Who declared themselves as God

Tantra by R. T. Crowley Update IV 4 Dec. 1980 [Read comments]

This is a ma-lady which plagues the spiritual development of all members of the imperso-nalist schools of so-called Hinduism. Because they ignore the spiritualization of the senses in bhakti-yoga, or service to Hrishikesha (Krsna - the Lord of the Senses), and strive instead to merge into the brahman effulgence, their uncontrolled senses get the better of them in the end. They are impelled by nature to move from tyaga (renunciation) to bhaga (material enjoyment). To cover up their fall-down from the real path of advancement. they make a religion out of sex. and claim that their ordinary biological drives are somehow spiritual. A perfect faith for the sex-addicted Western world! No wonder Rajneesh has so many followers.

This modern tantrism is the necessary conclusion of mayavadi philosophy, made popular in India by Sankaracharya. The assertation on page 11 of the Up-Date editorial that tantrism has "penetrated into Hinduism at large under the cover of orthodox religion" is true, insofar as the mayavada (impersonalist) teachings have almost totally subverted Hinduism since Sankaracharya's time. It is maintained by Chaitanya that one of the results of Sankara's teachings is the gradual destruction of the family system, due to the increase of illicit sex. Ramkrishna, Aurobindo and others who declared themselves as God enjoyed the pleasures of maitunya with selected "Divine Mothers". The issue here is enjoyment, not procreation - the Divine Mother is not a vehicle for conception, but an object of enjoyment. Mayavadi philosophy, by denying a higher God than the self, denies the possibility of pleasure other than material pleasure. This pleasure becomes the goal of the Godless spiritualist, and to find it, he must take shelter of sexual enjoyment. But God's plan for sex includes reproduction of Godly children, as determined by the Vedic samskaras. Krsna conscious householders, therefore, are enjoined to preserve their sexual energies only for specific times of procreation in accordance with sastric injuction. This sort of sex can be seen as service to Krsna - dharma-virrudho bhutesu kamo'smi, "I am sex which is not contrary to religious principles" (Bhagavad-gita VII-11).

So, in Krsna consciousness, sex life is allowed when it does not deviate from the Vedic conclusion, meaning that both partners must be married in the eyes of God and understand that they are but servants of God, and that sex is a facility given by God for natural procreation, and therefore should be engaged in as a service to Him. The tantrists owe no allegiance to God or God's laws of procreation - their mission is to deny God and supplant the natural spiritual pleasures of serving Him lawfully with unrestricted sense gratification. There is no question of "liberation" from maya on this path. The tantrists are surrendering to maya.