Editing Tantra (section)

=== Worship and ritual ===
[[File:1010 CE Brihadishwara Shiva Temple, Ganesha with pujari, built by Rajaraja I, Thanjavur Tamil Nadu India.jpg|thumb|A Pujari in front of a [[Ganesha]] statue, [[Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur|Brihadishwara Shiva Temple]]]]
Worship or [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]] in Hindu Tantra differs from Vedic forms somewhat. While in the Vedic practice of [[yajna]] there are no idols, shrines, and symbolic art, in tantra they are important means of worship.{{sfnp|Ghose|1996|p=141}}

Rituals are particularly important in the dualistic Śaiva Siddhānta which according to Padoux "is typically characterized by an overabundance of rituals, which are necessarily accompanied by mantras. These rituals are not so much a succession of actions as a play of mentally visualized and experienced images, a situation common to all Tantric traditions, where rites, meditation, and yoga are exercises in creative identifying imagination." The theory behind these rituals is the idea that all humans have a fundamental impurity (mala) that binds them to rebirth. This impurity can be removed by ritual action (along with proper knowledge). The initial step in this path is the ritual of initiation (diksa), which opens to door to future liberation at death.{{sfnp|Padoux|2017|p=52}}

In the non-dualistic and transgressive (or "left hand") traditions like the Kali cults and the Trika school, rituals and pujas can include certain left hand path elements that are not found in the more orthodox traditions. These transgressive elements include the use of skulls and other human bone implements (as part of the Kapalika vow), fierce deities like Bhairava, Kubjika and Kali which were used as part of meditative visualizations, ritual possession by the deities (avesa), sexual rites and offering the deity (as well as consuming) certain impure substances like meat, alcohol and sexual fluids.{{sfnp|Padoux|2017|pp=53-54 }} Padoux explains the transgressive practices as follows:<blockquote>On the ritual and mental plane, transgression was an essential trait by which the nondualistic Tantric traditions set themselves apart from other traditions – so much so that they used the term "nondualistic practice" (advaitacara) to refer to the Kaula transgressive practices as a rejection of the duality (dvaita) of pure and impure in brahmanical society. Let us also note that for the nondualistic Saiva systems, the Yoginis were not active merely in the world of spirits; they were also powers present in humans – mistresses of their senses, governing their affects, which acquired an intensity and super-natural dimension through this divinization. This led adepts to an identification of their individual consciousness with the infinite divine Consciousness, thus also helping them transcend the sexual plane.{{sfnp|Padoux|2017|p=55}}</blockquote>In both the Buddhist and Saiva contexts, the sexual practices are often seen as a way to expand one's consciousness through the use of bliss.{{sfnp|Padoux|2017|p=55}}

There is also a fundamental philosophical disagreement between Śaiva Siddhānta and the non-dualistic schools like the Trika regarding ritual. In Śaiva Siddhānta, only ritual can do away with "innate impurities" (''anavamala'') that bind individual Selfs, though the ritual must be performed with an understanding of their nature and purpose as well as with devotion. In the view of the Trika school (especially in the work of Abhinavagupta), only knowledge (''jñana'') which is a "recognition" ([[Pratyabhijna|''pratyabhijña'']]) of our true nature, leads to liberation. According to Padoux, "this is also, with nuances, the position of the Pñcaratra and of other Vaisnava Tantric traditions."{{sfnp|Padoux|2017|p=126}}