Tantra
Tantra (Which is Sanskrit for “weave”), tantricism or tantrism is any of several esoteric (Restricted to or intended for an enlightened or initiated minority.) traditions rooted in the religions of India. It exists in Hindu, Bönpo, Buddhist, and Jain forms. Tantra in its various forms has existed in India, China, Japan, Tibet, Nepal,Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Korea,Indonesia and numerous other countries.
Tantra is an accumulation of practices and ideas rather than a single coordinated system. It has among its characteristics the use of ritual, the manipulation of energy, the use of the mundane to access the supramundane and the identification of the microcosm with the macrocosm. A practitioner of tantra seeks to use the divine power that flows through the universe (which includes his body) to attain his goals. These goals may be spiritual or material. In the process of manipulating energy he has a varity of tools at his disposal. These include yoga or bodily control to actuate processes that will connect him with the divine.
In Tantra, reality is pure consciousness , which is considered to be identical with both being and bliss. In Tantra, this being-consciousness-bliss is called Shiva-Shakti, a word which conveys the inseparable nature of Shiva, the Absolute, and Shakti, the power of creation. In Tantra, any conception of the Divine which does not include Shakti, or the power to become, is considered to be incomplete. Tantra insists that spirit and matter are aspects of one whole.
As Tantra has become more popular in the ‘west’ it has undergone a major transformation which has made western New Age appropriations of Tantra, very different from the original Tantric traditions of India. For most people , “Tantra” has basically become a synonym for “spiritual sex” or “sacred sexuality”, a belief that sex in itself ought to be recognized as a sacred act which is capable of elevating its participants to a higher spiritual plane. Though Neotantra may adopt many of the terms and concepts of Indian Tantra, the traditional reliance on a succession of ‘gurus’, extensive meditative practice, and rules of conduct both moral and ritual have been discarded.
Sexuality
Many esoteric systems use sexuality for spiritual and magical aims. Besides Tantra, examples of such traditions are witchcraft, shamanism, alchemy, and ancient Egyptian religion. Sexuality is a total sensory experience, involving the whole mind and body. It’s the interplay of physical, psychological, social, emotional, and spiritual makeup of an individual.
The sexuality of human beings comprises a broad range of behavior and processes, including the physiological, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual or religiousaspects of sex and human sexual behavior. Philosophy and theology, also address the subject.
