Tantric Yoga & the Wisdom Goddesses

This is a really excellent book blowing away all the faux Tantra ideas about sex, and it is a great book on the nuts and bolts of Tantra. The Yantra pictures and the pictures of the Goddesses were in black and white, but really a yantra should be carved on metals such as copper, gold, or silver. I think some of the individuals here were disappointed because they wanted information on the sorcery that is part of Tantra. Frawley mentions this briefly, but focuses mainly on Tantra as a means of reaching enlightenment or Moksha which is what he should do. If these individuals want sorcery they need to learn Sanskrit and read the scriptures themselves and get a teacher in the black arts. Overall Frawley is a follower of Sri Vidya, and he did a fine job of explaining Tantra as a means to reach Moksha. I highly recommend this book.

This is perhaps one of the most important texts to truly grasp the deep insights of tantric yoga. Frawley provides a clear and lucid path to understanding the role of the Goddess in Yoga, Tantra and Ayurveda and lights the way for the reader to awaken the Goddess in their own hearts and minds. If you are seeking to delve beyond the surface, this is the text that will provide the key!

Gads, the worst thing that Frawley has done is try write a book on tantra from a vedic viewpoint! Further, I have never read a book with the word tantra in the title that was a substitute for a teacher. They should be considered as supplemental books. All talk of occult means that the person reading the book is in the wrong section of the bookstore. Occult is not wrong or bad (I ahve read some, not my choice in the end), but not lineage teachings at all. This is an excellent book, full of great information and accurate data -- AND, lastly, to comment on the vedic traditions ESPECIALLY in terms of how accurate they are (don't be fooled by silly sex boosk with the word tantric and goddess in the title) is to not understand that this is like reading a book on Christianity from a catholic viewpoint when you are a methodist and thinking they are wrong, or vice versa. This topic and the vedic traditions in general are as vast and as different as the various Feng Shui traditions or comparing Zen to Tibetan Buddhism and saying the Zennies ar wrong because they leave out the five Buddhist familes! Too many sects, too hard to translate, and so one needs a good teacher. I suggest Buddhist teachers for all serious tantric studetns -- but I am biased, and think that people reading these reviews should know our biases. My husband is a vedic practitioner, and enjoys Frawley immensely, as do I.

For those who are interested in purchasing this book, I would recommend using the 'Search inside this book' feature. The contents pages alone made me want to get this book. Now let me just add, for those who are looking for the usual pop culture, westernised, multiply your orgasms and awaken your kundalini in no time flat, new age Tantra; don't expect this here. This book is for those who have gone through all of this and desire the real stuff. Yes you'll only get from this book according to where you are at. As far as I'm concerned, this book contains a great mystery. No wonder George Feuerstein, in the Forward chapter of this book, rebukes Dr. David Frawley for spilling the beans on such gems of hidden wisdom. For those who have made the connection with the divine feminine and the kundalini, this book gives such profound inner wisdom as from the original Vedic tradition. There is a wonderful section at the back of this book which reveals that "Hinduism and Buddhism are two formulations of the same yogic tradition, differing in approach, but not in essence". This for the main part is also inclusive of the Ten Wisdom Goddesses, as described by Dr. David Frawley. The ten wisdom Goddesses are not Pagan Goddesses of the Hindu or Buddhist religion of a by gone era. Sadly this was my misconception for many years and even worse. No the Ten Wisdom Goddesses, as described in this book, are different emanations of the divine feminine aspect of God; more importantly, they are aspects of the divine feminine within each of us. So why does Kali hold a sword in her hands? What are the yantras and mantras associated with each of the 10 forms of the wisdom Goddesses? What are tejas, ojas and Prana; and how does one go about balancing these in an effort to correctly awaken the Kundalini? This book gives the answers to these questions and more. For those familiar with Samael Aun Woer, I have been told that he stated near to the end of his earthly existence, that the profoundness of the Divine Feminine has been overlooked and underestimated in the esoteric work. It only makes sense to me to further understand the truth of his words by investigating and understanding who and what the divine mother is, in all her intricacies. This book by Dr. David Frawley is a profound work to help in this investigation. I can only thank him for condensing this information and for revealing such hidden secrets to us in the West.

Tantra and Hinduism in general is often confused with Black-Magic and Sexuality, however this book provides an excellent and traditional view against such false propeganda. Tantra in it's true context is Spiritual and Right-Handed and Dash-Mahavidya or the worship of the Ten Mother-Goddesses is perhaps one of the best ways to understand the Hindu philosophy of Advaita Vedanta. The book provides meditations, yantras and mantras of the goddesses and excellent guides to understanding their relation with Nature and the Divine!