ABSTRACT
Apart from the physical, psychological and spiritual dangers inherent in the unskilful use of Tantric methods, there are other reasons for secrecy. Some of them may seem bizarre because they relate to forces belonging to the supernatural world in which it is no longer fashionable to believe. To Buddhists, the universe is alive with invisible beings, who in fact constitute four of the six orders of existence, the other two being men and animals. In Tantric Buddhism, with its powerful techniques, finding a personal teacher or Guru is of prime importance. The Short Path practice is divided into physical, mental and combined categories, most of them conjoined with the peculiarly Tantric form of meditation known as visualization, which involves body, speech and mind simultaneously. The conduct proposed for Tantric adepts is beyond the dualism of good and evil; but the object of relaxing the ordinary rules is to attain to perfection as rapidly as possible.
