>>40739980 (OP)The core argument of The Tantric Alchemist is that the Western alchemical pursuit of transmuting matter via the Philosopher's Stone (using Mercury as the key agent) and the Eastern Tantric pursuit of spiritual liberation and immortality through the transmutation of sexual energy are fundamentally the same process described in different symbolic languages.
Alchemy's Mercury (Azoth) = Tantra's Sexual Fluids/Energy (Bindu/Ojas)
The Alchemical Furnace/Vessel = The Tantric Practitioner's Body/Mind
The Union of Sulfur & Salt = The Tantric Union of Shiva & Shakti (Male & Female Principles)
The Philosopher's Stone/Elixir of Life = Enlightenment/Immortality (Siddhis/Samadhi/Awakened Kundalini)
In essence, Levenda uses Mercury as the primary hermeneutic key to unlock the shared esoteric core of alchemy and tantra. Understanding Mercury as the volatile spirit, the mediator, the primal substance, and the embodied sexual force is paramount to grasping his argument that these traditions offer parallel paths to the same transcendent goal through the conscious manipulation and transformation of the fundamental energies of existence.
levenda talks about mercury a lot so I had AI sum this up on his thoughts on mercury