Editing Tantra (section)

====Proto-Tantric elements in Buddhism====
[[File:Sanskrit language, Siddham to Chinese transliteration, Buddhist Dharani literature.jpg|thumb|A Buddhist [[dhāraṇī]] (incantation), the ''Nilaṇṭhanāmahṛdaya dhāraṇī'', in [[Siddhaṃ script|Siddham Script]] with Chinese transliteration]]
[[File:Yakshi Mathura.jpg|thumb|[[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] sculpture of a [[Yakshini|yakṣiṇī]] (2nd century), [[Mathura]] region]]

Pre-tantric Buddhism contains elements which could be seen as proto-tantric, and which may have influenced the development of the Buddhist Tantric tradition. The use of magical chants or incantations can be found in the early Buddhist texts as well as in some Mahayana sutras.{{sfnp|Snellgrove|1987|p=122}} These magical spells or chants were used for various reasons, such as for [[Apotropaic magic|protection]], and for the generation of [[auspiciousness]].{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|p=131}} [[Mahayana]] incantations are called [[dhāraṇī]]s. Some Mahayana sutras incorporate the use of [[mantra]]s, a central feature of tantric practice.

According to Geoffrey Samuel, sramana groups like the Buddhists and Jains were associated with the dead. Samuel notes that they "frequently settled at sites associated with the dead and seem to have taken over a significant role in relation to the spirits of the dead." To step into this realm required entering a dangerous and impure supernatural realm from the Indian perspective. This association with death remains a feature of modern Buddhism, and in Buddhist countries today, Buddhist monks and other ritual specialists are in charge of the dead.{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|pp=128-129}} Thus, the association of tantric practitioners with [[charnel ground]]s and death imagery is preceded by early Buddhist contact with these sites of the dead.

Some scholars think that the development of tantra may have been influenced by the cults of nature spirit-deities like [[Yaksha|Yakṣas]] and [[Nāga|Nagas]].{{sfnp|Gray|2016}} Yakṣa cults were an important part of [[Early Buddhist schools|early Buddhism]]. Yakṣas are powerful nature spirits which were sometimes seen as guardians or protectors.{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|pp=142, 145-146}} Yakṣas like [[Kubera]] are also associated with magical incantations. Kubera is said to have provided the Buddhist sangha with protection spells in the ''[[Āṭānāṭiya Sutta]]''.{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|pp=144-145}} These spirit deities also included numerous female deities (yakṣiṇī) that can be found depicted in major Buddhist sites like [[Sanchi]] and [[Bharhut]]. In early Buddhist texts there is also mention of fierce demon like deities called [[Rakshasa|rākṣasa]] and rākṣasī, like the children-eating [[Hariti|Hārītī]].{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|p=248}} They are also present in Mahayana texts, such as in Chapter 26 of the ''[[Lotus Sutra]]'' which includes a dialogue between the Buddha and a group of rākṣasīs, who swear to uphold and protect the sutra. These figures also teach magical [[dhāraṇī]]s to protect followers of the ''Lotus Sutra''.{{sfnp|Watson|1994|loc=Chapter 26 Dharani}}

A key element of Buddhist Tantric practice is the visualization of deities in meditation. This practice is actually found in pre-tantric Buddhist texts as well. In Mahayana sutras like the ''[[Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra|Pratyutpanna Samādhi]]'' and the [[Pure Land Buddhism|three Amitabha Pure land sutras]].{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|pp=219-220}} There are other Mahāyāna [[sutras]] which contain what may be called "proto-tantric" material such as the ''[[Gandavyuha]]'' and the [[Ten Stages Sutra|''Dasabhumika'']] which might have served as a source for the imagery found in later Tantric texts.{{sfnp|Osto|2009}} According to Samuel, the ''[[Golden Light Sutra]]'' (c. 5th century at the latest) contains what could be seen as a proto-mandala. In the second chapter, a bodhisattva has a vision of "a vast building made of beryl and with divine jewels and celestial perfumes. Four lotus-seats appear in the four directions, with four Buddhas seated upon them: [[Akshobhya|Aksobhya]] in the East, Ratnaketu in the South, [[Amitābha|Amitayus]] in the West and Dundubhīśvara in the North."{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|pp=226-227}}

A series of artwork discovered in [[Gandhara]], in modern-day [[Pakistan]], dating from about the 1st century CE, show Buddhist and Hindu monks holding skulls.{{sfnp|Brown|2002|pp=11-13}} The legend corresponding to these artworks is found in Buddhist texts, and describes monks "who tap skulls and forecast the future rebirths of the person to whom that skull belonged".{{sfnp|Brown|2002|pp=11-13}}{{sfnp|Taddei|1979}} According to Robert Brown, these Buddhist skull-tapping [[relief]]s suggest that tantric practices may have been in vogue by the 1st century CE.{{sfnp|Brown|2002|pp=11-13}}