Sri Yantra, Sexual Magic, & the Vesica Piscis
On page "How to Draw Sri Yantra" we contemplated a method for constructing a Sri Yantra using hand-held tools. Let us now contemplate some of the more esoteric mysteries that reverberate within the mystic diagram itself.
Sri Yantra can be used as a meditation aid for awakening awareness of the Shiva/Shakti energies at work in the body. The upward-pointing triangles of the Sri Yantra symbolize a very basic Shiva linga (phallus). The downward-pointing triangles symbolize a very basic Shakti yoni (vagina). Some schools of thought hold that the upward-pointing triangles of the Sri Yantra are the good and desireable energies and that the downward-pointing triangles are the dark and undesireable energies. This viewpoint is most likely owing to a residual impression from the dry Patriarcal notion that female energies like passion, sexuality, intuition and emotional knowledge are "bad" and should be supressed. This attitude is very damaging to the human psychological complex and should be avoided if one wishes to attain any real happiness in life. It is the opinion of this aspirant that both the male and female energies are equally desireable.
The focus of Yantra meditation is not so much the idea of Shiva "and" Shakti, rather, it is the mysterious union of polar opposites that is held in consciousness; the mystery itself as sort of a "third" entity, the "hieros gamos", the true holy matrimony, of which, human ritual marriage is merely a shadow.
Upon close examination of an inner structure of the Sri Yantra, one can observe a Vesica Piscis, another ancient and sacred symbol of the hieros gamos. A Vesica Piscis is the geometric shape obtained by intersecting two circles of equal radii at their respective center points (figure 1).
Figure 1 Vesica Piscis (click to enlarge)
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Notice the elegantly suggested eros of this diagram. There are a variety of ways in which one may understand the symbolism contained in the Vesica Piscis according to one's own inherited dispositions. It can be taken to symbolize the mysterious union of male/female, or the junction of the spiritual and material worlds in which the spiritual aspirant lives, or the womb, or the "Bardos" (Between) of the Tibetan Book of the Dead which is lucidly suggested by some commentators to be not only the place between life and death but also a state of mind, or the union of Heaven and Earth, Luni/Solar consciousness, Emotion/Intellect, etc.
The four quarters of the Vesica Piscis may be defined by two opposing, equilateral triangles (figure 2 below).
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Once again we have the male and female principles represented by upward and downward-pointing triangles. The diamond shape outlined by these two triangles fits perfectly within an interior structure of the Sri Yantra (figure 3).
Counting the number of male triangles within the diamond (figure 3), we get 9. Counting the number of female triangles within this geometry we get 12. Something very interesting and important to notice is happening here. It is a symbolic representation of gender exchange. Not so much of the surgical variety, but of the union of your own male and female energies. The number 9 has traditionally been a number of the goddess and 12, if thought of as symbolic of the 12 signs of the solar zodiac can be thought of as the god (solar). But what's interesting here is that there are 9 male triangles and 12 female triangles within the Vesica Piscis area of the Sri Yantra. Male becomes female, female becomes male. Gender is exchanged. This gender exchange can take place on the material plane, but is more specifically of a mystical nature where the soul, your true selves, merge and the first principle of self-realisation ,"I am not this body" becomes reality. The remaining triangles outside the Vesica Piscis diamond equal 11 male, 11 female, 11:11. It's possible that what the Betweeners are doing when they show us 11:11 is lovingly reminding us to equalize (11:11) our male/female energies. Because that's where our freedom lives and that's where heaven is, in union. The 11 male and 11 female triangles around the Vesica Piscis diamond are in the "Between" of the Sri Yantra itself, the center of the Yantra being Heaven, the outer perimeter of the Yantra being Earth. |
Figure 2 (click to enlarge) |
Figure 3 (click to enlarge)
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The concept of divine androgyny is not new to the mystical traditions of world. It is core to the Indian philosophy of Tantra. Shiva and Parvati (Shakti) are often depicted in Hindu art as inhabiting the same body in an androgynous form (figure 4). "When the male and female elements are completely developed and complement each other in the same individual, the soul is fully realised." Mother Guru Jnanananda of Madras, India. The world truly owes Mahabharata (the great nation of India) a mountain of debt for it's rich and abundant store of spiritual wealth it has freely distributed.
Figure 4 Shiva Ardhanari (click to enlarge)
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Chaitanya, the famous Vaishnavite saint is said to have cultivated a kind of personal androgyny so that he could experience what it would be like to make love to both Krishna and Radha (the wife of Krishna). He even dressed as a woman at times.1 The famous shakta saint Ramakrishna, who was insane with love for Mother Kali, is also said to have dressed like a woman while he was exploring the condition of approaching Krishna as lover.2 This is not sexual suppression, this is the Visha Kha, the gate of heaven itself, the ultimate sexual fullfillment, the Gemini twins, the real "soul mates". The well-known tantric text "Tripura Rahasya (The Mystery of the Triple Goddess)" quotes the goddess as saying "The wise feel me as their own pure being eternally glowing as 'I-I' within."3 And "My concrete form is the eternal couple - The Supreme Lord and Energy - always in undivided union..."4 In one of her spontaneous Sanskrit hymns, Sri Anandamayi Ma5 declares "You symbolize the heavenly couple Kama (the Lover God) and Kameshvarii (the Lover Goddess), who are dissolved together in all-permeating bliss supreme..." 6 The hymn tends to oscillate between first and second person, blurring the difference between the worshiper and that which is worshipped. |
 It's interesting to note that in biology, a hermaphroditic plant or flower is called "perfect"7 and is referenced by the symbol for Mercury. According to Parashara, the Great Master of Vedic Astrology, Mercury is an androgynous planet and rules Gemini, the twins. The Sanskrit word for Gemini is "Mithuna" pronounced MEET-HUNA and means copulation. Perhaps a more accurate description of the sign might be "Gemini, the Soul Mates." Individuals born with the rising sign, sun, or moon in Gemini may possess strong, naturally androgynous personalities. The same may be true for individuals born under a very-well functioning Mercury or with a chart that is strongly influenced by Mercury. The Sanskrit word for Mercury is "Buddha", the enlightened one.
