Tantra

Tantra (Sanskrit: तन्त्र), also called Tantrism and Tantric religion, is an ancient Indian tradition of beliefs and meditation and ritual practices that seeks to channel the divine energy of the macrocosm or godhead into the human microcosm, to attain siddhis and moksha. It arose no later than the 5th century CE, and it had a strong influence on both Hinduism and Buddhism.

Etymology

The term "tantrism" or "tantricism" is an anglicism derived from "tantra", used since the 19th century to refer to a complex and broad body of non-Vedic teachings.

Tantrism

According to André Padoux, "Tantrism" is a Western term and notion, not a category that is used by the so-called "Tantrists" themselves. The term was introduced by 19th-century Indologists who thought that the Tantras were only a very limited aspect of Indian culture. Yet, according to Padoux, "[Tantra was] so pervasive that it was not regarded as being a distinct system."

Robert Brown also notes that the term "tantrism" is a construct of Western scholarship, not a concept of 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: