Kaula Tantra: History, the Five M's and Modern Myths

Here you can read what the word Kaula means, where the tradition comes from, what the notorious five M's actually are, how a Nebraska-born showman made Tantra a New York tabloid scandal in 1910, and how to approach the path today without being fooled or harmed.

What Kaula means

The word Kaula derives from kula, which means family, clan or community. On one level the kula is literal: the clans of goddesses and yoginis that were worshipped in early tantric cults, and the circles of initiates who worshipped them. On a second level it is philosophical: the kula is the whole of manifest reality, Shakti in all her forms, while Shiva as pure awareness is sometimes called akula, beyond the family. Kaula practice aims at recognizing that the two were never separate.

This gives the tradition its radical tone. The divine is not to be sought beyond the world but in the middle of it: in the body, in the senses, in every movement of life. That affirmation sets Kaula apart from ascetic paths that reject the body and desire. It also made it dangerous in the eyes of orthodox Brahmins, for whom purity rules were the backbone of religious life.

Where the tradition comes from

Historians generally see Kaula as a development out of older, harsher cults of the cremation ground, where ascetics worshipped fierce goddesses with offerings that orthodox society considered polluting. The scholar Alexis Sanderson has described how, over time, these practices were reformed and brought into the household: the skull-bearing ascetic became the initiated householder who performed the same rites in a small, private circle.

Tradition names Matsyendranatha, the "lord of the fishes," as the founder or revealer of the Kaula teachings. A text attributed to him, the Kaulajnananirnaya, survives in an old manuscript in Nepal and was edited by the Indian scholar P. C. Bagchi in 1934. Matsyendra is also remembered as the teacher of Gorakhnath and a founding figure of the Nath yogis, which links Kaula to the history of hatha yoga.

The most sophisticated expression came in Kashmir. Abhinavagupta (roughly 950 to 1016), the great philosopher of Kashmir Shaivism, integrated Kaula ritual into his Trika system and described the secret kula rite in the 29th chapter of his encyclopedic Tantraloka. Later traditions split broadly into two families: the Kalikula, centered on Kali and her fierce forms, and the Srikula, centered on the beautiful goddess Tripurasundari, whose worship became the Srividya tradition. In Bengal, Kaula-influenced Shakta worship of Kali became part of everyday devotion; the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna is known to have practiced tantric disciplines under a female teacher, the Bhairavi Brahmani, in the 1860s. For the goddesses of this world, see the Ten Mahavidyas.

The left-hand path and the five M's

Kaula is often grouped with the "left-hand path", vamachara or vamamarga. The term sounds sinister in English because of its later Western occult use, but in India it primarily describes a method: deliberately including what orthodox paths avoid, in order to dissolve the mind's divisions between pure and impure, sacred and profane.

At the center stand the five M's, the panchamakara, named for their Sanskrit initial:

Sanskrit	Literal	Common symbolic or substitute reading
Madya	wine	the intoxication of awareness; milk or coconut water as substitute
Mamsa	meat	control of speech (the tongue); ginger or sesame as substitute
Matsya	fish	the breath moving in the two channels, like two fish in a river
Mudra	parched grain	the company of the wise; also gesture and seal
Maithuna	sexual union	the union of Shakti rising as kundalini with Shiva at the crown

Whether the five were meant literally is one of the great debates in the study of Tantra. The historian of religion David Gordon White argued in Kiss of the Yogini (2003) that the early rites were quite literal and physical, and that the symbolic readings came later as the tradition sought respectability. Many living lineages, especially the Samaya branch of Srividya, practice only the internalized or substitute forms. Both things are true in different times and places. What is not true is the modern marketing claim that Kaula is essentially a technique for better sex. The rite was about identity with the goddess, and it was embedded in years of mantra, worship and discipline.

Shakti, kundalini and awakened energy

In Kaula thought, Shakti is the central power: the creative energy that the whole universe is made of, and that rests in the human body as kundalini, coiled at the base of the spine. Practice aims at awakening this energy gently and letting it rise through the subtle channels until awareness and energy reunite at the crown. In the language of the tradition, the goddess returns to her lord, and the practitioner recognizes that the one who seeks and the one who is sought were never two.

This is presented in the texts as a lifelong discipline requiring maturity, grounding and guidance, not a quick experience. Modern practitioners report a wide range of intense physical and emotional states on this path. Our guide to kundalini awakening symptoms explains what these reports describe and where medical attention is the right response instead of spiritual interpretation.

How Tantra became an American scandal

The American image of Tantra was shaped less by Abhinavagupta than by a man born Perry Baker in Iowa and raised in Nebraska. As Pierre Bernard, he claimed to have learned Tantra from a Syrian-Indian teacher, and around 1906 he founded what he called the Tantrik Order in America. In 1910 New York papers ran lurid stories about his "Oriental" rituals and young female students, and nicknamed him "Oom the Omnipotent." He later ran a lavish country club for yoga and wealthy students in Nyack, New York. The historian Hugh Urban has traced how this mix of genuine yoga, showmanship and scandal set the pattern for how Americans heard the word Tantra for a century.

