The word 'Tantra' has two important and specific meanings. One is 'To Weave', and the other is 'A Sacred Book of Magick.' What do we weave? It is our innermost self (our Atman or Higher Self), and the magickal world of Maya swirling about us. In short, we embrace and change reality as we do our True Will. Surprising to most, Tantra does not mean 'sex', though free-flowing, open, spiritual sexuality is part of Tantra. Tantra is 'occult' (hidden wisdom), not religious worship. In India, Tantra is often seen as a 'left hand path', much as Magick is viewed in the West.
The practice of Tantra reaches back thousands of years, and predates the spread of Aryan patriarchal and hierarchical customs, and strict religious edicts. Tantra is Magick. It is
not a religion like Hinduism, though both share a sometimes uneasy coexistence. Hindus pray to and honor the gods at the direction of Brahmin priests, while every Tantric is a god doing his or her own will, and works with the gods and goddesses on an equal footing. Castes, taboos and proscribed sins are rejected by Tantrics. Tantra is about
real freedom-doing your True Will as the star within you is called to do. It is about following your own unique path without accepting dogma, religious texts, taboos or social classes. It requires only a strong, independent will, and a fiery desire for spiritual advancement and liberation. It calls for the embrace of intense practices to develop deep, personal relationships with the gods and goddesses you are drawn to, and the mastery of real magick to cause change in your life and the reality about you.
If you prefer to follow the teachings and dictates of a religion, Tantra is not what you seek. But if you are a unique star who wills to craft your own world with love, will and magick, Tantra is for you, and all the gods and goddesses will aid your work.
Gurudev Dadaji Mahendranath summed the entire ethos of Tantra into one phrase:
The will to love is the law to live. 
