TANTRA Skt., lit. “weft, context, continuum.”
[Hinduism] Next to the Veda, the Upanishads, the Purānas, and the Bhagavad-Gītā, Tantra is one of the fundamental elements in sanātana-dharma, the “eternal religion” of Hinduism. Its central theme is the divine energy and creative power (Shakti) that is represented by the feminine aspect of any of various gods; personified as a devī, or goddess, she is portrayed as his wife, above all as the wife of Shiva. Corresponding to the particular form taken by Shiva, his Shakti may be a fortune-granting figure, such as Maheshvarī, Lakshmī, Sarasvatī, Umā, or Gaurī, or may be a terrifying figure, such as Kālī or Durgā.
The term Tantra also refers to a group of texts and a practice that are fraught with danger for anyone who is not prepared to be subjected to strict spiritual discipline. Two Tantric schools have evolved: (1) the impure, perilous path of Vāmāchāra (“left-hand path”), devoted to licentious rites and sexual debauchery; and (2) the Dakshināchāra (“right-hand path”), featuring a purification ritual and a strict spiritual discipline that requires absolute surrender to the Divine Mother in her multifarious forms.
Each of the Tantric texts is supposed to contain five themes: (1) the creation of the world; (2) its destruction or dissolution; (3) the worship of God in his masculine or feminine aspect, i.e., the worship of one of the numerous male or female divinities; (4) the attainment of supernatural abilities; (5) the various methods of achieving union with the Supreme by means of the appropriate form of meditation. These means consist of the various older yoga disciplines such as Karma-Yoga, Bhakti-Yoga, Kundalinī-Yoga, and other yogic paths.
The Tantric texts are usually in the form of a dialogue between Shiva, the divine lord, and his Shakti, divine energy. They attempt to raise all of humanity to the level of divine perfection by teaching human beings how to awaken the cosmic force that lies within (kundalinī-shakti) by means of particular rites and meditation practices.
The Tantric rites require the use of five elements: (1) madya, wine; (2) mānsa, meat; (3) matsya, fish; (4) mudrā, parched grain and mystical gestures; (5) maithuna, sexual intercourse. An introduction to Hindu Tantra is Agehananda Bharat. 1965.
[Buddhism] In Tibetan Buddhism, a term for various kinds of texts (medical Tantras, astrological Tantras, etc.), however, primarily a general concept for the basic activity of the Vajrayāna and its systems of meditation. The expounding of the Tantras is attributed to Buddha Shākyamuni in his dharmakāya (trikāya) manifestation. In this case, Tantra means “continuum” or “system.” This tradition, which is strongly oriented toward man’s experiential potential, describes spiritual development in terms of the categories of ground, path, and fruition. The ground is the practitioner; the path is the path of meditation, which purifies this ground; the fruition is the state that arises as an effect of Tantric practice. All forms of Tantra relate to these three phases.
“The Tibetan tradition speaks of four classes of Tantra: kriyā-tantra (action Tantra), charyā-tantra (elaboration Tantra), yoga-tantra, and anuttara-yoga-tantra (supreme yoga Tantra). The criteria for this classification are the differences in the spiritual capacities of practitioners and the corresponding effectiveness of the means for leading them to enlightenment. Among the most important works of the supreme yoga Tantra are the Guhyasamāja-tantra and the – Kālachakra-tantra.
The “ancient Tantras” of the Nyingmapa school divide the supreme yoga Tantra into three further categories: mahā-, anu-, and ati-yoga (dzogchen). These Tantras take the purity of mind that is always already present as the basis for their practice. The best-known of them is the Guhyagarbha-tantra. The polarity-oriented thought of the Tantras finds its strongest expression in a many-layered sexual symbology. Transcendence of the duality of the masculine principle (skillful means, upāya) and the feminine principle (wisdom, prajñā) through the union of the two is given as the key characteristic of the supreme yoga Tantra.”
[An introduction into the Tantra of Tibetan Buddhism is Hopkins 1977.]
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
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External links: Tantras (Hinduism) / Tantra /