The Sri Yantra.

Yantra (यन्त्र) is the Sanskrit word for "instrument" or "machine". Much like the word "instrument" itself, it can stand for symbols, processes, automata, machinery or anything that has structure and organization, depending on context.

One usage popular in the west is as symbols or geometric figures. Traditionally such symbols are used in Eastern mysticism to balance the mind or focus it on spiritual concepts. The act of wearing, depicting, enacting and/or concentrating on a yantra is held to have spiritual or astrological or magical benefits in the Tantric traditions of the Indian religions.

Etymology and meanings[link]

Yantra is a Sanskrit word that is derived from the root yam meaning to control or subdue ^[1] or "to restrain, curb, check".^[2] Meanings for the noun derived from this root include:^[3][4]

• "any instrument or machine" (i.e. that which is controlled or controls. For instance the body is said to be a yantra^[5])
• "any instrument for holding, restraining, or fastening" (for instance a symbol which 'holds' the essence of a concept, or helps the mind to 'fasten' on a particular idea)
• "a mystical or astronomical diagram" (usually a symbol, often inscribed on an amulet) sometimes said to possess mystical or magical powers.

-tra is an indoeuropean suffix meaning ' instrument', found in Latin aratrum and in tantra and mantra. A yantra depicts both macrocosmic and microcosmic forces acting together - the movement towards and away from the centre - "control" and "liberation" within the one device. Mantra plus yantra creates tantra. In some disciplines of Tantra it is said that a focused, controlled gaze upon a particular yantra may lead to liberation.

Symbols employed in yantras[link]

Shapes and patterns commonly employed in yantra include squares, triangles, circles and floral patterns but may also include more complex and detailed symbols, for instance:

• The lotus flower typically represent chakras, with each petal representing a psychic propensity (or vritti) associated with that chakra
• A dot, or bindu, represents the starting point of creation or the infinite, unexpressed cosmos
• The shatkona (şaţkoņa) (Sanskrit name for a Hexagram) composed of a balance between:
  • An upwards triangle which according to Tantra denotes energy, or more specifically action and service (seva). It may also denote spiritual aspiration, the element of fire, or Shiva. It is also said to represent the static substratum of the cosmos.^{[citation needed]}
  • A downwards triangle which according to Tantra denotes spiritual knowledge. It may also denote the creative power of the cosmos, fecundity, the element of water, or Shakti
• A swastika represents good luck, welfare, prosperity or spiritual victory
• Bija mantras (usually represented as characters of Devanāgarī that correspond to the acoustic roots of a particular chakra or vritti)

Geometric element meanings:

• Circle = Energy of the element water
• Square = Energy of the element earth
• Upward-facing Triangle = Energy of the element fire; energy
• Downward-facing Triangle = Energy of the element water; knowledge
• Diagonal line = Energy of the element air
• Horizontal line = Energy of the element water
• Vertical line = Energy of the element fire
• Point = Energy of the element ether

As an astrological device[link]

Yantra may be used to represent the astronomical position of the planets over a given date and time. It is considered auspicious in Hindu mythology. These yantras are made up on various objects i.e. Paper, Precious stones, Metal Plates and alloys. It is believed that constantly concentrating on the representation helps to build fortunes, as planets have their peculiar gravity which governs basic emotions and karma. These yantras are often made on a particular date and time according to procedures defined in the vedas.

Philosophical context[link]

Yantra function as revelatory conduits of cosmic truths. Yantra, as instrument and spiritual technology, may be appropriately envisioned as prototypical and esoteric concept mapping machines or conceptual looms. Certain yantra are held to embody the energetic signatures of, for example, the Universe, consciousness, ishta-devata. Though often rendered in two dimensions through art, yantra are conceived and conceptualised by practitioners as multi-dimensional sacred architecture and in this quality are identical with their correlate the mandala. Meditation and trance induction that generates the yantra of the subtle body in the complementary modes of the utpatti-krama and saṃpanna-krama are invested in the various lineages of tantric transmission as exterior and interior sacred architecture that potentiate the accretion and manifestation of siddhi.

