Tantra Illuminated
by Christopher D. Wallis · first published 2012
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…like a "bolt of lightning". There are different ways it can happen. For some people it takes a while and for others, it does not. There is an excellent discussion about that in Christopher Wallis's book, Tantra Illuminated. It does not require preparation. The idea that you can "prepare" for this is part of the ego-belief of being in control of the process. You are not awakening Kundalini. Kundalini Shakti is awakening…
on “The Erotic Dreams of Emanuel Swedenborg (2013)” ↗…various yoga teachings came into America, starting as far back as Ralph Waldo Emerson. It also talked about some of the distortions of Tantra from India when it came out to the US. Christopher Wallis's Tantra Illuminated has a section on the history of classical non-dual Shaiva Tantra, and how parts of it evolved (or perhaps, devolved) into the modern yoga, which then got imported into America.
on “People’s egos get bigger after meditation and yoga, says a new study” ↗…Shaiva Tantra is a name for a specific set of teachings coming out of medieval India. It is very specific, it is very dense. If you want to read about it, the best book in English is Christopher Wallis's Tantra Illuminated. If I seem to be obfuscating though, it is because I am, and what I am hiding takes more than one afternoon's conversation to cover. I do not mind talking to someone about it, but it isn't as if I have…
on “A practical guide for learning meditation through the art of gaming” ↗…philosophy). Those truths form the a priori in which the rest of the View descends from. It happens to appear to be religious, but it is not religious that most people think it is. Christopher Wallis's book, Tantra Illuminated has several chapters on just the philosophical view, including how Indian philosophers have different ideas on what constitutes validity and proof. There is a section there where Wallis speaks about the…
on “If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is” ↗…discourse, check out what the medieval Indians have to say about aesthetics from the View of non-dual Shaiva Tantra, and the concept of "rasa" (aesthetic sentiment). A good book to start with this is Tantra Illuminated, by Christopher Wallis. It only spends a short bit explaining rasa from the tantric perspective, but it very much comes from a similar stream of ideas as, "Aesthetic vision apprehends the universe as…
on “Consciousness in the Aesthetic Imagination” ↗If you are interested in this stuff, check out Christopher Wallis's Tantra Illuminated. It describes the potent View of classical tantra and has a history section tracing it to modern yoga.
on “Kung Fu, Once Central to Hong Kong Life, Is Waning” ↗There is a fantastic book on Shaiva Tantra written by Christopher D. Wallis, named Tantra Illuminated. The book covers the View (philosophy), history, and some practices. The View can get very involved. I've been mining that for a while, applying it to living in our modern world. On Quora, there is a…
on “Unless You’re Oprah, ‘Be Yourself’ Is Terrible Advice (2016)” ↗I'd have my own share of experiences, so I'll take what you say here at face value. (Though there are a wide variety of experiences). Given your background, I think you might find Christopher Wallis's Tantra Illuminated -- in particular, the chapter on the View of Tantra -- more sensible. Although it does not talk about wholes, centers, and unfoldings in those terms that Christopher Alexander does. I think the key is…
on “We are drowning in information while starving for wisdom (2021)” ↗…Lots of peak states. But coming back to ordinary life had proven to be difficult. That started the next era -- of embodying what I had found with those peak experiences in ordinary life. Chris Wallis's Tantra Illuminated -- lots of view correction for me, helped untangled some things for me, particularly around working. I read this one within my first year of marriage. Second year of marriage, I might have been able…
on “Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?” ↗…get lost in conspiracy and speculation. 4. House of Leaves; you can't beat a mind-bending horror like that. I live for this stuff. 5. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse; It's 50 pages long, just read it. 6. Tantra Illuminated; A well researched and academic study into the history and the beliefs of Tantra 7. The King in Yellow and its derivatives; The Hanged King lore in the SCP universe is obsessively fascinating to me.
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗…masculine archetypes (disclosure: I am a man; I have a wife and a step-daughter; I have burnt out twice in the past two years, the first time was really bad). Last year, around this time of the year, I read "Tantra Illuminated", which changed how I view work (and overwork), and play. Tantra is not really that accessible to most people though, and it takes a long time to explain. This year, personal crisis led me to the book,…
on “There’s no glory in overworking, it’s just imminent burnout” ↗…transcendental non-dual Shaiva Tantra. Before encountering that, I was struck with that paradox of seeking that "stateless, in potentia". Yet the little bit of reading I did (via Christopher Wallis's Tantra Illuminated) shows that classical Tantra has powerful answers to the concerns you raise. Despite being hundreds of years old, the classical Tantra View addresses ills we have yet to resolve from modernity and post-modernity.…
on “The Oppressive Gospel of ‘Minimalism’” ↗Chris Wallis, author of Tantra Illuminated had written to clarify what makes someone a "tantric master", specifically, one is a master of self. I think that is a useful distinction when you are searching for guidance. Another way to look at it…
on “Researchers giving psilocybin to religious leaders (2017)” ↗…authentic self. However, it is not as simple as changing the narrative, since a change in narrative is merely a change in narrative and not a change in your natural, authentic self. [2] Christopher Wallis. Tantra Illuminated
on “How corporates co-opted mindfulness to make us bear the unbearable (2015)” ↗In Tantric philosophy (at least according to Christopher Wallis in Tantra Illuminated), the concept of rasa (usually translated as aesthetics) describes the experience of someone experiencing art. It’s not the modernist idea of “this is art because I say it is art”. Rather, something…
on “Art Made with Artificial Intelligence Wins at State Fair” ↗