Yantra
Yantra - The Visual Mantra
Yantra a Sanskrit word means ' an apparatus'
it is a mystic diagram composed of geometric and alphabetic
figures--usually etched on small plates of gold, silver or
copper. These are also made in three dimensions in stone or
metal.
The
purpose of a Yantra is to focus spiritual
and mental energies, to improve health, wealth, childbearing
or the invoking of one God or another. It is usually installed
near or under the temple Deity. The temple Yantra is a magnificent
three-dimensional edifice of light and sound in which the
devas work. On the astral plane, it is much larger than the
temple itself. It is made is such a way that the male and
female energy patterns of he universe interact and produce
a high level spiritual energy. It is one of the deepest secret
of ancient Hindus and many parts of the texts dealing with
these diagrams of energy are lost for mankind .
Yantra
has also been defined as a visual mantra i.e., it is able
to create the vibrations and other mystic effects of a Mantra
by sight.
The Yantra provides a focal point that is a window
into the absolute. When the mind is concentrated on a single,
simple object (in this case a Yantra), the mental chatter
ceases. Eventually, the object is dropped when the mind
can remain empty and silent without help. In the most advanced
phases, it is possible to attain union with God by the geometric
visualization of a Yantra.
The Yantra is like a microcosmic picture of the
MACROCOSM. It is a focusing point and an outer and inner
doorway. The Yantras are often focused on a specific deity
and so by tuning into the different Yantras you can
tap into certain deities or creative force centers in the
universe.
Yantras are usually designed so that the eye is
carried into the center, and very often they are symmetrical.
They can be drawn on paper, wood, metal, or earth, or they
can be three-dimensional.
The most celebrated Yantra in India is the sri
Yantra, the Yantra of Tripura Sundari. It is a symbol
of the entire cosmos that serves to remind the practitioner
of the nondifference between subject and object.
The Power of Yantras to induce RESONANCE
is based on the SPECIFIC FORM of its appearance.
Such a diagram can be composed from one or more geometrical
shapes which combine into a precise model representing and
transfiguring in essence, at the level of the physical universe,
the subtle sphere of force corresponding to the invoked
deity. From this point of view we can argue that the Yantra
functions similarly to a MANTRA (sacred word).
By RESONANCE, a certain energy from the practitioner's
MICROCOSM vibrates on the same wavelength with the corresponding
infinite energy present in the MACROCOSM, energy which is
represented in the physical plane by the Yantra. The principle
of RESONANCE with any deity, cosmic power, aspect, phenomenon
or energy owes its universal applicability to the perfect
correspondence existing between the human being (seen as
a true MICROCOSM) and the Creation as a whole (MACROCOSM).
Next
- Forms of Yantras
