Tao and Tantra
By Taraka Ghista, May 2025
Regarding your article on Tantra and I-Ching (Tao and Tantra; A New Translation and Interpretation of I-Jing, Neohumanist Review 4, March 2025), I would like to draw your attention to Acarya Bhaskarananda’s chapter on Shavisim in Chinese Civilization from his book Social Dynamics and Social Movements (Psychospiritual Research Foundation, Anandanagar, WB, India, 2001), where he compares how Chinese character symbols (pictorial letters) relate to Shiva.
In his book, Acarya Bhaskarananda writes: “To truly comprehend the I Ching and other classics, there is a need for understanding the related terms in a new light. As Huang Ti’s period was the golden age of Chinese spiritual civilization, every Chinese would proudly call themselves his descendants. But the totalitarian regime of today has destroyed even the urge to probe their past glory. The celebrated Chinese philosopher and historian Thome ‘H Fang holds the view that, because of the past spiritual heritage, the four major traditions of Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese Mahayana Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism have many common views.”
Concerning the I-Ching, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti and others have discussed the 64 expressed forms of Shakti as foundational to the 64 Tantras. Various scholars have connected the 64 I-Ching pictograms to kundalini; please see youtube.com/watch?v=3wi0ECB2W5M.
The Tao symbol is essentially the Indian vowel ending called Visarga (ah)—two dots stacked on top of each other. The Taoist symbol represents the two basic flows of human existence—introversive and extroversive. This symbol is associated with the six-pointed star, the Tantric Bhaeravii Cakra. Larry Dossey’s book Space, Time and Medicine features a painting that combines the six-pointed star and the Taoist symbol (amazon.in/Space-Time-Medicine-Larry-Dossey/dp/0394710916).
A key observation is that traditional Chinese commentary on these symbols tends to be mundane, focusing on controlling the world and managing the kingdom—a royal mentality. The I-Ching appears to seek understanding of change to control, co-opt, and subdue worldly forces. In terms of spiritual philosophy, it would be categorized as avidyá sádhaná. Similarly, each of the 64 Tantras can be interpreted and practiced in subtle ways, leading to spiritual emancipation through vidyá sádhaná.
Published in Neohumanist Review, Issue 5, September 2025, p 67.