Íakti, converging to a central point (bindu), signifying the undifferen-
tiated Brahman.^13 Yantraliterally means instrument, or a device to hold
or control; its verbal root is √yam, ‘to control.’ The idea of the yantrail-
luminates the nature of T ̄antric practice wherein mystical communica-
tion is established with some level of the universe’s countless levels, “in
order finally to reduce them to unity and master them.”^14 John Thomas
Casey, who rendered the yantrain Figure 4.1, observes that Ír ̄ı Yantrais
naturally captivating to the sense of vision. Concentration on the yantra
sustains a dynamic tension between archetypal elements such as
bounded/ boundless, and diversity/unity, evoked by the containing square
and the expanding circle. Ír ̄ı Yantrastimulates multi-planed awareness; a
prominent example is the primordial sense of directionality. The four
gateways recall the front/back/left/right orientation that conditions the
experience of embodied beings. Casey captures the essence of Ír ̄ı Yantra’s
power in noting the efficacy of the Great Yantraas a meditative object for
collecting attention to a single point.^15
Sexuality in Tantra
Kakar identifies in Tantra “a recognition, even a celebration of man’s sen-
suous nature.”^16 This remark should not be taken to mean that Tantra ad-
vocates sensual and sexual indulgence, but rather that among the Indian
traditions, and even among world religious traditions, Tantra distin-
guishes itself by its reverence for the body and emphasis on the religious
tantra and aesthetic therapeutics 143Figure 4.1 Ír ̄ı Yantra, drawn by John Thomas Casey