Define tantra.

Tantra is a Sanskrit word. Let’s break it down first in order to understand the full meaning. TAN means to expand, to grow, to prosper, to blossom. TRA means to not harm, to not hurt. So TANTRA means to grow, to develop, to expand and while engaged in this process of growing and expanding we do not harm ourselves or others. We do not hurt ourselves or others. It is a desire to connect ourselves to anything and everything that helps us feel complete. We seek protection when we feel separate, disconnected and unprotected.

The tantric view of life holds that everything in life is interconnected. COVID-19 taught us this. Someone became sick in one part of the world and it quickly spread through the rest of the world. How closely connected we all are! How perfectly balanced our ecosystem is. The cheetah living in the dry and barren Sahara desert waits for the rain to fall to bring the plants to life. The new vegetation is a signal to the wildebeest to begin his migration through the Sahara and this wildebeest becomes food for the starving cheetah. The crocodiles return to the newly flooded rivers in the desert and they too feed on the wildebeest. The droppings of the wildebeest bring much-needed bacteria and food for the desert soil, which in turn feeds the trees and the trees feed the clouds and the clouds bring the rain. Everything affects everything. Everything has meaning and purpose.