Tantra in Practice

Book Description

As David White explains in the Introduction to Tantra in Practice, Tantra is an Asian body of beliefs and practices that seeks to channel the divine energy that grounds the universe, in creative and liberating ways. The subsequent chapters reflect the wide geographical and temporal scope of Tantra by examining thirty-six texts from China, India, Japan, Nepal, and Tibet, ranging from the seventh century to the present day, and representing the full range of Tantric experience--Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, and even Islamic. Each text has been chosen and translated, often for the first time, by an international expert in the field who also provides detailed background material. Students of Asian religions and general readers alike will find the book rich and informative.

The book includes plays, transcribed interviews, poetry, parodies, inscriptions, instructional texts, scriptures, philosophical conjectures, dreams, and astronomical speculations, each text illustrating one of the diverse traditions and practices of Tantra. Thus, the nineteenth-century Indian Buddhist Garland of Gems, a series of songs, warns against the illusion of appearance by referring to bees, yogurt, and the fire of Malaya Mountain; while fourteenth-century Chinese Buddhist manuscripts detail how to prosper through the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper by burning incense, making offerings to scriptures, and chanting incantations. In a transcribed conversation, a modern Hindu priest in Bengal candidly explains how he serves the black Goddess Kali and feeds temple skulls lentils, wine, or rice; a seventeenth-century Nepalese Hindu praise-poem hammered into the golden doors to the temple of the Goddess Taleju lists a king's faults and begs her forgiveness and grace. An introduction accompanies each text, identifying its period and genre, discussing the history and influence of the work, and identifying points of particular interest or difficulty.

The first book to bring together texts from the entire range of Tantric phenomena, Tantra in Practice continues the Princeton Readings in Religions series. The breadth of work included, geographic areas spanned, and expert scholarship highlighting each piece serve to expand our understanding of what it means to practice Tantra.

Customer Reviews:

Mapping Tantra .......2006-12-04

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....

Unacknowledged contributors.......2004-06-03

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

The choice of topics misses the heart of tantra.......2004-05-30

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.

Good overview..........2001-08-30

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.

Forgets to focus on the central idea of tantra.......2001-05-02

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.

Average customer rating:

Excellent read
REALISTIC

On Being a Missionary
Thomas Hale
Manufacturer: William Carey Library Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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Religion & Spirituality | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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Perspectives on the World Christian Movement : A Reader

ASIN: 0878082557

Book Description

Written for everyone with an interest in mission, this book will lead you to reconsider your role in the missionary enterprise. On Being a Missionary is not designed to be a theoretical textbook. It does not put forward new theses, new approaches to mission, nor does it attempt to break new ground. In a very readable way the author presents the ideas, experiences, and insights of over one hundred missionary writers.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent read.......2007-02-12

Of the four gospels, my favorite is St. Luke. Luke was a doctor and wrote as a doctor- precise, bearing on the facts, and somewhat paternally. I get the same sense from Hale's writing. Hale and his wife are physicians that have served as medical missionaries in Nepal since 1970. This book might be considered a primer on missions. For me, it was perfect. Having never served as a missionary, the book gave me an idea of what it's really like, the ups and downs, the realities of being on the mission field. In reading this book, I felt like I was sitting down with a very wise man, perhaps at a pub over a beer, and asking, "so, what's it really like to be a missionary?" and this wise man patiently taking the time to tell me. Five stars for sure, don't head for the fields without this one.

REALISTIC.......2000-06-16

This book is a wonderful book to read if you are THINKING aboutgoing to the mission field or returning again. The author is frankabout the obstacles involved in missions work and how to overcome them.

I read this book a few years ago before I left for Asia and it prepared me to be a team player. It also gave me realistic insights into what was ahead.

Now I am going back to Asia- leading a team this time- and once again this has been a great book to read about building team unity, making mistakes, and just trusting God's soveriegnty.

