What is Tantra?

there are probably few religious traditions as misrepresented and misunderstood as tantra today if you google the term or search in any bookstore online the vast majority of things that will come up will have something to do with sex so tantric sex has become quite a trend in the last few decades especially to the point that the term tantra or tantrism is almost exclusively associated with it in a general sense in india as well tantra often has negative connotations it is not only associated with doing the dirty but also with things like magic and dark occult things and so as a result of that it has somewhat of a bad reputation both in india and also in the so-called west if you consider sexual rituals and things like that to be bad but in fact tantra is so much more than this it is and has been a very significant religious spiritual and intellectual tradition that has influenced not only various strands of what we refer to as hinduism but also buddhism jainism and essentially most religious traditions in india and while things like sexual rituals or magic can be a part of this vast tradition their role has been vastly exaggerated which sadly obscures one of the most fascinating movements in the history of religion in india so today let's dispel some of those myths and from a more comprehensive perspective ask yourself the question what is tantra [Music] tantra as with most things in this field can be very hard to pin down and it can mean many different things the term itself is very broad meaning something like a teaching and in the earlier periods it was used in a very general sense to mean a teaching or an authoritative text that gives a teaching but when we talk about tantra today we are usually referring to a tradition related to a group of texts from the later part of the first millennium probably from between the 5th to the 8th centuries these texts were distinct from and often stood in contrast to the vedic text of the brahmanical tradition these tantric texts and teachings became very significant as they were often quite popular among a wide span of people and also seemed to be very inclusive in themselves people of all casts could read and engage with them since they were written in a more accessible language as opposed to the sanskrit of the vedas and the much more elitist brahmanical tradition associated with it it appealed to both men and women and was generally open to participants of all walks of life very important to keep in mind here is that the term tantrism is a modern orientalist construct it is a term that is used to refer to a very wide heterogeneous and hard to define set of ideas and practices the word tantra being a word in sanskrit that was used in different contexts like to refer to these texts for example was never used as a technical term in the form of tantrism by the tantrus themselves andre padua writes quotes the term tantrusim was coined by western endologist of the latter part of the 19th century whose knowledge of india was limited and who could not realize the real nature that along the extent of the tantric phenomenon they believed that the practices and notions they discovered in hindu and buddhist texts named tantra hence tantrism was something very particular exceptional and limited contrasting sharply with the general respectable field of indian philosophy and religion a particular domain one could easily circumscribe but with the progress of studies in these fields one came to realize that apart from being a limited phenomenon tantrusim was in fact something vast diffuse diverse and very difficult to define satisfactorily so we're faced with a very difficult task in trying to define this term it is incredibly complex there are many different schools and traditions that can often be very different from each other and so it's really difficult for us to pin down what this concept is what we'll do today is to accept the term tantra or tantrusim as used today and try to get an idea of what is referred to what is meant when people talk about this term now as the quote-unquote tantric text and teachings started to emerge they were especially associated with shaivism which is the religious tradition that worshipped shiva as the supreme god and here we need to remind ourselves of the slippery nature of a term like hinduism as i've talked about in earlier episodes the term hinduism is a rather late term that really functions more as an umbrella term for a very broad range of different religious traditions in india some would even say that it consists of different religions altogether now i usually don't go this far especially since there are many who actually self-identify as hindus today and thus it isn't entirely inaccurate to use it as a term but it really needs to be stressed that hinduism contains an enormous diversity of very different traditions there is the brahmanical tradition connected to the vedic scriptures and its rituals the different philosophical schools vaishnavism and there is shaivism again the shaivites put an emphasis on shiva as the highest god and worship him as well as all the other divine manifestations associated with him like ganesh parvati kali and so on and shaivism is rather unique among the hindu traditions that we have discussed thus far if you remember my old episode i said that one thing that connects all the traditions that fall under hinduism was their connection to the vedic scriptures but there are even exceptions to this and shaivism is one such example now it should be remembered that all of these traditions i've mentioned aren't mutually exclusive the lines between them aren't set in stone and the same is of course true here there have been attempts to connect shaivism to the vedas but at its base it has very different roots in shaibism the vedas aren't the source of the tradition rather than revolving around the highest brahmanical caste as the vedic religion does shaivism is closer to what some would call a quote-unquote folk religion it's not as hierarchical and involves people from all walks of life in a more direct way and rather than the vedas it is more associated with and based in the scriptures of the agamas or tantras so in this way the