Netra Tantra

The Netra Tantra — Shri Netra Tantram — is the tantric scripture Yogi Shri G. Niranjan returns to most. Of the tantric texts, he says, it is the one best suited to ordinary people: simple on the surface, with great depth and height within that simplicity. Its teaching is given by Amriteshvara Bhairava, the form of Shiva who conquers death, to Parvati. Dozens of his recorded talks follow it.

Freedom while living

Yogi Shri contrasts two ways Indian philosophy works with the mind. Vedanta analyses: it separates the seer from the seen until only the witness remains, and speaks of moksha after death. Tantra accepts: if everything is the divine’s creation, the divine is in everything — beyond the world and within it. So liberation becomes possible in this life: jivan mukti. Behind both lies one question, which he calls the heart of Indian thought: is complete freedom possible? What is the Netra Tantra?

A realistic beginning

The path does not begin with imagination. It begins with honest analysis — neti neti, “not this, not this” — dividing experience into “I” and everything else, the world. That first step is knowledge; it then turns into feeling (bhavana). Neti Neti: A Realistic Beginning

The Ashtanga Yoga of the Netra Tantra

The text has its own eight-limbed yoga. Unlike a ladder climbed one rung at a time, its eight limbs are held in practice together. And where Patanjali’s yoga moves by individual effort — concentration, then meditation, then samadhi — the Netra Tantra moves by grace: the experience comes first, as a glimpse, and practice is learning to hold it. The Three Upayas

The three upayas

• Anava upaya — the most elementary means, using supports: the breath, a mantra, the senses.
• Shakta upaya — the way of energy, where practice and devotion turn into an experience of shakti.
• Shambhava upaya — the direct way: there is no place where Shiva is not.

Worship of a chosen form is not set against the formless; offered with love, it turns into energy, and from there the direct way opens. Worship with Form and Beyond Form

How it is practiced

• Body and breath — a steady seat, and the breath trained until it can be left alone; Niranjan Kriya is used here.
• Pranayama — effort is dropped and the breath becomes so subtle it is barely felt. Pranayama in the Netra Tantra
• Pratyahara — energy withdraws from the senses, as it does in sleep, while you stay awake as the witness. Is meditation possible without pratyahara?
• Meditation — resting in the consciousness behind every experience, without the ego claiming it. A guided meditation
• Return — watching memory and the ego take up their roles again, then living fully without expectation. Meditation on Pratyahara

Samadhi and shambhavi

In this teaching, samadhi is when the intellect stops dividing — high and low, mine and not mine — and sees sameness. “I am Shiva” then means that all that is seen is Shiva too; a time comes when consciousness is seen even in stone. Samadhi through Ashtanga Yoga · What is Shambhavi Samadhi?

Study and practice

• Ashtanga Yoga (Shri Netra Tantram) — the recorded course, 12 modules.
• Live sessions — most of these talks were given in the weekly sessions.
• Tantra and the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra — related teachings.

Read and listen

• What Is the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra?
• Meditation for Beginners: How to Start a Daily Sadhana
• Talk: What Is the Netra Tantra?
• Talk: Pranayama in the Netra Tantra
• Talk: The Three Upayas: Ways into Samadhi in the Netra Tantra
• Talk: Samadhi through the Ashtanga Yoga of the Netra Tantra
• Talk: What Is Shambhavi Samadhi?
• Talk: Worship with Form and Beyond Form
• Talk: Is Meditation Possible without Pratyahara?
• Talk: Neti Neti: A Realistic Beginning

Frequently asked questions