TANTRA
HISTORY
Often misunderstood in modern spiritual communities, the word Tantra literally means "to weave" or "to expand". Legends & lore suggest that Tantrik lineages date back to a timeless age, and written historical evidence reveal that authentic lineages picked up these timeless threads and began weaving their revelations into scripture (shastra) more than 1500 years ago. The true "origins" of Tantra are unknown and are shrouded in mystery, but we can see the core ideas of Tantrik wisdom and philosophy starting to become systemized in 400 CE.
Tantra - तन्त्र
From tan meaning "expand" and tra meaning "tool; instrument; means"; literally, "that which expands consciousness"
VIEW
The Tantrik worldview, or simply "View", was and is a unique and revolutionary approach to spirituality. To the Tantrik yogi, everything is divine. The entire Universe and every particle of existence is an emanation of the Supreme Being. This View suggests that divine intelligence lies at the very core of each one of us. A Tantrika is "one who practices Tantra"; their metaphysical understanding of the Nature of Reality is informed by the Vedic wisdom science of Samkhya. Some of the goals of Tantra are yoga (union with the Divine), mokṣa (liberation), and jīvanmukti (fully awakened while still living in a body aka "Divine Embodiment"). These are said to occur via the awakening of kundalinī, the primordial, evolutionary force.
Sāṁkhya - संख्या
the underlying cosmology behind the spiritual paths of Yoga and Tantra; a system of knowledge meant to lead one to liberation
The goal of Tantra is to expand one's consciousness
and unite with supreme consciousness
in order to realize one’s innate divinity
while remaining fully embodied and engaged in life.
Now... Yoga
atha yogānuśāsanam - Yoga Sutra 2.1
"Now begins the teaching of Yoga."
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