Happiness of Mind through Tantra Vidya

The name of the blog is Manasollasa ( मानस उल्लाह्स). The etymology and composite(सन्धिविछेद्द ) of the word is given in the very title of the blog. The meaning of the word Manasollasa, which can be derived from the elucidation, is the Happiness of Mana or The Mind. The blog is located through a posting at Jinajik, a blog by Ian Sinclair, a scholar of Vajrayana with special interest on Nepal Buddhist Tantraism and also a writer on South Asian history and culture. His remark is imbued with some amazement and he wrote:
"This semi-‘experiential’ yogin’s diary, peppered with Sanskrit soundbites, echoes tantric literature in its subject matter as well as in its sheer eclecticism: proper ritual procedure, useful mantras, lineage authenticity, mythical history, and pseudo-real reports of encounters with deities and Sadhakas."


Well, the contents are really awesome. However, it leaves you unsatisfied. The author (agnikula : probably the caste and gotra of the author or may be the name) has adopted a style of notations for writing the Sanskrit Mantras. It becomes difficult to read them with their real sound pattern in their given form. The display of the contents shows that the blogger knows about the technical aspects of making a site and HTML quite well. He may have adopted UTF 8 code for writing the Devnagri and that would have been more effective. It seems that the author is addressing to the audience who know English. However, the author can get good assistance from the Hindi bloggers like Akshargram, Chittahvishav or e-swami if interested in giving Devanagri version of the mantras.


The Tantrism has its roots in Vedic literature. The Tantraism traces its origin to the contents of Black Yajur Veda (Yajur Veda has two renditions namely White Yajur Veda and Black Yajur Veda. It is Black Yajur Veda, which contains Tantric practices) and Atharva Veda. In eighth century A. D., tantraism dominated the Indian religious scene. The Vajrayana after Hinayana (Thervada) and Mahayana involved tantraism in Buddhist religion.


There are many postings which are of great interest. I was really attracted to the contents of the Gatha on the founder of our nation. There are many more such posts which are related to the history as well as to tantraism as explained by Ian Sinclair. The author has interest in Ornithology and paleontology. The blogger has special interest for cricket. There are many postings related to history of other continents.


I regret that I have not introduced these sites to Miland Brown for Asian History Carnival 5.


I have made a noting to this blog because I take a particular view of the definition of history. I do not consider history merely a continuity and change relations over a period of time and space based on written records. This definition is good if you are interested merely in political history. For me, history is also a continuity of customs, traditions, rituals and collective memory over a period of time on the basis of such records which are available in present also. From that point of view, all the rituals, folklores, faiths, customs, traditions are part of history subject. From this perspective, the study of Tantrism and its development in India forms the subject matter of history also. That is other thing, that I have never undertaken this definition in practice. On the other hand, there are many rituals in daily life of an Indian which points towards tantric practice. Whenever one visits a cremation ground, before living the cremation ground, the mourners pick up a small twig or dried piece of a stamp, break it and throw over theri heads behind them. It is generally taken as a ritual and tradition. But it is believed that it is a very strong tantric device. It saves from malevolent spirits which may follow back to your house. This act works as a weapon to throw them back into the cremation ground. There are many such rituals and practices which are ingrained into social practices and they have their origin in tantric practices. Even in case of numerous revolts during the colonial periods, it were the traditions which became the source of the strength and all such traditions were not based on any written records.


Apart from such aspects of social life, there is a sect of Aghoris who practice Tantrism and they played a big role in history of India. Similarly, Lingyats and Shulikas, who are considered to be devotees of Lord Shiva practice Tantric practices. Lord Shiva himself is called the Bhottnatha who is always accompanied by goblins, dakanis and pichshasa.


Well, I have yet to fully explore the above mentioned site but as Ian Sinclair was fascinated by its presence on cyberspace, same is the case with me.


I end this note with another observation. I have pointed out somewhere else, that all such people who talk about esoteric sciences and mysticism, they prefer to pick black background for their site. It intrigues me. There must be some logic on their part for adopting such a background. As far I am concerned, I prefer white back ground.