Tantra

Tantra (; Sanskrit: तन्त्र, lit. 'expansion-device, salvation-spreader; loom, weave, warp') is an esoteric yogic tradition that developed on the Indian subcontinent beginning in the middle of the 1st millennium CE, initially within Shaivism, and subsequently in Mahayana Buddhism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism. The Tantras focus on sādhana, encompassing dīkṣā, rituals, and yoga, within a ritual framework that includes bodily purification, divine self-creation through mantra, dhyāna, pūjā, mudrā, mantra recitation, and the use of yantras or maṇḍalas, despite variations in deities and mantras. They present complex cosmologies, viewing the body as divine and typically reflecting the union of Shiva and Shakti as the path to liberation. Tantric goals include siddhi (supernatural accomplishment), bhoga (worldly enjoyment), and Kuṇḍalinī’s ascent, while also addressing states of possession (āveśa) and exorcism. The term tantra, in the Indian traditions, also means any systematic broadly applicable "text, theory, system, method, instrument, technique or practice". A key feature of these traditions is the use of mantras, and thus they are commonly referred to as Mantramārga ("Path of Mantra") in Hinduism or Mantrayāna ("Mantra Vehicle") and Guhyamantra ("Secret Mantra") in Buddhism. In Buddhism, the Vajrayana traditions are known for tantric ideas and practices, which are based on Indian Buddhist Tantras. They include Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Chinese Esoteric Buddhism, Japanese Shingon Buddhism and Nepalese Newar Buddhism. Although Southern Esoteric Buddhism does not directly reference the tantras, its practices and ideas parallel them. In Buddhism, tantra has influenced the art and iconography of Tibetan and East Asian Buddhism, as well as historic cave temples of India and the art of Southeast Asia. Tantric Hindu and Buddhist traditions have also influenced other Eastern religious traditions such as Jainism, the Tibetan Bön tradition, Daoism, and the Japanese Shintō tradition. Certain modes of worship, such as Puja, are considered tantric in their conception and rituals. Hindu temple building also generally conforms to the iconography of tantra. Hindu texts describing these topics are called Tantras, Āgamas or Samhitās.