How is it possible to reconcile two facts which seem irreconcilable, and an immersion in the world of Tantra even to the point of initiation? This intriguing account describes an usual spiritual journey which responds honestly and deeply to this mysterious experience, of spirit and body, of discernment and grace, of divine energy and love in all its aspects, during the course of an adventure which links a person to what is essential, unveiling the whole scope, both cosmic and divine, of Life. The author shows how, beyond their obvious differences, the Christian themes of the Word which is expressed as an eternal I am, or of the divine Energy, find striking correspondences in the Tantra, allowing them to resonate together and enrich each other. This work, therefore, follows in the wake of other pioneers such as Henri Le Saux or Christian de Cherg as regards the dialogue with Hinduism and Islam. Conciousness is the Self because God is Love. The essence of tantra is Love.
A guide to the history and modern practice of transformative Christianity • Reveals the original tantric wisdom of Jesus and the early Church and its resonance with the tantric yogas of India and Tibet • Explains how tantric Christianity views the human body as the primary “temple” of the Holy and erotic energy as the signature of indwelling Divine Presence • Provides step-by-step instructions for a series of Christian tantric practices, including a partnered sexual practice, mantra and energy work, eye gazing, and work with icons Unbeknownst to many, the original Christian spirituality as practiced in the early church and by Jesus himself was a tantric spirituality. In the West, Tantra often evokes images of arcane rituals or acrobatic sexual positions, while in reality Tantra is a holistic transformative path of life, love, and being--grounded in practice. Offering a new understanding of Jesus as guru and master of left-handed Tantra, James Reho, an Episcopal priest and tantric initiate, reframes the Christian story and restores to modern Christianity the tantric wisdom practices that were edited out of church tradition and forgotten over the centuries. He explains how tantric Christianity views the human body as the primary “temple” of the Holy, with erotic energy as the signature of Divine Presence within. Rev. Reho reveals the similarities of the earliest Christian practices to the tantric yogas of India and Tibet and explores the role of Kundalini and the chakras. He details how to work with mantras, icons, and pranayama breathing exercises, as well as with gazing as a spiritual practice. Informed by the insights of ancient texts and early masters of Christian spirituality, the author provides step-by-step instructions on how to practice Christian tantric sex with a life-partner of the opposite or same sex. Rev. Reho reveals how these heart-opening practices are rooted in eros, the life of deep desire, expressive of God’s grace within us, and are still alive in monastic practices in the Christian East. Integrating his personal spiritual experiences, years of study of ancient Christian mysticism, and an expertise in yoga and tantra, the author shows how we can re-engage the original truths of the early church to affirm the body as a holy vehicle and to utilize the energy of the erotic to achieve ecstatic union with the Divine.
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.
The articles in this volume of Documenta Missionalia are for that reader who is not just a curious learner of Tantrism and Christianity but who is also willing to allow the interaction of two religious worldviews to finally arrive at a unique realization and admiration of the ineffable mystery of God. Any reader interested in this theme would find in these articles great intellectual and spiritual depth that could eventually be highly profitable for one's academic and personal life. The authors of the articles in this volume, bearing in mind the perennial necessity of interreligious dialogue for mutual enrichment, have sought a comparative presentation of Tantric and Christian beliefs and practices like the Eucharist, divinization, mystical non-dualistic consciousness, male-female unity, Logos-Vac (Word) "inter-reading", freedom, fullness of joy, and corporeality. To our knowledge, such a diverse thematic presentation of Tantrism and Christianity in one single volume is the first of its kind to date
'Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas' allows us to travel into the depths of the consciousness and life work of five shamans, who are among the most powerful and respected people in their ethnic groups. It features the first photographic documentation of their esoteric rites, such as the midnight graveyard ritual dedicated to Shiva, and describes a pilgrimage to the most sacred mountain of the Nepalese shamans, Mount Kalinchok. The authors also explore the soma myth and offer valuable insights into the use of this ancient hallucinogen. The book features a wealth of original recipes, smoking mixtures, scientific tables, charts and descriptions of more than twenty plants whose psychoactive properties and uses by shamans have never before been researched or documented.
