[tuhn-truh, tan-] 
| 1. | (italics ) Hinduism. any of several books of esoteric doctrine regarding rituals, disciplines, meditation, etc., composed in the form of dialogues between Shiva and his Shakti; Agama. |
| 2. | Also called Tan⋅trism [tuhn-triz-uhm, tan-] . 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, esp. in Tibet. |
| tan·tra (tŭn'trə, tān'-) n. Any of a comparatively recent class of Hindu or Buddhist religious literature written in Sanskrit and concerned with powerful ritual acts of body, speech, and mind. [Sanskrit tantram, doctrine, loom; see ten- in Indo-European roots.] tan'tric (-trĭk) adj. |