The Buddhist Tantras: A Guide (Guides to Sacred Texts)

The tantric Buddhist traditions emerged in India beginning in the seventh century CE and flourished there until the demise of Buddhism in India circa the fifteenth century. These traditions were disseminated to Central, East, and Southeast Asia, and continue to be practiced, most notably in Nepal, Tibet and Japan, as well as in the numerous Tibetan traditions disseminated around the world by Tibetan masters living in diaspora. The central scriptures for these traditions were generally designated by the term tantra. Tantras are works that purport to relate secret teachings of the buddhas that enable awakening in as short as one lifetime. As such they are understood by their advocates to be the inspired speech of a buddha, and hence worthy of inclusion in the canons of Buddhist traditions. Over the past twenty years there has been considerable growth in the study of tantras as well as translations of these works into Western languages. This volume provides a detailed introduction to the Buddhist tantras. It addresses their development in India, their dissemination to Central, East and Southeast Asia, and their reception in these contexts. It introduces the key teachings in the tantras, as well as the history of their interpretation, and their connection to traditions of ritual, and contemplative practices. It also introduces the classification of the tantras and their place in Buddhist scriptural canons. It concludes with a look at the transgressive rhetoric that characterizes many of the tantras, the impact this had on their dissemination and translation, and the ways in which Buddhists explained this. It suggests that transgressive rhetoric and practices served an important role in Buddhist tantric traditions, which may be why they persist despite the challenges they have presented to the dissemination of these traditions.

Religion & Spirituality

Gray, David B.

Buddhism

Oxford University Press

The tantric Buddhist traditions emerged in India beginning in the seventh century CE and flourished there until the demise of Buddhism in India circa the fifteenth century. These traditions were disseminated to Central, East, and Southeast Asia, and continue to be practiced, most notably in Nepal, Tibet and Japan, as well as in the numerous Tibetan traditions disseminated around the world by Tibetan masters living in diaspora. The central scriptures for these traditions were generally designated by the term tantra. Tantras are works that purport to relate secret teachings of the buddhas that enable awakening in as short as one lifetime. As such they are understood by their advocates to be the inspired speech of a buddha, and hence worthy of inclusion in the canons of Buddhist traditions.\nOver the past twenty years there has been considerable growth in the study of tantras as well as translations of these works into Western languages. This volume provides a detailed introduction to the Buddhist tantras. It addresses their development in India, their dissemination to Central, East and Southeast Asia, and their reception in these contexts. It introduces the key teachings in the tantras, as well as the history of their interpretation, and their connection to traditions of ritual, and contemplative practices.\nIt also introduces the classification of the tantras and their place in Buddhist scriptural canons. It concludes with a look at the transgressive rhetoric that characterizes many of the tantras, the impact this had on their dissemination and translation, and the ways in which Buddhists explained this. It suggests that transgressive rhetoric and practices served an important role in Buddhist tantric traditions, which may be why they persist despite the challenges they have presented to the dissemination of these traditions.

This volume fills the void created by the lack of a book-length, critical, and systematic treatment of ecological attitudes and behaviors. It emphasizes psychometrics and experimentation within a broad behavioral-cognitive framework focused on the natural world. Gray summarizes and integrates existing research and reviews major alternative approaches to measuring ecological attitudes, while presenting his own ecological attitude domain model. Russell Weigel and Richard Borden provide state-of-the-art reviews of the research on the relationship between ecological attitudes and actions and on the linkage between personality and ecological concern. Gray himself integrates the theoretical perspectives of social psychologists Milton Rokeach and Martin Fishbein in his construction of a paradigm for ecological change. Using this as background, he reviews existing behavioral studies, differentiating between those that rely on information and those that use reinforcement to produce a desired change in behavior. Finally, he suggests that the key to large-scale change is the creation of a true environmental ethic in our society.

Ecological Beliefs and Behaviors: Assessment and Change (Contributions in Psychology)

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Borden, Richard

Weigel, Russell H.

Psychology & Counseling

Praeger

This is the ninth volume in a series entitled Communicating by Language. The contributors to this work were selected as leaders in the interdisciplinary field of the study of reading for a conference in that series sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health. Demonstrating the broad spectrum of disciplines involved in the study of dyslexia, this volume is worthwhile reading for anyone interested in the various approaches to studying reading disability. Designed for the researcher in biology and behavior, the book is also of general interest to teachers and clinicians who want to know more about the processes and problems of reading. This book covers many important physical and psychological aspects of dyslexia. Topics include electrophysiology, neurology, genetics, sub typing, memory, eye movements, linguistics, testing, and related disorders. The book includes four pages of references in a complete index. There are 18 articl

Biobehavioral Measures of Dyslexia

Kavanagh, James F.

Medical Books

York Pr

Book by Gray, David B., Kavanagh, James F., Lyon, G. Reid

Better Understanding Learning Disabilities: New Views from Research and Their Implications for Education and Public Policies

Education & Teaching

Schools & Teaching

Brookes Pub

This is the first complete, critical English translation of the Cakrasamvara Tantra, also known as the Sriherukabhidhana and Laghusamvara. This is the first complete, critical English translation of the Cakrasamvara Tantra. Composed in India during the eighth century, it is a foundational scripture of one of the most important Indian Buddhist tantric traditions. The translator’s introductory essay provides an analysis of the historical and intellectual contexts in which the Cakrasamvara Tantra was composed. The heavily annotated translation was made on the basis of the surviving Sanskrit manuscripts of the tantra and its commentaries, parallel passages in related explanatory tantras (vyakhyatantra), two different Tibetan translations of the root text, and several Tibetan commentaries. Includes a trilingual glossary and index. The author has also translated the commentary on this tantra by the great Tibetan scholar Tsong Khapa (1357–1419), Illumination of the Hidden Meaning, now published in two companion volumes. Taken together, these three volumes provide the reader with the first full study in English of this pivotal tantra. Composed in India during the late eighth or early ninth century, the Cakrasamvara Tantra is a foundational scripture of one of the most important Indian Buddhist tantric traditions, as evidenced by the vast number of commentaries and ritual literature associated with it. Along with the Hevajra Tantra, it is one of the earliest and most influential of the yogini tantras, a genre of tantric Buddhist scripture that emphasizes female deities, particularly the often fiercely depicted yoginis and ?akinis.

The Cakrasamvara Tantra (The Discourse of Sri Heruka): A Study and Annotated Translation (Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences)

Wisdom Publications

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gray, David B.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Gray, David B.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gray, David B.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Buddhist Tantras: A Guide (Guides to Sacred Texts)

The Buddhist Tantras: A Guide (Guides to Sacred Texts)

Ecological Beliefs and Behaviors: Assessment and Change (Contributions in Psychology)

Biobehavioral Measures of Dyslexia

Better Understanding Learning Disabilities: New Views from Research and Their Implications for Education and Public Policies

The Cakrasamvara Tantra (The Discourse of Sri Heruka): A Study and Annotated Translation (Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences)