Why is Tantra A Secret?

Two weeks ago we gave the talk called "how to perform the best Tantrik ritual & overcome superstitions in Tantra" where we referenced Swami Vivekananda saying in the Introductory Chapter of Raja Yoga that mystery-mongering and superstition weakens the mind: everything that is could she be taught openly, and preached in the street in the broad daylight of reason. In that lecture, I argued that in some case the secrecy of Tantra was the attempt of an unscrupulous few "to keep the power all to themselves", to borrow Swami Vivekananda's phrase. 

But perhaps there are indeed good reasons for keeping things secret! 

While in the worse cases secrecy is a tool for hegemonizing Tantrik discourse, most of the time, it is an expression of compassion and a necessary tool to create an authentic spiritual community where practitioners are practicing in a meaningful and safe way. As such, to balance out the view I presented in the aforementioned lecture, I'd like to make a case for the importance of secrecy in the Tantrik tradition. 

We can think of a few reasons, some of which I briefly mentioned towards the end of the talk and a few others that are coming to mind now: 

1. Because these practices can be exceedingly powerful, they can sometimes backfire and cause a reaction in students who are not ready. 

2. Because these practices confer tremendous power, a student with the wrong motives might misuse this power to further entrench themselves in samsaric attachment, thus retarding their spiritual growth. 

3. Secrecy ensures the student will seek out a guru to get access to the tradition thus protecting them from the #1 and #2 

4. Tantrik practices can be controversial and even transgressive and as such when done openly, there is the risk of public censure and misunderstanding 

5. That which is secret is sacred. Secrecy reaffirms the intimacy and privacy we enjoy with God and also helps cultivate reverence and sanctity in the practice. 

6. It helps students value what they have more, increasing enthusiasm and reverence for the mantra and for the practice.

For more detailed instructions for how to perform Kālī pūjā, watch this playlist: https://www.patreon.com/collection/233799

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