Yantras

Yantras

According to Tantra, the creation of the world begins with an act of division of the opposites that are united in the deity. From their splitting arises, in an explosion of energy, the multiplicity of the world .

Starting from pure unity (Shiva), the world is a continuous unfolding (energized by the power of Shakti), until a state is reached, when the process must reverse and involute back to the very beginning. Multiplicity must once again become unity. According to Tantra the human being is a miniature universe and the same principles that apply to the universe apply in the case of the individual being.

A yantra is a geometrical pattern made of several concentric figures (squares, circles, lotuses, triangles, point).

When these concentric figures are gradually growing away from its center in stages, this is for human beings a symbol of the process of involution.

When they are gradually growing towards its center, this is for human beings a symbol of the process of evolution.

A yantra is thus a tool making the process of evolution conscious to the adept of Tantrism. It enables the adept to retrace his steps from the outward-directed world of multiplicity to the inward focus of unity. All primal shapes of a yantra are psychological symbols corresponding to inner states of human consciousness. Yantras are sacred symbols of the process of involution and evolution.