It is difficult to explain exactly what Tantrism is about in a simple and direct way.  It is not useful to say that Tantrism is a religious philosophy taught in scriptures called Tantras.  Tantrism is a complex combination of cosmological models and spiritual practices for reawakening the direct experience of the Transcendent Reality.  This reawakening is a conscious reconnection with the Divine-Self expressed in Tantrism as the Divine Union of the Feminine Divine (Shakti) with the Masculine Divine (Shiva).  Most tantric ritual practices involve some form of focused visualization and awareness of divinity combined with recitation of mantra.  Hindu worship, Tibetan Buddhist rituals, and Hatha Yoga are a few of the different expressions of Tantrism.  The cosmological and philosophical basis of most yoga is tantric.

The historical origins of Tantrism are unclear.  Experts’ opinions vary widely about how far back in time we can trace Tantrism.  Tantrism may predate any know religion.  Many scholars believe Tantrism to have originated before the Vedic period (1500 – 600 BCE).  Some authorities claim Tantrism’s origins may be earlier than 3000 BCE.  Western historians usually place the origins of Tantrism between 300 – 600 CE, although the practices that coalesced into Tantrism are probably much more ancient than that.

Tantric principles and practices have been co-opted, adapted, and absorbed by many of the spiritual and religious philosophies that have come along over the last couple thousand years.  Even the patriarchal mono-theistic religions of the Mediterranean (Zoroastrism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) incorporate tantric practices – such as repetition of sounds and visualization – into their religious rituals and mystical practices.

The mythic origins of Tantrism are varied.  The exact origins of Tantrism (and yoga) depend on which mythic tales you prefer.  In my practice’s tradition Shiva created yoga (and Tantrism) when he created the worlds. 

Shiva is The Great Lord of Yoga .  Shiva represents the masculine aspect of the Divine – consciousness and will.  Shiva taught yoga to his wife, Parvati.  Parvati is an incarnation of Shakti, the feminine aspect of the Divine – the Creative Force.  Parvati had Shiva teach Matsya , a fish that was watching Parvati’s lessons, and Matsya taught the yoga to Manu (the archetype first man).  Thus the tantra was passed on to humanity.

Another myth, according to the Matsya Purana, says that Matsya was the first avatar of Vishnu.  Manu caught a talking fish that asked him for protection.  Manu spared the fish, and then the small fish became a giant fish that Manu immediately recognized as Vishnu.  When the Deluge came Manu built a ship according Matsya’s instructions and loaded his family and the Rishis and the seeds of all existing things into the vessel.  The ship was tied to Matsya’s great horn and was protected during the Flood.  They finally came to rest on a peak in the Himalayas.  Matsya then destroyed an underwater demon who had stolen the Vedas.

One of the meanings of the word “Tantra” is “that which is taught” or “that which is given” or “that which is woven.”  The Tantras are scriptures that expound on the practices and philosophies of Tantrism.  One definition of Tantrism is the religious philosophies of the Tantras, but the oral tantric traditions predate any written Tantras and probably had a deep influence on Vedanta.  Manuscript experts suggest that Tantrism only came together around the fifth or sixth century CE because that is the estimated time of origin for the oldest existent Tantras, but tantrism claims an oral tradition going back to the dawn of time (Shiva and Parvati).  Tantrists also believe that older written Tantras once existed, but since a Tantra is only useful for its own time the older written Tantras were destroyed when they were no longer pertinent for the era.

The most basic tantric practices involve visualization of some abstraction while considering its corollary meanings and implications and chanting an appropriate mantra.  The abstraction can be a pattern or a deity or some other thing.  The mantra often has a special importance associated with the image.  This simple practice – visualization and mantra – is at the core of most tantric ritual practices.

Some of the underlying cosmology of Tantrism is based on Samkaya philosophy.  “Samkaya” means “enumeration” and is a Darshana – one of the six traditional orthodoxies or philosophies of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism).  Samkaya labels and orders each underpinning or quality of existence as a tattva (“thusness” or “essential quality”).  These labels provide a vocabulary that allows Samkaya to describe a cosmological model of the gross material universe evolving from consciousness.  Samkaya describes the evolution from The One Pure Consciousness to the dualistic gross material plane of existence.