tantric texts often stand in contrast to the vedas and yet of course the different traditions have influenced each other and even though tantrism is primarily associated with shavism and has been most influential on that movement it is a tradition that very much spans across lines of different schools and even religions it also came to have a major influence on certain strands of buddhism for example vajrayana buddhism which has become dominant in tibet so tibetan buddhism is highly tantric in nature so there is shaiva tantra there is buddhist tantra there is vaishnava tantra there is jain tantra and so on in other words tantra is a kind of self-contained tradition of philosophy and practice that emerged in a diverse and dynamic environment and came to influence various religious traditions but what is it about i've been saying a lot here without getting to the point what is it that characterizes tantra and the tantric texts well many would say that one of the primary features of tantra is that it is highly practical so like the school of yoga for example it places a huge emphasis on the body and on sense experience as a tool as a means to liberation it isn't just a speculative philosophy like say dwight davidanta but takes a certain philosophy and puts it to practice it teaches techniques that can be employed to reach the divine and often even become one with it there are a few things that are often characterized as being tantric in nature and that makes tantra tantra as it were first of all it is definitely an esoteric tradition it is a movement that places an importance on secrecy and on teachings that are only disclosed to those that are initiated by a guru or a teacher tantrism involves the teacher-student relationship as an essential component the guru is the only person who can properly teach an initiated student the esoteric tantric practices at what are these practices there is often although not always a focus on non-dualism or a monistic metaphysics and the goal of tantric practices is often aimed at uniting with god or aligning one's consciousness to that essential oneness and this is done through things like mantras meditation visualization practices the use of mandalas breathing techniques the theories and practices involving energy centers in the body called chakras and the cultivation of the energy known as kundalini as well as fascinating forms of linguistic mysticism and metaphysics i'm sure most of you have heard of many of these things and concepts before they are quite famous in many different circles and many of them have a direct association with tantra and maybe even originates in tantra so let's explore some of them in detail mantras are of course very well known and used widely in different traditions this is one of those tantric practices that goes back very far into the past even before the emergence of the tantric texts some of the vedic upanishads for example talk about mantras that is sounds words and phrases that are chanted or that can have significant symbolic and practical meanings the most famous example is probably the syllable om which according to the upanishads has a very important role to play in the generation of the cosmos a kind of underlying cosmic sound or vibration at the core of reality and in tantra different mantras are central to its practices sometimes these mantras can have relatively clear meanings but at other times they appear to be complete gibberish or random collections of syllables but it is often thought that even these have very deep meanings indeed mantras in themselves are quite esoteric they are taught by a guru to his student and the deeper esoteric meaning of these tantras is also taught by this same guru other tantric practices connected to this include various breathing techniques in association with meditation as well as mantra mandalas also come from tantra or strongly associated with tantra we've all seen some of the beautiful and intricate designs of mandalas in buddhism as well as shaivism and other traditions these are pictures of geometric configurations of symbols that can vary from quite simple to very intricate and detailed the contents can vary as well and mandalas can represent various gods different worlds or represent a spiritual journey among many other things they are indeed very beautiful to look at but they actually made up a very significant part of tantric practice as we saw tantra also involves physiological theories regarding different energy centers in the body called chakras there are different theories about the number of chakras but they are usually considered to be between five to seven of them beginning at the base of the spine and then moving upwards ending at the crown of the head at the base of the spine is a kind of storage of divine feminine energy which is called kundalini meaning something like coiled and is actually sometimes associated with a snake god not much of tantric practice including the recitations of mantras and all other practices mentioned here is aimed at manipulating this energy up and down these chakras in the body the kundalini energy at the base of the spine will then awaken and coil upwards like a snake from the base to the top and instigate a mystical experience what is often referred to today as a kundalini experience this stuff later made its way into various other traditions within quote-unquote hinduism such as yoga and is frequently encountered today in various new age movements in general this is a good example of the already mentioned fact that tantra as well as its related traditions like shaivism and shaktism is quite practical and bodily focused in contrast to other schools of thought within hinduism such as vedanta for example which is often focused more on escaping the mundane material worlds and practice renunciation right to to withdraw from the material mundane world and instead focus on the spiritual side of the soul or to reach a more spiritual state right in in in contrast to that tantra and its related traditions is very heavily focused on the body and of using the body as a vessel through which to attain enlightenment or liberation instead of forsaking the material these traditions see the body as