Last Updated on March 2, 2024 by Tejaswini

The two words, the Yogi and the Tantrik are highly glamorised in these modern days. Every aspirant on a spiritual path calls himself or herself a yogi or a yogini. And a student of the “black magic” calls himself a tantrik, because it seems like a cool thing to do. Both these terms are rooted in Hinduism, Sanatan Dharma. Hinduism is a way of living your life with full awareness. It helps us to be in sync with the Universal consciousness. Sanatan Dharma in Sanskrit means the ‘eternal foundation’, which is the Eternal Universal Intelligence. 

So who is a Yogi and who is a Tantrik? If you want to be one, do you have to leave your house or indulge in weird stuff or dress up in fancy stuff? The answer is ‘no’. As both these terms are essentially a way of thinking, a lens of perception. They indicate how your mind works and how your intelligence processes the experiences you see around you.

Your individual soul carries with it a huge chunk of karmic load which needs to be worked through and balanced out. This is a weight on you at the jivatma / soul level and this prevents you from knowing your true real self. The only option is to work your way through this baggage, slowly but surely in every life you take. The trick is to not create new stuff for you to carry while you are on it.

When you were born, you decided for yourself on how much of this karmic load you are going to endure/ enjoy in this current life. Now there are two ways of dealing with this load. Either you go through the actual process of repayment or you burn the “I owe you” slips. Eg. If you have hurt a lot of people physically in your past lives, you may have to become a doctor in this life to treat and heal them as patients and balance the energy. But as always, you have a choice, you can do this one to one with each debtor. or you can do deep pujas/ dhyan/ spiritual activities targeted for the greater good. Both these ways are acceptable for repayment.

This can be analysed using Jyotish. Astrology is the chart of your birth energies and reading it will give you helpful tips on how to manage your life in a mindful and effective manner. Learning astrology stepwise can also help you in your spiritual path.

A tantrik does everything, but with awareness, immersing himself in the experience with complete awareness. Seeing everything that can be seen, but all through being very aware of what is the reality of the event, how is the experience affecting him, his mind and his consciousness. And once he has reached the maximum depth of the experience he recognises that he has seen everything that can be shown to him and now it hold no attraction of him. He will never ever be drawn to it again.

This is a tremendous intellectual process where intention, awareness, intelligence, analytical ability, and conscience all play a role. Self control is also of the highest degree. The consciousness is so highly aware that it allows the mind to experience but also control the mind so effectively that after the experience is complete it does not allow the mind to again seek that same as a repeat performance. The path of the tantrik is called the Tantra or the Shri Vidya in Sanatan Dharma.

A yogi follows path of the Vedant. He refuses to taste of the experiences available, or reduces the tasting to the minimum. He thus avoiding getting caught in the net of temptations. He withdraws from the society physically or mentally. He does intense puja, yagnyas, mantra sadhana, Dhyan. He prefers to burn out the karmic “I owe you’s” with the intense fire of his sadhana/ tapa. This path of the yogi is also very difficult path.

It is a complete  test of intention, intelligence, Shraddha/faith, awareness and firmness. The yogi has to control his mind and body so intensely that he does not feel even the slightest attraction to the desires of the world. You can see such Yogis often bind themselves with very severe rules. They follow the basic rules of a Sanyasi, but do more, not allow anyone to touch them, cover themselves with the Vibhutis of their yagnyas, wear minimal clothes, matted hair, be very particular about the food they eat, speak very less or remain silent always etc. These rules represent their cut off from the realm of the Mahamaya, the world of desires.

For me, I think I am trying the tantrik way! I got married, had a child and have my professional work, take care of my home and do my work, counsel my clients. Immerse myself in being a wife, daughter, mother, professional, everything, experiencing the joy and the hurts completely. But I try, in all this to remain aware of my real purpose that is to experience my true self. These experiences are just stepping stones on that path.

One of my clients was insistent on taking formal Sanyas. He is from a rich family and the family was not willing to let him go as the life of a Sanyasi is very difficult. When you leave the society like this, at least in this modern world it is possible that you may get into trouble. You might fall in the hands of rouges who might kill you for your organs or fake gurus who may tap you for your spiritual energy. So I advised him and his parents to give him some time, till a particular age. And then let him take the decision regarding taking sanyas or getting married.

The paths of a Yogi and a Tantrik may seem like a complete contrast but they are ultimately the same. The Tantrik path emphasizes immersive experiences with heightened awareness and self-control. The Yogi’s route involves renunciation and disciplined practices to transcend worldly desires. Both lead to self-realization. And both require the same manah sayyam, ie complete control and regulation of the mind. Spiritual growth is the goal of each one of us and we all navigate our unique paths towards enlightenment.