ENQUIRY ON THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND METAPHYSICAL QUESTIONS EMERGING FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OF YANTRAS IN INDIAN THOUGHT AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICE

I am intrigued by the concept and use of yantras.I wonder if you could suggest any texts, both books and articles, that could help me appreciate questions emerging from the rationale for their creation. They are described as geometric forms that express the being of particular deities, also understood a cosmic forces, if I am not mangling the definitions. I would very much like to read literature that explores the logic of these conceptions.

I am challenged by questions such as why the creators of those symbols chose geometric forms as different from other visual forms in expressing their conceptions of these forces. Other questions that intrigue me are those of the specific conceptions of the relationship between yantras and what they symbolise. Is the relationship between the yantra and what it represents arbitrary,since the yantra needs to be ensouled by the deity through a ritual process conducted by the devotee,or does the yantra demonstrate an intrinsic relationship with the deity it represents?Is the concept of embodiment of the yantra by the deity a depiction of a process that emerges through the ritual of ensoulment operated by the devotee or does the yantra embody the deity regardless of such a process? In other words, is the yantra's capacity as expression or embodiment of deity independent of the of the human mind, or is there a dialectical relationship between mind, deity and symbol?

What relationships are there between the conceptions of yantras and mandalas, which are also geometric, and the development of mathematics and cosmology in India,along with other cultures influenced by India? What relationships can be developed or established between the cosmographic significance of yantras and the relationship between geometry and cosmology in Western thought, a relationship foregrounded by the assertion attributed to Johaness Kepler a, key pioneer in scientific cosmology, that "In the beginning, God geometrised"?

The material I have read so far describes the symbolism of yantras and how they are used without exploring the metaphysical and epistemic questions emerging from their symbolism.

A visual balance of delicately curved spaces.

These delicately shaped but potently evocative spaces are suggestive, among other possibilities, of the different but related perceptions of vaginal aesthetics,of portals both physical and metaphorical,and of aerodynamic form.

CONJUNCTION OF UNIVERSES YANTRA

A formerly secret ritual and contemplative tool used by the Adinkrahen esoteric society in Kumasi,Ghana.

A perspective on its significance describes each tip of the two quadrilaterals as representing a vertex,a dimensional interface.

It is rumoured that this device was used by Asamfo Anokye,with Osei Tutu I,one of the founders of the Asante nation, in his disappearance from Asante.

Within this perspective,the space between the two quadrilaterals is a non-dimensional space into which the would be inter-dimensional voyager projects themselves mentally.The consequent alignment of the coordinates of consciousness with the points of each quadrilateral,simultaneous with the positioning within the null space of the centre between the quadrilaterals, leads to a cancelling out of what the Akan understood as Nsanmo,the state of being that makes possible perceivable existence.

The design is understood by the uninitiated as Epa,an Adinkra symbol representing captivity.Its is perceived as a stylised depiction of a pair of handcuffs.The initiate,however,understands that captivity not to represent only a material bondage but any form of bondage that prevents the complete actualisation of the self,the fulfillment of the full potential of the self as realised in the intersection between the material self and the kra,the inner self that predates birth and outlives death.

The Twi proverb which is described at http://www.africawithin.com/tour/ghana/adinkra_symbols.htm,as related to this symbol,Onii a n epa da wo nsa no, ne akowa ne wo " You are the slave of him whose handcuffs you wear",suggests,to the initiate not a bondage over physical faculties,but a captivity of the ignorance that traps the individual in the artificial constructions of values that often constitute human society.

To the initiate,the symbol of captivity also embodies the conception of freedom from captivity.The aerodynamic styling of the design evokes ideas of flight,of unfettered freedom yet directed by disciplined intelligence.

The use of this symbol went hand in hand with sophisticated mathematical procedures through which the initiate calculated relative positions in relation to the dimensional interfaces through which they travelled.Their ideas suggest relationships to Riemannian non-Euclidean geometry which contradicts the classical Euclidean conception that parallel lines can never meet. On the other hand,the quantitative values of the Adinkra symbol are meant to aid in constructing,within an accuracy of 1.00000 ,the points of intersection of the lines that,moving in parallel lines,converge at points that constitute the constellation of particular dimensional coordinates.

An opposing perspective on the significance of the Adinkra symbol Epa as an inter-dimensional vehicle as a blind created by the Adinkrahen to conceal its true function as an inter-dimensional enabler,but one which works through transformations of consciousnes that facilitates a split second conjunction between human consciousness and the coordinates that constitute the framework of the universe.

I would tend to give credence to this view because my experience with the symbol suggests that its consistent contemplation could lead to a dissociation of consciousness that creates a space between the boundaries of dream,vision and ordinary alertness that enables a participation in modes of being that are otherwise sensed but not experienced directly.

Some would describe these attributions of symbolic value as self invented ideas.I leave those sceptics to their conclusions.

COJUNTION OF UNIVERSES YANTRA

From

http://www.anandazone.nu/art/art_gallery.asp

From


The Art of PaulHeuss
at

http://mandalas.com/YogaYantraGallery/KaliYantra.php

कलि KALI YANTRA