Editing Tantra (section)

===Proto-tantric elements in Indian religions===
While Tantra arose in the 5th century CE in Shaivite religions, practices and ideas can be found in Indian religion and history which may have been formative to Tantric practices and ideas.

====Proto-tantric elements in Vedic religion====
=====Rig Veda=====
The Keśin hymn of the ''[[Rig Veda]]'' (10.136) describes the "wild loner" who, states Karel Werner, "carrying within oneself fire and poison, heaven and earth, ranging from enthusiasm and creativity to depression and agony, from the heights of spiritual bliss to the heaviness of earth-bound labor".<ref name="Werner">{{harvp|Werner|1977|pp=289–302}}</ref> The Rigveda uses words of admiration for these loners,<ref name="Werner" /> and whether it is related to Tantra or not, has been variously interpreted. According to David Lorenzen, it describes ''munis'' (sages) experiencing Tantra-like "ecstatic, altered states of consciousness" and gaining the ability "to fly on the wind".{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|p=27}} In contrast, Werner suggests that these are early [[Yoga]] pioneers and accomplished yogis of the ancient pre-Buddhist Indian tradition, and that this Vedic hymn is speaking of those "lost in thoughts" whose "personalities are not bound to earth, for they follow the path of the mysterious wind".<ref name="Werner"/> However, Patrick Olivelle suggests that in the early Vedic-Brahmanical texts, some of which predate the 3rd-century BCE ruler Ashoka, Brahmana and Śramaṇa (ascetics) were neither distinct nor opposed. The later distinctions were semantic developments possibly influenced by the appropriation of the term Śramaṇa by Buddhism and Jainism.{{sfn|Olivelle|1993|p=12}}

=====Upanishads=====
The two oldest [[Upanishads|Upanishadic]] scriptures of Hinduism, the ''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]'' in section 4.2 and ''[[Chandogya Upanishad]]'' in section 8.6, refer to [[nadis]] (''hati'') in presenting their theory on how the [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Atman]] (Self) and the body are connected and interdependent through energy carrying arteries when one is awake or sleeping, but they do not mention anything related to Tantric practices.{{sfnp|Phillips|2009|p=295 with note 23}} The ''[[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]]'' describes [[pranayama|breath control]] that became a standard part of Yoga, but Tantric practices do not appear in it.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|p=27}}{{sfnp|Deussen|1980|pp=301-304, 310-311}} Likewise, the ''[[Taittiriya Upanishad]]'' discusses a central channel running through the body and various Vedic texts mention the bodily [[prana]]s (vital breaths) that move around in the body and animate it. However, the idea of consciously moving the bodily pranas through yoga is not found in these sources.{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|pp=284-285}} According to Lorenzen, Vedic ideas related to the body later diversified into the [[Subtle body|"mystical anatomy"]] of ''[[nadis]]'' and ''[[chakras]]'' found in Tantra.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|p=27-28}} The yogic component of Tantrism appears clearly in [[Bāṇabhaṭṭa]]'s ''[[Harshacharita]]'' and [[Daṇḍin]]'s ''[[Dashakumaracharita]]''.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|p=28}} In contrast to this theory of Lorenzen, other scholars such as [[Mircea Eliade]] consider Yoga and the evolution of Yogic practices to be separate and distinct from the evolution of Tantra and Tantric practices.{{sfnp|White|2014|p=188}}

=====Tapas and spitualized sexual energy=====
According to [[Geoffrey Samuel]], the inner development of a spiritual energy called [[Tapas (Indian religions)|tapas]] becomes a central element of Vedic religion in the [[Brahmana]]s and [[Śrauta|Srauta]] texts. In these texts, ascetic practices allow a holy man to build up tapas, a kind of magical inner heat, which allows them to perform all sorts of magical feats as well as granting visions and divine revelations.{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|pp=157-158}} Samuel also notes that in the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', one of the commonest use of the term "yoga" refers to "a dying warrior transferring himself at death to the sphere of the sun through yoga, a practice that links up with Upanisadic references to the channel to the crown of the head as the pathway by which one can travel through the solar orb to the World of Brahman." This practice of transferring one's consciousness at death is still an important practice in Tibetan Buddhism.{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|p=221}} Samuel also notes that sexual rituals and a spiritualized sexuality are mentioned in the late Upanishads. According to Samuel, "late Vedic texts treat sexual intercourse as symbolically equivalent to the [[Yajna|Vedic sacrifice]], and ejaculation of semen as the offering." This theme can be found in the ''[[Jaiminiya Brahmana]]'', the ''[[Chandogya Upanishad|Chandogya Upanisad]]'', and the ''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad|Brhadaranyaka Upanisad]]''. The ''Brhadaranyaka'' contains various sexual rituals and practices which are mostly aimed at obtaining a child which are concerned with the loss of male virility and power.{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|p=283}}