Book Description

In this true story, the faith and humility of doctors Tom and Cynthia Hale are matched by the beguiling personality and character of the Nepalese people, the majority of whom are subsistence farmers who share much in common with the poor of all developing countries. Reading it will transport you to one of the most enchanting lands -- first class.

Customer Reviews:

Inspirational novel and an easy read.......2001-11-05

Thomas Hale's writing is beautiful and his adventures as a Christian medical missionary in Nepal are even more splendid. I just couldn't put this book down. After reading this book I have found the strength to continue plugging through my medical school requirements!

Inspirational Living Stones.......2000-02-19

Dr. Thomas Hale has given us an opportunity to experience the trials, tribulations and triumphs, but more importantly, the inspiration that he and his wife have been so fortunate to have been a part of. His writing style is not only easy to read, but it compels you to want to read more. It is a wonderful diary of his medical mission experience over the years and is a treat for those who want to go to Nepal or anywhere else to do missions.

Daughters of the Tharu: Gender, Ethnicity, Religion, and the Education of Nepali Girls (Reference Books in International Education)

Average customer rating:

Daughters of the Tharu: Gender, Ethnicity, Religion, and the Education of Nepali Girls (Reference Books in International Education)
Maslak
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Education | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0415934672

Book Description

This book explores the complex relationships that govern girls' educational participation in Nepal. The first part is a case study focusing exclusively on one village's experiences in Nepal and is considered a point of entry into the educational decision-making process. The second part approaches the problems of girls' education in South Asia from the documentary, statistical and archival angle. Here the scope of the study is broadened beyond Nepal to include the South Asia Region.

Average customer rating:

A "must read"
Funny yet inspiring

On the Far Side of Liglig Mountain
Dr. Thomas Hale
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Don't Let the Goats Eat the Loquat Trees
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Bruchko
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ASIN: 0310216710

Book Description

This is the story of Dr. Tom Hale and how he brought hope, comfort, and cheer to the people of Nepal as a missionary surgeon. With beguiling humor and humility, Dr. Hale recounts his often amazing (and sometimes almost unbelievable) experiences in bringing western medicine to people who distrust -- even fear -- the introduction of ideas different from their own.

Customer Reviews:

A "must read".......2001-04-12

While reading this book, I often had to stop to read passages (even entire chapters) to my husband...I just had to share! It tells in an engaging way about life in a place I can only imagine...the armchair traveller will just get completely absorbed in this description of life far away. It's funny and extremely well-written. His "Don't Let the Goats Eat the Loquat Trees" should be read first for maximum enjoyment.

Funny yet inspiring.......2000-04-29

After reading Dr Hales first book - Don't let the goats eat the loquat trees, I couldn't wait to read this book. The reality of his adventures and the honesty of his faith made me long to return to Nepal. Being willing to forgo the luxuries of America, Dr Hale was led to serve in Nepal, raise a family and be a Christian witness to the people. The style of writing was quite enjoyable and the content real, so easy to imagine being right there with him. I could only hope for another book of his.

Body and Emotion: The Aesthetics of Illness and Healing in the Nepal Himalayas (Contemporary Ethnography)

Average customer rating:

Body and Emotion: The Aesthetics of Illness and Healing in the Nepal Himalayas (Contemporary Ethnography)
Robert R. Desjarlais
Manufacturer: University of Pennsylvania Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Customs & Traditions | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 081221434X

Book Description

Body and Emotion is a study of the relationship between culture and emotional distress, an examination of the cultural forces that influence, make sense of, and heal severe pain and malaise. In order to investigate this relationship, Robert R. Desjarlais served as an apprentice healer among the Yolmo Sherpa, a Tibetan Buddhist people who reside in the Helambu region of north-central Nepal.

Sacred Journey: The Ganges to the Himalayas (Midsize)

Average customer rating:

Exploitive and unscholarly
Enlightenment in the form of photographs

Sacred Journey: The Ganges to the Himalayas (Midsize)
David Howard
Manufacturer: Taschen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 3822828068

Customer Reviews:

Exploitive and unscholarly.......2007-03-05

Sacred Journey by David Howard is an embarrassment. The author is completely uninformed about sadhus. His methods and approaches are questionable and disrespectful. The quality of writing is hopeless.

