Tantra is a well known but highly misunderstood Sanskrit term. Literally, it means a fabric and refers to a whole set of teachings, both Hindu and Buddhist, given in ancient and medieval times, from perhaps a few centuries before Christ until after 1000 C.E. There are many teachings called Tantras with not always a lot in common.

There are three basic levels of teachings in the Vedic dharma. The oldest layer is Vedic, consisting of the Vedas themselves, along with the Upanishads and Brahmanas. These were prevalent in ancient times, and were out of vogue some centuries before the time of Buddha. The second layer is Puranic, consisting of the Puranas and Epics. These came into prominence at the time of the kings that followed Krishna, as the Vedic teachings declined, but are considered an extension and development of the Vedas. They continued in the forefront until about 500 C.E., thought they are still commonly used. The third is the Tantra. It is a development and extension of the Puranas and legends, and is not as clearly differentiated from them, as they are from the Vedas. An important Tantra is the Mahanirvana.

Tantra has become more well known in the West than the other Vedic teachings mainly for the sexual Tantras, those giving various sexual practices for attaining ecstasy, union with God or awakening the Kundalini. These, in fact, are quite rare among the Tantra and are not at all indicative of them as a whole.

Tantra has also been associated with the worship of the Goddess. It is true that there are many Tantric teachings to the Goddess. Yet there are many Tantras to the Gods, like Shiva and Vishnu; hence, Tantra, as such, cannot be equated with Goddess worship. On the whole, the Tantras do not give the Goddess any more prominent a place than other levels of the Vedic and Hindu teachings, as the Goddess is important in all levels of the teaching.

Tantra has also been associated with energy teachings and practices. These include mantra, yantra, visualisation, rituals and pujas. While such practices are often more specifically Tantric, they can be found in all layers of the Vedic and Puranic teachings. Tantra has been specifically linked to the development of Kundalini.

Kundalini does play a more prominent place in the Tantras than in the Vedas and Puranas. In these earlier teachings the emphasis is more on knowledge (jnana) or devotion (bhakti), and less on techniques. But there are also Tantras which emphasise knowledge or devotion, while technical practices are sometimes given in the Vedas and Puranas (though these were more part of an oral tradition as they had to be adopted for each individual).

Quoted from "From the River of Heaven" by David Frawley