Tantra across the Buddhist comopolis / Richard K. Payne

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Payne, Richard K., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tantric Buddhism.

vajrayana.

Religion.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2025]

Summary:

'Tantra Across the Buddhist Cosmopolis' examines key aspects of the tantric Buddhist movement from its beginnings in early medieval India to the present day. Across its centuries-long history, tantric Buddhism has spread throughout the global community of Buddhist practitioners and institutions, the Buddhist cosmopolis. Buddhist tantra is so diverse that no conclusive or comprehensive list of defining characteristics is possible. Despite this complexity, the movement is coherent and continuous. Richard K. Payne guides us through the problematic intellectual and cultural issues historically impeding academic study of the movement and its influence. Scholarly disagreements about defining Buddhist tantra are dissolved by realizing that its components, rituals, texts, teachings, art, architecture, and yogic practices, are tantric by context, use, and designation

"The tantric tradition of Buddhism emphasizes ritual and yogic practices organized as praxes constellated around a variety of buddhas, bodhisattvas, and guardian deities. Its earliest beginnings trace to about the sixth century in South Asia. From there it spread throughout the Buddhist cosmopolis—the network of interconnected locales and institutions that has supported the living tradition for two and a half millennia. Tantric Buddhism is understood here as a set of praxes—that is, as dynamic relations between thought and practice that change and develop dialectically over time. Different historical contexts reveal tantra as existing autonomously, as an unrecognized strain within a tradition, or acknowledged as an alternative or higher path. In these different ways, tantra spread along the networks of the Buddhist tradition linking South Asia to Southeast Asia, Inner Asia, East Asia, and today globally. Although often rendered invisible, the tantric traditions form a coherent, loosely integrated whole—a movement"-- Oxford Academic

Contents:

Recognizing tantra when you see it

South Asia : from Vedic ritual to the Mahasiddhas

East Asia : instituting tantra : recitation and pilgrimage

Southeast Asia : state formation and monuments

Inner Asia : decaying corpses and hungry ghouls

Networks : travelers and praxes

Closing reflections : tantric Buddhism and religious studies

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from home page (Oxford Academic, viewed August 20, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Payne, Richard K. Tantra Across the Buddhist Cosmopolis

ISBN:

9780197825105

0197825109

9780199709502

0199709505

9780197826812

0197826814

OCLC:

1547177396

Publisher Number:

CIPO000312743

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license