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72 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hindu Tantrik, October 16, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Tantra: Path of Ecstasy (Paperback)
Georg Feuerstein is a respected author of a number of works on esoteric traditions of India and here attempts a guide to a notoriously difficult subject. Tantra is so difficult because of the number of different traditions, the multitude of various texts, many of which remain untranslated, and the subject matter itself, which has many pitfalls for the unwary student. This book, however, is written by someone with an understanding of the subject matter, and is organised in a way which gradually draws the reader into the essentials of tantra, including the often neglected ritual aspect, including mantra, yantra, mudra and nyasa. Feuerstein draws on a number of texts, some translated and others not, to explain the essentials of the tantrik tradition. He relies particularly heavily on the Kularnava Tantra (available in an English translation) which is, we feel, one of the more accessible of the texts. The author stresses the importance of initiation and of the guru, and also spends some time examining those forms of tantra which have sprung up in the Western World. "Many are attracted to Neo-Tantrism because it promises sexual excitement or fulfillment while clothing purely genital impulses or neurotic emotional needs in an aura of spirituality...Today translations of several major Tantras are readily available in book form, and many formerly secret practices are now, in the language of the texts, 'like common harlots'. This gives would-be Tantrics the opportunity to concoct their own idiosyncratic ceremonies and philosophies, which they can then promote as Tantra." (Tantra, page 271). While Feuerstein warns that some tantrik practices are dangerous in the wrong hands, we feel that in many ways the tradition protects itself. There is, undoubtedly, a great number of groups and individuals peddling "tantra" as a way to greater sexual enjoyment - for example, some of the links to these pages are from hard porn sites - but the written tantras themselves were (and are) intended for the "in groups" and supplemented with oral information from the yogis and yoginis in the groups. In passing, it could be noted that tantra in India suffers from its association with sexuality. So much so, that the term tantrik taints the people it is applied to. But some of this is due to the Western colonisation of India. A quick look at a Sanskrit-English dictionary demonstrates the sensuality of the language, while the temples of Khajuraho show that shame, guilt and modesty played little part in the civilisation of Bharata. Feuerstein's book mostly succeeds in navigating a difficult subject. This is a well-written guide to a complex area and easily accessible to the layman. It is probably too late to dissociate this powerful and rich spiritual tradition from neo-Tantra. But now that even the Pope has decided that Indian spiritual traditions are worth examining, this book will go some way to redress the balance.
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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A 'primer' coat of many colors, January 26, 2005
This review is from: Tantra: Path of Ecstasy (Paperback)
Feuerstein has done the English-speaking world a genuine service with this introduction to Tantra, suited especially to the casual intelligent reader. This is not suited to those interested in an anthropological, historical, or how-to approach (see reviews below for more details); instead, Feuerstein covers the basic topics in a rather plain-vanilla fashion. Feuerstein's first positive task is to dispell certain commercial flapdoodle still current in our fabulously corporate culture about tantra imagined as a kind of low-tech Orgasmatron (thanks, Woody Allen). He then gives a very straightforward (if oversimplified) explication of tantric history and practice germain to both Buddhists and Hindus on topics such as mantra and the guru. (Yes, I'm aware that tantra is both Buddhist and Hindu, and neither Buddhist nor Hindu.) Now, what Feuerstein has accomplished is no mean task. He writes with the detail of of a scholar and the credibility of a practitioner.
One may ask why book-learning is needed in this context, if tantra is a path of energy and relationship. Well, there is a genuine danger, after all, in not knowing what you're talking about:
"Someone with insufficient knowledge resembles a maimed person trying to climb a rock,
Someone who studies scriptures for the sake of becoming a scholar
Is like someone who searches for lethal weapons.
In short, if you do not know your own tradition,
How will you, a blind person lost in the middle of a vast plain, ever find your path?"
(The great tantric master, Padgyal Lingpa.)
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28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
As good as anything by Karen Armstrong and maybe better, February 23, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Tantra: Path of Ecstasy (Paperback)
It's often hard to understand metaphysical books about tantra because there are few scholars who can write in a clear way that's accessible even for practitioners, let alone people who have never had a guru or traveled to India to experience tantric teachings firsthand. In America, yoga has so often devolved into a physical practice with spiritual pretensions, instead of a deeply spiritual practice. I returned from India from a six-month trip in 1998, during which time I stumbled into meeting a guru and then spent five weeks studying with him in Benares. When I came home, it was very hard to begin to articulate what had taken place. This book was a godsend, a link to connect my experience with a tradition that extends millennia back in time. And secondly it helped to link my friends and family to the experiences I just had by reading a clear description of the path and experiences involved in Tantra. I hesitate even to use the word Tantra, given that it's so very, very misused in the West. This book sets the record straight (Tantra does NOT equal sex) and presents the practice and history of Tantra in all its profundity. We are indebted to the author for his great gift to all of us. For the other reviews that criticize the author's lack of experience in Tantra, you should be aware that the author has a Tantric Buddhist teacher which led him to bring his considerable talents to present the first guide and most helpful explanation of these profoundly important teachings. I've given numerous copies to family and friends, all of whom have enjoyed it immensely. Until Karen Armstrong decides to tackle this subject (highly unlikely, given her orientation), this is the best book available. Highest recommendation!
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