Question about Tantra

“… I too am happy to see you back again… but i have a question. :-)
Tantra (in India) means something else than what you have explained in your blog. In brief, Tantra means – 1. a Hindu or Buddhist mystical or magical text, dating from the 7th century or earlier. 2. adherence to the doctrines or principles of the tantras, involving mantras, meditation, yoga, and ritual.
It sounds ‘logical’ when you explain that we spontaneously shift from one extreme to the other with passing of time… but where is the need to label it as Tantra which has totally a different meaning? If you are very particular on labeling this process, please choose a different word. And if needed, i can supply you a few words for a nominal fee. :-)
regards,”

Thank you for your welcoming message. I will answer your question for I feel, it is for the common good.

When we are speaking about “spiritual matters,” definitions are useful as long as they will give someone an idea of what I am trying to convey. My definition is not the “thing.” If someone gets caught up in my definition, that becomes a belief for that person; for it is second hand stuff taken as a conceptual “truth” or “falsehood.” It does not matter which one. The important thing is that without experience, words are merely incomplete tools.

Tantra is not in your experience yet. For you it is second hand “knowledge,” a concept that you accepted from Wikipedia, a dictionary, a Guru…that is why you are bringing up the tradition, the dictionary definition of what is known by the masses.
In the West, Tantra is understood to be just about sex. “Tantra yoga” is called in the West.
The link below has another explanation of Tantra by a Guru from India:
http://isha.sadhguru.org/blog/yoga-meditation/demystifying-yoga/the-truth-about-tantra/

As you can see, it doesn’t fit your idea or definition of what Tantra is.

And here, a comment by Rajneesh (Osho) from India, about Tantra: “Tantra is science, tantra is not philosophy. To understand philosophy is easy because only your intellect is required. If you can understand language, if you can understand concept, you can understand philosophy. You need not change; you require no transformation. As you are, you can understand philosophy – but not tantra. You will need a change… rather, a mutation. Unless YOU are different tantra cannot be understood, because tantra is not an intellectual proposition, it is an experience. Unless you are receptive, ready, vulnerable to the experience, it is not going to come to you.”
http://www.oshorajneesh.com/download/osho-books/Tantra/Vigyan_Bhairav_Tantra_Volume_1.pdf

Ahnanda will not give you definitions or commentaries. In my experience Tantra is neither philosophy nor Science. You will find out what Tantra is when you are ready, but I agree with the comment that: “Unless YOU are different, Tantra cannot be understood.”

I picked the word Tantra because it means so many different things for many people, which are the opposite of what I know or have experienced as Yoga, just to make a point.

It seems that you may be biased towards Tantra.  But for you, it is just a word and you have beliefs about that word. The experience is not the word.

Let me go into the importance of understanding how words, concepts, moral standards and ideologies are limiting and how we may need to put our beliefs aside.
The “swastika” in the West means Evil. In India, it means auspiciousness.
The swastika is just a symbol. Is that symbol “evil” or “good”? It just depends where you are, the circumstances, timing, the setting, what your mind already has as “knowledge.”

Another example: A Woman  being “topless” in a beach, could be looked upon as sinful, immoral… in India. Even though India has so many temples depicting bare breasted women engaging in sexual activity. A Temple is probably the most sacred place for the general Indian mentality, but at the same time sex may be considered as a “taboo” in most Indian Culture.
Isn’t that contradictory? In the USA there are beaches where it is “legal” for women to be topless. At other beaches it is “illegal.” In the USA morality becomes an imaginary line between what is “legal,” and “illegal.” It is not a religious thing anymore.  At many beaches in Europe, it is alright for women to be topless in a beach. We could appreciate the different perspectives, knowing that everyone has a different viewpoint. This is not a matter of being “right or wrong.”
See my point? It is in your openness to an experience how the “taboo” gets dissolved and we become free from the “hang up.” There is no rejection of any viewpoint, but acceptance of all.

Tantra is like that. It has the ability to dissolve “hang ups,” “taboos” through acceptance.

The same woman could go to different beaches around the world and that woman will not have a “hang up” about her breasts being exposed, but she will behave according to the situation and understand that the “sin” is not in her bare breasts being exposed, but in the eyes of those looking at her with disrespect. 

Your attitude is what determines your openness in Life.

All the best to you! :-)