Pięć twarzy Śiwy. Sādhana jako rytualna konstrukcja ciała
The five faces of Shiva. Sādhana as ritual construction of the body

Author(s): Anna Mazur
Subject(s): Cultural history, History of ideas, Culture and social structure , History of Religion
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: yoga; yoga tantra; ritual construction of the body; Shajesh Tantra; Ānanda Nātha Sampradāya
Summary/Abstract: In this article, the author describes the secret ways of teaching tantra. The knowledge regarding the daily practice of tantra comes from participant observation and from instruction given by Shajesh Tantra, a continuation of the Ānanda Nātha Sampradāya tradition associated with the Śrī Vidyā Upasaka spiritual system. The participant observation was conducted in December 2018 at the Chinnmaya International Foundation ashram (Kerala, India). The author describes in large part the method of transforming the human body into a tantric body through the recitation of mantras during daily sādhana. As a result of the sādhana practice, the yogi’s body is gradually transformed into a body made of mantras, the sound form of tantric deities. The described method of body transformation refers to the tantric concept of the five faces of Shiva. Its source was the mantra Oṃ namaḥ śivāya, the hidden meaning of which still remains unknown. When a yogi repeats this five-syllable mantra, namaḥ śivāya purifies the physical body, the subtle body and the karmic body.

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