specifically related to certain religious and mystical aspects. However, we must be aware of the fact that in all these practices, practitioners do not use drinking alcohol or having sex just for fun, otherwise all copulating beings and alcoholics would have become great yogis. In Tantrism all of these methods have a purpose to make sacred the “impure” elements in which the exoteric religion sees sin rather than divine; sâdhakavâmâchârin is able to feel the fullness of spiritual nondual experience through such practices. Traditionally, according to many tantric scriptures, sâdhakas are divided into several bhâvas (the characters): Pashu-bhâva (animal) is characterized by a very limited consciousness due to false morality. Such practitioners are suitable for different forms of penance, intensive practices of mantras (purashcharana), pûjâ with “pure” offerings, etc. Vîra-bhâva (heroic) - this category of practitioners who have a sophisticated understanding of yoga, different forms of worship, being able to become aware of themselves and the world, seeing the divine in themselves and in different objects of the world. These people are able to follow a non-formal and the essential approach, right with wide perspective. Divya-bhâva (divine) practitioners are independent from any external rituals which are performed by Vîrabhava practitioners, for example, from the practice of maithuna or some exotic rituals. However, divya-bhâva practitioners may participate in them as well. They are

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able to realize God in everything and everything for them is the means of interaction with the Divine. I should say that the division into bhâvas is more typical for the Shaktic ways, Kashmir Shaivism has three methods (upâyas) which do not match with three bhâvas. However, in the later works of Kashmiri gurus we find the mention of only two bhâvas: Pashu and Vîra. It is believed that for sâdhakas of pashubhâva is better to focus on dakshinâchâra practice where the sâdhaka offers worship to the Goddess, calling Her into the mûrti, the yantra, the sacred fire of agnihotra etc. Vîra-bhâva-sâdhakas perform the ritual of worshipping of real women rather than the mûrti and the yantra. They consider a woman as a Goddess. Whereas Divya-bhâva-sâdhakas may use different methods, of both external and internal contemplation. In Tantrism, it can often be seen that a practitioner makes himself like the Deity through the nyâsas (for example, through the six-part nyâsa) and then meditate on the Divine within his own microcosm. Similarly the practictioner can do, for example, shad-anga nyâsa into the center of the yantra located on the altar, considering that the yantra is the abode of the Goddess. Or, it is like in vâmâchâra ritual, the sâdhaka does nyâsas for his woman-shakti and performs the pûjâ worshipping her. In fact, whether there is a pûjâ to yantra or to real woman, the essence of the ritual is the worship to Goddess. When the sâdhaka directs the bhakti to the Goddess through woman, he can receive the shakti power from her. Traditionally, women in India belong to different varnas, and each varna requires specific details in the ritual practice. Woman-representative of a particular varna may empower a sâdhaka. For example, if a woman belongs to the Brahmin varna, the practice with her can bestow the spiritual knowledge to a sâdhaka, if she is a woman of the Kshatriya varna, the sâdhaka is bestowed the power of control, if she is from the Vaishya varna, so the sâdhaka becomes successful in commerce, and finally, if the woman is from the Shudra

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varna, it helps with everything that is illegal or even criminal. The major part of the vâmâchâra texts recommend to perform the practice with the women of the lower strata of Indian society. If the sâdhaka is able to transform the negative energy into the spiritual, it is straight path to the liberation from the wheel of samsâra. The Vâmâchârin may interact with such “impure elements” present in the maithuna with own wife (svakîya-shakti), with the wife of another man (parakîya-shakti), or with a courtesan (veshya). In fact, any deity can be worshiped in the vâmâchâra rituals, but more often Vâma-mârga in Tantra is associated with female Devatâs, preferring wrathful forms (ugra-rûpa) such as Kâlî, Bagalamukhi, Varahî etc. However, my Guru said that most sâdhakas should perform the pañchamakâra ritual only when it is auspicious (appropriate) period. Often, these periods may be associated with the full moon, new moon, or the eighth day of bright and dark moon. However, there are some Kaula-tantrics or aghorîs who practice the vâmâchâra ritual every day, they worship a particular form of Durgâ, known as Tiraskaranî. Tiraskaranî Durgâ protects the practices of Vâma-mârga.

