Yantras

The Sanskrit word 'yantra' derives from
the root 'yam' meaning to sustain, hold or support the energy inherent in a
particular element, object or concept. In its first meaning, 'yantra' may refer
to any kind of mechanical contrivance which is harnessed to aid an enterprise. A
yantra in this sense, therefore, is any sort of machine or instrument such as is
used in architecture, astronomy, alchemy,
chemistry, warfare or recreation. A Sanskrit
text of the eleventh century AD, Samaranganasutradhara, on the science of
architecture, gives vivid descriptions of the making and operating of such
mechanical yantras as a wooden flying bird, wooden aeroplanes meant to fly
with hot mercury
as fuel, male and female robot figures, etc. The vast observatories built in
Delhi and Jaipur under the patronage of Jai Singh (1686-1734) are called
Jantar-Mantar, as their massive structures are astronomical 'instruments' (yantras)
for recording heavenly phenomena.

the meaning of the term yantra has been
expanded to refer to religious enterprises, and has acquired a special
theological significance. Mystic yantras are aids to and the chief instruments
of meditative discipline. Basically a yantra used in this context and for this
purpose is an abstract geometrical design intended as a 'tool' for meditation
and increased awareness."...

Archetypal
Space & Sacred Sounds:

"In our ordinary perceptions
we view space as an amorphous entity which is related to us in units of
measurment. For us space is essentially quantitative; we understand it in terms
of dimension,
volume and distance. For the adept who uses yantras in yogic meditation, on the
other hand, space enclosed within the bounded figure is purely qualitative;
space is absolute void and unity is a 'sacrament' by means of which he
communicates with a force
that stands for life itself.

The yantra is an archetypal unity, and
in the making of every new yantra the archetypal activity and the divine
revelations repeat themselves. Each yantra's consecrated place acts as a
dwelling for the gods, a space where movement from the level of profane
existence to the level of profound realities is made possible. Symbol and
meaning blend so closely that they are one reality,
indistinguishable from one another."...

"Every yantra creates a power-field, a
cosmicized circuit (kshetra) in which the powers of the sacred are invoked. The
lines and planes localized within the yantra, though distinct from all the
spaces that surround its outer circuit, are an expression of a transcendental
reality. Stretching from star to star the ultimate substratum of all forms is
space. Empty space is in itself a primordial substance and shares in the nature
of divinity. Without it, the primordial substance whose abode is the whole
universe would remain without support. Absolute void is defined by Indian
philosophers as a

limitless sea of undifferentiated continuum
which is an ever present entity not detachable from the relative, thus making
all division of space illusory. So the spaces within a yantra, however minute,
can be symbolically brought to 'presence' and expressed as being as immense as
the spaces within the solar system. Although in the abstract this is the
immutable principle on which the space concept of yantras functions, on the
level of human experience we are led to locate the sacred by creating spatial
divisions. The act of bounding the figure, 'fencing' its four quarters, defining
its spatial orientations, delimiting the sacred territory of the yantra, is an
act of asserting where sacred space begins to manifest."...

Cosmogenesis: the Sri
Yantra:

"The Sri Yantra, considered the greatest of all yantras,
displays the splendour of Siva-Sakti in their manifestation in order to create
the root principles of life (tattvas). A graphic synthesis of the abstruse
cosmological and metaphysical
theory of Saiva-Sakta, the Sri Yantra is to be read as a chart of the evolution
of the cosmic scheme, exposing step by step the theory of creation and its
categories. it also demonstrates how the passage from formlessness to form takes
place, as the antagonistic principles of life emanate and differentiate
themselves from the original wholeness of Siva-Sakti.
The Sri Yantra marks each phase of cosmic evolution and articulates every
descending level of the creativeprocess."

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