Tantra

The earliest documented use of the word "Tantra" is in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda" title="Rigveda" >Rigveda</a> (X.71.9).<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-Banerjee-1" >[1]</a> Tantra<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-2" >[note 1]</a> is the name given by recent scholars to a style of meditation and ritual which arose in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India" >India</a> no later than the 5th century AD.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-3" >[2]</a> Tantra has influenced the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu" title="Hindu" >Hindu</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%B6n" title="Bön" class="mw-redirect" >Bön</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist" title="Buddhist" class="mw-redirect" >Buddhist</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jain" title="Jain" class="mw-redirect" >Jain</a> and perhaps part of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikh" title="Sikh" >Sikh</a> traditions and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_transmission_of_Buddhism" title="Silk Road transmission of Buddhism" >Silk Road transmission of Buddhism</a>that spread Buddhism to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asia" title="East Asia" >East</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia" title="Southeast Asia" >Southeast Asia</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWhite20007-4" >[3]</a>

<h2 >Definitions[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Definitions" >edit</a>]</h2>

Several definitions of Tantra exist.

<h3 >Traditional[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Traditional" >edit</a>]</h3>

The Tantric tradition offers various definitions of tantra. One comes from the Kāmikā-tantra:

Because it elaborates (tan) copious and profound matters, especially relating to the principles of reality (tattva) and sacred mantras, and because it provides liberation (tra), it is called a tantra.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-5" >[4]</a>

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A second, very similar to the first, comes from Swami Satyananda.

Tantra embodies two sanskrit words: tanoti (expands) and trayoti (liberates)... It is the system by which you liberate or separate the two aspects of consciousness and matter - purusha and prakriti or Shiva and Shakti.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-6" >[5]</a>

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A third comes from the 10th-century Tantric scholar Rāmakaṇṭha, who belonged to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualism_(philosophy_of_mind)" title="Dualism (philosophy of mind)" >dualist</a> school Śaiva Siddhānta:

A tantra is a divinely revealed body of teachings, explaining what is necessary and what is a hindrance in the practice of the worship of God; and also describing the specialized initiation and purification ceremonies that are the necessary prerequisites of Tantric practice.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-7" >[6]</a>

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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prabhat_Ranjan_Sarkar" title="Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar" >Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-8" >[note 2]</a> describes a tantric individual and a tantric cult:

A person who, irrespective of caste, creed or religion, aspires for spiritual expansion or does something concrete, is a Tantric. Tantra in itself is neither a religion nor an "ism". Tantra is a fundamental spiritual science. So wherever there is any spiritual practice it should be taken for granted that it stands on the Tantric cult."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-9" >[7]</a>

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<h3 >Scholastic[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Scholastic" >edit</a>]</h3>

Modern scholars have defined Tantra; David Gordon White of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California" title="University of California" >University of California</a> offers the following:

Tantra is that Asian body of beliefs and practices which, working from the principle that the universe we experience is nothing other than the concrete manifestation of the divine energy of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divinity" title="Divinity" >godhead</a> that creates and maintains that universe, seeks to ritually appropriate and channel that energy, within the human microcosm, in creative and emancipatory ways.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-10" >[8]</a>

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Anthony Tribe, a scholar of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_Tantra" title="Buddhist Tantra" class="mw-redirect" >Buddhist Tantra</a>, offers a list of features:<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-11" >[9]</a>

<ol >

<li >Centrality of ritual, especially the worship of deities</li>

<li >Centrality of mantras</li>

<li >Visualisation of and identification with a deity</li>

<li >Need for initiation, esotericism and secrecy</li>

<li >Importance of a teacher (guru, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80c%C4%81rya" title="Ācārya" class="mw-redirect" >ācārya</a>)</li>

<li >Ritual use of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala" title="Mandala" >mandalas</a> (maṇḍala)</li>

<li >Transgressive or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antinomianism" title="Antinomianism" >antinomian</a> acts</li>

