Passionate Enlightenment [Hardcover]

Miranda Shaw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 1994

The crowning cultural achievement of medieval India, Tantric Buddhism is known in the West primarily for the sexual practices of its adherents, who strive to transform erotic passion into spiritual ecstasy. Historians of religion have long held that the enlightenment thus attempted was for men only, and that women in the movement were at best marginal and subordinate and at worst degraded and exploited. Miranda Shaw argues to the contrary, presenting extensive new evidence of the outspoken and independent female founders of the Tantric movement and their creative role in shaping its distinctive vision of gender relations and sacred sexuality. Drawing on interviews and archival research conducted during two years of fieldwork in India and Nepal, including more than 40 works by women of the Pala period, the author reinterprets the history of Tantric Buddhism during its first four centuries. In her view, the Tantric theory of this period promotes an ideal of co-operative, mutually liberative relationships between women and men while encouraging a sense of reliance on women as a source of spiritual insight and power.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book is a welcome and wonderful addition to feminist scholarship on Buddhism, a rapidly growing endeavor. . . . Miranda Shaw's discussion of passion and intimacy as a path of practice is exemplary in its demonstration that such practices can only be undertaken by equals who share the same vision, the same aspiration for enlightenment, and the same training and meditative skills. -- Rita Gross, Shambhala Sun



A feminist critique of a male (and Western) view of the Tantric tradition [and also] a balanced reassessment of a tradition too long misunderstood. -- James George, Parabola
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr (May 27, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691033803
• ISBN-13: 978-0691033808
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,617,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars well researched and essential reading, December 16, 1995

By A Customer

This review is from: Passionate Enlightenment (Paperback)

This study by Miranda Shaw is a must for everyone trult interested in the finer aspects of Tantric Buddhism. The author thoroughly explores the role of women in the development of vajrayana and comes to the justified conclusion that women's role has been much greater than is usually admitted by both Tibetan AND Western scholars. Rufus C. Camphausen

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars outstanding scholarship, very substantial teachings, spiritually tuned-in-- an amazing book, November 6, 2009

By 

roar99 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passionate Enlightenment (Paperback)

This book is amazing. Shaw describes the content of the Tantric texts starting from an awareness of women's full participation in creating Tantric buddhism as a religious system. She reads the texts through the eyes of who the participants in Tantra really were and uncovers a ton of material about visualization practices, gender relations, enlightenment, and relationships between men and women. She is very sensitive to the interplay between religious texts, awareness practices, and social realities and really talks about Tantra as a religious construction meant to bring awareness within a particular social setting (a setting which is not that unfamiliar in certain tragic respects-- ie patriarchy). It was extremely satisfying to be introduced to the concept of "dakinis" with as much depth and poetry as she brings to her discussion.

I used a lot of the images and text in her book to do my own visualizations, with very powerful results in my own life. I think these Tantric buddhists are really on to something.

I am in a feminist episcopal community and a lot of her discussion about the way the metaphysics and theology of Tantra supported female enlightenment and full participation by women in this religious community, in a context of patriarchy, was illuminating. I can see in our own Christian community many of the dynamics she describes and this book helped shed light on various strategies for engaging those dynamics.

Much respect for the proud and fierce women who created the dakini images of Tantra-- and much respect for Miranda Shaw for writing with such depth and passion about such an important religious accomplishment. The level of commitment that was required to write a book with this kind of substance is amazing to contemplate. Thank you Dr. Shaw for bringing the fruits of your research to light, for the benefit of others.

37 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book I have read on the subject, May 6, 1998

By 

Ronald Albury (Cincinnati, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Passionate Enlightenment (Paperback)

Many of the books I have read on Tantra are basically garbage. This one, however, is that jewel that makes it worth while sifting through the garbage. It is well written, well researched, and can be understood by westerners. I highly recommend it.