We saw a bumper sticker that said "Romeo, Romeo, where the Hell art thou?" And my first answer to the question was "He's right there inside you, honey." Heaven has been desribed as a "continuous orgasmic stream that never ends". Heaven can be a place one goes to after death, but it can also be a place where one lives while still here on Earth - the Vesica Piscis - Heaven and Earth merged.
Astrology. The astrological object Lilith, which is a mathematical point in space where the Moon is furthest away from the Earth in it's orbit, is said to represent the female nature of a man in his natal astrology chart and the masculine nature of a woman in her chart. The "soul mate" is your own opposite gender self within waiting to be awakened so he/she can give you to drink from the cup of Nectar, immortality. He/She is waiting to divinize your body and make it glow and thrust you straight into the Ocean of Nectar called Samadhi Bliss. A good ephemeris, like the one found at Astrodienst will show the current location of Lilith for any given day of a specified year. Ephemeris files are in .PDF format and can be downloaded free of charge. Click here for an example. Meditation on the Sri Yantra during significant astronomical events happening in your Lilith sign can be highly effective for waking up your blissful soul mate, your Shiva if you are a woman (or a man), and your Kundalini Shakti if you are a man (or a woman).
An example of a significant astronomical event happening in your Lilith sign would be a Mercury transit in front of the Sun in a sign ruled by a planet that is friendly to Mercury like Venus, the Goddess of Sex and Beauty or Saturn, the Husband of Lilith. Something like that actually happened on November 8, 2006 in Libra, ruled by Venus and the Lunar Mansion Viishakha8, which is ruled by the benevolent Guru planet Jupiter while Jupiter was in it. That day most likely contained very powerful androgynous energies for anyone with Lilith in the Lunar mansion Viishakha in their birth chart.
This is what this aspirant humbly believes to be the essence of the Sri Yantra and the ultimate goal of all living. The return to our original androgynous state. Perhaps the so-called "fall of man", if there is such a thing, may have been our separation from our own selves, our fragmentation into different sexes where we are forever doomed to frantically seek out our lost paradise in some pre-conceived romantic delusion that can never return us to our orignial blissful self. The chronic failure of conventional dating and marriage scenarios may be evidence of this. How this theoretical fall may have actually happened dosen't really matter, what does matter is getting back to love. What matters is seeing yourself as possessed by the eternal lovers Rama and Sita, or Radha and Krishna, or Vishnu and Lakshmii, or whatever names and forms choose you.
It is helpful for a person to have some kind of daily ritual. A home altar of some type, sacred space where one can retreat (early morning before sunrise is a very powerful time) and make love to one's chosen deity. The only rule for creating a home altar is love. Be in love with the deity you chose and your altar (and soul) will be perfect. There are many different Sri Yantra rituals out there, the "best" ritual is the one that, motivated by your love and bliss, improves the quality of your life and the lives of those close to you and arouses your Shiva/Shakti. Love forgives ritual inaccuracies!
You will become very attractive both personally and sexually because when you love yourself, you take good care of your body and keep it clean and smelling good and eat healthy food and exercise and your inner bliss and health makes you glow like the moon.
Draw the Yantra my loves, draw it. Find the Lover and live in heaven now.
Namaste,
Vishvamitra - Sita@harinam.org
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Notes
1. "Mother of Bliss Anandamayi Ma (1896-1982)" by Lisa Lassell Holstrom, p. 215.
2. "Ramakrishna and His Disciples" by Christopher Isherwood, pp. 111-113.
3. "Tripura Rahasya" (The Mystery of the Triple Goddess, a.k.a. "The Mystery Beyond the Trinity") Ch. 20 lines 31-40.
4. "Tripura Rahasya" Ch. 20 lines 31-40.
5. Sri Anandamayi Ma was a Bengali Woman Saint of very high spiritual realization. She walked the Earth between 1896 and 1982. Many of her devotees believe her to be an avatar, an incarnation of Durga herself. She has been said by her devotees to chant "I am the God and the Goddess" very quietly in her native tongue during intense meditative trances. She was associated with Sri Aurobindo, Paramahamsa Yogananda, and Swami Sivananda Sarasvati. She was said to be a Sanyasiini (renunciate) and a Brahmachariini (celebate). This aspirant is of the opinion that Ma's celebacy was not some form of sexual repression, nor was it motivated by any guilty sense of religious obligation, rather, Ma's celebacy was an expression of her complete and total satisfaction in divine androgyny which can truly fullfill all desires. She encouraged her devotees to follow what was right for them and she made everyone feel like they were her favorite, both the sexually active and the celebate. Ma always exhibited the tenderness and compassion of a loving Mother toward all beings. Interestingly, Anandamayi Ma was born in the Hindu lunar month, Viishakha.
Anandamayi Ma Natal Chart Data:
Date: April 30, 1896
Time: 3:42:00 AM
Time Zone: 6:00:00 (East of GMT)
Place: 91 E 13' 00", 23 N 45' 00"
Kheora, Bangladesh
6. "Mother as Revealed to Me" Shree Shree Anandamayee Charitable, Calcutta p. 42
7. Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, Table of Special Signs and Symbols, p. 1690.
8. "Viishakha" "viisha", pronounced WEESHA, literally means"entry" in the same sense that the word "visa" means permission to enter a foreign country, and "kha" (the h is vocalized in the exhale) literally "the sky" or "heaven."
Hieros Gamos
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