<li >Revaluation of the body</li>

<li >Revaluation of the status and role of women</li>

<li >Analogical thinking (including microcosmic or macrocosmic correlation)</li>

<li >Revaluation of negative mental states</li>

</ol>

<h3 >Western[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Western" >edit</a>]</h3>

Robert Brown <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-12" >[10]</a> notes that the term "tantrism" is a construct of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world" title="Western world" >Western</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholarly_method" title="Scholarly method" >scholarship</a>, not a concept from the religious system itself. Tāntrikas (practitioners of Tantra) did not attempt to define Tantra as a whole; instead, the Tantric dimension of each South Asian religion had its own name:

<ul >

<li >Tantric <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaivism" title="Shaivism" >Shaivism</a> was known to its practitioners as the Mantramārga.</li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaktism" title="Shaktism" >Shaktism</a> is practically synonymous and parallel with Tantra, known to its native practitioners as "Kula marga" or "Kaula".</li>

<li >Tantric Buddhism has the indigenous name of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrayana" title="Vajrayana" >Vajrayana</a>.</li>

<li >Tantric <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaishnavism" title="Vaishnavism" >Vaishnavism</a> was known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancharatra" title="Pancharatra" >Pancharatra</a>.</li>

</ul>

"Tantra" denotes teachings and practices found in the scriptures known as tantras or āgamas; Āgamic is a synonymous adjective.

<h2 >Practices[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Practices" >edit</a>]</h2>

Rather than one coherent system, Tantra is an accumulation of practices and ideas. Because of the wide range of communities covered by the term, it is problematic to describe tantric practices definitively.

Tantric ritual seeks to access the supra-mundane through the mundane, identifying the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrocosm_and_microcosm" title="Macrocosm and microcosm" >microcosm</a> with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrocosm" title="Macrocosm" class="mw-redirect" >macrocosm</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-47" >[39]</a> The Tantric aim is to sublimate (rather than negate) reality.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-nikhilananda-48" >[40]</a> The Tantric practitioner seeks to use <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prana" title="Prana" >prana</a> (energy flowing through the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universe" title="Universe" >universe</a>, including one's body) to attain goals which may be spiritual, material or both.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-49" >[41]</a>

<h3 >Tantric path[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Tantric path" >edit</a>]</h3>

<div class="hatnote" >For Tibetan Buddhist ideas, see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anuttarayoga_Tantra" title="Anuttarayoga Tantra" >Anuttarayoga Tantra</a>.</div>

Long training is generally required to master Tantric methods. Pupils are typically initiated by a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru" title="Guru" >guru</a>.

A number of techniques are used as aids for meditation and achieving spiritual power:

<ul >

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga" title="Yoga" >Yoga</a>, including breathing techniques and postures (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asana" title="Asana" >asana</a>), is employed to balance the energies in the body/mind.</li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudras" title="Mudras" class="mw-redirect" >Mudras</a>, or gestures</li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantras" title="Mantras" class="mw-redirect" >Mantras</a>: syllables, words, and phrases</li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala" title="Mandala" >Mandalas</a></li>

<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yantra" title="Yantra" >Yantras</a>: symbolic diagrams of forces at work in the universe</li>

<li >Identification with deities</li>

</ul>

The process of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation_(psychology)" title="Sublimation (psychology)" >sublimation</a> consists of three phases:

<ol >

<li >Purification</li>

<li >Elevation</li>

<li >"Reaffirmation of identity in pure consciousness"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-nikhilananda-48" >[40]</a></li>

</ol>

<h3 >Classification[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Classification" >edit</a>]</h3>

Avalon contrasts "ordinary" <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-50" >[42]</a> and "secret ritual[s]".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-sacred-texts.com-51" >[43]</a> Methods employed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakshinachara" title="Dakshinachara" class="mw-redirect" >Dakshinachara</a> (right-hand path) interpretations of Tantra differ from methods used in the pursuit of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vamachara" title="Vamachara" >Vamachara</a> (left-hand path).

