Tantric Hinduism
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Tantric Hinduism is a tradition that emerged around the 5th century CE, influencing both Hinduism and Buddhism. It centers on the concept of shakti, the divine creative energy, often personified as a goddess. Tantrists believe that through mystical, ritualistic, and yogic practices, individuals can achieve spiritual power and oneness with the highest principle.12
Key elements of Tantric practice include:
* Mystic Speculation: Based on the idea that divine creative energy (shakti) is fundamental.1
* Yogic and Ritual Means: Employing practices, some of which are magical and orgiastic, to gain transcendent powers and achieve spiritual goals.1
* Body as Cosmos: Transforming the individual body into a microcosm that mirrors the macrocosm, activating and organizing inner powers through ritual.1
* Sublimation of Experience: Emphasizing the activation and sublimation of the body's possibilities, including sensory experiences, to achieve salvation.1
* Mantras and Ritual Diagrams: Utilizing sacred utterances (mantras) and symbolic drawings (yantras and mandalas) to connect with divine power.13
* Kundalini Yoga: Awakening the dormant serpent energy (kundalini) at the base of the spine and guiding it upward through the body's energy centers (chakras) to achieve union with the divine.13
Tantrism often involves esoteric interpretations of texts and rituals, using symbolic language to describe states of consciousness and cosmic processes. It is distinguished by its focus on the active power of the divine, often personified as a goddess (Shakti), who is seen as the source of creation and salvation.124
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alchemyIndian alchemy…later—not until the rise of Tantrism (an esoteric, occultic, meditative system), ad 1100–1300. To Tantrism are owed writings that are clearly alchemical (such as the 12th-century Rasārṇava, or “Treatise on Metallic Preparations”).
Read More…later—not until the rise of Tantrism (an esoteric, occultic, meditative system), ad 1100–1300. To Tantrism are owed writings that are clearly alchemical (such as the 12th-century Rasārṇava, or “Treatise on Metallic Preparations”).
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ceremonial objectIcons and symbolsIn Tantrism (an Indian esoteric, magical, and philosophical belief system centred on devotion to natural energy), for example, the sacred Sanskrit syllable Om—which is a transcendent word charged with cosmological (order-of-the-universe) symbolism—is identified with the feminine counterpart of the god. In its written form, particularly on…
Read MoreIn Tantrism (an Indian esoteric, magical, and philosophical belief system centred on devotion to natural energy), for example, the sacred Sanskrit syllable Om—which is a transcendent word charged with cosmological (order-of-the-universe) symbolism—is identified with the feminine counterpart of the god. In its written form, particularly on…
Read More- yantra
Tantric Hinduism and Vajrayana, or Tantric Buddhism, a linear diagram used as a support for ritual. In its more elaborate and pictorial form it is called a mandala. Yantras range from those traced on the ground or on paper and disposed of after the rite,…
Read MoreTantric Hinduism and Vajrayana, or Tantric Buddhism, a linear diagram used as a support for ritual. In its more elaborate and pictorial form it is called a mandala. Yantras range from those traced on the ground or on paper and disposed of after the rite,…
Read More