elements are characteristic for Tantra, nor is there any text that contains all those elements. Also, most of those elements can also be found in non-Tantric traditions. Because of the wide range of communities covered by the term, it is problematic to describe tantric practices definitively. However, there are sets of practices and elements which are shared by numerous tantric traditions, and thus a family resemblance relationship can be established among them. Different scholars give different main features of tantra. For example, David N. Lorenzen writes that tantra shares various "shamanic and yogic" practices, worship of goddesses, association with specific schools like the Kaulas and Kapalikas, as well as tantric texts. Christopher Wallis meanwhile, basing himself on the definition given the tantric scholar Rāmakaṇṭha, gives four main features of tantra: "1) concern with ritual modes of manipulation (of the environment or one's own awareness), 2) requirement for esoteric initiation (to receive access to the scriptural teachings and practices), 3) a twofold goal of practice: the soteriological and supramundane one of liberation (variously conceived) and/or the mundane one of extraordinary power over other beings and one's environment, and 4) the claim that these three are explicated in scriptures that are the word of God (āgama) or the Buddha (buddhavacana)." According to Anthony Tribe, a scholar of Buddhist Tantra, Tantra has the following defining features: Centrality of ritual, especially the worship of deities Centrality of mantras Visualisation of and identification with a deity Need for initiation, esotericism and secrecy Importance of a teacher (guru, acharya) Ritual use of mandalas (maṇḍala) Transgressive or antinomian acts Revaluation of the body Revaluation of the status and role of women Analogical thinking (including microcosmic or macrocosmic correlation) Revaluation of negative mental states There are a wide array of Tantric techniques or spiritual practices (sadhana) such as: Dakshina: Donation or gift to one's teacher Guru yoga and Guru devotion (bhakti) Diksha or Abhiseka: Initiation ritual which may include shaktipat Yoga, including breathing techniques (pranayama) and postures (asana), is employed to balance the energies in the body/mind. Mudras, or hand gestures Mantras: reciting syllables, words, and phrases Singing of hymns of praise (stava) Mandalas and Yantras, symbolic diagrams of forces at work in the universe Visualization of deities and Identification these deities in meditation (deity yoga) Puja (worship ritual) and other forms of bhakti Ritual sacrifice, including animal sacrifice Use of taboo substances such as alcohol, cannabis, meat