It is the intersection of Tantrism and Samkaya that is expressed in the most familiar symbol of tantric cosmology, the chakra system.  Each chakra is a yantra with a mantra, a tattva, associated deities, and other attributes.  The chakras model our spiritual return from the dualistic gross material universe to the non-dualistic Divine Ground.  Through purification practices and a meditative focus on each chakra, its mantra, and its attributes, Kundalini-Shakti (the feminine divine creative force) is awakened from the lowest chakra (earth) and rises up through each chakra or level of transformation; when she rises above the last chakra she joins with her masculine aspect, Shiva (the masculine divine consciousness).  The Divine, now in Divine Union, is Shakti/Shiva.  Shakti/Shiva returns to the Ajna chakra .  Shakti/Shiva becomes the control center for our conditioned mind so we can transcend the illusion of duality and attain the True Mind of Divine Bliss .

According to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the basic action of yoga consists of self-study , attentiveness to God , and creating spiritual tension to resolve (tapas).  The word “tapas” literally means, “to create heat.”  Tapas is most frequently translated as “austerities” – renunciation of worldly comforts and normal bodily functions – denial and suppression of normal desires and needs for the sake of abandoning the world for union with The Divine.  But a tantrist’s approach to tapas – creating spiritual tension to resolve – may be to embrace the desires, aversions, pleasures, and pains that cause imbalance and separation from The Divine so as to overcome their destabilizing influences and return to Divine Union.  You can not train a wild horse if you ignore it and let it run wild out of sight; you must capture it, spend time with it to get used to its habits, and then teach it to obey your will.

A key aspect of tantric philosophy is acceptance of the body, the conditioned mind, and worldly activities as vehicles toward liberation .  In this plane of existence it is the physical body and its associated processes interacting in the apparent material world that creates the field of possibilities .  Union of the individual-self and the Divine-Self is spiritual liberation ; that Divine reintegration is Yoga.  Tantrism’s Divine Union of Shakti/Shiva is a direct path to Moksha.

Sexual Tantra

Shiva taught Yoga and Tantra to Parvati – His disciple, lover, and wife.

Shiva is consciousness and knowledge, the masculine aspect of The Divine.  Consciousness is the source of all; everything has emanated from the original consciousness (Purusha), and everything will return to Purusha.  Without consciousness nothing could exist, or if anything did exist it could not be perceived.  Shiva is Purusha.  Shiva is Consciousness.  Shiva is Creator, Sustainer, Destroyer.

Parvati is the Divine Mother.  She is Shakti.  Shakti is the power of creation and the power of wisdom, the feminine aspect of The Divine.  Shakti is Prakruti.  All existence is an expression of Shakti’s creative power.  Everything in the material world is a creation of Shakti.  Without Shakti’s continuous action of creation Shiva could not create and would have nothing to watch. Shiva is the reason Shakti exists.  Without Shiva (consciousness) Shakti (creation) could not exist.

The Sri Vijnana Bhairava Tantra says:
“Just as the power to burn is not separate from fire, similarly Shakti is not different from Shiva.  However, She is imagined as separate in the beginning, as a preliminary step towards entry into Her knowledge.” (v19)
“One who enters the state of Shakti has the feeling of identification with Shiva, without division.  Then one verily becomes like the form of Shiva.  In this context, it is said that Shakti is the face of Shiva.” (v20)
“Just as space, direction and form are revealed by the flame of a candle or the rays of the sun, similarly Shiva is revealed by the medium of Shakti, O dear one.” (v21)
“Thus saying, the Goddess being steeped in delight embraced Shiva” (v163)

In Hinduism it is common to worship a Shiva Lingam (a phallic shaped rock) that is resting in a Yoni (an elliptical base for the lingam, yoni means vagina) as an abstract representation of the Shiva – Shakti union. The metaphorical Divine Union of Shiva with Shakti is the esoteric objective of all Tantrism.  In the rituals of sexual tantra the couple engaged in the practices represents Shiva and Shakti.  Both are Divine.  Each worships the other.

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