Recoding the Natural and Animating the Imaginary. Kaula Body-practices in the Paraśurāma-Kalpasūtra, Ritual Transfers, and the Politics of Representation

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Acknowledgements v
3. Contents vii
4. Introduction 1
5. Part I. South Asia
6. Recoding the Natural and Animating the Imaginary. Kaula Body-practices in the Paraśurāma-Kalpasūtra, Ritual Transfers, and the Politics of Representation 19
7. Some Observations on an Uṣṇīṣa Abhiṣeka Rite in Atikūṭa’s Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha 77
8. From Mātr̥ to Yoginī. Continuity and Transformation in the South Asian Cults of the Mother Goddesses 99
9. Rivers to the Sky: Transformation, Metaphor, and Worldview in Bengali Tantric Traditions 131
10. Modern Bengali Śākta Tāntrikas: Ethnography, Image, and Stereotype 147
11. Transformations in the Textual Tradition of Dhūmāvatī. Changes in the Reception of the Tantric Mahāvidyā-Goddess in Ritual, Function, Iconography, and Mythology 165
12. Reconnecting to What? Imagined Continuities and Discursive Overlaps at Tantrapīṭhas in Central and Eastern India 195
13. The Absent Mother and Bodied Speech. Psychology and Gender in late Medieval Tantra 215
14. Part II. Mongolia, Tibet, and China
15. Embodying the Dharma. The Buddhist Way into Mongolia 239
16. Amitāyus and the Development of Tantric Practices for Longevity and Health in Tibet 263
17. Ritual Expertise and Imperial Sovereignty; Some Remarks on Tantric Ritual Pragmatics in Medieval China 287
18. The Trouble with Tantra in China: Reflections on Method and History 303
19. Part III. Japan
20. Taimitsu Rituals in Medieval Japan: Sectarian Competition and the Dynamics of Tantric Performance 329
21. Conversions of Tantric Buddhist Ritual: The Yoshida Shintō Jūhachishintō Ritual 365
22. Impact of Tantrism on Japanese Religious Traditions: The Cult of the Three Devas 399
23. Part IV. … and Beyond
24. Kālacakra in Transition: From the Apocalypse to the Promotion of World Peace 413
25. Remembering Ourselves: On Some Countercultural Echoes of Contemporary Tantric Studies 435
26. Tantra, American Style: From the Path of Power to the Yoga of Sex 457
27. The Serpent Rises in the West: Positive Orientalism and Reinterpretation of Tantra in the Western Left-Hand Path 495
28. Notes on Contributors 521
29. Index 525