<h3 >Mantra, yantra, nyasa[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Mantra, yantra, nyasa" >edit</a>]</h3>

The words mantram, tantram and yantram are rooted linguistically and phonologically in ancient Indian traditions. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra" title="Mantra" >Mantram</a> denotes the chant, or "knowledge."Tantram denotes philosophy, or ritual actions. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yantra" title="Yantra" >Yantram</a> denotes the means by which a person is expected to lead their life.[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" >citation needed</a>]

The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra" title="Mantra" >mantra</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yantra" title="Yantra" >yantra</a> are instruments to invoke higher qualities, often associated with specific Hindu deities such as Shiva, Shakti, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali" title="Kali" >Kali</a>. Similarly, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puja_(Hinduism)" title="Puja (Hinduism)" >puja</a> may involve focusing on a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yantra" title="Yantra" >yantra</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala" title="Mandala" >mandala</a> associated with a deity.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-52" >[44]</a>

Each mantra is associated with a specific <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyasa_(ritual)" title="Nyasa (ritual)" >Nyasa</a>. Nyasa involves touching various parts of the body at specific parts of the mantra, thought to invoke the deity in the body. There are several types of Nyasas; the most important are Kara Nyasa and Anga Nyasa.[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" >citation needed</a>]

<h3 >Identification with deities[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Identification with deities" >edit</a>]</h3>

Tantra, as a development of early Hindu-Vedic thought, embraced the Hindu gods and goddesses (especially <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva" title="Shiva" >Shiva</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakti" title="Shakti" >Shakti</a>) and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advaita" title="Advaita" class="mw-redirect" >Advaita</a> philosophy that each represents an aspect of the ultimate <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Para_Brahman" title="Para Brahman" >Para Brahman</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Parashakti" title="Adi Parashakti" >Adi Parashakti</a>. These deities may be worshiped with flowers, incense and other offerings (such as singing and dancing). Tantric practices form the foundation of the ritual <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_dance" title="Temple dance" >temple dance</a> of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devadasi" title="Devadasi" >devadasis</a>, and are preserved in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatanatyam" title="Bharatanatyam" class="mw-redirect" >Melattur</a> style of<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatanatyam" title="Bharatanatyam" class="mw-redirect" >Bharatanatyam</a> by Mangudi Dorairaja Iyer.[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" >citation needed</a>]

<h4 >Visualisation[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Visualisation" >edit</a>]</h4>

The deities are internalised as attributes of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishta_devata" title="Ishta devata" class="mw-redirect" >Ishta devata</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation" title="Meditation" >meditations</a>, with practitioners visualizing themselves as the deity or experiencing the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dar%C5%9Bana" title="Darśana" >darshan</a> (vision) of the deity. During <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation" title="Meditation" >meditation</a> the initiate identifies with any of the Hindu gods and goddesses, visualising and internalising them in a process similar to sexual courtship and consummation.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-Cavendish.2C_Richard_1980-53" >[45]</a> The Tantrika practitioner may use <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_image" title="Mental image" >visualizations</a> of deities, identifying with a deity to the degree that the aspirant "becomes" the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishta-deva" title="Ishta-deva" class="mw-redirect" >Ishta-deva</a> (or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yidam" title="Yidam" class="mw-redirect" >meditational deity</a>).<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-54" >[46]</a>

<h4 >Classes of devotees[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Classes of devotees" >edit</a>]</h4>

In Hindu Tantra, uniting the deity and the devotee uses meditation and ritual practices. These practices are divided among three classes of devotees: the animal, heroic, and the divine. In the divine devotee, the rituals are internal. The divine devotee is the only one who can attain the object of the rituals (awakening energy).<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-55" >[47]</a>

