Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics, and Power in the Study of Religion (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The category "Tantra" is a basic and familiar one today in the vocabulary of most scholars of religious and generally considered one of the most..." (more)
Key Phrases: term tantra, spiritual sex, meditation revolution, Siddha Yoga, United States, The Cult of Ecstasy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A complex body of religious practices that spread throughout the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions; a form of spirituality that seemingly combines sexuality, sensual pleasure, and the full range of physical experience with the religious life--Tantra has held a central yet conflicted role within the Western imagination ever since the first "discovery" of Indian religions by European scholars. Always radical, always extremely Other, Tantra has proven a key factor in the imagining of India. This book offers a critical account of how the phenomenon has come to be.

Tracing the complex genealogy of Tantra as a category within the history of religions, Hugh B. Urban reveals how it has been formed through the interplay of popular and scholarly imaginations. Tantra emerges as a product of mirroring and misrepresentation at work between East and West--a dialectical category born out of the ongoing play between Western and Indian minds. Combining historical detail, textual analysis, popular cultural phenomena, and critical theory, this book shows Tantra as a shifting amalgam of fantasies, fears, and wish-fulfillment, at once native and Other, that strikes at the very heart of our constructions of the exotic Orient and the contemporary West.

From the Inside Flap

"A powerful book demonstrating how the Western study of Hinduism, Indian religious texts, and American popular culture have become related to one another in exceptionally intimate and creative ways. Urban refuses to narrate yet another postcolonial narrative about the evil West, producing instead a subtle and much more accurate reading of the cultural encounter that produced, intentionally or not, a new form of erotic mysticism-Western Tantra."--Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna

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Product Details

• Paperback: 388 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (October 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520236564
• ISBN-13: 978-0520236561
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #427,237 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cogent, thorough and accessible history of the study of Tantra, October 6, 2009

By	Sundari "Sundari" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

Hugh Urban's engaging historical account of the study of Tantra is extremely thorough and thoughtful in its approach to the subject. He covers a large amount of ground in a relatively short amount of space, tracing the origins of the modern ideas about Tantra, its historical foundations, its rather infamous travel to the West, appropriation and distortion by New Age "tantric sex" groups, and everything in between. His exploration of Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon) and Aleister Crowley in particular are fascinating and revealing, and anyone interested in Woodroffe's work should read Urban's chapters on him. Urban's writing style is approachable, no small feat with such a vast and technical subject, and a pleasure to read. This book is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in the history of Tantra, Eastern mystical traditions, Hinduism and the history of religions and religious studies.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you think this book is about sex..., May 4, 2009

By	Ari1111 "Ari1111" (Texas) - See all my reviews

...think again. I found myself fascinated by how deeply misunderstood are eastern cultures by western cultures. It's a fascinating book.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Academic, Informative, September 5, 2009

By	Diana Daffner - See all my reviews

What I most appreciate about Urban's book is that he acknowledges that those of us who draw on these ancient teachings are not diluting or disrespecting Tantra, but are allowing it to transform in a way that gives it new life.

Often scholars are tempted to judge the modern application of Tantra as something that is less than the "original." Urban dismisses the idea that it is even possible to describe Tantra in some lost-in-time "original" form. In today's world, one aspect of Tantra that brings value to our lives is indeed the idea that sexuality can be considered sacred. Without being religious at all, yet without contradicting any religion we may choose to otherwise practice, cultivating this new/ancient approach to sexuality can provide couples with a deepened experience of shared happiness. This book provides a useful background for anyone wanting to understand the complex historical perspective of Tantra.

Diana Daffner, Author & Workshop Leader
Tantric Sex for Busy Couples: How to Deepen Your Passion in Just Ten Minutes a Day (Hunter House Publishers, 2009)