Neotantra, navatantra (Sanskrit: नव, nava 'new'), or tantric sexuality is a Western new religious movement influenced by the Eastern esoteric spiritual traditions of Tantra.
Rooted in elements of Hindu and Buddhist tantras, neotantra blends New Age interpretations with modern Western perspectives, often emphasizing the sexual aspects of these ancient traditions.
While some proponents reference traditional texts and principles,[1][2] many utilize tantra as a broader term encompassing sacred sexuality, occasionally incorporating unconventional practices.
Sir John George Woodroffe, also known by his pseudonym Arthur Avalon, was a British Orientalist whose work helped to unleash in the West a deep and wide interest in Hindu philosophy and Yogic practices.
He translated some twenty original Sanskrit texts and published and lectured prolifically on Indian philosophy and a wide range of Yoga and Solo Tantra topics.
It is a philosophically sophisticated commentary on, and translation of, the Satcakra-nirupana ("Description of and Investigation into the Six Bodily Centres") of Purnananda (dated around AD 1550) and the Paduka-Pancaka ("Five-fold Footstool of the Guru").
Its slow but steady growth since the 1970s suggests that its potential has not yet been exhausted, and I would contend that to dismiss it as an empty and superficial expression of the “spiritual logic of late capitalism” is to miss the possibility of a development of real value.