Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism: History, Semiology, and Transgression in the Indian Traditions
by Christian K. Wedemeyer
- New
- Hardcover
- Condition
- New
- ISBN 10
- 0231162405
- ISBN 13
- 9780231162401
- Seller
-
Southport, Merseyside, United Kingdom
2 Copies Available from This Seller
(You can add more at checkout.)
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Hardback. New. Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism fundamentally rethinks the nature of the transgressive theories and practices of the Buddhist Tantric traditions, challenging the notion that the Tantras were "marginal" or primitive and situating them instead-both ideologically and institutionally-within larger trends in mainstream Buddhist and Indian culture. Critically surveying prior scholarship, Wedemeyer exposes the fallacies of attributing Tantric transgression to either the passions of lusty monks, primitive tribal rites, or slavish imitation of Saiva traditions. Through comparative analysis of modern historical narratives-that depict Tantrism as a degenerate form of Buddhism, a primal religious undercurrent, or medieval ritualism-he likewise demonstrates these to be stock patterns in the European historical imagination. Through close analysis of primary sources, Wedemeyer reveals the lived world of Tantric Buddhism as largely continuous with the Indian religious mainstream and deploys contemporary methods of semiotic and structural analysis to make sense of its seemingly repellent and immoral injunctions. Innovative, semiological readings of the influential Guhyasamaja Tantra underscore the text's overriding concern with purity, pollution, and transcendent insight-issues shared by all Indic religions-and a large-scale, quantitative study of Tantric literature shows its radical antinomianism to be a highly managed ritual observance restricted to a sacerdotal elite. These insights into Tantric scripture and ritual clarify the continuities between South Asian Tantrism and broader currents in Indian religion, illustrating how thoroughly these "radical" communities were integrated into the intellectual, institutional, and social structures of South Asian Buddhism.
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- The Saint Bookstore (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- A9780231162401
- Title
- Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism: History, Semiology, and Transgression in the Indian Traditions
- Author
- Christian K. Wedemeyer
- Format/Binding
- Hardback
- Book Condition
- New
- Quantity Available
- 2
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 0231162405
- ISBN 13
- 9780231162401
- Publisher
- Columbia University Press
- This edition first published
- 2012-12
Terms of Sale
The Saint Bookstore
Refunds or Returns: A full refund of the price paid will be given if returned within 30 days in undamaged condition. If the product is faulty, we may send a replacement.
About the Seller
The Saint Bookstore
Biblio member since 2018
Southport, Merseyside
About The Saint Bookstore
The Saint Bookstore specialises in hard to find titles & also offers delivery worldwide for reasonable rates.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...