Elisabeth Anne Benard

According to Indian cosmology we are in the age of decline, the Kaliyuga, wherein a person’s life-span is limited to a hundred years or so. Therefore many spiritual practices which require a long-term commitment and perhaps costly rituals are no longer suited to this age of decline. The recitation of the namastotra is a simple ritual which can be performed by anyone who wants to be closer to the deity. Ideally, as one chants the names of the deity, one contemplates the deity and identifies with all the aspects of the deity.

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The Goddess represents the atman who can assume a myriad of forms and evoke emotions in her practitioners while she essentially remains unaffected. In contrast, her practitioners become very involved in her various forms and do react to them.

Hindu ascetics define Tantra as action done with the body (tanu) for the purpose of protecting/bringing about release (tra). One etymology of Tantra divides the word into two roots, tan to stretch or expand, and tra to save or protect. By combining these two roots, Tantra means the increase of methods available in order to liberate oneself from cyclic existence. Ideally, these methods should be efficacious and expedient. Furthermore, in researching about Tantra, one realizes the importance of the human body as the principal instrument for liberation.

Published in Chinnamasta: The Aweful Buddhist and Hindu Tantric Goddess, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 1994. Republished here with thanks.