an important tool and sends experience as central parts in spiritual practice tantra often conceived of the microcosm of the human body and soul as a reflection or as being identical to the macrocosm of reality and in general there is an emphasis on quote using the mundane to reach the supramundane to use robert l brown's words quote the tools in tantrism are less doctrines and beliefs than concrete things that the practitioner learns to manipulate in certain specific ways sequences and patterns this involves actions and processes with things being taken through time and space indeed the ultimate tool in tantra is the human body both the outside and the inside both the anatomical body of arms hands tongue heart generals and mind and the yogic anatomy of chakras and nadis it is control of the body as a tool used to accutate processes that connects the practitioner with the universal power to reach his goals related to this is also the fact that most practitioners associated with tantalism shivers and more shaktism aren't renunciant ascetics but are usually quote unquote normal people living a householder's life in shaivism which is perhaps the most central religious tradition connected to tantra this active creative material part of reality in the world is identified with the feminine divine known as shakti so in shaibism again shiva is considered the supreme god shiva is identified with things like consciousness and self and as awareness that is always experiencing bliss which is identical to himself now as always there are different schools of shaibism of course there are the sedanta shaivites which have a more classical theistic or dualistic view of shiva as an external deity but there is also and perhaps more significant in relation to tantra a non-dualistic strand of shaibism which is often called by the name kashmiri shaivism or tariqa shaibism and which flourished primarily in the 9th to 12th centuries and under major thinkers like abhinava gupta one of the most significant figures in indian history kashmir shaivism is an absolutely fascinating tradition and we will dedicate separate episodes to just this topic but in brief this school conceives of shiva as the reality of all things but its monistic system is one that is a lot more dynamic than the static brahman of advaita vedanta shiva as absolute reality is often conceived of as a male female pair shiva and shakti shiva is the supreme essence consciousness which is aware of itself but through a vibration of this consciousness things are created and exist within its awareness and the active and creative part of this divinity is shakti the female divine counterpart which is the material world so in other words shiva is everything but there are different aspects to the supreme being the quote-unquote true form of shiva cannot be known or grasped by humans but shiva in the form of the feminine shakti can be directly known because she is the supreme being as it manifests itself in the material world and the tradition that puts its emphasis on worshiping the goddess or shakti is known as shaktism and is very significant in relation to tantra as we can see tantra and the shaivite tradition especially in the form of shaktism identifies the mundane material world more directly as divine or as part of the supreme being we can compare this to advaita vedanta which does teach that brahman is all there is and nothing exists outside of brahman but figures like shankara also makes a point of the fact that our regular experience of the world is the result of ignorance and should be discarded in a way not so in tantra or shaivism and shaktism the mundane world as experienced and in its dynamic multiplicity and bodily experiences is identified with god outright and we can thus see how this naturally leads to a perspective and practice that allows for the body and the mundane to play a much more central role reality in its fullness is the union of shiva and shakti of the divine feminine and masculine the supreme static consciousness and its dynamic and creative manifestation this tantric focus on the body and the metaphysical ideas presented in traditions like kashmir shaivism allows us very nicely to circle back to our original discussions about practices relating to sex it is true as i said in the beginning that the role of things like sexual rituals have been greatly exaggerated today by people talking about tantra but that isn't necessary to say that there has been no place for that stuff in the tradition at all there has been but it has been nowhere near as significant or or central to the tradition as many may assume today indeed when we talk about tantra there is often talk about the so-called right and left hand paths you might have heard of these terms in contemporary occultism or new age related movements but they actually originate in tantra now important to remember is that the tantric views are often a lot more complex than a simple two-sided dichotomy but often tantra and related traditions were divided into the right-hand path or dakshinachara and the left-hand path the vamachara the right-hand path is associated with practices that are more quote unquote orthodox or that follow the cultural and religious norms of society so most of the regular religious practices that you think of like prayer or offerings or any such things fall under the category of the right hand path the left hand path on the other hand is associated with heterodox practices rituals or tendencies that are often taboo or considered extreme by outsiders in the tantric and shiva tradition this can include spiritual practices that are antinomian that are that go against the norms and and are very much taboo things involving drugs alcohol even things involving dead bodies and indeed things like sexual ritual too a famous contemporary example of a kind of left-hand tradition of shaibism are the agory who can be seen performing such things as meditating on dead bodies smearing themselves with human ashes all in an attempt to collapse the distinction between pure and impure in order to recognize the non-dual nature of reality and shiva at least according to one interpretation so this has been an important part of tantric