Tantra, Please explain?

[IcyCosmic]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namaste


　
I thought to add a bit to the defintion above.

• tantra तन्त्र - as a noun means a loom; the notion of weaving comes to mind as this word is also used for a row , number , series , that you would find in a weave.

If this is a loom, then who are the weavers? Śiva and Śakti. And what is woven? Creation. It is creation that is worn by us, woven by Them.
Let's look at its components - tan + tra

• tan तन्- to extend , spread , be diffused (as light) over , shine , extend towards ; to extend or bend. The masculine applicaton is uninterrupted succession.
• tra त्र- is protecting.

Hence tan + tra is that which is extended, protecting overall.

Yet too some can say that tan + tra is the spreading of higher knowledge (light, shine)

Tantra can also look to a root of trai - to protect , preserve , cherish , defend , rescue from hence to ~spread~ protection. Some also look to this tantra as tantratā - comprehending several rites in one ( ususally from the mīmāṁsā¹ point of view)
　
As aforementioned if this is a loom, then who are the weavers? Śiva and Śakti.

It is interesting to note a simple connection back to weaving:

• siva सिव or sivaka - means one one who sews or stitches , a sewer , stitcher. As siv सिव् means to sew, stitch, darn.
• This is not to be confused with śiva शिव rooted śī शी , " in whom all things lie " ; This śiva we know as The Auspicious One , the Supreme, the unsurpassable (anuttara).

iti śivaṁ

1. mīmāṁsā - the pūrva-mīmāṁsā or karma-mīmāṁsā by jaimini , concerning itself chiefly with the correct interpretation of Vedic ritual and text

Namaste,

your wisdom brings stillness to my agitated mind. Thankyou.

[Trika-Mahaa]

I giggle when people ask me about tantra and sex.

I tell them that Siva and Shakti had sex and out popped Nara, but the father, the mother and the baby are all the same. Pratibimbabimba :-p

Aham!
Dan

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namaste

I wrote in post 28 above,

· tantra तन्त्र - as a noun means a loom; the notion of weaving comes to mind as this word is also used for a row , number , series , that you would find in a weave.
If this is a loom, then who are the weavers? Śiva and Śakti. And what is woven? Creation. It is creation that is worn by us, woven by Them.
Let's look at its components - tan + tra

· tan तन्- to extend , spread , be diffused (as light) over , shine , extend towards ; to extend or bend. The masculine application is uninterrupted succession.
· tra त्र- is protecting.
Hence tan + tra is that which is extended, protecting overall.
Yet too some can say that tan + tra is the spreading of higher knowledge (light, shine)

Tantra can also look to a root of trai - to protect , preserve , cherish , defend , rescue from hence to ~spread~ protection. Some also look to this tantra as tantratā - comprehending several rites in one ( ususally from the mīmāṁsā¹ point of view)
　
As aforementioned if this is a loom, then who are the weavers? Śiva and Śakti.
It is interesting to note a simple connection back to weaving:
· siva सिव or sivaka - means one one who sews or stitches , a sewer , stitcher. As siv सिव् means to sew, stitch, darn.
· This is not to be confused with śiva शिव rooted śī शी , " in whom all things lie " ; This śiva we know as The Auspicious One , the Supreme, the unsurpassable (anuttara).

From the one definition above (tan तन्) I happened to bump into what svāmī lakṣman-jū said on this term tantra.
He said tantra is tanu vistāre or expansion.

• tanu – the body; it is also manifestation
• vistāre - vis + tāre ; vis = to grow, to urge on + tāre¹ (tāra) = to carry across.

We can see the theme of expansion in the term ‘grow’ and ‘carry across’. Yet what of the ‘body’ or tanu? It can infer a few things: A ‘body’ of knowledge i.e. the tantra-s. It also can mean the ‘body’ of śiva.
What is His body? Some would say cidghanam or compact, densely filled, concentrated consciousness. And how is this tied in to tanu vistāre ? We are informed the following: cidghanamātmapūrṇaṁ viśvam¹ this consciousness (cid or cit) that is full (pūrṇaṁ), compact (ghanam) Being/Self (ātma) is all-pervading or all-containing , omnipresent (viśvam).

From this we can conclude, this ‘body’ (tanu) stretches (tan तन्- to extend , spread) everywhere...

इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ

words

• tāre is shown here in the locative (adhikaraṇa) case ending ( there’s 8 cases); as you would expect it indicates location. Using this form you are indicating ‘in’ or ‘on’ or ‘at’, etc.
• cidghanamātmapūrṇaṁ viśvam - these are ācārya abhinavagupta-ji’s words. He is known as mahāmaheśvarācharya śrīmad abhinavaguptanatha by his pupil kṣemarāja.