<h3 >Vanamarga (secret ritual)[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: Vanamarga (secret ritual)" >edit</a>]</h3>

The secret ritual prompted <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Zimmer" title="Heinrich Zimmer" >Heinrich Zimmer</a>'s praise of Tantra's world-affirming attitude:

In the Tantra, the manner of approach is not that of Nay but of Yea... the world attitude is affirmative... Man must approach through and by means of nature, not by rejection of nature.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-56" >[48]</a>

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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Avalon" title="Arthur Avalon" class="mw-redirect" >Arthur Avalon</a> states that the Panchatattva,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-58" >[note 6]</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakrapuja" title="Chakrapuja" class="mw-redirect" >Chakrapuja</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchamakara" title="Panchamakara" >Panchamakara</a> involve:

Worship with the Pañcatattva generally takes place in a Cakra or circle composed of men and women... sitting in a circle, the Shakti (or female practitioner) being on the Sadhaka's (male practitioner's) left. Hence it is called Cakrapuja. ...There are various kinds of Cakra – productive, it is said, of differing fruits for the participator therein.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-sacred-texts.com-51" >[43]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-59" >[50]</a>

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Avalon provides a number of variations and substitutions of the Panchatattva (Panchamakara) "elements" or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattva" title="Tattva" >tattva</a> encoded in the Tantras and tantric traditions, affirming a direct correlation to the Tantric <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchamrita" title="Panchamrita" >Five Nectars</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81bh%C5%ABta" title="Mahābhūta" >Mahābhūta</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-60" >[51]</a>

<h3 >Sexual rites[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: Sexual rites" >edit</a>]</h3>

<div class="hatnote boilerplate seealso" >See also: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotantra" title="Neotantra" >Neotantra</a></div>

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<td class="mbox-text" >This section needs additional citations for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability" >verification</a>. Please help <a class="external text" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit" >improve this article</a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Introduction_to_referencing/1" title="Help:Introduction to referencing/1" >adding citations to reliable sources</a>. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011)</td>

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Although equated with Tantra in the West, sexual rites were historically practiced by a minority of sects. For practicing groups, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maithuna" title="Maithuna" >maithuna</a> progressed into psychological symbolism.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-White_2000-61" >[52]</a> According to White, the sexual rites of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vamamarga" title="Vamamarga" class="mw-redirect" >Vamamarga</a> may have emerged from early Hindu Tantra as a means of catalyzing biochemical transformations in the body to facilitate heightened states of awareness.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-White_2000-61" >[52]</a> These constitute an offering to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantric_deities" title="Tantric deities" class="mw-redirect" >Tantric deities</a>. Later developments in the rite emphasize the primacy of bliss and divine union, which replace the bodily connotations of earlier forms.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-White_2000-61" >[52]</a>

<h2 >Doctrines[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: Doctrines" >edit</a>]</h2>

Defined as a technique-rich style of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_practice" title="Spiritual practice" >spiritual practice</a>, Tantra has no single coherent doctrine; instead, it developed a variety of teachings in connection with the religions adopting the Tantric method. These practices are oriented to the married householder rather than the monastic or solitary renunciant, exhibiting a world-embracing (as opposed to a world-denying) character. Tantra, particularly its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonduality" title="Nonduality" class="mw-redirect" >nondual</a> forms, rejected the values of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pata%C3%B1jali" title="Patañjali" class="mw-redirect" >Patañjalian</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga" title="Yoga" >yoga</a>; instead, it offered a vision of reality as self-expression of a single, free and blissful divine consciousness under <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9Aiva" title="Śiva" class="mw-redirect" >Śiva</a>.

<h3 >The world is real[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=21" title="Edit section: The world is real" >edit</a>]</h3>

Since the world was seen as real (not illusory), this doctrine was an innovation on previous Indian philosophies (which saw the divine as transcendent and the world as illusion). The consequence of this view was that householders could aspire to spiritual liberation, and were the practitioner addressed by most Tantric manuals.

Since Tantra dissolved the dichotomy between spiritual and mundane, practitioners could integrate their daily lives into their spiritual growth, seeking to realize the divine which is transcendent and immanent. Tantric practices and rituals aim to bring about a realization of the truth that "nothing exists that is not divine" (nāśivaṃ vidyate kvacit),<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-62" >[53]</a> bringing freedom from ignorance and the cycle of suffering (saṃsāra).

Tantric visualizations are said to bring the meditator to the core of their humanity and unity with transcendence. Tantric meditations do not serve as training, extraneous beliefs or unnatural practices. On the contrary, the transcendence reached by such meditative work does not construct anything in the mind of the practitioner; instead, it deconstructs all preconceived notions of the human condition. The limits on thought (cultural and linguistic frameworks) are removed. This allows the person to experience liberation, followed by unity with reality.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-63" >[54]</a>

<h3 >Evolution and involution[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=22" title="Edit section: Evolution and involution" >edit</a>]</h3>

According to Tantra, "being-consciousness-bliss" (or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satchitananda" title="Satchitananda" class="mw-redirect" >Satchidananda</a>) entails self-evolution and self-involution. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prakrit" title="Prakrit" >Prakriti</a> (reality) evolves into a multiplicity of things but also remains consciousness, being and bliss. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_(illusion)" title="Maya (illusion)" >Maya</a> (illusion) veils reality, separating it into opposites (conscious and unconscious, pleasant and unpleasant). If not recognized as illusion, these opposing conditions limit (pashu) the individual (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiva" title="Jiva" >jiva</a>).<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-nikhilananda-48" >[40]</a>

Shiva and Shakti are generally seen as distinct. Tantra affirms that the world and the individual <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiva" title="Jiva" >jiva</a> are real, distinguishing itself from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvaita" title="Dvaita" >dualism</a> and the qualified<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advaita" title="Advaita" class="mw-redirect" >non-dualism</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedanta" title="Vedanta" >Vedanta</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-nikhilananda-48" >[40]</a>

Evolution, or the "outgoing current," is only half of Maya. Involution (the "return current") takes the jiva back towards the source of reality, revealing the infinite. Tantra teaches the changing of the "outgoing current" into the "return current," removing the fetters of Maya. This view underscores two <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_(saying)" title="Maxim (saying)" class="mw-redirect" >maxims</a> of Tantra: "One must rise by that by which one falls," and "the very poison that kills becomes the elixir of life when used by the wise."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-nikhilananda-48" >[40]</a>

<h2 >Scripture[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=23" title="Edit section: Scripture" >edit</a>]</h2>

<div class="hatnote relarticle mainarticle" >Main articles: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantras" title="Tantras" >Tantras</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrayana" title="Vajrayana" >Vajrayana</a></div>

The primary sources of written Hindu Tantric lore are the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80gama(Hinduism)" title="Āgama (Hinduism)" >agama</a>, generally consisting of four parts: metaphysical knowledge (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jnana" title="Jnana" >jnana</a>), contemplative procedures (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga" title="Yoga" >yoga</a>), ritual regulations (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriy%C4%81" title="Kriyā" >kriya</a>) and religious injunctions (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charya" title="Charya" class="mw-redirect" >charya</a>). Tantric schools affiliate themselves with specific agamic traditions. Hindu tantra exists in<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaivism" title="Shaivism" >Shaiva</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaishnavism" title="Vaishnavism" >Vaisnava</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-64" >[55]</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganapatya" title="Ganapatya" >Ganapatya</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-65" >[56]</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saura(Hinduism)" title="Saura (Hinduism)" >Saura</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-66" >[57]</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaktism" title="Shaktism" >Shakta</a> forms, and individual tantric texts may be classified as Shaiva Āgamas, Vaishnava Pāñcarātra Saṃhitās,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-67" >[58]</a> and Shakta <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantras" title="Tantras" >Tantras</a>. The word Tantra includes all such works.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-68" >[59]</a>

