What does tantra mean and can a Muslim practice it?

Q: I was seeking tantric mantras on internet, but whenever I see any website it shows tantra which is a sacred sex kind of practices. I want to know what are differences between tantric and tantra. I also want to ask that I am a muslim, may I be allowed to chant some mantra for spiritual awakenings? Or there are some bindings for me? Answer: Jahan Qadari, it doesnt make a difference whether you are Muslim or a non-muslim. Your interest in tantra is applaudable & tantra is not just scared sex, it is more than that. Well, tantra means a device and when the device is designed by a Master, he is called tantrik. Tantrik means the person who has mastered his body, mind & the pranik energy through certain practices, through various devices which he has employed & it take years of diligent practice to finally master these tantrik practices. So, one thing is for sure that you should understand that tantra doesnt mean just scared sex. This is how western world perceives about tantra & the tantra classes are being conducted where very high fee is charged and what people come to know about tantra, that it is a vigyan (science) that means copulation & intimacy between man & woman and it is projected in such a way as if this alone, this carnal pleasure alone can give you very higher states of meditation. Well, sex is just a very-very small part of the tantra, not all of it. As such tantra is a live worshipping measure in which body is not considered as filthy, as bag full of just bones & skin. On the contrary, the human body is considered to be as a temple of divine. You may call that divine as Allaha, you may call that divine as Ram; it doesnt make any difference as we may call water with hundred different names in hundred different languages, but still water remains water. You being a muslim dont disallow you from practicing tantra. But first, you really have to understand what tantra is & only then the practices involved in tantrik way can be learned. So you really need to be with someone who can guide you. In the mean time you can definitely chant a mantra as simple as OM. Again many people think that OM is something which has to do with the Hindu religion but actually it is the three syllable, aa, o, ma and combination of these three syllables aa, o, ma is a word OM which can be denoted as a symbol which is signifying the existence, which is omniscient, omnipresent. Gurumaa