Glimpses of Tantric Studies

Contents: Our contributors. Preface. Acknowledgements. Abbreviations. 1. Prolegomenon/B.L. Ray. 2. Development of Tantrism in India/K.B. Rath. 3. The Tantra-Pitha Uddiyana/D.S. Das. 4. Science of Tantra and Mahavidya/A.K. Upadhyay. 5. Science of Yantra/S. Biswal. 6. The tradition of Indian Sakta-Pithas/D.S. Das. 7. The tradition of the Sapta-Matrkas/B.L. Ray. 8. Rgvidhana : the earliest Vedic manual of Tantric rites/B.L. Ray. 9. Essence of Upanisadic liberation as depicted in the Tantrasastra/M. Biswas. 10. The concept of creation in Laksmi-Tantra/S. Mishra. 11. Essence of Tantric Yoga/B.K. Pattnaik. 12. The force of Tantric Yoga/S. Biswal. 13. Tantric view of Gayatri/B.L. Ray. 14. Tantric worship of Mahakali/B.L. Ray. 15. Tantric Buddhism and the concept of creation : a re-look at Vajrayana/S. Rath. 16. Buddhist Tantric path in Tibetan perspectives/B.L. Ray. 17. Tantric devotees of Assam/K.P. Goswami. Bibliography. Index. [1 article is in Hindi].

    "The present work 'Glimpses of Tantric Studies' is an anthology of eighteen articles covering the various aspects of Tantra, Mantra, Yantra and occult sciences. The studies embedded here in this treatise are cast over the origin, development and tradition of the Tantric cult ; its rituals and practices. Tantra, being the cult of the feminine, embraces worships, rites and practices related to the Mother Goddesses. 

    Any Sakta-pitha is the abode of its presiding Sakti, the female deity. In this respect, the present work includes studies on the Tantra-Pitha Uddiyana, the Sakta-Pithas of Indian and their rich cultural traditions. The worship of the Sapta-Matrkas, the science of Tantra and Yantra are the other significant components of this work. Vedic Tantrism, Upanisadic liberation and the very concept of creation have been treated here in a more concrete and coherent manner, coherence between the cult and the subject. Discussions on Tantric Yoga, Gayatri-Mantra, Sri Cakra and the mode of worship of the goddess Mahakali brightly illuminate the notion on Tantra and its practices. Other components of this study includes Tantric Buddhism, Tantric path followed by the Tibetans and the Tantric devotees of Assam. On the whole, the range of studies included here in this volume is widely expanded over diverse fields of Tantra and its practices." (jacket)