Transformations and Transfer of Tantra in Asia and Beyond (eBook)

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István Keul, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.

Acknowledgements 6
Contents 8
Introduction 12
PART I. South Asia 28
Recoding the Natural and Animating the Imaginary. Kaula Body-practices in the Parasurama-Kalpasutra, Ritual Transfers, and the Politics of Representation 30
Some Observations on an U..i.a Abhi.eka Rite in Atiku.a’s Dhara.isa.graha 88
From Matr to Yogini. Continuity and Transformation in the South Asian Cults of the Mother Goddesses 110
Rivers to the Sky: Transformation, Metaphor, and Worldview in Bengali Tantric Traditions 142
Modern Bengali Sakta Tantrikas: Ethnography, Image, and Stereotype 158
Transformations in the Textual Tradition of Dhumavati. Changes in the Reception of the Tantric Mahavidya-Goddess in Ritual, Function, Iconography, and Mythology 176
Reconnecting to What? Imagined Continuities and Discursive Overlaps at Tantrapi.has in Central and Eastern India 206
The Absent Mother and Bodied Speech: Psychology and Gender in Late Medieval Tantra 226
PART II. Mongolia, Tibet, and China 248
Embodying the Dharma: The Buddhist Way into Mongolia 250
Amitayus and the Development of Tantric Practices for Longevity and Health in Tibet 274
Ritual Expertise and Imperial Sovereignty: Some Remarks on Tantric Ritual Pragmatics in Medieval China 298
The Trouble with Tantra in China: Reflections on Method and History 314
PART III. Japan 338
Taimitsu Rituals in Medieval Japan: Sectarian Competition and the Dynamics of Tantric Performance 340
Conversions of Tantric Buddhist Ritual: The Yoshida Shinto Juhachishinto Ritual 376
The Impact of Tantrism on Japanese Religious Traditions: The Cult of the Three Devas 410
PART IV ...and Beyond 422
Kalacakra in Transition: From the Apocalypse to the Promotion of World Peace 424
Remembering Ourselves: On Some Countercultural Echoes of Contemporary Tantric Studies 446
Tantra, American Style: From the Path of Power to the Yoga of Sex 468
The Serpent Rises in the West: Positive Orientalism and Reinterpretation of Tantra in the Western Left-Hand Path 506
Notes on Contributors 532
Index 536