Etymology of "Tantra"

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dakini_boi
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Etymology of "Tantra"

Post by dakini_boi »

How did the word tantra come to be translated in Tibetan as gyud (continuity)? I mean, what is the etymological connection between the two words?
Tantra तन्त्र , "loom, warp"; hence "principle, system, doctrine", from the two root words tanoti "stretch, extend, expand", and trayati "liberation"
-from Wikipedia
. . . Tantra in the Buddhist context is totally different from Hindu. The entire culture is different. The meaning of the word is different - based on two different etymologies of the Sanskrit language. In Buddhism, it means continuum, which is related to Chitta-Santaan (mental continuum), whereas in Hinduism, it means liberating the finite consciousness by merging it into the Infinite. Since there is no such Infinite in Buddhism into which the finite consciousness can merge and there is not ultimately real finite consciousness, it cannot merge into an Infinite. The whole Hindu context found in Hindu Tantra does not apply at all to Buddhist Tantra. In Hinduism, Tantra has earned a bad name but this is not true of Buddhist Tantra within Buddhism. Anyway, the word Tantra does not mean the same thing in the two systems as many uninformed scholars have thought.
-from http://www.byomakusuma.org/Teachings/Va ... syana.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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mint
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Re: Etymology of "Tantra"

Post by mint »

dakini_boi wrote:How did the word tantra come to be translated in Tibetan as gyud (continuity)? I mean, what is the etymological connection between the two words?
Goesn't gyud actually mean "woolen thread" in Tibetan?

See "The Crystal and the Way of Light" Chapter 4, Note 2.
Malcolm
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Re: Etymology of "Tantra"

Post by Malcolm »

dakini_boi wrote:How did the word tantra come to be translated in Tibetan as gyud (continuity)? I mean, what is the etymological connection between the two words?

Because in the Guhyasamaja tantra the word tantra (rgyud) is defined as a continuum (rgyun).

N
ngodrup
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Re: Etymology of "Tantra"

Post by ngodrup »

Ah, but a Tantrica in Tibetan Buddhism doesn't practice Tantra.
They practice Sang Ngak Dorje Thegpa, Secret Mantra Vajra Yana.
dakini_boi
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Re: Etymology of "Tantra"

Post by dakini_boi »

Namdrol wrote:
dakini_boi wrote:How did the word tantra come to be translated in Tibetan as gyud (continuity)? I mean, what is the etymological connection between the two words?

Because in the Guhyasamaja tantra the word tantra (rgyud) is defined as a continuum (rgyun).

N
Is there a similar etymology for the Sanskrit word tantra? (i.e. does Tantra imply continuum in Sanskrit?) Do we have access to the Sanskrit version of the Guhyasamaja Tantra?
ngodrup wrote:Ah, but a Tantrica in Tibetan Buddhism doesn't practice Tantra.
They practice Sang Ngak Dorje Thegpa, Secret Mantra Vajra Yana.
True - but I assume, the Indian Vajrayana practitioners used the word. This question came up for me because people ask me what "tantra" means. I am familiar with the meaning according to Hindu Tantra - and I am familiar with the Tibetan meaning of "gyud," but I was wondering if there was a clear connection between the 2 words.
Malcolm
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Re: Etymology of "Tantra"

Post by Malcolm »

dakini_boi wrote:
Namdrol wrote:
dakini_boi wrote:How did the word tantra come to be translated in Tibetan as gyud (continuity)? I mean, what is the etymological connection between the two words?

Because in the Guhyasamaja tantra the word tantra (rgyud) is defined as a continuum (rgyun).

N
Is there a similar etymology for the Sanskrit word tantra? (i.e. does Tantra imply continuum in Sanskrit?) Do we have access to the Sanskrit version of the Guhyasamaja Tantra?
Yes and yes.

N
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