Enlightenment in the form of photographs.......2004-06-09

I just finished reading David Howard's "Sacred Journey" and have to ask, "what do you see, David, when you close your eyes?"

Average customer rating:

consumerist hippie buddhism
Very moved by this book. I loved it.
An Insightful Quest -- Towards a Buddha Image
I regret I bought this book!
Got some good laughs

Shopping for Buddhas
Jeff Greenwald
Manufacturer: Lonely Planet Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Travel | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

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The Size of the World
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ASIN: 086442471X

Book Description

Shopping for Buddhas is Jeff Greenwald's story of his obsessive search for the perfect Buddha statue. In the backstreets of Kathmandu, he discovers more than he bargained for...and his souvenir-hunting turns into an ironic metaphor for the clash between spiritual riches and material greed. Politics, religion and serious shopping collide in this witty account of an enlightening visit to Nepal.

Customer Reviews:

consumerist hippie buddhism.......2006-06-03

This book starts out in a very promising manner and during the first 20 pages or so I was looking forward to a good read. But it soon degenerates into trivialities, and anyone with an interest in Buddhist art will soon realise Greenwald doesn't have a clue about Buddhist sculpture (this wouldn't matter except that in the writing he pretends to).

The hash-intoxicated epiphany that serves as the book's ending is the most disappointing of all. This might have made a good stop along the way, but the early buildup raises one's expectations and it feels rather unsatisfactory to say the least. (Greenwald's Size of The World suffers from a similar balance problem.)

Readers who like this book will probably be those with limited exposure to travel in Nepal and to Buddhism/Buddhist art. I liked Jeff's earlier book on Nepal, Mr Raja's Neighborhood, more (I see that's out of print, too).

Very moved by this book. I loved it........2006-04-27

I first learned of Jeff Greenwald from the book "A Sense of Place" which is a collection of interviews with authors best known for their travel/adventure writing.

Having been intrigued by the concept behind this book, I immediately checked Amazon to see how well it was received. I was quite surprised to find reviews that ran the spectrum from "Loved it" to "Hated it." I fall into the "Loved it" category.

Jeff's writing is very real, down to earth, funny and intelligent. He's not afraid to admit when he's made a cultural faux pas, and I think this makes for quite an entertaining read. Live and learn, right?

Other readers found the pursuit of the Buddha trite and materialistic, but I saw it as a search for much more. For perfection in one self, a sense of beginning, or one of closure. I have a feeling that this book ended up being a great deal more thought provoking than the author originally intended. The ending of this book actually moved me to tears.

I highly recommend this book, as well as "The Size of The World" by the same author.

An Insightful Quest -- Towards a Buddha Image .......2005-09-20

I liked this book! I took the text for face value - what I read is what I got. I did not look beneath the skin for hidden meanings or innuendos. And, as such, I thought it was a wonderful, humorous read with insight from the experiences of an author who clearly cares about the country and the people. I liked the personal, open approach of the text, which is presented in an accessible writing style. Amongst my favorite parts were the descriptions of the life of the Buddha and of the Hindu gods, which were presented in a reader-friendly way. It seems to me that the reviews on Amazon are, for the most part, unfair. I didn't get the idea that Greenwald ever set out to define Buddhism; and I didn't sense an "arrogance" in his story. Rather, I took it as his journey in a Buddhist country whose culture and people captured and led him towards a quest for what he considered a "perfect" image of the Buddha that would always be with him, to either still or energize the mind. I thought it was a great thread to pull the text together. Surely anyone reading this book will connect with the author's commitment to conveying his experiences of Shopping for Buddhas.

