Change, Continuity and Complexity

Change, Continuity and Complexity
Author: Jae-Eun Shin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2018-05-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0429831021

The Mahāvidyās are the representative Tantric feminine pantheon consisting of ten goddesses. It is formed by divergent religious strands and elements: the mātṛ and yoginī worship, the cult of Kālī and Tripurasundarī, Vajrayāna Buddhism, Jain Vidyādevīs, Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava faith, Śrīvidyā, the Brahmanical strand of Puranic traditions, etc. This volume is the first attempt to explore the historical process, through which these traditions culminated in the Mahāvidyā cult and the goddesses with different origins and contradictory attributes were brought into a cluster, with special reference to socio-political changes in the lower Gaṅgā and Brahmaputra Valley between the 9th and 15th centuries CE. Based on a close analysis of Purāṇas, Tantras and inscriptional evidence, and on extensive field research on archaeological remains as well as sacred sites, Jae-Eun Shin discusses the two trajectories of the Mahāvidyās in eastern Śākta traditions. Each led to the systematization of Daśamahāvidyās in a specific way: one, as ten manifestations of Durgā upholding dharma in the cosmic dimension, and the other, as ten mandalic goddesses bearing magical powers in the actual sacred site. Their attributes and characteristics have neither been static nor monolithic, and the mode of worship prescribed for them has changed in a dialectical religious process between Brahmanical and Tantric traditions of the region. This is the definitive work for anyone seeking to understand goddess cults of South Asia in general and the history of eastern Śākta traditions in particular. To aid study, the volume includes images, diagrams and maps. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Vajrayogini

Vajrayogini
Author: Elizabeth English
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 607
Release: 2013-02-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0861716574

Vajrayogini is a tantric goddess from the highest class of Buddhist tantras who manifests the ultimate development of wisdom and compassion. Her practice is prevalent today among practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. This ground-breaking book delves into the origins of Vajrayogini, charting her evolution in India and examining her roots in the Cakrasamvara tantra and in Indian tradition relating to siva. The focus of this work is the Guhyasamayasadhanamala, a collection of forty-six sadhanas, or practice texts. Written on palm leaves in Sanskrit and preserved since the twelfth century, this diverse collection, composed by various authors, reveals a multitude of forms of the goddess, each of which is described and illustrated here. One of the sadhanas, the Vajravarahi Sadhana by Umapatideva, depicts Vajrayogini at the center of a mandala of thirty-seven different goddesses, and is here presented in full translation alongside a Sanskrit edition. Elizabeth English provides extensive explanation and annotation of this representative text. Sixteen pages of stunning color plates not only enhance the study but bring the goddess to life.

The Arts of India, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas at the Dallas Museum of Art

The Arts of India, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas at the Dallas Museum of Art
Author: Dallas Museum of Art
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780300149883

In recent years, the Dallas Museum of Art has expanded its collection of South Asian art from a small number of Indian temple sculptures to nearly 500 works, including Indian Hindu and Buddhist sculptures, Himalayan Buddhist bronze sculptures and ritual objects, artwork from Southeast Asia, and decorative arts from India's Mughal period. Artworks in the collection have origins from the former Ottoman empire to Java, and architectural pieces suggest the grandeur of buildings in the Indian tradition. This volume details the cultural and artistic significance of more than 140 featured works, which range from Tibetan thangkas and Indian miniature paintings to stone sculptures and bronzes. Relating these works to one another through interconnecting narratives and cross-references, scholars and curators provide a broad cultural history of the region. Distributed for the Dallas Museum of Art

Conceiving the Goddess

Conceiving the Goddess
Author: Jayant Bhalchandra Bapat
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017
Genre: Goddesses, Indic
ISBN: 9781925377309

Conceiving the Goddess is an exploration of goddess cults in South Asia that embodies research on South Asian goddesses in various disciplines. The theme running through all the contributions, with their multiple approaches and points of view, is the concept of appropriation, whereby one religious group adopts a religious belief or practice not formerly its own. What is the motivation behind this? Are such actions attempts to dominate, or to resist the domination of others, or to adapt to changing social circumstances - or perhaps simply to enrich the religious experience of a group's members? In examining these questions, Conceiving the Goddess considers a range of settings: a Jain goddess lurking in a Brahminical temple, the fraught relationship between the humble Camār caste and the river goddess Gaṅgā, the mutual appropriation of disciple and goddess in the tantric exercises of Kashmiri Śaivism, and the alarming self-decapitation of the fierce goddess Chinnamastā

The Poetics of Grammar and the Metaphysics of Sound and Sign

The Poetics of Grammar and the Metaphysics of Sound and Sign
Author: Sergio La Porta
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2007
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004158103

Recognizing the seemingly universal notion of a grammatical cosmos, this volume addresses the question of how grammar and culturally encoded sounds and signs provide cognitive maps of reality in a variety of great civilizations.

