Tantrism has persisted and thrived throughout Asian history since the middle of the first millennium. It deals with spiritual practices and ritual forms of worship aiming at liberation from ignorance and rebirth. The universe is regarded as the godly play of Shakti and Shiva. Tantrism developed into a tradition by the end of the Gupta reign. However it has influenced major religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism. Tantrism is characterized by the use of rituals thereby identifying macrocosm and microcosm. In Tantrism one uses the heavenly power that flows through the universe to achieve certain goals.Origin of Tantrism
Origin of Tantrism is a debatable issue. There are diverse views - some say that the Pre-Aryan Indians could have been the discoverers; others consider it as the tradition of ancient people. Historically it dates back to the time of the rise of the religion of Buddhism as the later Buddhists adopted some of the Tantric symbols.
Relation to Vedic Tradition
The tradition of Tantrism may be considered as intertwined with the Vedic tradition. The sources of written Tantric tradition are the agama which consists of four parts describing jnana, yoga, kriya and charya. Elements of Tantrism exist in Shaiva, Vaishnava, Ganapatya, Shaurya and Shakta forms. The basic ideas of Tantra as a philosophy are found in the Rig Veda. Tantrism is a build-up of various resources to change mundane into super mundane. There are some hymns and use of mystic words during the Rig Vedic period which proves the origin of Tantra.
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