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Tantra are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed in India from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term tantra, in the Indian traditions, also means any systematic broadly applicable "text, theory, system, method, instrument, technique or practice". A key feature of these traditions is the use of mantras, and thus they are commonly referred to as Mantramārga in Hinduism or Mantrayāna and Guhyamantra in Buddhism.
Shaivism is one of the major Hindu traditions that worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions ranging from devotional dualistic theism such as Shaiva Siddhanta to yoga-oriented monistic non-theism such as Kashmiri Shaivism. It considers both the Vedas and the Agama texts as important sources of theology.
Tantras refers to numerous and varied scriptures pertaining to any of several esoteric traditions rooted in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. The religious culture of the Tantras is essentially Hindu, and Buddhist Tantric material can be shown to have been derived from Hindu sources. And although Hindu and Buddhist Tantra have many similarities from the outside, they do have some clear distinctions. The rest of this article deals with Hindu Tantra. Buddhist Tantras are described in the article on Buddhist Tantras.
Shaiva Siddhanta is a form of Shaivism that propounds a dualistic philosophy where the ultimate and ideal goal of a being is to become an enlightened soul through Shiva's grace. It draws primarily on the Tamil devotional hymns written by Shaiva saints from the 5th to the 9th century, known in their collected form as Tirumurai. Meykandadevar was the first systematic philosopher of the school. The normative rites, cosmology and theology of Shaiva Siddhanta draw upon a combination of Agamas and Vedic scriptures.
Shaktism is one of several major Hindu denominations, wherein the metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically a woman and Shakti (Mahadevi) is regarded as the supreme godhead. It includes many goddesses, all considered aspects of the same supreme goddess. Shaktism has different sub-traditions, ranging from those focused on most worshipped Durga, gracious Parvati to that of fierce Kali.
Swami Lakshman Joo was a mystic and scholar of Kashmir Shaivism. He was known as Lal Sahib by followers.
Kashmir Shaivism, or Trika Shaivism, is a nondualist tradition of Shaiva-Shakta Tantra which originated sometime after 850 CE. Since this tradition originated in Kashmir it is often called "Kashmiri Shaivism". It later went on to become a pan-Indian movement termed "Trika" by its great exegete, Abhinavagupta, and particularly flourished in Orissa and Maharashtra. Defining features of the Trika tradition are its idealistic and monistic Pratyabhijna ("Recognition") philosophical system, propounded by Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta, and the centrality of the three goddesses Parā, Parāparā, and Aparā.
The Kāpālika tradition was a Tantric, non-Puranic form of Shaivism which originated in Medieval India between the 7th and 8th century CE. The word is derived from the Sanskrit term kapāla, meaning "skull", and kāpālika means the "skull-men".
Arumuka Navalar was a Sri Lankan Shaivite Tamil language scholar, polemicist, and a religious reformer who was central in reviving native Hindu Tamil traditions in Sri Lanka and India.
Oḍḍiyāna, was a small region in early medieval India, in present-day Swat District of modern-day Pakistan. An alternate theory places its location in what is now the modern Indian state of Odisha, though this is improbable. It is ascribed importance in the development and dissemination of Vajrayāna Buddhism. It was also called as “the paradise of the Ḍākinīs”.
Kaula, also known as Kula, and is a religious tradition in Tantric Shaktism and Shaivism characterised by distinctive rituals and symbolism connected with the worship of Shiva and Shakti. It flourished in ancient India primarily in the 1st millennium CE.
The AryaMañjuśrīmūlakalpa or Arya-Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa is a text of the Kriyā-tantra class. It is affiliated with the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. It contains violent, sensual and sexual tantric rituals.
The Agamas are a collection of several Tantric literature and scriptures of Hindu schools. The term literally means tradition or "that which has come down", and the Agama texts describe cosmology, epistemology, philosophical doctrines, precepts on meditation and practices, four kinds of yoga, mantras, temple construction, deity worship and ways to attain sixfold desires. These canonical texts are in Tamil and Sanskrit. Agamas were predominant in South India but Sanskritized later.
The Guhyasamāja Tantra, also known as the Tathāgataguhyaka, is one of the most important scriptures of Tantric Buddhism, written in Sanskrit. In its fullest form, it consists of seventeen chapters, though a separate "explanatory tantra" (vyākhyātantra) known as the Later Tantra is sometimes considered to be its eighteenth chapter. Many scholars believe that the original core of the work consisted of the first twelve chapters, with chapters thirteen to seventeen being added later as explanatory material.
Bettina Sharada Bäumer is an Austrian-born Indian scholar of religion. Vandana Parthasarathy, writing in The Hindu, described Baumer as a "renowned Indologist, one of the foremost expounders of Kashmir Saivism and a well-known figure in the field of inter-religious dialogue". She was awarded the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art by Government of Austria in 2012 and Padma Shri by Government of India in 2015 for her contribution to Literature and Education.
Pratyabhijñā is an idealistic, monistic, and theistic school of philosophy in Kashmir Shaivism which originated in the ninth century CE. The term Trika was used by Abhinavagupta to represent the whole of Kashmir Shaivism, or to designate the Pratyabhijñā system.
Mantra marga is one of the two main sects of Shaivism while the other one is being "Atimarga". Although it is believed that Atimarga precedes Mantramarga, there are so many contemporary evidences available for both sects. Mantra marga became more popular than ATI marga in its nature which focuses on social and worldwide temporal philosophy.
Abirameswarar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Shiva, located in thiruvamaathur, a village in Viluppuram district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Shiva is worshiped as Abirameswarar, and is represented by the lingam. His consort Parvati is depicted as Manonmani Amman. The temple is located on the Chennai - Villupuram highway. The presiding deity is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the nayanmars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam.
Netra Tantra is a Tantra text attributed to non-Saiddhantika Mantra margic sect of Shaivism produced between circa 700 - 850 CE in Kashmir. It was commented on by the Kashmiri Saivite Pratyabhijñā philosopher Kshemaraja and it was connected with royalty and used in the courts by Śaiva officiants in the role of royal priest (Rājapurohita).
Shaman Hatley is a scholar of Asian religions, specializing in the goddess cults and tantric rituals of medieval India, including the yogini cults and the history of yoga.
References
- ↑ From the web-site of All Souls College, http://www.all-souls.ox.ac.uk/people.php?personid=58 Archived 2012-09-23 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Alexis Sanderson". asc.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
- ↑ See, e.g., Joan Evelyn Ames, Mastery: Interviews with 30 Remarkable People
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