Important texts in Tibetan Buddhism are the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalachakra" title="Kalachakra" >Kalachakra tantra</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guhyasam%C4%81ja_tantra" title="Guhyasamāja tantra" >Guhyasamāja tantra</a>, both belonging to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anuttarayoga_Tantra" title="Anuttarayoga Tantra" >Anuttarayoga Tantra</a> or Highest Yoga Tantra.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHopkins199916-69" >[60]</a>

<h2 >Influence on Asian religions[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=24" title="Edit section: Influence on Asian religions" >edit</a>]</h2>

The Tantric method affected every major Indian religion during the early medieval period (c. 500–1200 CE); the Hindu sects of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaivism" title="Shaivism" >Shaivism</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaktism" title="Shaktism" >Shaktism</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaishnavism" title="Vaishnavism" >Vaishnavism</a> and also <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism" title="Buddhism" >Buddhism</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism" title="Jainism" >Jainism</a> developed a well-documented body of Tantric practices and doctrines, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam" title="Islam" >Islam</a> in India was also influenced by Tantra.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-70" >[61]</a> Tantric ideas and practices spread from India to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibet" title="Tibet" >Tibet</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal" title="Nepal" >Nepal</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China" >China</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan" title="Japan" >Japan</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia" >Cambodia</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam" >Vietnam</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia" title="Indonesia" >Indonesia</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-71" >[62]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-72" >[63]</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_Buddhism" title="Tibetan Buddhism" >Tibetan Buddhism</a> and some forms of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism" title="Hinduism" >Hinduism</a> show the strongest Tantric influence, as do the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asana" title="Asana" >postural yoga</a> movement and most forms of American <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Age" title="New Age" >New Age</a> spirituality.

<h3 >Hinduism[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=25" title="Edit section: Hinduism" >edit</a>]</h3>

<h4 >Vedic tradition[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=26" title="Edit section: Vedic tradition" >edit</a>]</h4>

<div class="hatnote relarticle mainarticle" >Main article: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedic" title="Vedic" class="mw-redirect" >Vedic</a></div>

Orthodox Brahmanas incorporate Tantric rituals into their daily activities (ahnikas). Gayatri-avahanam is a common element of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandhyavandanam" title="Sandhyavandanam" >Sandhyavandanam</a> in southern India.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-73" >[64]</a> Orthodox temple <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaka" title="Archaka" class="mw-redirect" >archakas</a> of several sects follow rules laid out in Tantric texts; for example, priests of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyengar" title="Iyengar" >Iyengar</a> sect follow <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pa%C3%B1caratra" title="Pañcaratra" class="mw-redirect" >Pañcaratra</a> agamas.

However, it has been claimed that orthodox <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedic" title="Vedic" class="mw-redirect" >Vedic</a> traditions were inimical to Tantra. André Padoux notes that, in India, tantra rejects orthodox Vedic tenets.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-74" >[65]</a>In his review of Tantric literature, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moriz_Winternitz" title="Moriz Winternitz" >Moriz Winternitz</a> points out that while Indian Tantric texts are not hostile to the Vedas they see them as too difficult for the modern age.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-75" >[66]</a> Many orthodox Brahmans who accept the authority of the Vedas reject the Tantras.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-76" >[67]</a> Although later Tantric writers wanted to base their doctrines on the Vedas, some orthodox followers of the Vedic tradition denigrated Tantra as anti-Vedic.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-77" >[68]</a>

<h4 >Shaiva Tantra[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=27" title="Edit section: Shaiva Tantra" >edit</a>]</h4>

<div class="hatnote relarticle mainarticle" >Main article: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaivism" title="Shaivism" >Shaivism</a></div>

