Do Hindus Unknowingly
As a Hindu you may not realize it, but aspects of Tantric practice are deeply embedded in daily Hindu rituals. For example, when you light a lamp in the mandir of your home, it is more than a routine, it is an act of invoking the inner light, a Tantric principle. When you chant mantras in for a deity, ring the bell in a temple and apply a tilak on your forehead you are unknowingly following the tantric way of worship, the use of yantras and rudraksha beads all have their roots in tantra.
Temple worship across India, especially in South India, is primarily Agamic, which is a Tantric practice of rituals. The rituals performed by priests in temples involve energy invocation, consecration of space, and transformation of matter into spirits, all practices of Tantra.
So next time you hear the word Tantra do not fear it, rather know that it is engrained in your everyday life as a practicing Hindu.
Tantra is an esoteric practice and as humans we fear what we don’t understand, but the secrecy is only to protect you from undertaking tantra practice without guidance, when learnt from a guru and practiced under supervision until you yourself are an expert, tantra can be immensely beneficial and powerful.
Tantra is a journey to discovering your own being, to go inside and realise your calling in life, just as the meaning of the word Tantra which from the Sanskrit roots tan (to expand) and tra (to liberate). Tantra means "a system that leads to expansion and liberation."
