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TOP | RELIGION | HINDUISM | YOGA | TANTRA | NEO TANTRA

Tantra vs Tao

Path: ultra.sonic.net!news
From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (xiwangmu)
Newsgroups: alt.consciousness.mysticism,alt.magick.tantra,alt.magick.tyagi,alt.philosophy.taoism,talk.religion.misc,talk.religion.newage
Subject: Re: Tantra vs Tao
Date: 8 Feb 1999 00:09:32 -0800
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49990208 
"J.P." :
| Knowing only a bit about Tantra and Tao, 

This source book-read, instructed by spirits, caution.

| I am wondering what the difference in the end result of each 
| is and the methodology of getting there.

Traditional
	tantra (Indian) -- goal 'moksa' or 'liberation'; a cessation
	 of imprisonment in the Wheel of Rebirths; sometimes results 
	 in side-effect-powers, supernatural, called 'siddhis'. 

	 method is the manipulation of bodily energy (variously 
	 'prana', 'sakti', 'kundalini', et al) using sonic, 
	 meditative, and behavioral disciplines to effect the 
	 transcendance of this cosmological entrapment. sometimes 
	 sexuality is included in symbolic or physical form within 
	 these disciplines.

	taoism (Chinese) -- goal 'shih' or 'immortality'; a funda-
	 mental transmogrification of the flesh into a deathless,
	 entropic stasis; sometimes associated with apparent death,
	 perhaps encountering an elite band of similarly successful
	 individuals in a legendary location such as 'the Blessed
	 Isles' or 'the Western Palace'. 

	 method is described in a variety of ways from deliberate 
	 such as the manipulation of dietary and behavioral 
	 energies ('chi') within a quite complex internal system 
	 (including things like 'furnaces' and strange/sexual 
	 fluids, organs, or embrionic manifestations) to the 
	 ingestion of a carefully protected or prepared pill or 
	 potion (often containing an ingredient called 'Cinnabar' 
	 designed to render the transmogrification into an 
	 'adamantine body'. sometimes sexuality is included the 
	 regimen recommended for achieving this supreme state.

Nontraditional
	tantra and taoism both yield, when followed intuitively
	 by the properly prepared or within the guidance of a
	 skilled mystic, to an experience of integration of self 
	 with what is conventionally understood as the rest of
	 of the cosmos (or Tao); in tantra the 'liberation' is 
	 the cessation of the tension inherent to the experience 
	 of the separate self-as-concept (it is woven into 
	 experience); in taoism the 'immortality' is the fairly
	 infinite extension of subjective experience, providing
	 the appearance of an endless life, while the 'adamantine 
	 body' is the realization of identity with the nondual 
	 substratum of the Tao.

| It seems to me that both aim to increase internal energy, heal 
| whatever imbalance one might have, make me multiorgasmic and 
| have non-ejaculative orgasms of great intensity.

These are the vulgar attractions provided by the traditions in
order to secure students. As is usual, the more firmly entrenched
in the tradition one becomes, the more ordinary and marvellous
the actual results will be.

| ...Tao is a more "physical" method, while Tantra is more mental.

Taoism tends toward more physical processes overall, yes. There
is a greater focus on biochemistry, for example, than spiritual
energetics (they are less divided by mystical aspirants).

| My ultimate question, then is, is either better, easier to 
| learn, or more effective?

Traditional: tantra is probably more accessible on account of
cultural openness and a lack of dispersion (between China and
India).

Nontraditional: you can learn tantra from Indian gods and taoism 
from the Celestial Masters directly if you have the wherewithal.

mu
-- 
tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (emailed replies may be posted); cc me replies;
http://www.abyss.com/tokus; http://www.luckymojo.com/mojocatSPELLS.html

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