TANTRIC BUDDHISM
A further development took place within India Buddhism between the third and seventh centuries CE. Philosophically, Tantra shared the Mahayana position in Shunyata; what made it distinctive as a school was its original method.

It its use of ritual and meditative practices to help people achieve enlightenment, Tantric teaching was greatly influenced by ancient Vedic traditions of the Aryans who occupied north India centuries earlier and there was much cross fertilization between north Indian Tantric Buddhist practise and the teachings and rituals that are part of the Hinduism today.

Followers mediate and chants mantras, powerful sacred sounds and words.

Tantric focuses on transforming the gross body bY means of complex practices, which requires a special relationship with the guru, or spiritual teacher.

Sexual symbolism is a prominent theme in both Buddhist and Hindu Tantra: both schools regards the male / female union as a conscious expression of the way back to unity from initial male / female divided that set the creative process in motion and led to fragmentation of consciousness.

Tantric flourishes in north India until the armies of Mohammed sent Buddhism into a decline.

It also spread to Tibet, Mongolia and Siberia. Since the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959, many Tantric teaching from the Tibetan tradition have become widespread for the first time across Australasia, Europe and North American, in particular the Dzogchen ('great perfection') teaching of the Nyingma school.

Tantric also extended through China to Japan, where it survive today as Shingon school.