![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/tantrik2.gif\")
When
\n you hear the term "Tantric," what do you think of? C’mon guys,
\n fess up, it’s SEX, isn’t it? Well, in the interest of religious education
\n the Dowbrigade (an inveterate educator, after all) is pleased to inform
\n you that the modern Tantric religion isn’t all about Sex – it also has
\n a leg up in the growing field of – Human Sacrifice! And Cannibalism! Who
\n says religion’s no fun anymore? <\/i><\/p>\n
After a rash of similar killings in the area — according to an unofficial
\n tally in the English-language Hindustan Times, there have been 25 human
\n sacrifices in western Uttar Pradesh in the last six months alone — police
\n have cracked down against tantriks, jailing four and forcing scores of
\n others to close their businesses and pull their ads from newspapers and
\n television stations.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the biggest danger posed by tantrism stems from the difficulty
\n of defining it. “No one really knows what it is,” said Sudhir Kakkar,
\n a psychoanalyst who has written widely on Indian mysticism. Some tantriks,
\n for example, believe the path to salvation lies in shattering taboos —
\n involving sex, diet, and other forms of behavior — to “uncondition yourself
\n from all the conditioning you have had,” Kakkar said. Followers of one
\n tantrik cult near the Hindu holy city of Varanasi are said to eat charred
\n human flesh pilfered from cremation grounds.<\/p>\n
Leftovers, anyone?<\/i><\/p>\n
from the Boston Globe<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When you hear the term "Tantric," what do you think of? C’mon guys, fess up, it’s SEX, isn’t it? Well, in the interest of religious education the Dowbrigade (an inveterate educator, after all) is pleased to inform you that the … Continue reading