The tantric Shaiva tradition consists of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapalikas" title="Kapalikas" class="mw-redirect" >Kapalikas</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_Shaivism" title="Kashmir Shaivism" >Kashmir Shaivism</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaiva_Siddhanta" title="Shaiva Siddhanta" >Shaiva Siddhanta</a>. The word "Tāntrika" is used for followers of the Tantras in Shaivism.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-78" >[note 7]</a>

<div class="hatnote" >Further information: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga" title="Yoga" >Yoga</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laya_Yoga" title="Laya Yoga" class="mw-redirect" >Laya Yoga</a></div>

Shaiva tantra produced the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatha_Yoga" title="Hatha Yoga" class="mw-redirect" >Hatha Yoga</a> manuals, such as the 15th-century <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hathayoga_Prad%C4%ABpik%C4%81" title="Hathayoga Pradīpikā" class="mw-redirect" >Hathayoga Pradīpikā</a> and the 16th-century <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gheranda_Samhit%C4%81" title="Gheranda Samhitā" class="mw-redirect" >Gheranda Samhitā</a>, from which modern<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga" title="Yoga" >yoga</a> derives. The earlier (pre-Tantric) form of yoga, dating back to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_Sutras_of_Patanjali" title="Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" >Yoga Sutras of Patanjali</a>, became known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_Yoga" title="Raja Yoga" class="mw-redirect" >Raja Yoga</a>:

Yoga as it has been inherited in the modern world has its roots in Tantric ritual and in secondary passages (pādas) within Tantric scriptures. The practices of mantra, āsana (seat/pose), sense-withdrawal (pratyāhāra), breath-regulation (prānāyāma), mental (mantric) fixation (dhāranā), meditation (dhyāna), mudrā, the subtle body (sukshma shārīra) with its energy centers (chakras, ādhāras, granthis, etc.) and channels (nādīs), as well as the phenomenon of Kundalinī Shakti are but a few of the tenets that comprise Tantric Yoga. While some of these derive from earlier, pre-Tantric sources, such as the Hindu Upanishads and the Yoga Sūtra, they were greatly expanded upon, ritualized, and philosophically contextualized in these medieval Tantras.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-79" >[69]</a>

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<h3 >Buddhist Tantra[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=29" title="Edit section: Buddhist Tantra" >edit</a>]</h3>

<div class="hatnote relarticle mainarticle" >Main article: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrayana" title="Vajrayana" >Vajrayana</a></div>

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrayana" title="Vajrayana" >Vajrayana</a> includes scriptures written by the Indian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahasiddhas" title="Mahasiddhas" class="mw-redirect" >Mahasiddhas</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-80" >[70]</a> According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_Buddhist" title="Tibetan Buddhist" class="mw-redirect" >Tibetan Buddhist</a> Tantric master <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lama" title="Lama" >Lama</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thubten_Yeshe" title="Thubten Yeshe" >Thubten Yeshe</a>:

...each one of us is a union of all universal energy. Everything that we need in order to be complete is within us right at this very moment. It is simply a matter of being able to recognize it. This is the tantric approach.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-81" >[71]</a>

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<h2 >Western views[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=30" title="Edit section: Western views" >edit</a>]</h2>

The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Yantra" title="Sri Yantra" >Sri Yantra</a> (shown here in the three-dimensional projection known asSri Meru or Maha Meru, used primarily by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shri_Vidya" title="Shri Vidya" >Srividya</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakta" title="Shakta" class="mw-redirect" >Shakta</a> sects) is central to most Tantric forms of Shaktism.</div>

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<h3 >John Woodroffe[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=31" title="Edit section: John Woodroffe" >edit</a>]</h3>

