There are thousands of books published every year. Most of it is low level and only suitable as diversionary reading. For those requiring the real wisdom texts the selection is very small, but material of such a nature that you must read it again and again. Generally, it is heavy literature and needs to be read slowly and in small doses.
~ Shri Gurudev Mahendranath, “The Hope for an Alternative Society”
I’m a big fan of books. I have a respectable personal library and my favorite hobby is reading. I say this to give some context to what is to follow. Anyone wishing to misunderstand me may still call me anti-intellectual, but the rest of you will understand my intent when I say:
If you are interested in practicing Yoga or Tantra, stop reading so many books on Yoga and Tantra.
No, seriously.
If you have a Guru, practice your Guruji’s teachings. If you do not have a Guru, chant a mantra, meditate, worship your chosen deity in an image or yantra. Of course, it is best if you learn these things from books where the Guru is not available, or you are only making things up and heading further from the goal, but reading even the best books does not alone do us any good.
Increasingly, I see Western occultists wanting to take up Tantra. This is only good or bad depending on their intentions, but how to go about it? As Westerners, we are trained to think of books as the source of all reliable knowledge. Moreover, most of the information available on Tantra, at least in English, are dense academic works with more emphasis on history, comparative philosophy, and religious studies than on the realities of lived practice. Some, themselves of a scholarly bent, decide that the answer must then be to learn Sanskrit and translate the medieval and early modern Tantras or Yoga classics themselves — as if one more thick academic text with an “exhaustive introduction” and riddled with endnotes will suddenly make the topic less rather than more opaque!
The fact is often lost that Tantra and Yoga are not primarily academic topics in their cultures of origin. While Tibet and other Buddhist nations famously have long had a culture of universities and monastic academies which spend a lot of resources on translating, copying, and studying texts in excruciating detail, the famed practitioners are more likely to be yogi-poets and mendicant wonder-workers than bookworms.
Master Chi Hsien was disappointed and burned all his books. He said to himself: “I will not study the Buddha Dharma any more in my present life. I will be a wandering gruel-and-rice monk, in order not to weary my mind.’ (Lu K’uan Yu, Ch’an and Zen Teaching: Volume 1
It was only after his failure to find his Self-nature through studying books and his abandonment of the studious life that Chan Master Chi Hsien was able to uproot himself enough to become Awakened. While he did not yet know his next step, Chi Hsien at least knew that it was not to be found in his stack of books, even that the very existence of his books was holding him down like an anchor!
Obviously, the problem is not with books as such. Literacy is a wonderful thing, and books can help to inform and inspire. But each book is, at absolute best, a proverbial finger pointing to the Moon. This applies equally to even the holiest of scriptures — including the Tantras. No one of them speaks directly to the needs of every possible aspirant. In Sanatana Dharma tradition, at least, this fact is openly acknowledged, though this of course does not stop rabid sectarians from ignoring or denying the point when it becomes inconvenient.
A couple such fingers are helpful indicators for us. But a crowd of them becomes confusing, obstructing our view of the Moon so that the mass of hands and arms becomes all that we see. The truth is that the right instruction at just the right moment is all that is needful. A crowd of voices and vast piles of written words make it far harder to hear the one voice we actually need.
If you really want to get started in Yoga and Tantra, do japa every day. Chant Om Gam Ganapatiye Namah, Om Namah Sivaya, Hrim Krim Dum Durgayai Svaha, or Om Namo Narayanaya for half an hour each day. Place your awareness in the Heart center, visualize your chosen deity and chant their nama mantra, or experience a warm void of light there and chant Om. Read books, if you want, but don’t be tempted off the trail to try every form of Yoga and Tantra you read about; instead, let your reading build an intellectual foundation so that you are better able to understand your teacher once you come to know them. Otherwise, practice a sort of expectant patience. Know that you will meet the Guru but that, just as importantly, you will have begun the process of turning inward and of coming to know your Beloved Deity. Visit temples, if you have some in your area. Do home puja, if so inclined. When you learn, be grateful rather than greedy.
Your self-cultivation through these simple means truly draws Guruji nearer, but are themselves the essential practices of Yoga and Tantra in which the Guru will provide deeper guidance.
Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:19th_century_manuscript_copy,_older_Tantra_Rajatantra,_Schoyen_Collection_Norway.jpg