TANTRIC TEMPLES: Eros and Magic in Java
Ibis, 2011. First printing. 352 pages. Item #18715
New cloth bound in dust jacket.
Tantra is one of the most misunderstood of the esoteric disciplines. In order to get a clear idea as to the nature of Tantric ritual and belief it is necessary to go where Tantra is still practiced and from where important Tantric teachings originated a thousand years ago: the island of Java in present-day Indonesia. This book illustrates the history of Tantrism in Java with more than a hundred photographs of temples, statues and iconography dedicated to the system -- some rarely seen before, including the recently-excavated "white temple" of Yogyakarta -- and accounts of contemporary practices in the shrines, cemeteries and secret schools of Java. In the process, we will learn how this esoteric philosophy has affected the everyday lives of the most populous Muslim country in the world. We will also learn that an important Tibetan teacher of the eleventh century studied at the feet of a Tantric master in Java and brought back with him to Tibet the sacred -- and secret -- teachings that are important to Tibetan Buddhist practice today.
Price: $55.00