=====Yogini cults=====
[[David Gordon White]] views [[Yogini]] cults as foundational to early tantra but disagrees with scholars who maintain that the roots of such cults lie in an "autochthonous non-Vedic source" such as indigenous tribes or the [[Indus Valley civilization]].{{sfnp|White|2003|pp=28-29}} Instead, White suggests Vedic [[Srauta]] texts mention offerings to goddesses Rākā, Sinīvālī, and Kuhū in a manner similar to a tantric ritual.{{sfnp|White|2003|pp=30, 280}}

=====Atharvaveda=====
Frederick Smith – a professor of Sanskrit and Classical Indian Religions, considers Tantra to be a religious movement parallel to the [[Bhakti]] movement of the 1st millennium CE.<ref name="Smith"/> Tantra along with [[Ayurveda]], states Smith, has traditionally been attributed to ''[[Atharvaveda]]'', but this attribution is one of respect not of historicity. Ayurveda has primarily been an empirical practice with Vedic roots, but Tantra has been an esoteric, folk movement without grounding that cannot be traced to anything in ''Atharvaveda'' or any other vedic text.<ref name="Smith">{{harvp|Smith|2012|pp=363–364}}</ref>

====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}}

====Proto-Tantric elements in Shaktism and Shaivism====
[[File:Aghoree, Hindoo mendicant, Benares.jpg|thumb|A modern [[aghori]] with a skull-cup ([[Kapala]]). Their predecessors, the medieval [[Kapalika]]s ("Skull-men") were influential figures in the development of transgressive or [[Vamachara|"left hand"]] Shaiva tantra.]]

The ''Mahabharata'', the ''Harivamsa'', and the ''Devi Mahatmya'' in the ''[[Markandeya Purana]]'' all mention the fierce, demon-killing manifestations of the Great Goddess, [[Mahishamardini]], identified with [[Durga]]-[[Parvati]].{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|pp=28-30}} These suggest that [[Shaktism]], reverence and worship for the Goddess in Indian culture, was an established tradition by the early centuries of the 1st millennium.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|pp=28-29}} Padoux mentions an inscription from 423 to 424&nbsp;CE which mentions the founding of a temple to terrifying deities called "the mothers".{{sfnp|Padoux|2017|p=21}} However, this does not mean Tantric rituals and practices were as yet a part of either Hindu or Buddhist traditions. "Apart from the somewhat dubious reference to Tantra in the Gangadhar inscription of 423&nbsp;CE", states David Lorenzen, it is only 7th-century Banabhatta's ''[[Kadambari]]'' which provide convincing proof of Tantra and Tantric texts.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|pp=31-32}}

Shaivite ascetics seem to have been involved in the initial development of Tantra, particularly the transgressive elements dealing with the charnel ground. According to Samuel, one group of Shaiva ascetics, the [[Pashupata Shaivism|Pasupatas]], practiced a form of spirituality that made use of shocking and disreputable behavior later found in a tantric context, such as dancing, singing, and smearing themselves with ashes.{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|p=242}}

Early Tantric practices are sometimes attributed to Shaiva ascetics associated with Bhairava, the [[Kapalikas]] ("skull men", also called ''Somasiddhatins'' or ''Mahavartins'').{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|p=30}}{{sfnp|Dyczkowski|1988|pp=26-27}}{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|p=243}} Besides the shocking fact that they frequented cremation grounds and carried human skulls, little is known about them, and there is a paucity of primary sources on the Kapalikas.<ref name="Lorenzen">{{harvp|Lorenzen|1972|pp=xii, 1–4}}</ref>{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|p=243}} Samuel also states that the sources depict them as using alcohol and sex freely, that they were associated with terrfying female spirit-deities called yoginis and [[dakini]]s, and that they were believed to possess magical powers, such as flight.{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|p=246}}

Kapalikas are depicted in fictional works and also widely disparaged in Buddhist, Hindu and Jain texts of the 1st millennium CE.<ref name="Lorenzen" />{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|pp=30-31}} In [[Hāla]]'s ''[[Gaha Sattasai|Gatha-saptasati]]'' (composed by the 5th century AD), for example, the story calls a female character Kapalika, whose lover dies, he is cremated, she takes his cremation ashes and smears her body with it.{{sfnp|Dyczkowski|1988|pp=26-27}} The 6th-century [[Varāhamihira]] mentions Kapalikas in his literary works.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|pp=30-31}} Some of the Kāpālika practices mentioned in these texts are those found in Shaiva Hinduism and Vajrayana Buddhism, and scholars disagree on who influenced whom.{{sfnp|Davidson|2004|pp=202–218}}{{sfnp|Sanderson|2012–2013|pp=4–5, 11, 57}}

These early historical mentions are in passing and appear to be Tantra-like practices, they are not detailed nor comprehensive presentation of Tantric beliefs and practices. Epigraphic references to the ''Kaulas'' Tantric practices are rare. Reference is made in the early 9th century to ''vama'' (left-hand) Tantras of the Kaulas.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|p=31}} Literary evidence suggests Tantric Buddhism was probably flourishing by the 7th century.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|p=27}} Matrikas, or fierce mother goddesses that later are closely linked to Tantra practices, appear both in Buddhist and Hindu arts and literature between the 7th and 10th centuries.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|pp=27-31}}