Sir
John George Woodroffe, also known by his pseudonym Arthur Avalon, was a British
Orientalist whose work helped to unleash in the West a deep and wide interest in
Hindu philosophy and
Yogic practices. Alongside his judicial duties he studied
Sanskrit and
Hindu philosophy and was especially interested in Hindu
Tantra. He translated some twenty original Sanskrit texts and published and lectured prolifically on
Indian philosophy and a wide range of
Yoga and
Solo Tantra topics. Woodroffe's
The Serpent Power – The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga, is a source for many modern Western adaptations of
Kundalini yoga practice. It is a philosophically sophisticated commentary on, and translation of, the
Satcakra-nirupana ("Description of and Investigation into the Six Bodily Centres") of Purnananda (dated around AD 1550) and the
Paduka-Pancaka ("Five-fold Footstool of the Guru"). The term "Serpent Power" refers to the
kundalini, an energy said to be released within an individual by meditation techniques.
Pierre Bernard was a pioneering American
yogi, scholar, occultist, philosopher, mystic, and businessman. He claimed to have traveled to
Kashmir and
Bengal before founding the Tantrik Order of America in 1905. He eventually expanded to a chain of tantric clinics in places such as
Cleveland,
Philadelphia,
Chicago, and
New York City. Bernard is widely credited with being the first American to introduce the philosophy and practices of
yoga and
tantra to the American people. Many teachers of this version of tantra believe that sex and sexual experiences are sacred acts, which are capable of elevating their participants to a higher spiritual plane. They often talk about raising
Kundalini energy, worshiping the divine feminine and the divine masculine, activating the
chakras. Guru
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, later known as Osho, used his version of tantra in combination with breathing techniques, bio-energy, yoga, and
massage in some of the groups at his ashram. He is the author of many books on meditation,
taoism,
buddhism, and
mysticism, and at least six on tantra. One of them is
Tantra, The Supreme Understanding, in which he unpacks the verses of the "
Song of Mahamudra", by
Tilopa. In addition out of his discourses on the Vigyan Bhiarav (or Vijnaya-bhairava), the 112 practices for enlightenment resulted in the much longer
The Book of Secrets. ==Criticisms==