Tantra Occult Science
Level 6 to Level 0
Maya, Wisdom, God, Beyond God, Shakti and Shiva,
and The Secret Tattva
Tantra Occult Science explores tantric occultism in the modern context. However, it's better to understand the different attributes of occultism to be able to understand occultism itself. Simply put, Occultism is the domain of human consciousness that cannot be accurately described in words. Every human being has emotions that are unique, but they are also similar because we are humans. In other words, human experiences are similar but not identical. In the domain of the occult, our experiences are not commonplace. We don't feel these tattvas everyday.
Level 6: Maya
Maya is illusion! And illusion is everything! So everything is Maya! In Tantra Occult Science, these statements are true, but they are not taken in the context of the unreal. Please remember that we are talking about levels of reality, and Maya is within the occult layers of reality. Simply put, anything that is illuminated is Maya. Light falls on an object and we are able to see it. That is Maya. A neuron fires and a thought may emerge in our brain: that too is Maya. Maya is illusion, delusion, hallucination… everything that manifests itself either as an object or as a thought. The power of appearance (object or thought) is Maya. In Tantra, Maya is not simply – or negatively – an illusion. Maya is imagination in its totality: from the ‘image’ of an object being created in our brain to ‘imagining’ a situation (or recalling a memory) to conjuring a thought.
Level 5: Wisdom
Level-Five Wisdom is wisdom in its classical sense! It’s the vibration that every creature possesses and that connects it to everything else. A smell, a sound, a rhythm, a color… anything that “vibrates” within us and connects us to our environment purely through non-verbal means is wisdom. The wind is blowing and the trees are swaying in its flow. The wind is also rustling my hair as if they are leaves. It’s raising the dust and the pollen and making crows and butterflies dance in the air. This is wisdom: the non-verbal connection that arises out of the framework of our minds. This is not the kind of wisdom that comes with experience. It is an innate form of consciousness that everyone is born with.
Howard Gardner (Multiple Intelligences) has alluded to a Ninth Intelligence called Existential Intelligence (asking deep questions about life, questioning spirituality, metaphysical intelligence), and it is my opinion that Wisdom and Existential Intelligence fall in the same category.
Level 4: God
This is the common concept of God. Tantra says that everyone has a personal deity (call it what you may or not name it at all), and this is the level at which most of all known gods are placed. This is a level of consciousness that does not separate itself from anything else. This consciousness sees itself in everything (omnipresence) and has the ability to identify the other as itself. “I am it; it is me!” In the context of god being every individual’s personal affair, there are as many gods as the people who people in god or gods. So, even if you believe in One God, your idea of that god is always unique. Therefore, Tantra states that there are many gods even if you choose to call him by one name or by many names or prefer not to name him/her at all!
More importantly, Tantra Occult Science says that this level can be attained by anyone: human or non-human. It is not surprising therefore to see cats, snakes and other animals being worshiped as gods. In animism, all of nature is worshiped as one or another form of god.
So you can be God! And then go beyond God!
Level 3: Beyond God
The formative principles of a fully expanded mind will naturally lead to realizing a consciousness beyond the ultimate. When the tantrik reaches the god level and is bored of it, he/she will create - or become the causative agent – for an idea that exceeds god. Many people continue to use the word “god” for levels of consciousness beyond this, but not an atheist like me. If god is at the level of milk chocolate, then dark chocolate is beyond god. And different percentages of dark chocolate will constitute different levels beyond the plain milk chocolate! For the Master, this can happen with each percentage point, but let’s simply look at 55% dark, 80% dark and 95% dark chocolates, and you will know what I’m talking about. If you still don’t get it, then try these different dark chocolates and the experience will be revealing.
Level 2 and Level 1: Shakti and Shiva
Shakti and Shiva are not deities as popularly worshiped. Tantra Occult Science states that these are levels of super-consciousness existing simultaneously but experienced sequentially. Shakti is the creative force: we experience Shakti as the constant flow of thoughts, and Shiva is the space of stillness between the thoughts. Shiva is subtle and Shakti is very obvious and in your face. Shakti needs attainment; she is always there whereas Shiva needs to be achieved. The feminine and masculine forms are for linguistic convenience only and make no difference to the ideas of Shiva and Shakti. Any association to feminine and masculine virtues is merely for convenience. One could call Shakti masculine and Shiva feminine and it would make no different in Tantra Occult Science.
You can experience Shakti and Shiva if you practice some forms of Pranayam (breathing exercises). The inhaling and exhaling are Shakti, and holding your breath between these two acts is Shiva. When done in meditation, it is the experience of stillness between the flow of thoughts: the stillness of time between one thought leaving and another entering is the experience of Shiva.
There are numerous techniques to experience these levels of consciousness and many seem mundane, but they are not, simply because Shiva and Shakti cannot be explained or described – they have to be “felt.” Consider this exercise from a Buddhist practice: take a sip of water and hold it in your mouth. Don’t fill your mouth. Now, depending on how you expand or contract your cheeks, you will “feel” your mouth full of water or full of air. Similarly, when doing Pranayam, instead of focusing on the air coming in and going out of your lungs, focus of the emptiness of the lungs filling up (inhaling) and then the lungs becoming empty again (exhaling). The breathing exercise has not changed but your mind is now focusing on the emptiness rather than on the air that is coming and going.
Another example: We enjoy a full stomach, especially when the food is good; but try enjoying an empty stomach. I’m not talking about starving but a simple fast and there is an experience of the space within our body that can be quite exciting. This emptiness is Shiva!
Level 0: The Secret Tattva
In Tantra Occult Science, this tattva is a secret because one tantrik’s experience of it is different from another tantrik’s experience. This is at the highest level of tattvas simply because it encompasses all the other tattvas including Shakti and Shiva. This level is the level of the pure Occult wherein no words can describe the experience and no explanations are sufficient. Words will be a waste of paper (or screen space) and reading those words will be a waste of time. I will reveal the pathways and techniques that lead to this secret, but tantriks who have experienced this level prefer to leave it as a secret. I am wont to do the same!