The second wave came in the 1970s and 1980s with neo-tantra: workshops and bestsellers that reframed Tantra as a path of sexual ecstasy for couples. Some of that material draws on real Kaula ideas about the body and pleasure as sacred. Much of it has little to do with the tradition. If you want the longer arc of the word, read What Is Tantra?, and for the Western ritual side, our history of sex magic, practice and consent.

Are you ready for the Kaula path? A self-check

The German original of this article included a small interactive test. Here are the same questions as a list. Read them honestly; there is no score, only a direction.

• Do you have a stable, regular meditation or breath practice, not just occasional sessions?
• Can you feel strong emotions without being swept away by them?
• Do you understand the five M's as a symbolic and ritual system, not as permission for anything?
• Are you willing to work with an experienced teacher over years, and to leave a teacher who does not respect your boundaries?
• Do you treat your own energy and body with care and grounding?

If you answered yes to most of these, study and patient practice are a reasonable next step. If not, that is not a verdict on you. It means the foundations come first: a daily sitting practice, breath work, and reading the sources rather than the marketing. A gentle place to start is the meditation text of the same Shaiva world, the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra and its 112 meditations.

How to approach Kaula Tantra today

The most important advice is: slowly. Kaula is not a collection of tricks but an attitude to life. Begin with grounding, breath work and honest observation of your own reactions. Read the scholarship alongside any teacher's material, so you can tell a lineage teaching from a weekend-workshop invention.

Look for a teacher carefully. Ask who taught them, how long they studied, and whether they belong to a living lineage. Watch how they handle money, power and consent. Tantric communities, like other spiritual groups in the US, have had well-documented cases of teachers exploiting students, often using the language of transgression to justify it. A genuine path never requires you to override your own no. Anyone who says otherwise is a reason to leave.

And treat the tradition with respect. It grew over centuries within specific Hindu communities, it is still practiced as a religion, and it deserves more than curiosity about the forbidden parts.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kaula Tantra?

Kaula Tantra is a current within the Hindu tantric traditions, historically strong in Kashmir, Nepal and Bengal, that treats the body, the senses and all of life as expressions of the divine union of Shiva and Shakti. Its name comes from kula, family or clan. Tradition credits Matsyendranatha as its founder, and Abhinavagupta integrated it into Kashmir Shaivism around the year 1000.

What are the five M's in Tantra?

The panchamakara are madya (wine), mamsa (meat), matsya (fish), mudra (parched grain) and maithuna (sexual union). Some historical lineages performed them literally as a way of dissolving ideas of purity and impurity. Most living lineages use symbolic or substitute forms, such as milk for wine.

Are the five principles meant literally?

It depends on the lineage and the period. Scholars such as David Gordon White argue that early rites were literal. Many present-day traditions, especially the Samaya branch of Srividya, practice only internal or substituted forms. The five M's were always embedded in a larger discipline of mantra and worship.

Is Kaula Tantra dangerous?

Intense energy practices without grounding or guidance can be overwhelming, and some people report distressing physical or emotional states. There is also a real risk from abusive teachers who use the language of transgression. With maturity, patience, a trustworthy teacher and medical care where needed, many people practice safely.

Do I need a teacher for Kaula Tantra?

For advanced practice, the tradition says yes, and initiation is part of it. Foundations such as meditation, breath work and study can be done on your own. Choose a teacher carefully and leave anyone who pressures you past your boundaries.

How is Kaula Tantra different from classical yoga?

Classical yoga as described by Patanjali aims at stilling the mind and often treats desire as an obstacle. Kaula instead uses life energy and sensory experience as the means of practice. Both share breath work, meditation and the goal of liberation.

Sources and further reading

• Alexis Sanderson, "Saivism and the Tantric Traditions," in The World's Religions, ed. S. Sutherland et al., Routledge, 1988.
• P. C. Bagchi (ed.), Kaulajnana-nirnaya and Some Minor Texts of the School of Matsyendranatha, Calcutta, 1934.
• Abhinavagupta, Tantraloka, chapter 29 (the kula rite); on Abhinavagupta see Mark S. G. Dyczkowski, The Doctrine of Vibration, SUNY Press, 1987.
• David Gordon White, Kiss of the Yogini: "Tantric Sex" in its South Asian Contexts, University of Chicago Press, 2003.
• Hugh B. Urban, Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics, and Power in the Study of Religion, University of California Press, 2003 (including Pierre Bernard and the Tantrik Order in America).
• Robert Love, The Great Oom: The Improbable Birth of Yoga in America, Viking, 2010.
• Read more on the Desire Diaries: What Is Tantra? · Kundalini Yoga

The spiritual readings in this piece are tradition and interpretation, not scientific findings. Nothing here is a recommendation to consume alcohol or anything else in a ritual context. Questions about an order: 28@templeofdesire.com.