Popular Culture Review Vol. 17, No. 2, Summer 2006 | Page 101

Carriers of Popular Indian Culture 97 mysteries of the world exist in it. It is also the abode of the infinite and finite, which are one and the same. Woman has a high status among the Bauls as universal generative energy (shakti) and she is at the center of all mysteries of the universe. She is also an essential means for the liberation of the soul and victory over death. Tantric practices are defined in terms of male and female principles and each is present in men and women. The male principle is identified with semen located in the highest mystical chakra23 (sahasrar) at the top of the head. The female principle is located in the lowest mystical chakra (muladhar) in the form of a sleeping coiled serpent (kundalini) and is manifested in the menstrual blood of a woman during her periods. Sexual intercourse is essential for the union of the male and female principles and the infinite and finite in the human body. Accordingly, sexual instincts are not to be despised or controlled, but sexual union along with breath control and yogic practices is the means for the awakening of kundalini and bringing cosmic unity of the female and male principles. Tantric practices vary among the Bauls, but it is generally believed that the Infinite (shiva or sahaj manns) is situated in the sahasrar chakra and, during the menstrual period of a woman, feels an irresistible attraction to come down to the muladhar chakra in the Triveni,24 meeting the earthly incarnation of shakti there in the menstrual blood. It is there that it can then be separated from the menstrual blood through the coital act, attracted to the male penis, and brought back to the sahasrar chakra of the male. The sexual union along with breath control and yogic practices awakens kundalini in the moladhar chakra, makes it ascend the next five chakras, pierce the last sahasrar chakra, and become united with the shiva or sahaj manus there. This is taken as the liberation of soul, and ecstasy in orgasm without semen ejaculation is indicative of a successful ceremony and of attaining the intended result. In a typical tantric ceremony, the participating male and female are bathed and purified through mantras and puja (worship). The woman’s body is anointed and massaged with sweet-smelling oils from head to foot, a red bindti (dot) is applied on her forehead as the third eye. and kundalini ascent is drawn in red from her genital area to the point of the bindu. She is wrapped in purple, violet, or red silk and is now taken as the representation of shakti herself. The rites begin, and step-by-step five main ritual materials (wine, meat, fish, parched rice, and sexual union) are applied seated on a kusha-grass platform which has an animal skin or wool cloth spread on it. A human skull, yantras (instruments), and mantras are also used during the rites. An oil lamp remains lit all the time. Ideally the male and female sadhakas (seekers) reach the point of orgasmic release without seminal ejaculation. The vital sexual fluids are then reabsorbed into the body and are considered necessary for existence of the Infinite and finite. The cremation and burial grounds are the sites for the rites, and undertaking the rites needs lot of courage, dedication, training, and self-control.