From: "Avasha" <avasha@xiqual.com>
Newsgroups: alt.magick.tantra
Subject: Re: A definition please...
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 1998 16:25:15 -0700


Shane A. Saylor, Eccentric Bard wrote in message
<01bda95e$2667d1c0$9608fccd@default>...

>Hello. I am looking for a clear, concise [yet detailed] definition of
>Tantra/Tantric magick. I am not interested in a FAQ, only the definition.
>Please Email me as well as posting here. Thank you.


A good, brief definition is offered in "Tantras: Their Philosophy and Occult
Secrets" by D.N. Bose and Hiralal Haldar:

"Tantra is a Sanskrit word derived from the root 'tan', 'to expand'.  Tantra
will then come to mean all-comprehensive knowledge or expansion of
knowledge.  It will, of course, include rules and regulations, a system or
an administrative code.  According to Monier Williams, Tantra is a class of
works teaching magic and mystic formulas for the attainment of life, viz
dharma (right action), artha (wealth), kama (love, lust, desire) and moksha
(liberation).  As the Shabda-kalpa-druma kosha remarks, it is a science that
deals with the creation and dissolution of the universe, the duties of the
four varnas (castes) and ashramas (stages of life), and performance of the
six activities.

From the definition as given above, it becomes clear that the term tantra
signifies a kind of knowledge related to both the spiritual and material
aspects of man's life.  That is to say, the Tantra-Vidya aims at the
realization of Brahman, the Supreme Being, but side-by-side with this, it
advocates courses of discipline for the realization of the less sublime ends
of human life such as artha and kama."

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
           Tzimon Yliaster
          Tools of CHAOS
       http://www.xiqual.com
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