Snake Charmers

Snake Charmers
Author: Miriam Robertson
Publisher: Arun Joshi
Total Pages: 344
Release: 1998
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

Details The Present Way Of Life Of The Kalbelias Of Rajasthan Whose Occupation Is Snake Charmers. Describes Their Religious Orientation As Naths, Their Work As Healers, Spirit Mediums, Entertainers, Beggars, And Labourers. Also Describes Thier System Of Dispute Settlement, Brideservice, Marriage, Death And Inheritance. Has 9 Chapters And 4 Appendices And Illustration.

Vajrayogini Sadhana & Commentary

Vajrayogini Sadhana & Commentary
Author: Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey
Publisher: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2019-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 8186470549

Vajrayogini Sadhana and Commentary, a translation of an oral explanation given by Geshe Ngawang Dhargey in Seattle, Washington, USA, in 1981. Traditionally, the practice of tantra is supposed to kept secret, and it is to be noted that this book is intended purely for those who have received the proper initiations. However, as His Holiness the Dalai Lama has advised, the great misunderstandings to which tantra is often subject to are more harmful than the partial lifting of such secrecy, so there is a necessity for books to be made available which contain authentic explanations. Venerable Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey was born in Kham Province of Tibet in 1928 and attended Sera Je Monastery. He escaped from Tibet in 1959 to India where he was able to continue teaching and meditating. He received his Geshe Lharampa degree in 1969. In 1971 His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama asked him to teach Dharma courses to westerners at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala. In 1986 he left for Dunedin, New Zealand, where he was the resident Spiritual Director at the Thargye Dharma Center until his death in 1996.

Introduction to Tantra Shastra. --

Introduction to Tantra Shastra. --
Author: Sir John George Woodroffe
Publisher: Hassell Street Press
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2021-09-09
Genre:
ISBN: 9781014193599

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Tantra

Tantra
Author: Andre van Lysebeth
Publisher: Weiser Books
Total Pages: 412
Release: 2002-10-01
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 9780877288459

Known only for the virtues of its sexual practice, ancient Tantric ideology is a universal and wide-reaching ideology virtually ignored in the West. In Tantra: The Cult of the Feminine, one of Europe's foremost Tantric authors and teachers, Andre Van Lysebeth, gives readers a balanced, well-informed, modern examination of the secret teachings and symbolism of Tantra. Espousing no dogma, Tantra involves a search for reality that contradicts neither science nor religion. For Tantra, all of the myriad energy forms in the universe -- gravity, nuclear cohesion, electromagnetism -- exist throughout the cosmos. "Scientifically speaking, the universe is a gigantic continuum ranging from sub-atomic to astronomical dimensions. Tantrists have perceived this unity for over thirty-five centuries," points out van Lysebeth in his introduction. Originally published in 1992, Tantra has become the classic text on the subject, the source for serious students. Eight full-color illustrations and 36 line drawings complement a comprehensive and contemporary explanation of Tantra, complete with meditations. Andre does a remarkable job of bringing ancient theories into the modern world.

Chinnamastā, the Aweful Buddhist and Hindu Tantric Goddess

Chinnamastā, the Aweful Buddhist and Hindu Tantric Goddess
Author: Elisabeth Anne Benard
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010
Genre: Chinnamasta (Buddhist deity)
ISBN: 9788120817487

This is the first monograph which examines the rare Buddhist and Hindu Tantric goddess, Chinnamasta, her rituals, her names and forms (namarupa) and their symbolism by comparing and contra-sting her sadhanas (spiritual practices) in Hinduism and Buddh-ism. The entire Hindu Chinnamastatantra section from the Sakta Pramoda, the Buddhist Chinnamunda Vajra-varahisadhana and theTrikayavajrayoginstuti are translated for the first time into English. Since Chinnamasta is a rare goddess, her texts were not popularized or made fashionable according to the dictates of a particular group at a particular time. The earliest extant texts dated from the ninth and tenth centuries a time when Hindu and Buddhist Tantras were developing under common influences in the same place in India. Having such texts about Chinnamasta Chinnamunda from these centuries, one can begin to understand the mutuality of a general Tantric tradition and the exclusivity of a particular Hindu or Buddhist Tantric tradition. Hence the study not only examines Chinnamasta, but also attempts to under-stand what is a Tantric tradition.