The first Western scholar to seriously study Tantra was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Woodroffe" title="John Woodroffe" >John Woodroffe</a> (1865–1936), who wrote about Tantra under the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pen_name" title="Pen name" >pen name</a> Arthur Avalon and is known as the "founding father of Tantric studies".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-82" >[72]</a> Unlike previous Western scholars Woodroffe advocated for Tantra, defending and presenting it as an ethical and philosophical system in accord with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veda" title="Veda" class="mw-redirect" >Vedas</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedanta" title="Vedanta" >Vedanta</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-83" >[73]</a> Woodroffe practised Tantra and, while trying to maintain scholastic objectivity, was a student of Hindu Tantra (the Shiva-Shakta tradition).<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-84" >[74]</a>

<h3 >Further development[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=32" title="Edit section: Further development" >edit</a>]</h3>

Following Woodroffe a number of scholars began investigating Tantric teachings, including scholars of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_religion" title="Comparative religion" >comparative religion</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indology" title="Indology" >Indology</a> such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agehananda_Bharati" title="Agehananda Bharati" >Agehananda Bharati</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mircea_Eliade" title="Mircea Eliade" >Mircea Eliade</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Evola" title="Julius Evola" >Julius Evola</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung" title="Carl Jung" >Carl Jung</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Tucci" title="Giuseppe Tucci" >Giuseppe Tucci</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Zimmer" title="Heinrich Zimmer" >Heinrich Zimmer</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-85" >[75]</a> According to Hugh Urban, Zimmer, Evola and Eliade viewed Tantra as "the culmination of all Indian thought: the most radical form of spirituality and the archaic heart of aboriginal India", regarding it as the ideal religion for the modern era. All three saw Tantra as "the most transgressive and violent path to the sacred".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-86" >[76]</a>

<h3 >Western Modern Tantra[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tantra&action=edit&section=33" title="Edit section: Western Modern Tantra" >edit</a>]</h3>

Following the first Tantric presentations, popular authors (such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell" title="Joseph Campbell" >Joseph Campbell</a>) brought Tantra to the attention of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world" title="Western world" >Westerners</a>. Although <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotantra" title="Neotantra" >Neotantra</a> uses some concepts and terminology of Indian Tantra, it often omits one (or more) of the following: reliance on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parampara" title="Parampara" >guruparampara</a> (the guidance of a guru), meditation and moral and ritual rules of conduct.

As Tantra has become more popular in the West, it has undergone a transformation. It was seen as a "cult of ecstasy", combining sexuality and spirituality to correct Western repressive attitudes towards sex.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-87" >[77]</a> Hence for many modern readers Tantra is now synonymous with "spiritual sex" or "sacred sexuality," a belief that sex should be recognized as a sacred act capable of elevating its participants to a higher spiritual plane.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-88" >[78]</a>

Responding to criticism of modern Western Tantra, Geoffrey Samuel, a historian of Indian and Tibetan Tantra writes:

‘Tantra’ as a modern Western sexual and spiritual practice, however complex and contested its origins in Asia, was and is more than a fringe phenomenon of the 1960s and 1970s counterculture. On the contrary, it took up themes of considerable depth and significance within Western culture, and synthesized them creatively with borrowings from Buddhist and Hindu sources. Its slow but steady growth since the 1970s suggests that its potential has not yet been exhausted, and I would contend that to dismiss it as an empty and superficial expression of the “spiritual logic of late capitalism” is to miss the possibility of a development of real value.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-89" >[79]</a>

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According to author and critic of religion and politics Hugh Urban:

Since at least the time of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agehananda_Bharati" title="Agehananda Bharati" >Agehananda Bharati</a>, most Western scholars have been severely critical of these new forms of pop Tantra. This "California Tantra" as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Feuerstein" title="Georg Feuerstein" >Georg Feuerstein</a> calls it, is "based on a profound misunderstanding of the Tantric path. Their main error is to confuse Tantric bliss... with ordinary orgasmic pleasure.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-90" >[80]</a>

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Urban says he does not consider this "wrong" or "false", but "simply a different interpretation for a specific historical situation."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra#cite_note-91" >[81]</a>

Tantra

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