The Yoga of Power: Tantra, Shakti

Shakti

Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...

, and the Secret Way is a book

Book

A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...

 by Julius Evola

Julius Evola

Barone Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola also known as Julius Evola, was an Italian philosopher and esotericist...

. First published in Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 as Lo Yoga Della Potenza: Saggio sui Tantra in 1949. It was translated into English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 in 1992 by Guido Stucco (who includes a biographical introduction to Evola), and published by Inner Traditions International (ISBN 0-89281-368-7).

An interest in yoga

Yoga

Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...

 (especially Kundalini

Kundalini

Kundalini literally means coiled. In yoga, a "corporeal energy" - an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, lies coiled at the base of the spine. It is envisioned either as a goddess or else as a sleeping serpent, hence a number of English renderings of the term such as 'serpent...

) led Evola to write L’uomo e la potenza (Man as power) in 1926 (revised in 1949 with the new title The Yoga of Power).

Table of contents

• Translator's Acknowledgments
• Translator's Introduction

1. The Meaning and Origin of the Tantras
2. Knowledge and Power
3. Shakti: The World as Power
4. The Doctrine of the Tattva
   Tattva
   Tattva is a Sanskrit word meaning 'thatness', 'principle', 'reality' or 'truth'. According to various Indian schools of philosophy, a tattva is an element or aspect of reality conceived as an aspect of deity. Although the number of tattvas varies depending on the philosophical school, together they...
   
   s: The Human Condition
5. Pashu
   Pashu
   -Things:* Pashu language, a Malay-based creole patois spoken in Kawthaung, Myanmar* Pterocarpus indicus, a tree and its wood also known as Pashu padauk or Malay padauk-Places:...
   
   , Vira
   Vira
   Vira may refer to:* Virus — plural of virus in some Latin pluralizations** Phylum vira, part of the LHT Virus classification scheme* Vira , a municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland...
   
   , and Divya
   Divya
   Divya may refer to:*Divya , a Hindu first name and a list of persons known by this name*Divya Narendra, co-founder of ConnectU*Divya Bhaskar, a Gujarati newspaper*Divya Desams, Srivaishnava shrines that were sung about by Azhvars...
   
   : The Path of the Left Hand
6. The Assumptions behind Practice and the Means Employed - The Experience of the Subtle Body: The Bodily Postures
7. The Virgin: Release from Bondage
8. The Evocations: The Names of Power
9. The Secret Ritual - The Use of Orgies: Initiatory Sexual Magic
10. The Occult Corporeity - The Serpent Power: The Chakras
11. Techniques Employed to Awaken the Serpent Power
12. The Diamond-Thunderbolt Body
    • Conclusion
    • Appendix One - Bardo: Actions after Death
    • Appendix Two - Shaktism
      Shaktism
      Shaktism is a denomination of Hinduism that focuses worship upon Shakti or Devi – the Hindu Divine Mother – as the absolute, ultimate Godhead...
      
       and the Worshiipers of Love
    • Glossary
    • Endnotes
    • Index

External links

• Publisher's page
• Short review
• Short reviews
• "The Legacy of a European Traditionalist: Julius Evola in Perspective" by Guido Stucco discusses Mircea Eliade
  Mircea Eliade
  Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
  
  's influence.