I regret I bought this book!.......2004-05-23

If you look for adventure of some Californians in Nepal (and that could be in whatever other place in the world), buy this book. But if your intention is to have a glimpse of what Buddhism as well as Buddhist practioners are, there are dozens of books (that I have read myself and for sure hundreds of others I haven't read yet) that will give you that.
Unfortunately I started to read this book after the fantastic "The Quantum and The Lotus" (by Trinh Xuan Thuan and Matthieu Ricard), which make the reading of "Shopping for Buddhas" a very hard work, as what I was looking for was not adventures of Westerners in Nepal, but some content as well.
When I decided to buy this book I must confess that I didn't read the reviews. If I did that I wouldn't have bought it. So please, consider not only this review from me with "1 star", but also the other ones with higher amount of "stars" before you take your decision.

Got some good laughs.......2002-04-21

I bought this book while traveling through Thailand and undergoing my own quest for an acceptable Buddha (perfection was too high a standard). Yeah, the writer comes across as self-absorbed and arrogant, and he reminded me of fellow Westerners who had embarrassed me during my travels. However, this book was an entertaining read with situations that I could identify with. I needed an escape and some laughs after challenges encountered during travel in Asia, and this book gave those laughs to me. I wasn't expecting perfection from the writer, just entertainment.

Average customer rating:

Deep comprehensive Sherpa history book, best available

High Religion
Sherry B. Ortner
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Buddhism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Tibetan | Buddhism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0691028435

Book Description

An eminent anthropologist examines the foundings of the first celibate Buddhist monasteries among the Sherpas of Nepal in the early twentieth century--a religious development that was a major departure from "folk" or "popular" Buddhism. Sherry Ortner is the first to integrate social scientific and historical modes of analysis in a study of the Sherpa monasteries and one of the very few to attempt such an account for Buddhist monasteries anywhere. Combining ethnographic and oral-historical methods, she scrutinizes the interplay of political and cultural factors in the events culminating in the foundings. Her work constitutes a major advance both in our knowledge of Sherpa Buddhism and in the integration of anthropological and historical modes of analysis.

At the theoretical level, the book contributes to an emerging theory of "practice," an explanation of the relationship between human intentions and actions on the one hand, and the structures of society and culture that emerge from and feed back upon those intentions and actions on the other. It will appeal not only to the increasing number of anthropologists working on similar problems but also to historians anxious to discover what anthropology has to offer to historical analysis. In addition, it will be essential reading for those interested in Nepal, Tibet, the Sherpa, or Buddhism in general.

Customer Reviews:

Deep comprehensive Sherpa history book, best available.......1999-09-21

We at the Sherpa Friendship Association recommend HIGH RELIGION first and foremost as the best Sherpa history book in English. Sherpa language itself is rarely written, but Ortner went to great lengths to locate original Sherpa histories actually written by educated Sherpa lamas. Her translations of the Sherpa migration (from Kham, Tibet) stories into English are wonderfully detailed, and her study of Sherpa clan politics, Sherpa Buddhist beliefs, and finance in the old Sherpa Kingdoms is more thorough than any other study before or since. Most of the research for this voume was conducted in Zhung Gompa (Junbesi) in SharKhumbu, the Southern Kingdom of the Sherpas. Surely Lama Dorje, the magical Sherpa Lama who founded Zhung Gompa, smiles upon this work!

Power Places of Kathmandu: Hindu and Buddhist Holy Sites in the Sacred Valley of Nepal

Average customer rating:

some great photos

Power Places of Kathmandu: Hindu and Buddhist Holy Sites in the Sacred Valley of Nepal
Keith Dowman
Manufacturer: Inner Traditions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Hinduism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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Lonely Planet Nepal
Circling the Sacred Mountain: A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas

ASIN: 089281540X
Release Date: 1995-09-01

Book Description

Award-winning photographer Kevin Bubriski captures in stunning detail the sacred places of Nepal's Kathmandu Valley. Noted scholar Keith Dowman provides history and commentary on the significance of the sites.

Customer Reviews:

some great photos.......2000-10-12

some great photography, which is really only why I bought this book. plenty of text which I didnt really read. could have done with more photos. worth having.

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