Customer Reviews

Tantra in Practice (Princeton Readings in Religions)

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

D.G. White, author of the excellent yogic study and adventure story, "The Alchemical Body," here presents an edited compilation of articles about authentic Tantra traditions taken from the length & breadth of Indian-influenced Asia. Countries & cultures include: India (obviously), China, Tibet/Nepal and Japan, with articles on Hindu, Buddhist, Jain (Jain? yes, Jain), Islamic (!) and Shinto tantric traditions. Before this volume, who would have guessed at the sheer geographical pervasiveness of Tantric traditions? Topics vary from architecture to ethnography to poetry. The quality of the contributions is uniformly very good--well-written and well-organized--and most chapters include a translation, in whole or part, of an important or obscure tantra. The strongest point is that the authors are scholars, not practitioners, with the associated advantage is that, at last (and at least) the reader can avoid the fluff, hype and BS that pervades the field of so-called "Tantra." Reading this volume will go a long ways toward removing our conditioned ignorance, delusion and gullibility about "sacred sex" and "sacred orgasms," the phallacy of worshipping the linga/yoni of your current hot-sex partner as a god/dess, and the like. The jewels herein are too numerous to recount, but some of my favorites include Hudson's chapter, "Tantric Rites in Antal's Poetry," which rather lovingly introduces the poetry of Antal, a kind of Tamil Mirabai. Kudos to numerous authors for emphasizing the relationship between bhakti and tantra. The down side is that the authors are scholars, not practitioners, with the concomitant lack of experiential understanding about what actual tantric practices consisted of, and of what "cosmological homology," as a body of psychospiritual praxis rooted in various yogic practices, actually means in lived experience. (But, as White says in his Introduction, practice without theory is like a map without a legend.) That said, this volume does not suffer from the epidemic of post-modern sophistry--that is, you won't find here pretty words cleverly arranged to signify that Tantra was mere artwork or political posturing by miscreants (this disorder characterizes much of the sociological/literary-critic studies on Tantra). In short, what this volume sets out to do, it does very well. Still, to grasp actual tantric practice, you'll have to look elsewhere. But I am afraid that my guru forbade me to indicate where....

World-class scholars ANDRE PADOUX, PAUL E. MULLER-ORTEGA, DOUGLAS R. BROOKS and many others come together to write about Buddhist Tantra, Hindu Tantra, Jain Tantra, and Tantra and Islam in South Asia; //the countries covered are China, India, Japan, Nepal and Tibet.//
The topics discussed include:
--GURUS AND ADEPTS including "The Tantric Guru" by Andre Padoux, one of the best Kashmir Shaivism scholars in the world.
--KINGS AND PRIESTS
--DEVOTEES AND DEITIES
--TRADITIONS IN TRANSITIONS AND CONFLICTS
--TANTRIC PATHS including "The Ocean of the Heart: Selections from the Kularnava Tantra" by Douglas R. Brooks, one of the only brilliant scholars in the world to know Tantra "from the inside".
--RITES AND TECHNIQUES --YOGA AND MEDITATION
including "On the Seal of Shambhu: A Poem by Abhinavagupta" by Paul E. Muller-Ortega, the leading authority on Abhinavagupta, one of the 3 best scholars of Kashmir Shaivism with Alexis Sanderson and Andre Padoux.
//Any Indology student has to have read this book.

This book is a must for anyone who claims to be interested in Tantra. This is NOT New-Age junk! I recommend reading the introduction for an eredite definition of Tantra. Highly recommended.

This book has many excellent articles. Yet, it forgets to focus on the central idea of tantra which is the connections between the outer and inner cosmologies. The contributions thus get lost in the details, unable to find the grammar that would unlock the esoteric language of the medieval tantra texts.

I Have read the Entire Book and find it very Interesting and Informative.It deals with the most of Tantra Topics in a Short Introductive Selected Articles By Diiferent Writers and Excelently Edited By Sir David Gordon White. After Reading the Book Any One can Guess How Astoundingly Practicle and Vast is The Subject of Tantra to deal with. The Book Impartially Gives Even the Parodies and Critical Articles on Tantra and Latently Proving, How Practicle , Truthful and WideSpread is the Tantra's Influence on Almost all over the World. And By reading this Book, one will be starting to Pack his/her Baggages to start the Search for the Truth, if not yet Started. This Book , even though targetted at Western Audience to give a Brief Glimpse of the Mystical Subject Called Tantra Practised By Hindus, Jains, Budhists etc, is also valuable for Tantra Researchers and Practitionars alike. I strongly Recommend that All Saadhakas should buy this book and keep it as a Further Reference in to the Vast Field of Experience Called TANTRA, Which needs "to be experienced to be Believed". Every Article in this Book Propels the Reader to Search for Further Material to look in to Grasp the Deeper and Deeper Understanding of Eastern Mystical Tantra. There is no Doubt that this Book's Positive Contribution to Better Understanding of Tantra will go a long way.And I look forward to more and more , research-based books on Tantra.

I would not recommend this book since the choice of topics enfogs the subject rather than illuminating it. This collection does indeed have some excellent contributions from leading scholars, but it is the whole package that is disappointing. I was also disappointed with White's own contributions.

The correct title of the book should read Tantra in Practice (Princeton Readings in Religions) by David Gordon White (Editor), Beavis and Butthead.