According to Osho, tantra arose within Buddhism as a corrective to a misunderstanding of Buddha’s teaching. Buddha said ‘go beyond sex,’ not ‘go against it.’ Disciples turned this into ascetic repression, creating obsession. Masters like Saraha restored the right reading: befriend, understand, and consciously pass through sexual energy, transforming it into meditation, so transcendence comes by going through, not by fighting.
Tantra grew when Buddhists realized you don’t defeat sex by hating it—you understand it kindly and then naturally move beyond it.