In (perhaps) secret defiance of the rigid prescriptive codes of the Buddhist monastic order cropped up a new, esoteric cultic phenomenon. Which, later known as Buddhist tantra, not just compromised Shakyamuni s ethical legacy, but came to be administered by a whole host of mudras, mandalas, kriyas, caryas and mysteriously ritualistic elements, even hedonistic practices. Dr. Mishra s book attempts afresh to investigate when, why and how emerged this secrecy-ridden cult: now a spiritual tradition in its own right. The author, who has had long, personal interactions with some of the living tantriks, here enters the dark alleys of Buddhist tantra to look for its nucleus, its evolution, its culmination, and the causes of its disintegration. Focussing, further, on the shifting philosophical tenets of Buddhism: from Hinayana to Mahayana, Vajrayana, Kalacakrayana and, finally, Sahajayana, Dr. Mishra spells out quintessentially the world-view of Buddhist Tantra and its path to nirvana or sukhavati: the abode of bliss, together with a wide range of tàntric concepts that remain guhya (secret) to the uninitiated. Also showing how Buddhist art, almost from the beginning, has been compellingly influenced by tantric practices, the book exemplifies the manifestations of this influence in the iconographic representations of the Buddhist deities, illustrated manuscripts, thangkas, and even in the use of colours by the Buddhist artists.
The Way of the White Clouds
LAMA ANAGARIKA GOVINDA
RIDER BOOKS/PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE GROUP
BUDDHISM AND THE SPIRIT CULTS IN NORTH EAST THAILAND
S.J. TAMBIAH
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
PALI BUDDHIST TEXTS EXPLAINED TO THE BEGINNER
JOHANSSON RUNE E A
CURZON PRESS
DHAMMAPADA HOLY TEXT OF THE BUDDHISTS
DR. C. KUNHAN RAJA
THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE
Relative World Ultimate Mind
TAI SITUPA
SHAMBHALA PUBLICATIONS INC.
THE BOOKS OF KIU TE OR THE TIBETAN BUDDHIST TANTRAS
DAVID REIGLE
WIZARDS BOOKSHELF
Annals Of The Nyingma Lineage In America
TARTHANG TULKU
DHARMA
THE BEAUTIFUL ORNAMENT OF THE THREE VISIONS
NGORCHEN KONCHOG LHUNDRUB
SNOW LION PUBLICATIONS
The Rainmaker Story of Venerable Ngagpa Yeshe Dorje Rinpoche
MARSHA WOOLF
SIGO PRESS
The Essentials of the Eight Traditions AND The Candle of the Latter Dharma BDK English Tripitaka Series
GYONEN,LEO M. PRUDEN,SAICHO,ROBERT RHODES
NUMATA CENTER FOR BUDDHIST TRANSLATION AND RESEARCH
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