For the first time, Tantra, Ritual Performance and Politics in Nepal and Kerala offers a comparative approach to Tantric mediumship as observed in two locales: Navadurgā rituals in Bhaktapur, Nepal, and Teyyāṭṭam in North Kerala.
The Tantric Jesus is a fascinating examination of a living master of flesh and blood, a guru, guide, and exemplary role model- and of the impact that example has on those who aspire to emulate it. It explores the universal spiritual practices Jesus espoused and encouraged others to practice. Through the lens of the various accounts of Jesus' life and teachings, from both East and West, it touches on the challenges of reconciling our inner and outer realities, embracing our sexuality as integral to our spirituality, and discovering and embracing the divinity that lies within each and every one of us. Here, through his humanity and the practices he embodied, we see Jesus as a portrait of divinity- but it is a self-portrait of the imago dei, reflecting not only all spiritual masters, but in fact, the true nature of every human being. The credibility of this analysis is greatly enhanced by the author's own experience of having studied under a Hindu guru for many years, and having served for sixteen years as an Episcopal priest dedicated to putting the teachings of both traditions into practice. It has inspired one best-selling author, Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong, to comment, "While organized religion in our post-Christian era is in notable decline, Jesus' popularity is not. Robert Stucky helps us understand why. He probes Jesus to discover the universal truth. He takes Jesus out of orthodox boxes and lets him live in new places. He elevates Jesus to a dialogue, first with the Gnostic Christians of Antiquity, and then with Eastern thinkers, both ancient and modern. The Jesus I find in the pages of this book is fresh, provocative, powerful, and welcoming. It may well be that Stucky has discovered a path to a believing future."
This latest work by the renowned historian of religions Jeffrey Kripal crystallizes his twenty-five years of work on two aspects of the contemporary study of religion: the erotic expression of mystical experience and the rise of the paranormal in American culture. Combining elements of memoir, manifesto, and anthology (a Kripal Reader, as it were), Secret Body reveals Kripal's oeuvre not as a series of disconnected books but as a dynamic corpus with the potential to renew and reshape the study of religion. Kripal explains how this oeuvre came about with his trademark humor and honesty, answers his censors and critics, and lays the foundation for a future theory of religion grounded in the cosmic nature of consciousness as such. No one interested in the history of religion and the erotic dimension of mysticism can afford to overlook Kripal's latest, his definitive intellectual self-portrait.
Get ready for a mindexpanding journey into the world of Tantra 2.0. In this groundbreaking book, the author combines his scientific background, journalistic expertise, and personal experiences to present Tantra Yoga in a fresh and accessible way. Say goodbye to vague spirituality and irrelevant symbolism as he guides you through the practice of Tantra with clarity and practicality. With over 25 years of writing and a deep passion for the Science of Consciousness, the author offers a unique perspective on this ancient practice. Prepare to transform your understanding and experience of Tantra with this thoughtprovoking and enlightening read.
In this book, Patton E. Burchett offers a path-breaking genealogical study of devotional (bhakti) Hinduism that traces its understudied historical relationships with tantra, yoga, and Sufism. Beginning in India’s early medieval “Tantric Age” and reaching to the present day, Burchett focuses his analysis on the crucial shifts of the early modern period, when the rise of bhakti communities in North India transformed the religious landscape in ways that would profoundly affect the shape of modern-day Hinduism. A Genealogy of Devotion illuminates the complex historical factors at play in the growth of bhakti in Sultanate and Mughal India through its pivotal interactions with Indic and Persianate traditions of asceticism, monasticism, politics, and literature. Shedding new light on the importance of Persian culture and popular Sufism in the history of devotional Hinduism, Burchett’s work explores the cultural encounters that reshaped early modern North Indian communities. Focusing on the Rāmānandī bhakti community and the tantric Nāth yogīs, Burchett describes the emergence of a new and Sufi-inflected devotional sensibility—an ethical, emotional, and aesthetic disposition—that was often critical of tantric and yogic religiosity. Early modern North Indian devotional critiques of tantric religiosity, he shows, prefigured colonial-era Orientalist depictions of bhakti as “religion” and tantra as “magic.” Providing a broad historical view of bhakti, tantra, and yoga while simultaneously challenging dominant scholarly conceptions of them, A Genealogy of Devotion offers a bold new narrative of the history of religion in India.
