Centre for Tantric Studies

Dr. Shaman Hatley (visiting from Concordia University, Montreal) has given the following presentation:

Yoginīmelaka: Representations of encounters with goddesses and women in the early Bhairavatantras

• Date: 4 December 2008, 4pm
• Venue: Room 222, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg, Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1 (Ostflügel)

Visionary, transactional encounters with the deities, particularly goddesses known as yoginīs, comprise one of the central concerns of the Vidyāpīṭha division of the Śaiva bhairavatantras. Indeed, the entire edifice of ritual appears oriented at this level of the tradition toward bringing about power-bestowing “union” (melaka/melāpa) with the goddesses. This presentation examines representations of these encounters based on early sources such as the Brahmayāmala and Siddhayogeśvarīmata, exploring both the ritual context and doctrinal interpretation of melaka, the variety of its classifications, the transactions envisioned between sādhakas and yoginīs, and later transformations in conceptions of melaka. (Continued »)

Two classes relating to tantric studies are being taught in the winter semester (2008–2009) at the AAI, University of Hamburg:

• Lektüre buddhistischer und schivaitischer Tantra-Literatur (Prof. Harunaga Isaacson)
• Philology and Codicology (Prof. Harunaga Isaacson)

In addition, the program held in conjunction with the Buddhism and Human Rights Symposium, co-convened by Dr. Carmen Meinert, offers sessions and lectures related to Tibetan Vajrayāna:

• Nov. 22, 1.30 pm: Conference Panel — Tibet/Vajrayāna (Chair: Prof. Jan-Ulrich Sobisch, Carola Roloff; Discussants: Patrick French, Helmut Steckel)
• Jan. 12, 6.00 pm: Tibet/Vajrayāna: Verhältnis religiöser und staatlicher Ordnungsvorstellungen in Tibet (T.B.A.)

The First International Workshop on Early Tantra was successfully held in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 15th to 26th September, 2008, bringing together over twenty-five participants from twelve countries.

The Workshop, consisting of readings in the morning sessions and presentations in the afternoons, was convened in connection with the Early Tantra project, which explores the interrelationships and ritual syntax of Śaiva, Buddhist, Vaiṣṇava and Saura tantric traditions in their formative period.

There were two public presentations, the first given by Prof. Alexis Sanderson (Oxford), summarising his work on ‘The Śaiva Age’, a study of Śaivism’s rise to prominence and its relationship with other religious currents during the early medieval period. The second public presentation, scheduled for the workshop’s closing session, was given by Péter-Dániel Szántó, and discussed various aspects of the Catuṣpīṭhatantra.

• For further information on the Workshop, please see our brief report.