Centre for Tantric Studies

Second International Workshop on Early Tantra held in Pondicherry

admin — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:50:57 +0000

In July 2009, more than forty scholars and graduate students gathered in Pondicherry, at the east coast of India, to attend the Second International Workshop on Early Tantra, which was hosted by the École française d’Extrême-Orient centre. In the morning, reading sessions took place in the EFEO library, while the afternoons were dedicated to presentations, each followed by various contributions and lively discussions.

In the first week (July 20-24), reading sessions focused on the following texts:
• The Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā (session headed by Prof. Alexis Sanderson)
• The Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa (session headed by Dr. Martin Delhey).
• A Sanskrit commentary on the Trisamayarājatantra, and the Kalyāṇakāmadhenu (session headed by Prof. Harunaga Isaacson).

The afternoons saw the following presentations (handouts made available by permission of the speakers):
• Dr. Dominic Goodall: On the tattvas in the Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā.
• Prof. Alexis Sanderson: How Buddhist is the Herukābhidhānatantra?.
• Dr. Diwakar Acharya: Glimpses of early Vaiṣṇavism in the Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā and the Svāyambhuvapāñcarātra
• Prof. Harunaga Isaacson: The Buddhist Kriyātantras and their exegesis: the Trisamayarājatantraṭīkā and the Kalyāṇakāmadhenu.
• Dr. Martin Delhey: Miscellaneous Remarks on the Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa.

Readings in the second week (July 27-31) concentrated on the Brahmayāmala, with additional sessions on the Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā and the Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa. In the afternoons, the following presentations were held:
• Dr. Csaba Kiss: The category of the sādhaka in the Brahmayāmalatantra.
• Dr. Judit Törszök: The alphabet goddess Mātṛkā in some early Śaiva tantras.
• Dr. Shaman Hatley: Clans of the goddesses: kulabheda in the Brahmayāmalatantra.
• Dr. Peter Bisschop: A 12th-century (?) Vārāṇasīmāhātmya and its account of a hypethral Yoginī temple.
• Diwakar Acharya: Fragments of Palm-leaves and Tidbits of Evidence: A report of some otherwise unknown Bhūta- and Gāruḍa-Tantras.
• Nirajan Kafle: The rewriting of the Niśvāsamukha to create part of the Śivadharmasaṅgraha.

Early Śaiva Mythology project commences

CTS — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:32:39 +0000

We are pleased to announce the commencement of a new research project with a tantric studies component — Early Śaiva Mythology: A study of the formative period of an integrated religious vision.

This project, a collaboration between Peter Bisschop at the University of Edinburgh and Harunaga Isaacson, is funded by the DFG and the AHRC. It aims to investigate developments culminating in the production of the first Śaiva Purāṇas through the study of a variety of sources, including representatives of the epic, Purāṇic, poetic (kāvya), and tantric genres. It will be carried out over the next three years.

• For further information, please see the Early Śaiva Mythology project.

Péter-Daniel Szántó on the Anāvilatantra

CTS — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:09:35 +0000

Mr. Péter-Daniel Szántó, a doctoral student at Oxford University, gave the following presentation:

A Sanskrit Manuscript of the Anāvilatantra —
Biography of a ‘Spurious’ Tantric Buddhist Scripture

Date: Wednesday, 24 June 2009, 6:15 pm

Venue: Room 123, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg, Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1 (Ostflügel)

New e-text: Nārāyaṇīya Tantrasārasaṃgraha

CTS — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:30:25 +0000

We are pleased to announce the release of our largest e-text to date, the Nārāyaṇīya Tantrasārasaṃgraha or Viṣanārāyaṇīya by Nārāyaṇa of Śivapuram. This work belongs to the Gāruḍatantra or Bhūtatantra category of Śaiva tantras, which deals with tantric remedies for ailments such as snakebite.

This e-text was kindly input and contributed by Michael Slouber at the University of California, Berkeley. Contributions to our corpus of e-texts (see our guidelines) are welcome.

The e-text: NāTaSāSa.txt.

Two new publications in Tantric Studies

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 04:19:05 +0000

We are pleased to announce two brand new publications from members of the Centre for Tantric Studies:

Dominic Goodall, Alexis Sanderson, and Francesco Sferra contributed to a volume of proceedings from an international workshop on Tantrism, held on October 3–4, 2005 at the Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, edited by Prof. Shingo Einoo: Genesis and Development of Tantrism.
Orna Almogi’s doctoral dissertation was published by the International Institute for Buddhist Studies, Tokyo: Rong-zom-pa’s Discourses on Buddhology.

Dr. Luo visits to work on the Abhayapaddhati

CTS — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:31:19 +0000

Dr. Hong Luo, from the China Tibetology Research Center, visited the CTS during February and March 2009, and again briefly in
May-June 2009 in order to further the joint project on Abhayākaragupta’s Abhayapaddhati. Dr. Luo is reading sections of the Abhayapaddhati with Prof. Harunaga Isaacson and a number of CTS associates. The project members are preparing an edition and translation of this important commentary on the Buddhakapālatantra (see here for further information).

Shaman Hatley on Encounters with Goddesses and Women in the Bhairavatantras (4 Dec. 2008)

CTS — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:23:54 +0000

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. Depictions of melaka frequently blur the boundaries between yoginīs as goddesses and yoginīs as women, and one of the questions addressed concerns the manner in which representations of melaka afford insight into womens’ ritual roles.

Teaching in Tantric Studies, Winter 2008

admin — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:31:31 +0000

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.)

1st International Workshop on Early Tantra concludes

CTS — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:56:45 +0000

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.

1st International Workshop on Early Tantra convenes

CTS — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:06:27 +0000

The First International Workshop on Early Tantra is scheduled to take place in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 15th to 26th September, 2008.

The Workshop, convened in connection with the Early Tantra project, explores the interrelationships and ritual syntax of Śaiva, Buddhist, Vaiṣṇava and Saura tantric traditions in their formative period.

In the morning sessions, participants read draft editions of the tantric works selected for the project, namely the Niśvāsa Guhyasūtra, Brahmayāmala, Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa, and an anonymous commentary on the Trisamayarājatantra.