Tantrika

Author : June McDaniel
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2004-08-05
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780195347135

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Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls by June McDaniel Pdf

The Indian state of West Bengal is home to one of the world's most vibrant traditions of goddess worship. The year's biggest holidays are devoted to the goddesses Durga and Kali, with lavish rituals, decorated statues, fireworks, and parades. In Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls, June McDaniel provides a broad, accessibly written overview of Bengali goddess worship. McDaniel identifies three major forms of goddess worship, and examines each through its myths, folklore, songs, rituals, sacred texts, and practitioners. In the folk/tribal strand, which is found in rural areas, local tribal goddesses are worshipped alongside Hindu goddesses, with an emphasis on possession, healing, and animism. The tantric/yogic strand focuses on ritual, meditation, and visualization as ways of experiencing the power of the goddess directly. The devotional or bhakti strand, which is the most popular form, involves the intense love and worship of a particular form of the goddess. McDaniel traces these strands through Bengali culture and explores how they are interwoven with each other as well as with other forms of Hinduism. She also discusses how these practices have been reinterpreted in the West, where goddess worship has gained the values of sexual freedom and psychological healing, but lost its emphases on devotion and asceticism. Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls takes the reader inside the lives of practicing Shaktas, including holy women, hymn singers, philosophers, visionaries, gurus, ascetics, healers, musicians, and businessmen, and offers vivid descriptions of their rituals, practices, and daily lives. Drawing on years of fieldwork and extensive research, McDaniel paints a rich, expansive portrait of this fascinating religious tradition.

Author : Lal Mani Joshi
Publisher : Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Page : 536 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 1977
Category : Buddhism
ISBN : 8120802810

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Studies in the Buddhistic Culture of India During the 7th and 8th Centuries A.D. by Lal Mani Joshi Pdf

It is a pioneer attempt of its kind to study Indian Buddhism in its entirety as a system of rational philosophy, profound faith, and as a historical matrix of creative human culture and civilized institution during the 7th and 8th centuries the brilliant epoch of the University of Nalanda, the mere name of which spells the great wonder that was Buddhism in Ancient India.A chapter on the contribution of Buddhism to Indian Civilization has also been added. The treatment of the subject is critical and integral though not traditional.

Author : S. N. Sadasivan
Publisher : APH Publishing
Page : 854 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2000
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 817648170X

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A Social History of India by S. N. Sadasivan Pdf

Author : Alaka Chattopadhyaya,Atīśa
Publisher : Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Page : 626 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 1981
Category : Buddhism
ISBN : 8120809289

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Atiśa and Tibet by Alaka Chattopadhyaya,Atīśa Pdf

The book opens with a full account of the baffling personality of the great Bengali Pandit Atisa or Dipamkara Srijnana, the greatest of the teacher-reformers of Tibetan Buddhism. The author proceeds to portray the Tibetan Background of early Buddhism

Author : John Michael Greer
Publisher : Aeon Books
Page : 278 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2023-05-30
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781801520812

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A World Full of Gods by John Michael Greer Pdf

An investigation into the underpinnings and superstructures of the Pagan world view Pagan religions have tended to be more concerned with practice that with theory and in a system that has no dogma - no legislated doctrine - that is as it should be. Yet as the movement grows and matures, it is inevitable that we will begin to think in a more abstract way about our models and systems. John Michael Greer has provided a primer on the kinds of ideas and themes that must be included in any discussion of the theology and philosophy of Neo-pagan religions. Much of the book takes shape in a dialogue with existing ideas in theology, philosophy, and comparative religion. It looks to find a middle ground between too much and too little reference to the work of other scholars to find a comprehensible yet intellectually rigorous middle ground. It aims to be part of a conversation, that stretches out over the centuries. Voices of polytheist spirituality have had little place in that conversation for many years, but much of value has been said in their absence. The rebirth of polytheism as a living religious tradition in the Western world will inevitably force a reassessment of much of that heritage, and pose challenges to some of its most cherished assumptions. Yet reassessment is not necessarily rejection, and the traditions of modern polytheism are deeply enough indebted to legacies from the past that an attentive ear to earlier phases of the conversation is not out of place.

Author : Gerrit Jan Meulenbeld
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 1036 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 1999
Category : Medical literature
ISBN : UVA:X004995838

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A History of Indian Medical Literature by Gerrit Jan Meulenbeld Pdf

Author : Shyam Sundar Goswami
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 1999-05-01
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9781594776342

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Layayoga by Shyam Sundar Goswami Pdf

The most comprehensive guide to chakra meditation and the ancient spiritual science of layayoga ever created. • One of the great works on yoga, available for the first time in the United States. • Full-color plates illustrate each chakra. With the growing interest in energy medicine in the West, the ancient Hindu tradition of chakra meditation has become increasingly important to both healers and spiritual seekers. While new to us, the chakras have long been studied in the East, with the spiritual science of layayoga having the profoundest knowledge of these energy centers. The fundamental aspect of layayoga is the arousing of dormant energy within the body through concentration and breathing exercises and the movement of this energy through the chakras to achieve supreme consciousness. Unlike kundalini yoga, which starts with the lower chakras and moves energy upward, layayoga meditation starts with the Sahasrara, the spiritual chakra that crowns the aura, and brings energy down to spiritualize each chakra in turn. Layayoga has long been viewed as the most comprehensive and deeply researched examination of the chakras available in the West. Its detailed, illustrated look at each of the chakras and the various meditations and mantras that go with them makes it a must for serious students of yoga.

