Making Sense Of Tantric Buddhism

Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism fundamentally rethinks the nature of the transgressive theories and practices of the Buddhist Tantric traditions, challenging the notion that the Tantras were “marginal” or primitive and situating them instead—both ideologically and institutionally—within larger trends in mainstream Buddhist and Indian culture. Critically surveying prior scholarship, Wedemeyer exposes the fallacies of attributing Tantric transgression to either the passions of lusty monks, primitive tribal rites, or slavish imitation of Saiva traditions. Through comparative analysis of modern historical narratives—that depict Tantrism as a degenerate form of Buddhism, a primal religious undercurrent, or medieval ritualism—he likewise demonstrates these to be stock patterns in the European historical imagination. Through close analysis of primary sources, Wedemeyer reveals the lived world of Tantric Buddhism as largely continuous with the Indian religious mainstream and deploys contemporary methods of semiotic and structural analysis to make sense of its seemingly repellent and immoral injunctions. Innovative, semiological readings of the influential Guhyasamaja Tantra underscore the text’s overriding concern with purity, pollution, and transcendent insight—issues shared by all Indic religions—and a large-scale, quantitative study of Tantric literature shows its radical antinomianism to be a highly managed ritual observance restricted to a sacerdotal elite. These insights into Tantric scripture and ritual clarify the continuities between South Asian Tantrism and broader currents in Indian religion, illustrating how thoroughly these “radical” communities were integrated into the intellectual, institutional, and social structures of South Asian Buddhism.

Despite the rapid spread of Buddhism the historical origins of Buddhsit thought and practice remain obscure.This work describes the genesis of the Tantric movement and in some ways an example of the feudalization of Indian society. Drawing on primary documents from sanskrit, prakrit, tibetan, Bengali, and chinese author shows how changes in medieval Indian society, including economic and patronage crises, a decline in women`s participation and the formation of large monastic orders led to the rise of the esoteric tradition in India.

The Lamp that Integrates the Practices is a systematic and comprehensive exposition of the most advanced yogas of the Esoteric Communion (Guhyasamaja) Tantra as espoused by the Noble Tradition. Aryadeva's work is perhaps the earliest prose example of a "stages of the mantra path" work in Sanskrit, and it exerted immense influence on later Tibetan tradition. This volume presents the Lamp in a tri-lingual format: its Sanskrit original, a critical edition of the eleventh-century Tibetan, and a thoroughly-annotated English translation. Features a comprehensive, tri-lingual glossary.

A great deal of Buddhist literature and scholarly writing about Buddhism of the past 150 years reflects, and indeed constructs, a historically unique modern Buddhism, even while purporting to represent ancient tradition, timeless teaching, or the "essentials" of Buddhism. This literature, Asian as well as Western, weaves together the strands of different traditions to create a novel hybrid that brings Buddhism into alignment with many of the ideologies and sensibilities of the post-Enlightenment West. In this book, David McMahan charts the development of this "Buddhist modernism." McMahan examines and analyzes a wide range of popular and scholarly writings produced by Buddhists around the globe. He focuses on ideological and imaginative encounters between Buddhism and modernity, for example in the realms of science, mythology, literature, art, psychology, and religious pluralism. He shows how certain themes cut across cultural and geographical contexts, and how this form of Buddhism has been created by multiple agents in a variety of times and places. His position is critical but empathetic: while he presents Buddhist modernism as a construction of numerous parties with varying interests, he does not reduce it to a mistake, a misrepresentation, or fabrication. Rather, he presents it as a complex historical process constituted by a variety of responses -- sometimes trivial, often profound -- to some of the most important concerns of the modern era.

Creation and Completion represents some of the most profound teachings of Jamgon Kongtrul (1813-99), one of the true spiritual and literary giants of Tibetan history. Though brief, it offers a lifetime of advice for all who wish to engage in-and deepen-the practice of tantric Buddhist meditation. The original text, beautifully translated and introduced by Sara Harding, is further brought to life by an in-depth commentary by the contemporary master Thrangu Rinpoche. Key Tibetan Buddhist fundamentals are quickly made clear, so that the reader may confidently enter into tantra's oft-misunderstood "creation" and "completion" stages. In the creation stage, practitioners visualize themselves in the form of buddhas and other enlightened beings in order to break down their ordinary concepts of themselves and the world around them. This meditation practice prepares the mind for engaging in the completion stage, where one has a direct encounter with the ultimate nature of mind and reality.

This introduction recognizes and explains how to channel the powerful energies aroused by human desires, and how to transform lives with them.

Buddhist representations of the cosmos across nearly two thousand years of history in Tibet, Nepal, and India show that cosmology is a rich language for the expression of diverse religious ideas, with cosmological thinking at the center of Buddhist thought, art, and practice. In�Creating the Universe,�Eric Huntington presents examples of visual art and architecture, primary texts, ritual ideologies, and material practices�accompanied by extensive explanatory diagrams�to reveal the immense complexity of cosmological thinking in Himalayan Buddhism. Employing comparisons across function, medium, culture, and history, he exposes cosmology as a fundamental mode of engagement with numerous aspects of religion, from preliminary lessons to the highest rituals for enlightenment. This wide-ranging work will interest scholars and students of many fields, including Buddhist studies, religious studies, art history, and area studies.

Unlocking the secrets of Tantra—one of the most alluring forms of Buddhism Often misunderstood, Tantrism focuses on a particular style of meditation and ritual. Having far more to do with the sacred than the sexual, Tantric Buddhism is believed to have originated around the 5th Century AD in the rich cultural basin of Bengal and spread throughout the Asian world. Today it is widely practiced in Tibet, Japan, and the West. The Secrets of Tantric Buddhism presents accessible translations of 46 classic texts found in the Carya-Giti, a collection of teachings by more than twenty famous Siddhas, or Tantric adepts, who lived during the illustrious Pala dynasty of the 10th and 11th centuries. Renowned translator and scholar Thomas Cleary unlocks the mysteries of these texts and provides commentary for each that explains the ancient teachings in a way that makes them seem fresh and contemporary. These teachings emanate from one of the most dynamic sources of Buddhism, at the height of its religious development. They are completely nonsectarian and will be greeted enthusiastically by those interested in spirituality, world religions, and classic Buddhism.

2009 revised edition. A Buddhist book exploring the sutric teaching of 'The Four Thoughts that turn the Mind to Practice' as vividly relevant to our everyday lives: the extraordinarily precious opportunity to live as an honourable human being; the experience of impermanence that pervades our existence as an opportunity to awaken; the emotional and psychological patterning which dominates our lives (karma); and the seemingly endless cycle of dissatisfaction in which we imprison ourselves. Each chapter ends with a series of questions and answers which are both pragmatic and inspirational. Ngakma Nor'dzin has been a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism for more than twenty years. ISBN: 978-1-898185-07-9 Spacious Passion website

This book is unique in the way in which it explains the rich iconography of Tibetan Buddhism in relation to spiritual psychology and the exploration of our inner world. It is a door into the rich and profound symbolism of Tibetan sacred art. The author uses concepts from Western psychotherapy to bridge an understanding of the meaning and functions of these symbols.