Hindu tantra is essentially sex magic and does little to advance anyone spiritually, but could be fun if you don't get in it very deeply.
Tibetan Tantra is a way of wisdom and bringing together the sensual with the spiritual. However, the cultural differences make it very difficult to practice unless you adapt some of the techniques to your own way of experiencing.
2006-10-05 04:52:37
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answer #1
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answered by beast 6
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Because of the wide range of groups covered by the term tantra, it is hard to describe tantric practices definitively. The basic practice, the Hindu worship known as puja may include any of the elements below.
Tantra
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Tantra (Sanskrit: "weave" denoting continuity[1]), tantric yoga, or tantrism is one of any several esoteric 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, Bhutan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Korea, Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia and Mongolia.[2] David Gordon White, while cautioning us about attempting a rigorous definition of what for centuries has defied such attempts, offers the following working definition:
"Tantra is that Asian body of beliefs and practices which, working from the principle that the universe we experience is nothing other than the concrete manifestation of the divine energy of the godhead that creates and maintains that universe, seeks to ritually appropriate and channel that energy, within the human microcosm, in creative and emancipatory ways."[3]
In its Hindu forms, tantra can be summarized as a family of voluntary rituals modeled on those of the Vedas, together with their attendant texts and lineages. These rituals typically involve the visualization of a deity, offerings (real or visualized), and the chanting of his or her mantra. These practices are usually said to require permission from a qualified teacher, or guru, who belongs to a legitimate guruparampara or teacher-student lineage. Thus, tantra shares some similarities with yoga.
Common variations include visualizing the deity in the act of sexual union with a consort, visualizing oneself as the deity, and/or "transgressive" acts such as token consumption of meat or alcohol. Occasionally, non-standard or ritualized sex may be undertaken. This accounts for tantra's negative reputation in some quarters and its reception in the Western world primarily as a collection of sexual practices. In the West, tantra had originally been reviled by early European orientalists as a subversive, antisocial, licentious and immoral force that had corrupted classical Hinduism. On the other hand, many today see it as a celebration of social equity, sexuality, feminism and the body.
2006-10-05 11:08:10
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answer #2
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answered by Baby 5
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