Editing Tantra (section)

===Modern era===

The occultist and businessman [[Pierre Bernard (yogi)|Pierre Bernard]] (1875–1955) is widely credited with introducing the philosophy and practices of tantra to the American people, at the same time creating a somewhat misleading impression of its connection to sex.{{sfnp|Stirling|2006|p=7}} That popular sexualization is more accurately regarded as the western [[Neotantra|''Neo-Tantra'']] movement.

While hugely influential on Hindu practices and ritual, the Tantric traditiins are poorly understood by contemporary Hindus.{{sfnp|Gray|2016|pp=1-2}} Likewise, western scholarship has often ignored this important aspect of Indian and Hindu-culture.{{sfnp|Gray|2016|pp=1-2}} 

Many definitions of Tantra have been proposed since, and there is no universally accepted definition.{{sfnp|Brown|2002|pp=1-2}} André Padoux, in his review of Tantra definitions offers two, then rejects both. One definition, according to Padoux, is found among Tantra practitioners – it is any "system of observances" about the vision of man and the cosmos where correspondences between the inner world of the person and the macrocosmic reality play an essential role. Another definition, more common among observers and non-practitioners, is some "set of mechanistic rituals, omitting entirely the ideological side".{{sfnp|Brown|2002|pp=5-6}}

Tantric traditions have been studied mostly from textual and historical perspectives. [[Anthropological]] work on living Tantric tradition is scarce, and [[ethnography]] has rarely engaged with the study of Tantra. This is arguably a result of the modern construction of Tantrism as occult, esoteric and secret. Some scholars have tried to demystify the myth of secrecy in contemporary Tantric traditions, suggesting new methodological avenues to overcome the ethical and [[epistemological]] problems in the study of living Tantric traditions.{{sfnp|Lorea|2018}}

According to David N. Lorenzen, two different kinds of definitions of Tantra exist, narrow and broad.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|p=25}} According to the narrow definition, Tantrism, or "Tantric religion", is the elite traditions directly based on the Sanskrit texts called the Tantras, Samhitas, and Agamas.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|p=25}}{{sfnp|Brown|2002|p=6}} Lorenzen's "broad definition" extends this by including a broad range of "magical beliefs and practices" such as [[Yoga (philosophy)|Yoga]] and [[Shaktism]].{{sfnp|Brown|2002|p=6}}{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|p=25-26}} 

The term "yoga" is broadly attributed to many traditions and practices, including the western assumption that yoga is synonymous with physical stretching and little more. The ''[[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali]]'' define yoga as "the stilling of the disturbances of the mind".{{sfnp|Grassi|Riba|2014|p=112}} Richard Payne states that Tantra has been commonly but incorrectly associated with sex, given popular culture's prurient obsession with intimacy. Tantra has been labelled as the "yoga of ecstasy", driven by senseless ritualistic [[libertinism]].<ref name="Felch"/> This is far from the diverse and complex understanding of what Tantra means to those Buddhists, Hindu and Jains who practice it.<ref name="Felch"/>

David Gray disagrees with broad generalizations and states that defining Tantra is a difficult task because "Tantra traditions are manifold, spanning several religious traditions and cultural worlds. As a result they are also diverse, which makes it a significant challenge to come up with an adequate definition".{{sfnp|Gray|2016|p=3}} The challenge of defining Tantra is compounded by the fact that it has been a historically significant part of major Indian religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, both in and outside South Asia and East Asia.{{sfnp|Gray|2016|pp=1-5}} To its practitioners, Tantra is defined as a combination of texts, techniques, rituals, monastic practices, meditation, yoga, and ideology.{{sfnp|Gray|2016|pp=1-8}}

According to [[Georg Feuerstein]],

{{blockquote|The scope of topics discussed in the Tantras is considerable. They deal with the creation and history of the world; the names and functions of a great variety of male and female deities and other higher beings; the types of ritual worship (especially of Goddesses); magic, sorcery, and divination; esoteric "physiology" (the mapping of the subtle or psychic body); the awakening of the mysterious serpent power (kundalinî-shakti); techniques of bodily and mental purification; the nature of enlightenment; and not least, sacred sexuality.{{sfnp|Feuerstein|2001|pp=parts 11501-11505}} }}

Hindu [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]], [[Hindu temple|temples]] and iconography all show tantric influence.{{refn|name=puja|group=note}} These texts, states Gavin Flood, contain representation of "the body in philosophy, in ritual and in art", which are linked to "techniques of the body, methods or technologies developed within the tantric traditions intended to transform body and self".{{sfnp|Flood|2006|p=4, 21-22, 172-173}}

====Tantrism====
{{multiple image
| perrow            = 2
| total_width       = 260
| image1            = OM MANI PADME HUM.svg
| alt1              = Mantra
| image2            = Vishnu Mandala.jpg
| alt2              = Vishnu mandala
| image4            = Kali_Yantra.jpg
| alt4              = Kali Yantra
| image3            = Center_detail,_from-_Interior_of_a_Book_Cover-_Manjuvajra_Embracing_His_Consort,_with_Attendant_Lamas_MET_DP335604_(cropped).jpg
| alt3              = Sexual yoga
| image5            = Chakras_and_energy_channels_2_(3749594497).jpg
| alt5              = Subtle body
| image6            = Kapala_skull_cup.jpg
| alt6              = Kapala
| footer            = Elements of Tantrism. Clockwise from upper left: Mantra (Buddhist), Mandala (Hindu), Yantra (of Kali), Skull cup (Kapala), Nadis and Chakras (Tibetan), Deities depicted in sexual union. These are neither compulsory nor universal in Tantrism.{{sfnp|Goudriaan|1981|pp=1-8}}
}}