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In the Nâtha tradition there is the following approach on the pañchamakâra practice: each element has its own three levels of practice. First, the physical (pratyaksha) - this is the level known as tâmasika, followed by the anukalpa level where one uses the replacement (anukalpa or pratinidhi) and the highest is the divine level (divya). The yogi must strive for the Divya level. So, it may look as follows:

In the rituals may be two participants: sâdhaka (Shaktiman) and sâdhikâ (Shakti) or more participants, and during the pûjâ the Goddess blurs out the boundaries between all of them, so that everyone feels the state of unity through the mystical power of Shakti. Furthermore, in the rituals are used different vessels with wine (yoginî-pâtra, Bhairava-pâtra, guru-pâtra, etc.). At the end of the pûjâ this vessel is filled up with some components associated with prasâd. Finally, the participants have a drink of this wine going beyond all limitations associated with social varnas. According to KaulaTantrism, it is a direct way to achieve mukti. My Guru R.Ch. Sharma said that if you cannot perform such complicated rituals with others participants, you can take the flower petals and mix them with rice and red powder (sindur) and put the mixture on a yantra. This is a symbolic offering of blood and semen. You can also take into by what name the Divine will be called in the pûjâ, if the Divine is Bagalamukhi you can use yellow colour flowers because Bagalamukhi has yellow apparel, if Tripurasundari – red flowers, if Kâlî – blue flowers, etc. What is panchamâkara? These are five forms of pleasure, such as madya (wine used in the pûjâ), mudrâ (roasted grain, money, sometimes woman – strî), mâmsa (meat), matsya (fish) and maithuna (intercourse). However, some tantras and yogic shâstras treat them as internal yogic processes, where eating of fish symbolizes the absorption of both currents (idâ and pingalâ) by sushumnâ, eating of meat is «eating of tongue” or khecharî-mudrâ, wine symbolizes the Amrita outgoing from the sahasrâra chakra, mudrâ is yogic gestures, and maithuna symbolizes the union of Kundalinî and Shiva in the sahasrâra chakra. Three of the five M’s (madya, mâmsa and maithuna) are interpreted by some sources as the most important ones. Of the three, maithuna is considered as the main practice because it includes 3 M’s or all 5 M’s. Madya (wine) is strî (shakti) or soma (sa-Uma) and mâmsa (meat) is Shiva. The mix of meat and wine promotes a sexual desire, which leads to maithuna.

Madya (wine): • Pratyaksha-rûpa (standard form) — wine. • Anukalpa-rûpa (form of change) — coconut juice. • Divya-rûpa — meditation on the essence of yogic techniques. Mâmsa (meat): • Pratyaksha-rûpa — meat.
 • Anukalpa-rûpa — garlic, ginger, wheat and sesame • Divya-rûpa — meditation on That what pervades all phenomena (i.e. shûnya). Matsya (fish): • Pratyaksha-rûpa — fish. • Anukalpa-rûpa — red radish. • Divya-rûpa — disidentification with one’s own image. Mudrâ (grain): • Pratyaksha-rûpa — wealth, money, woman. • Anukalpa-rûpa — roasted grains. • Divya-rûpa— abandonment of the negative society (kasangaka tyâga). Maithuna (sexual act): • Pratyaksha-rûpa — sexual act.
 • Anukalpa-rûpa — offering of the flowers (pushpa-arpana).
 • Divya-rûpa —raise of Kundalinî to Shiva in the sahasrâra-chakra. According to the Nâtha tradition, the yogin has to direct his consciousness more and more from the sthûla sphere (material) to the sûkshma (subtle). The yogin’s aim is to sublimate his own gross instincts into the subtle spiritual experience, the physical performance of 5M is considered as the lowest level in practice. The practice of 5M’s itself, performed as a ritual, is considered favorable only if the sâdhaka has received it from a real Guru. Yogi Shri Matsyendranath

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