Author : Daniel Odier
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 1997-04-01
Category : Self-Help
ISBN : 9781620554401

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Tantric Quest by Daniel Odier Pdf

The author reveals his passionate experiences with a female Tantric master who taught him the suppressed practices of her ancient order. In 1968 Daniel Odier left Europe for the Himalayas, searching for a master who could help him go where texts and intellectual searching could no longer take him. He wanted everything: the wisdom and spirituality gained from the life of an ascetic and the beauty, love, and sensuality of a life of passion. He found both in Shivaic Tantrism, the secret spiritual path that seeks to transcend ego and rediscover the divine by embracing the passions. In an isolated Himalayan forest Odier met Devi, a great yogini who would take him on a mystical journey like none he had ever imagined. At times taking him beyond the limits of sexual experience, at times threatening him with destruction, she taught him what it is to truly be alive and to know the divine nature of absolute love. This is the personal memoir of one of France's most honored writers. Tantrism is the only ancient philosophy to survive all historical upheavals, invasions, and influences to reach us intact by uninterrupted transmission from master to disciple, and the only one to retain the image of the Great Goddess as the ultimate source of power.

Author : Daniel Odier
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2005-03-23
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781620554418

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Yoga Spandakarika by Daniel Odier Pdf

Translation and commentary of one of the most important texts of the Kashmirian Shivaism tradition of Tantra • Author was a student of the late Kalu Rinpoche • Explores the transmission of Mahamudra, the Great Cosmic Gesture • Includes the Vijnanabhaïrava Tantra, which contains the totality of the oldest source text on Yoga The Spandakarika, the "Tantric Song of the Divine Pulsation," is said to have been transmitted directly to the sage Vasugupta from the hands of Shiva on Mount Kailas. In his commentary on these fifty-two stanzas, the sage Ksemaraja described them as the heart of the Mahamudra. The oldest masters of Spandakarika viewed everything in the universe, including matter, as consciousness and created a yoga practice in accordance with this realization. The sacred dance of Yoga Spandakarika, Tandava, is extremely subtle and difficult, requiring thousands of hours of practice to master, yet it surpasses any other physical practice, allowing the practitioner to touch the divine inner pulse. Once its third stage has been mastered, the yogi or yogini is able to manifest the dance of Shiva in space, a tradition visible in the statuary of Tantric temples in India and Tibet. Energy is no longer contracted by the perception of duality, and the mind and body become unbounded, forming a sphere that contains all that was formerly outside. In Yoga Spandakarika Daniel Odier passes on these vanishing teachings as he received them from his Tibetan master, Kalu Rinpoche, and Kashmiri yogi Lalita Devi.

Author : Daniel Odier
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 162 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2021-06-29
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9781644112090

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Crazy Wisdom of the Yogini by Daniel Odier Pdf

• Shares vivid, experiential descriptions of the author’s sessions with master Lalita Devi wherein she imparted the essential principles of the Mahamudra to him physically, verbally, and energetically • Presents new translations of the most significant sacred books, including the Shiva Sutras, the Pratybhijna Hrdayam Sutra, and the Spandakarika, each presented in language that preserves their spontaneous mystic flow • Pairs the author’s intellectual study of the sacred texts with direct transmissions from his teacher, with each perspective shedding light on the other In 1975, in an isolated Himalayan forest, Daniel Odier met Lalita Devi, a tantric yogini who took him on a mystical journey beyond the limits of sexual experience to transcend the ego, recognize the true self, and rediscover the Divine nature of absolute love. Now, Odier shares the secret teachings and self-realization practices of the Kashmiri Mahamudra (meditation on the mind itself) and the Pratyabhijna (the School of Sudden Recognition). The author offers vivid descriptions of his sessions with Lalita Devi wherein she imparted the essential principles of the Mahamudra and the yoga of emotions to him physically, verbally, and energetically. Lalita Devi knew the principal texts of Kashmiri Shaivism by heart. New translations of the most significant sacred books, including the Shiva Sutras, the Pratyabhijnahrdayam, and the Spandakarika, are provided by Odier along with chants and poems from the yogini tradition. Presented in language that preserves their spontaneous mystic flow and restores their original ancient female origins, Crazy Wisdom of the Yogini offers a profound inside look at authentic tantric teachings.

