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Neotantra,navatantra (Sanskrit:नव,nava 'new'), ortantric sexuality is a Westernnew religious movement influenced by theEastern esoteric spiritual traditions ofTantra.
Rooted in elements ofHindu andBuddhist tantras, neotantra blendsNew Age interpretations with modern Western perspectives, often emphasizing the sexual aspects of these ancient traditions. While some proponents reference traditional texts and principles,[1][2] many utilize tantra as a broader term encompassingsacred sexuality, occasionally incorporating unconventional practices. However, neotantra does not always adhere to the complete range ofIndian tantric practices, particularly the reliance on aguru.
The perception of Tantra in the West has evolved, deviating from its original traditions. Initially seen as a "cult of ecstasy",[3] it has come to be associated with "spiritual sex" or "sacred sexuality",[3] wherein sexual experiences are considered sacred acts capable of elevating participants spiritually. This shift in understanding has grown alongside the increased interest in Tantra in Western culture, often emphasizing its sexual components. Key figures such asSir John George Woodroffe,Pierre Bernard, andBhagwan Shree Rajneesh have played pivotal roles in popularizing these ideas. Criticisms and debates exist, with some scholars highlighting the potential for misinterpretation and the blending of Tantric principles with Western attitudes towards pleasure and spirituality. Despite these debates, neotantra continues to evolve, creatively integrating aspects of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Western culture.
SirJohn George Woodroffe, also known by his pseudonym Arthur Avalon, was a BritishOrientalist whose work helped to unleash in the West a deep and wide interest inHindu philosophy andYogic practices. Alongside his judicial duties he studiedSanskrit andHindu philosophy and was especially interested in HinduTantra. He translated some twenty original Sanskrit texts and published and lectured prolifically onIndian philosophy and a wide range ofYoga andSolo Tantra topics.[4] Woodroffe'sThe Serpent Power – The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga, is a source for many modern Western adaptations ofKundalini yoga practice. It is a philosophically sophisticated commentary on, and translation of, theSatcakra-nirupana ("Description of and Investigation into the Six Bodily Centres") of Purnananda (dated around AD 1550) and thePaduka-Pancaka ("Five-fold Footstool of the Guru"). The term "Serpent Power" refers to thekundalini, an energy said to be released within an individual by meditation techniques.[5]
Pierre Bernard was a pioneering Americanyogi, scholar, occultist, philosopher, mystic, and businessman. He claimed to have traveled toKashmir andBengal before founding the Tantrik Order of America in 1905.[6] He eventually expanded to a chain of tantric clinics in places such asCleveland,Philadelphia,Chicago, andNew York City. Bernard is widely credited with being the first American to introduce the philosophy and practices ofyoga andtantra to the American people.[6] Many teachers of this version of tantra believe that sex and sexual experiences are sacred acts, which are capable of elevating their participants to a higher spiritual plane.[7] They often talk about raisingKundalini energy,[8][9] worshiping the divine feminine and the divine masculine, activating thechakras.[10]
GuruBhagwan Shree Rajneesh, later known as Osho, used his version of tantra in combination with breathing techniques, bio-energy, yoga, andmassage in some of the groups at his ashram. He is the author of many books on meditation,taoism,buddhism, andmysticism, and at least six on tantra. One of them isTantra, The Supreme Understanding, in which he unpacks the verses of the "Song of Mahamudra", byTilopa. In addition out of his discourses on the Vigyan Bhiarav (or Vijnaya-bhairava), the 112 practices for enlightenment resulted in the much longerThe Book of Secrets.[11]
Georg Feuerstein, a German Indologist who also trained in tantra, writes in the epilogue of his bookTantra: Path of Ecstasy:
Many are attracted to Neo-Tantrism because it promises sexual excitement or fulfillment while clothing purely genital impulses orneurotic emotional needs in an aura of spirituality. If we knew more about the history of Tantra in India, we would no doubt find a comparable situation for every generation." He goes on to say, "Today translations of several major Tantras are readily available in book form... This gives would-be Tantrics the opportunity to concoct their own idiosyncratic ceremonies and philosophies, which they can then promote as Tantra.[12]
Responding to criticism of modern Western Tantra,Geoffrey Samuel, a historian of Indian and Tibetan Tantra writes:
'Tantra' as a modern Western sexual and spiritual practice, however complex and contested its origins in Asia, was and is more than a fringe phenomenon of the 1960s and 1970s counterculture. On the contrary, it took up themes of considerable depth and significance within Western culture, and synthesized them creatively with borrowings from Buddhist and Hindu sources. Its slow but steady growth since the 1970s suggests that its potential has not yet been exhausted, and I would contend that to dismiss it as an empty and superficial expression of the “spiritual logic of late capitalism” is to miss the possibility of a development of real value.[13]
According to author and critic of religion and politics Hugh Urban:
Since at least the time ofAgehananda Bharati, most Western scholars have been severely critical of these new forms of pop Tantra. This "California Tantra" asGeorg Feuerstein calls it, is "based on a profound misunderstanding of the Tantric path. Their main error is to confuse Tantric bliss [...] with ordinary orgasmic pleasure".[3]
Urban says he does not consider this wrong or false, but "simply a different interpretation for a specific historical situation."[3]
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