Sacrificial murders in India cast tantriks in a bad light.

Police in India have launched a full-scale crackdown on tantriks - practitioners of the spiritual art of tantrism - after a spate of sacrificial murders. Many tantriks have been either jailed or forced out of business. Narendra Kumar, whose son Monu was mutilated and then killed during a tantric ritual, welcomed the moves. "I was never expecting such a heinous crime against any child. This is not a matter of Monu only. These tantrik practices must be stopped," he said.

The English-language newspaper Hindustan Times has estimated that there have been 25 human sacrifices in the province of western Uttar Pradesh in the last six months. "This is a problem you can identify somehow with the Indian psyche," said Police Superintendent Sunil Kumar Gupta. "Let's hope that now we will have a national focus on this and let's hope in due course this will go out of society."

Despite the focus on evil acts performed by tantriks, the occult practice is mostly benign and practiced in a number of truly spiritual forms. Tantriks caught up in the crackdown say that tantrism is being given a bad name by the disreputable actions of a minority who practice mutated forms of the original art. "Tantrism has nothing to do with human sacrifices," said Mohammed Nafees Malik, a Muslim tantrik.

In fact, the focus on the sacrificial murders can hardly be blamed on the whole of tantrism - because there is still no solid definition of its practices or beliefs. "No one really knows what it is," said Sudhir Kakkar, a psychoanalyst and author who has written widely on Indian mysticism.

Kakkar says that if there is a danger, it may be inherent in the beliefs of some tantrik practitioners. One branch of the practice believes that the path to salvation lies in shattering taboos - this often takes the form of things like diet and sex...but sometimes perhaps it extends to the sanctity of human life.


View: Full Article | Source: Phenomena Magazine