Author : Carola E. Lorea,Rohit Singh
Publisher : State University of New York Press
Page : 460 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2023-11-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781438494852

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The Ethnography of Tantra by Carola E. Lorea,Rohit Singh Pdf

This is the first collection of essays to approach the topic of Tantric Studies from the vantage point of ethnography and lived religion, moving beyond the centrality of written texts and giving voice to the everyday life and livelihoods of a multitude of Tantric actors. Bringing together a team of international scholars whose contributions range across diverse communities and traditions in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayan region, the book connects distant shores of Tantric scholarship and lived Tantric practices. The contributors unpack Tantra’s relationship to the body, ritual performance, sexuality, secrecy, power hierarchies, death, magic, and healing, while doing so with vigilant sensitivity to decolonization and the ethics of fieldwork. Through diverse ethnographies of Tantra and attention to lived experiences and life stories, the book challenges normative definitions of Tantra and maps the variety of Tantric traditions, providing comparative perspectives on Tantric societies across regions and religious backgrounds. The accessible tone of the ethnographic case studies makes this an ideal book for undergraduate or graduate audiences working on the topic of Tantra.

Author : Hugh B. Urban
Publisher : Motilal Banarsidass Publishe
Page : 392 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 8120829328

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Tantra by Hugh B. Urban Pdf

Bhadriraju Krishnamurti (1928) is Professor and Head of the department of Linguistics at Osmania University, Hyderabad. He received a B.A. (Hons.) Degree (1948) in Telugu language and literature at Andhra University Waltair and an M.A. (1955) and Ph.D. (1957) in linguistics from the university of Pennsylvania U.S.A.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Abhinav Publications
Page : 214 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9788170171560

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Madhubani Painting by Anonim Pdf

The present work contains a brief study of the various facets of Mithila folk-arts and paintings, which are unique in character having few parallels. Of late there has been great talk about this painting, the central inspiration of which revolves round popular religious themes and natural surroundings. They reflect the self-control and serenity of Maithila life and the definite theocratic and aristocratic organizations of Maithila society. The women painters of Mithila aimed at giving clear and edifying expression to certain intuitions, which formed part of their religion. The different forms of floor-drawings (Aripana) and walk-paintings (bhitti-citra) provide information on customs and costumes and rituals and religion which otherwise may remain unnoticed. The volume further explains in detail the religious and spiritual significance of the folk-arts and paintings of Mithila by means of copious references to Sanskrit texts, both sacred and secular. The paintings, as they are, constitute not merely a heap of drawings but a visible symbol of aspirations of pious ladies, and the throbbings of their hearts in religious fervour. A work of inestimable interest both for the specialist and for the connisseur interested in the study of Indian paintings, this comprehensive and authoritative volume on Madhubani painting and other folk-arts of Mithila will prove of immense help to students of Indian culture.

Author : Dr. Susmit Kumar
Publisher : iUniverse
Page : 100 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2012-02-08
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 1469750244

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Karma, Mind, and Quest for Happiness by Dr. Susmit Kumar Pdf

In Karma, Mind, and Quest for Happiness, Dr. Susmit Kumar seeks to explain certain facts of Tantric philosophy, such as the constituent parts of the mind, the effect of mantra on the mind, and how karma may be scientifically defined and explained. Until recently, people considered units of time and distance in terms of 100200 years and 100200 miles; astronomers now measure time and distance in billions of years and trillions of miles. Even so, science can study the scientific laws of only 4 percent of the materials in the universe, as it cannot see the remaining 96 percent, referred to as dark matter and dark energy. Great individualssuch as Christ, Buddha, Moses, Prophet Muhammad, and Krishnaknew something about the workings of the Universe that is not common knowledge; this is why we claim their actions to be miracles or religious dogma. Furthermore, during the last 10,000 years, many saints in Asia have explored the human mind and its relationship with the Infinite. Most of them did it after first having established the limitations of physical pleasure and intellectual knowledge. When they started to explore the functioning of their minds and how everything around them was created, they developed a theory called Tantra. In Karma, Mind, and Quest for Happiness, Dr. Kumar will explore how Tantra is free from the distorting influences of time and place.

Author : Tracy Pintchman
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2007-03-29
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780190292133

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Women's Lives, Women's Rituals in the Hindu Tradition by Tracy Pintchman Pdf

In this book, Tracy Pintchman has assembled ten leading scholars of Hinduism to explore the complex relationship between Hindu women's rituals and their lives beyond ritual. The book focuses particularly on the relationship of women's ritual practices to domesticity, exposing and exploring the nuances, complexities, and limits of this relationship. In many cultural and historical contexts, including contemporary India, women's everyday lives tend to revolve heavily around domestic and interpersonal concerns, especially care for children, the home, husbands, and other relatives. Hence, women's religiosity also tends to emphasize the domestic realm and the relationships most central to women. But women's religious concerns certainly extend beyond domesticity. Furthermore, even the domestic religious activities that Hindu women perform may not merely replicate or affirm traditionally formulated domestic ideals but may function strategically to reconfigure, reinterpret, criticize, or even reject such ideals. This volume takes a fresh look at issues of the relationship between Hindu women's ritual practices and normative domesticity. In so doing, it emphasizes female innovation and agency in constituting and transforming both ritual and the domestic realm and calls attention to the limitations of normative domesticity as a category relevant to many forms of Hindu women's religious practice.