Tantra

Abstract: Buddhist Thought guides the reader towards a richer understanding of the central concepts of classical Indian Buddhist thought, from the time of Buddha, to the latest scholarly perspectives and controversies. Abstract and complex ideas are made understandable by the authors' lucid style. Of particular interest is the up-to-date survey of Buddhist Tantra in India, a branch of Buddhism where strictly controlled sexual activity can play a part in the religious path. Williams' discussion of this controversial practice as well as of many other subjects makes Buddhist Thought crucial reading for all interested in Buddhism.

Abstract: List of Illustrations Preface and Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: Diagnosing the "Disease" of Tantra 1. The Golden Age of the Vedas and the Dark Age of Kali: Tantrism, Orientalism, and the Bengal Renaissance 2. Sacrificing White Goats to the Goddess: Tantra and Political Violence in Colonial India 3. India's Darkest Heart: Tantra in the Literary Imagination 4. Deodorized Tantra: Sex, Scandal, Secrecy, and Censorship in the Works of John Woodroffe and Swami Vivekananda 5. Religion for the Age of Darkness: Tantra and the History of Religions in the Twentieth Century 6. The Cult of Ecstasy: Meldings of East and West in a New Age of Tantra Conclusion: Reimagining Tantra in Contemporary Discourse Notes Bibliography Index

Abstract: Yoga, tantra and other forms of Asian meditation are practised in modernized forms throughout the world today, but most introductions to Hinduism or Buddhism tell only part of the story of how they developed. This book is an interpretation of the history of Indic religions up to around 1200 CE, with particular focus on the development of yogic and tantric traditions. It assesses how much we really know about this period, and asks what sense we can make of the evolution of yogic and tantric practices, which were to become such central and important features of the Indic religious scene. Its originality lies in seeking to understand these traditions in terms of the total social and religious context of South Asian society during this period, including the religious practices of the general population with their close engagement with family, gender, economic life and other pragmatic concerns.

Abstract: This book, published by the Unitarian Universalist Association of Boston, is the result of a three-year study of traditional mental health and healing systems in India. The work was supported by the Homi Bhabha Fellowship. The fortunate reader is carried into a vivid and detailed experience of Islamic uranic soul knowledge and soul force, Hindu temple healing at Balaji, Dravidian shamans, Tibetan demonology, the devotional mysticism of the sect of Radha Soami Satsang of Beas, Tantra texts and healing, the cult of Primal Power Mata Nirmala Devi, Who Is God, and of Ayurveda and an Ayurvedic mental hospital at Jharsetli. Each system is well described from a structural-theoretical standpoint, and from the actual experience of patients, practitioners, and observers. Each system is then examined in the overall Indian medical context, and in Western (Christian, psychoanalytic, and medical) idiom. Most readers will find this journey to India fascinating and Sudhir Kakar