Tantra is neither a forgotten collection of ancient rituals nor a teaching about the art of pleasure. Tantra is a living science of energies, whose ultimate aim is enlightenment, yet its teachings have always enabled transformation in everyday aspects of life such as health, wellbeing, abundance, and relationships.
Tantra is such a fascinating spiritual journey precisely because at its heart lies the understanding that all existence is sacred, including earthly life itself – every moment, every experience, every feeling is an expression of divine consciousness. The entire Universe, all that exists, is like the eternal dance of two energies, from which our daily reality is also born. This dance takes place between Shiva and Shakti. Shiva is the expression of pure masculine energy, pure consciousness, which is unfathomable and unchanging. Shakti is the expression of pure feminine energy, infinitely creative, dynamic, the earthly manifestation of Life itself. Think of Life and all its forms of expression – whether beautiful or even repulsive, the nuances of living and non-living forms, the subtle structure of the human body or psyche – what an incredible creation this is!
According to Tantra, Life itself is one great cosmic play (lila), in which we may become stuck and suffer, or we may learn to see it all as a combination of energies, with its own laws, with which we can interact and harmonise through the right practices. Even today, by following tantric teachings, one can discover the mystical world of energies and create real change in one’s life. In the following articles, we will open up the topic of these very important tantric teachings on energies – we will speak about the ten cosmic powers, or Dasha Mahavidyas!
As mentioned before, Shakti is the general principle of feminine energy. But Shakti has 64 different “faces” or forms. The ten cosmic powers, or Mahavidyas, are also forms of feminine energy, which can be viewed either as an entirely independent system of energies or as part of those 64 forms. The ten cosmic powers are like Goddesses, embodying different universal forces, whose mutual synergy forms the reality we perceive – each one is a unique aspect of Shakti’s infinite potential. Some of them are gentle and soft, others fearsome and even terrifying; if you read about them, you’ll find they are all familiar from your own life experience. Thus, the ten Mahavidyas are invisible energies, but we have all felt their manifestation in our lives to a greater or lesser extent.
But why are the teachings of the ten cosmic powers considered so important in Tantra? Each of these ten energies is like a bridge that leads to union with Shiva, or pure consciousness. In other words, by working with energies that are actually very accessible to us – because they are part of our earthly life – we can reach very high states of consciousness and attain enlightenment. The pure union of Shakti and Shiva is, in Tantra, the experience of enlightenment. In addition, becoming aware of these energies and working with them helps the practitioner to harmonise these aspects in their own life and thus bring balance to their earthly existence. Fascinatingly, according to tantric teachings, everyone has a natural connection with at least one Mahavidya – we each have a gift for working with a particular energy, and achieving results is therefore easier with that one.
