Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

RELIGIONS

described above. Therefore, tribal people take special care to see that such things do not fall into the hands of enemies or are picked up by magicians. Virtually all tribal people in India bury the umbilical cord and placenta inside the house, especially under the hearth, which is the least vulnerable spot in the house. The question of the relationship of magic and religion is the source of unending controversy. Suffice it to say here, that inasmuch as both magic and religion are specialised types of human behaviour directed towards the super- natural, they obviously have much in common and in practice generally are related. 9. Postmortem Existence : Birth and death are inseparable aspects of life for all human beings, including members of the Primal Religious tradition. It is a commonly held belief among tribal people that the spirits of the dead go to the land of the dead,or as the Gonds call it, "the village of the dead souls." Here life carries on as it was on earth; therefore all the things that were needed in this life will be needed in the next. At the time of burying the body it is customary to include all the necessary weapons, implements, pottery, clothing, etc. It is also believed that whatever animals are killed for the dead person will be with him/her in the land of the dead. All the persons killed ESOTERIC CULTS Tantricism From the middle of the 5th century onwards the cult of feminine divinities and the practice of magico-religious rites which were be- lieved to lead to salvation or the acquisition of super human and supernormal power became popular. Both among Hindus and Bud- dhists all over India there were groups who practised strange, secret and repulsive ceremonies which came to be called Tantricism after their scriptures called Tantras. The Tantric branch of Buddhism which emerged with its centre in eastern India was called Vajrayana, the Vehicle of the Thunderbolt. Its followers taught that salvation could be attained by acquiring magical power which they called Vajra , thunderbolt or diamond. The Vajray- ana Buddhist pantheon had female counterparts and these counterparts were named Taras (Saviouresses). The cult is prevalent in Nepal and Tibet. Adepts who had learned the secrets of Vajrayana from a spiritual preceptor (guru) would meet at night to perform their secret ceremo- nies. Among the chief features of the ritual was the repetition of mystical syllables and phrases (mantras). Yogic postures and medita- tion were also practised. The Tantric groups also practised more questionable methods of gaining salvation like ritual murder, sexual promiscuity and incest in the belief that the breach of normal rules of behaviour was permissible if committed in a ritual framework of sanctity. Tantric Hinduism believes that the non-dual Supreme Reality has two aspects, shiva (male) and shakti (female). The non-duality of the Absolute is to be realised in the human body which is believed to be a microcosm of the universe by awakening Shakti, the female force also called Kundalini which lies coiled serpent-like at the base of the spine, and moving it through the spinal cord to unite it with the Shiva, the male force which lies at the top of the head. This union brings about the blissful realisation of supreme non-duality.

by a warrior during his life on earth will be his slaves in the land of the dead. This is one of the religious elements in the head-hunting practices among many,, tribes in Northeast India. There are many legends about the living forgetting to send all the necessary items with the deceased and having to be reminded, in dreams, to despatch the omitted items with another spirit. There seems to be no idea of postmortem reward and punishment. If a person was poor on earth he/she will be poor in the land of the dead; if one was a hero in this life, one will continue so in the next. The cult of the ancestor is, obviously related to the belief in individual postmortem existence. Since the spirit of the deceased continues to exist, their needs will have to be met by the living members and they have to be treated with respect and honour. If this is not done, there is the fear that the spirit will turn into a ghost and return to haunt the members of the family, causing them to suffer in a variety of ways. Then, again, if the ancestral spirit is pleased with the way it is treated the living members will be amply blessed. This can be vital, particularly at critically difficult moments of a family's life. (D.C.S) AND DOCTRINES The ceremonies of Hindu Tantricism were similar to Buddhist Tantri- cism and involved the breaking of all the usual taboos of Hinduism. Caste distinctions were not observed at the ceremonies. Sexual intercourse was indulged in by some groups while other groups performed the rites which were reprehensible to orthodoxy only sym- bolically. Anand Marg Anand Marg literally means "The Path of Bliss". The Anand Marg ideology was propounded by P.R. Sarkar("Shri Shri Anandamurthy") who was born in 1921. He founded the Anand Marg in Purulia District in West Bengal. In 1959 the Progressive Utilisation Theory (PROUT), the so- cio-economic theory of the Anand Marg was propounded. It advo- cates the integrated personality of the individual and the establish- ment of a world fraternity through five principles : 1. No individual should be allowed to accumulate any physical wealth without the clear permission or approval of the col lective body. 2. There should be maximum utilisation and rational distribution of all mundane, supramundane and spiritual potentialities of the universe. 3. There should be maximum utilisation of physical, metaphysical and spiritual potentialities of unit and collective bodies of human society. 4. There should be a proper adjustment amongst these physical, mundane, supramundane spiritual utilisations. 5. The method of utilisation should vary in accordance with changes in time, space and person, and the utilisation should be of progressive nature." In 1975 the Anand Marg was banned by the Government of Indira Gandhi. The ban was lifted in 1977 after the General Elec- tions when the Janata Government came to power.