Tan - thread, web, stretch, spread or expand, and

Tra - tool or instrument. Tantra , Taantrik Yoga or Tantrism is any of several esoteric traditions rooted in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy.

Tantra (Sanskrit: also means weave, loom)- tool for expansion or a weaving.

Through Taantrik practice one can experience an expansion of consciousness and recognize the interlinked of the web of existence.

Tantra is a vast body of spiritual and physical knowledge, encompassing an array of practices, including all forms of yoga.

These practices are aimed at expanding consciousness and liberating oneself "through life and not through escape, using the body as an instrument."

In Tantra, the energies of the body are used as the fuel for spiritual development.

Tantra is an eminent science having thousands of principles. It is the system of our life and a science of practice and practical knowledge. Through Tantra, we can attain superb powers by attracting and deriving the divine faculties pervading the entire cosmos. The aspirant of Tantra makes his internal capacity sharp and intensely forceful just like a magnet. This science is the process of activating the various dormant vital glands and Chakras of the astral form, present inside the human body. It makes us aware of the truth that a person can get liberation from his own subjugation, can achieve immense power and even with the physical body present, can free himself from his body and expand his faculties infinitely.

Each and every element of the nature is associated with the other. Every action has a definite basis and for that action, there also exists an equal and opposite reaction. This uninterrupted succession of atomic process is going on in our atmosphere. Formation of water vapours, rain from the clouds due to attraction between positively and negatively charged atoms, storms and earthquakes, all are interrelated to each other.

Tantra is the process of intensification of our peculiar inner potentialities so that we can command this atomic arrangement which in other words is known as Siddhi. The flow of energy is going on ceaselessly in the environment and when your own inner energy becomes capable of influencing the external ones, nothing will remain impossible for you and this is the Science of Tantra in which the aspirant's wish is first and foremost.

Extolled as a short-cut to self-realization and spiritual enlightenment by some, Taantrik rites are often rejected as dangerous by most orthodox Hindus.

There are two "paths" in Tantra:
i) Dakshinachara (also known as samayachara), the "Right-Hand Path", and
ii)Vamachara, the "Left-Hand Path".
The latter is associated with many ritual practices that go against the grain of mainstream Hinduism, including sexual rituals, consumption of alcohol and other intoxicants, animal sacrifice and flesh-eating.

Sometimes, Tantra is classified as either
i) Red (rajas or heat, fire, restlessness, anger),
ii) Black (tamas or darkness, ignorance, stagnation) or
iii) White (sattwa pure, moderate, divine). These correspond to three Hindu conceptions of the qualities of existence first posited in Samkhya.

Some Taantrik (Tantra aspirants) simply feel the union is accomplished internally and with spiritual entities of various kinds. For this reason, almost all Taantrik writing has a gross, higher and subtle meaning. This tripartite system of understanding readily obscures the true purport of many passages for those without the necessary background or deeper understandings so crucial to Tantra. Thus, a 'union' (Yog) could mean the actual act of sexual intercourse, ritual uniting of concepts through chanting and sacrifice, or realization of one's true self in the cosmic joining ( Yog) of the divine principles of Shiva and Shakti in Para Shiva.