practices too the so-called left-hand path of antinomian practices that go against norms and are sometimes considered taboo important to remember is that this is indeed only one school or tendency within this tradition and does not represent all of shaivism or tantrism or of course hinduism but it is indeed in traditions like khaola a certain school of non-dual and often shakti oriented shaibism that we see the practice of sexual rituals this is a complex and intricate topic with both physical and metaphysical implications we can see how it naturally stems from the tantric focus on the body as an important vessel for spiritual development and enlightenment and the experience of sex is indeed one of the most powerful sense experiences we can have as human beings we see representatives of these traditions that do engage in sexual ritual including people like abhinava gupta in kashmir shaivism but it will often be emphasized that these practices are never about pleasure rituals involving sex are always held in very controlled environments under the supervision of a guru or a teacher and is only performed when the practitioner has reached a state where he or she doesn't get absorbed by the physical or central pleasure of the act instead the sexual act becomes symbolic mirroring the nature of shiva and reality as we saw earlier in shaivism there is the important idea of the divine masculine and feminine shiva and shakti uniting as an essential aspect of divinity and reality so the earthly sexual act becomes a mirroring of this union the union of masculine and feminine and for the human practitioner a disappearance of separateness in that union which also becomes a kind of union with the divine itself and that can thus serve as an important catalyst for spiritual transformation indeed sexual symbolism and expression is quite common in the shy by tradition in general we can see in various frescoes or pieces of art that there is a pronounced eroticism on display a lot of the time this i would say at least is characteristic of a lot of shaivism in comparison to other hindu traditions its expressions are often very colorful they can be violent scary and overtly sexual which all represents important factors and aspects of divinity in a metaphorical sense but also of the world so as we can see there definitely has existed rituals and expressions related to sex within strands of tantra but its role has been hugely exaggerated it was only in the 20th century with figures like aleister crowley kenneth grant and perhaps even figures like osho that this strong connection started to develop in western esotericism and new age movements tantrasm has thus became limited to its sexual aspects which historically has only served as one relatively insignificant part of a vast tradition of ritual practices and ideas if you're interested to know more about this topic then i can recommend my friend angela pukas channel angela symposium she actually made a video i think about a year ago about uh tantra and sex magic which serves as a fitting continuation to this video if you're interested in watching that and knowing more in depth about certain practices she's an expert on those kinds of in this subject basically so i highly recommend you go check her channel out to summarize tantrusim is a very difficult concept to begin with it is a modern scholarly construct that tries to encapsulate a very broad and heterogeneous tradition that spans across the religions of hinduism buddhism and jainism it is associated with certain texts and the traditions and sects associated with those texts their practices and their ideas we have outlined some of the characteristic features of this thing called tantra or tantrism including its practical and bodily emphasis its relationship with shaibism and some of the metaphysical and philosophical ideas associated with it much of what is defined as being essentially tantra can also be found in other movements such as the case with mantras as we saw earlier which makes it difficult to put this concept into a particular box that can be defined perhaps more helpful is the fact that we've now been introduced to various related traditions that are a lot easier to define for example vajrayana buddhism as we saw is highly influenced by tantra also known as tibetan buddhism various strands of vaishnavism has been influenced by tantra jainism has been influenced by tantra and so on and so on but in particular we've been introduced to the fascinating world of shaivism and its colorful expressions now that we have this basis to stand on we can start to explore traditions like kashmir shaivism more in depth in future episodes so look forward to that as always i would like to extend a huge and warm thank you to all of my patrons who support this channel monetarily a special mention to our new saints ability and analog defector i say this all the time but i will never stop saying it it would not be possible for me to do this in the way that i do it without your support and i truly truly appreciate it again i appreciate you so much and it's an honor for me to be supported by so many wonderful people and for me to be able to bring you this content uh for free because of your support so thank you all so so much for now i hope this has been a at least somewhat understandable um introduction very very brief and general introduction to the very complex worlds and concept of tantra or tantrism it will serve as a good basis and starting jumping off points for future episodes about various traditions related to tantra like like i said kashmir shaivism like tibetan buddhism and various other such things so thank you all so much for watching and i'll see you next time [Music] foreign

Channel: Let's Talk Religion

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Keywords: What is Tantra, Tantra, What is Tantrism, Tantrism, Tantric SEx, Tantra explained, shaivism, esoteric hinduism, chakra, kundalini, kashmir shaivism, shiva, shakti, shaktism, abhinavagupta, tantra documentary, siva, divine feminine, tantric texts, hinduism, religion india, indian spirituality

Id: mI3KyDYTkaw

Length: 26min 50sec (1610 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 20 2022