तन्त्र

Tantra

Philosophy

From the Sanskrit root tan (“to extend”, “to weave”). Literally: the warp of a loom — the threads that hold the fabric together. By extension, a system of knowledge, a doctrine, a text that “weaves” theory and practice into a coherent whole.

Beyond the stereotype

Tantra is probably the most misunderstood tradition in yoga. In the West it was reduced to sacred sexuality. In India, tantra designates a vast corpus of texts and practices (5th-12th centuries) that revolutionized the subcontinent’s spirituality.

Its radical premise: the body is not an obstacle to liberation but its instrument. Matter does not oppose spirit. The sacred is not separate from the everyday.

Core principles

  • Non-duality (advaita): Pure consciousness (Śiva) and creative energy (Śakti) are one reality seen from two angles
  • The body as temple: Subtle physiology — prāṇa, nāḍīs, cakras — maps the path of awakening
  • Transformation, not renunciation: Human energies (desire, emotion, perception) are refined and redirected, not suppressed
  • Direct practice: Concrete techniques over abstract speculation

Relationship with haṭha yoga

Haṭha yoga is a practical branch of tantra. The Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā systematizes tantric techniques — āsana, prāṇāyāma, mudrā, bandha — as preparation for kuṇḍalinī awakening.

The Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra, one of the oldest tantric texts, offers 112 meditation techniques (dhāraṇā) that use breath, sensory perception and daily life as doorways to direct experience.

Key texts

  • Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra — 112 dhāraṇās for direct experience
  • Śiva Sūtras — Revealed aphorisms on the nature of consciousness
  • Spanda Kārikās — The doctrine of creative vibration
  • Tantrāloka by Abhinavagupta — The monumental synthesis of Kashmir Śaivism

In the classical texts

“The body is the temple. The jīva is Śiva.” — Mahānirvāṇa Tantra

The Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā (1.1) presents haṭha yoga as a ladder towards rāja yoga, confirming the continuity between tantric practice and meditative realization. The Yoga Sūtras (3.1-3.3) describe dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi — the same progression that tantra articulates through direct means.