The term ''tantrism'' is a 19th-century European invention not present in any Asian language;{{Sfnp|White|2005|p=8984}} compare "[[Sufism]]", of similar [[Orientalism|Orientalist]] origin. According to Padoux, ''Tantrism'' is a [[Western culture|Western]] term and notion, not a category that is used by Tantrikas themselves.{{sfnp|Padoux|2002|p=17}} The term was introduced by 19th-century Indologists, with limited knowledge of India and in whose view Tantrism was a particular, unusual and minority practice in contrast to Indian traditions they believed to be mainstream.{{sfnp|Padoux|2002|p=17}}

Robert Brown similarly notes that "tantrism" is a construct of [[Western world|Western]] [[Scholarly method|scholarship]], not a concept of the religious system itself.{{sfnp|Brown|2002|p=1}} He defines Tantrism as an apologetic label of Westerners for a system that they little understand that is "not coherent" and which is "an accumulated set of practices and ideas from various sources, that has varied between its practitioners within a group, varied across groups, across geography and over its history". It is a system, adds Brown, that gives each follower the freedom to mix Tantric elements with non-Tantric aspects, to challenge and transgress any and all norms, experiment with "the mundane to reach the supramundane".{{sfnp|Brown|2002|pp=1-2}}

Teun Goudriaan in his 1981 review of Hindu Tantrism, states that Tantrism usually means a "systematic quest for salvation or spiritual excellence" by realizing and fostering the divine within one's own body, one that is simultaneous union of the masculine-feminine and spirit-matter, and has the ultimate goal of realizing the "primal blissful state of non-duality".{{sfnp|Goudriaan|1981|pp=1-2, 39-40}} It is typically a methodically striven system, consisting of voluntarily chosen specific practices which may include Tantric items such as mantras (''bijas''), geometric patterns and symbols (''mandala''), gestures (''mudra''), mapping of the microcosm within one's body to the macrocosmic elements outside as the subtle body (''[[kundalini yoga]]''), assignments of icons and sounds (''nyasa''), meditation (''dhyana''), ritual worship (''puja''), initiation (''diksha'') and others.{{sfnp|Goudriaan|1981|pp=1-2, 198-200}} Tantrism, adds Goudriaan, is a living system that is decidedly [[monism|monistic]], but with wide variations, and it is impossible to be dogmatic about a simple or fixed definition.{{sfnp|Goudriaan|1981|pp=2, 7-8}}

Tantrism is an overarching term for "Tantric traditions", states David Gray in a 2016 review, that combine Vedic, yogic and meditative traditions from 5th-century Hinduism as well as rival Buddhist and Jain traditions.{{sfnp|Gray|2016|pp=1-2}} it is a [[neologism]] of western scholars and does not reflect the self-understanding of any particular tantric tradition. While Goudriaan's description is useful, adds Gray, there is no single defining universal characteristic common to all Tantra traditions, being an open evolving system.{{sfnp|Gray|2016|pp=3-4}} Tantrism, whether Buddhist or Hindu, can best be characterized as practices, a set of techniques, with a strong focus on rituals and meditation, by those who believe that it is a path to liberation that is characterized by both knowledge and freedom.{{sfnp|Gray|2016|pp=4-5}}

====Tantrika====

According to Padoux, the term "Tantrika" is based on a comment by Kulluka Bhatta on ''Manava [[Dharmasastra]] 2.1'', who contrasted ''[[vaidika]]'' and ''tantrika'' forms of [[Śruti]] (canonical texts). The Tantrika, to Bhatta, is that literature which forms a parallel part of the Hindu tradition, independent of the Vedic corpus. The Vedic and non-Vedic (Tantric) paths are seen as two different approaches to [[metaphysics|ultimate reality]], the Vedic approach based on [[Brahman]], and Tantrika being based on the non-Vedic [[Āgama (Hinduism)|Āgama]] texts.{{sfnp|Padoux|2002|pp=18-19}} Despite Bhatta attempt to clarify, states Padoux, in reality Hindus and Buddhists have historically felt free to borrow and blend ideas from all sources, Vedic, non-Vedic and in the case of Buddhism, its own canonical works.{{sfnp|Padoux|2002|pp=18-21}}

One of the key differences between the Tantric and non-Tantric traditions – whether it be orthodox Buddhism, Hinduism or Jainism – is their assumptions about the need for monastic or ascetic life.{{sfnp|Brown|2002|pp=3-4}} Non-Tantrika, or orthodox traditions in all three major ancient Indian religions, hold that the worldly life of a householder is one driven by desires and greeds which are a serious impediment to spiritual liberation (''[[moksha]]'', ''[[nirvana]]'', ''[[kaivalya]]''). These orthodox traditions teach renunciation of householder life, a mendicant's life of simplicity and leaving all attachments to become a monk or nun. In contrast, the Tantrika traditions hold, states Robert Brown, that "both enlightenment and worldly success" are achievable, and that "this world need not be shunned to achieve enlightenment".{{sfnp|Brown|2002|pp=3-4}}{{sfnp|Samuel|Johnston|2013|pp=35–38}} Yet, even this supposed categorical divergence is debatable, e.g. Bhagavad Gita v.2:48–53, including: "Yoga is skill in [the performance of] actions."{{sfnp|Feuerstein|2011|pp=108–09}}