Tantra
Americannoun
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(italics) any of several books of esoteric doctrine regarding rituals, disciplines, meditation, etc., composed in the form of dialogues between Shiva and his Shakti; Agama.
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Also called Tantrism. the philosophy or doctrine of these books, regarding the changing, visible world as the creative dance or play of the Divine Mother and regarding enlightenment as the realization of the essential oneness of one's self and of the visible world with Shiva-Shakti, the Godhead: influential in some schools of Mahayana Buddhism, especially in Tibet.
noun
Etymology
Origin of Tantra
From Sanskrit
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I’ve studied Jungian psychology and Hindu Tantra — the energies of masculine and feminine, being and doing, birth and death.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2025
Tantra is clearly a persistent and alluring ancient philosophy.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 21, 2020
Tantra instructors tell you to “ground,” a practice that involves visualizing yourself rooted to the earth and sending energy down into it, which I have found to have remarkably little effect.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2013
Hatha yoga — the parent of the styles now practiced around the globe — began as a branch of Tantra.
From New York Times ● Feb. 27, 2012
It does not appear that the Kâlacakra Tantra met with general acceptance.
From Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 3 by Sir Charles Eliot
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