Khanna (2003: p. 21) in linking Mantra, Yantra, Ishta-devata, and thoughtforms states:

Mantras, the Sanskrit syllables inscribed on yantras, are essentially "thought forms" representing divinities or cosmic powers, which exert their influence by means of sound-vibrations.^[6]

Yantra is an aniconic temenos or tabernacle of deva, asura, genius loci or other archetypal entity. Yantra are theurgical device that engender entelecheia. Yantra are realised by sadhus through darshana and samyama. Yantra, or other permutations and cognate phenomena such as mandala, rangoli, kolam, rangavalli and other sacred geometrical traditions, are endemic throughout Indian religions. Some Hindu esoteric practitioners employ yantra, mantra and other items of the saṃdhyā-bhāṣā (Bucknell, et al.; 1986: p.ix) in their sadhana, puja and yajna.^[7]

See also[link]

• Mandala
• Namkha
• Sigil
• Sri Yantra
• Yantra tattooing

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Rana, Deepak (2012), Yantra, Mantra and Tantrism, USA: Neepradaka Press, ISBN 0-9564928-3-5, http://www.amazon.com/Yantra-Mantra-Tantrism-Complete-Guide/dp/0956492835/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330701510&sr=1-1 

• Apte, Vaman Shivram (1965), The Practical Sanskrit Dictionary (Fourth revised and enlarged ed.), Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, ISBN 81-208-0567-4 
• Bucknell, Roderick; Stuart-Fox, Martin (1986), The Twilight Language: Explorations in Buddhist Meditation and Symbolism, London: Curzon Press, ISBN 0-312-82540-4 
• Khanna, Madhu (2003). Yantra: The Tantric Symbol of Cosmic Unity. Inner Traditions. ISBN 0-89281-132-3 & ISBN 978-0-89281-132-8
• Monier-Williams, Monier (1899), A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/ 
• White, David Gordon (1996), The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-89499-1 

External links[link]

Media related to Yantra at Wikimedia Commons

James Pliny Whitney
The Hon. Sir James Pliny Whitney
6th Premier of Ontario
In office February 8, 1905 – September 25, 1914
Preceded by	George William Ross
Succeeded by	William Howard Hearst
Member of the Legislative Assembly
In office January 31, 1888 – September 25, 1914[1]
Preceded by	Theodore F. Chamberlain
Succeeded by	Irwin Foster Hilliard
Constituency	Dundas
Personal details
Born	(1843-10-02)October 2, 1843 Williamsburgh Township, Upper Canada
Died	September 25, 1914(1914-09-25) (aged 70) Toronto, Ontario
Political party	Ontario Conservative Party
Spouse(s)	Alice Park[2]
Religion	Anglican

Sir James Pliny Whitney, KCMG (October 2, 1843 – September 25, 1914) was a politician in the Canadian province of Ontario. Whitney was a lawyer in eastern Ontario, Conservative member for Dundas from 1888 to 1914, and the sixth Premier of Ontario from 1905 to 1914.

Early life[link]

Whitney was born in Williamsburgh Township in 1843 and attended Cornwall Grammar School before articling the law office of John Sandfield Macdonald in the 1860s, but did not resume his legal studies until 1871. He was called to the bar in 1875.

Early political career[link]

Whitney became leader of the party in 1896 taking it from a narrow, bigoted rump into a forward-looking party determined to build the province.

Premier of Ontario[link]

In the 1905 election, he led the Tories to victory for the first time in 33 years by defeating the Liberal government of George William Ross.

Statue of Sir James Whitney by Hamilton MacCarthy, Queen's Park, Toronto.

Whitney's government laid the basis for Ontario's industrial development by creating the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, with Sir Adam Beck as its chairman and driving force. His government also passed the Workmen's Compensation Act and enacted temperance legislation. He also appeased the anti-Catholic, anti-French-Canadian sentiments of supporters of the Orange Order in his caucus (such as George Howard Ferguson) by passing Regulation 17. This regulation banned the teaching of French in schools beyond the first three years of school. The measure inflamed French-Canadian opinion across Canada, particularly in Quebec, and split the country as it entered World War I.

Death[link]

Whitney died in office shortly after winning the 1914 election.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ontario Plaques - Sir James Pliny Whitney

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