The Oxford Handbook of Tantric Studies (Oxford University Press, 2024) is a monumental work. It boasts 1,244 pages, with 45 comprehensive, in-depth monographs spread across eight magisterial chapters. This is, without question, the grandest book on the overarching body of traditions we call “tantra” in recent scholarly memory. The totality of this massive publication should be, from the outset, admitted to be too vast to cover in significant detail. What can be said, however, is that the handbook is not just aimed at one-upping previous monumental works on tantric thought, history, and practice. It helps readers move toward a more nuanced and sophisticated perspective on the world and history of tantra, from its origins in the sixth to seventh centuries right up to today. It manages to fulfill its purpose magnificently. Taken together, the assembled contributions, important in their own right, come together to form a masterclass in theoretical reorientation.
The one book that comes to mind as being able to match the handbook is Brill’s Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia (2011), which clocks in at 1,198 pages. Richard K. Payne was one of the editors of that very volume, and more than 15 years later he returns with Glen A. Hayes as the astute co-editors of this handbook. With this publication, it is beyond a doubt that Oxford and Brill are the main competitors for some of the highest quality volumes of Buddhist studies. Another simple but important distinction from Brill’s Esoteric Buddhism can be seen in the title: rather than focusing only on Buddhism, the editors and contributors see common threads of tantra across multiple regions of the world and in different traditions.
In Payne’s words, the innovation of the handbook is to revisit, recalibrate, and reimagine problems dogging the categorization, definition, and origins of “tantra.” The book, despite being ambitious and far-reaching in scope, understands that theory needs to be taken seriously. Methodology is not a simple academic exercise, rather an attempt to “step back” and allow the traditions, from Buddhist to Hindu to Jain and beyond, to speak for themselves. If one listens carefully to those voices, which the editors and contributors have attempted to do, then sectarian, regional, and disciplinary categories, “traditional” modes of understanding, start to look less helpful. Hence the eight chapters that are organized topically, with themes emerging from the tantric traditions themselves rather than being imposed, as it were, from “the outside.” Discussion by regions, historical periods, textual genres, or sectarian categories have been consciously avoided or minimized. Rather, we have the following sections:
Action: Which leads to profound transformation in the spiritual sense is one of the most prominent features of tantra and can involve a broad range of actions, from performing a ritual to setting off on pilgrimage. Importantly, there is a goal clearly in place, and that is to connect, activate, and embed the actor within a larger soteriological framework. Such actions entail initiation ceremonies, devotional practices in the home and the temple, thought and practice, and the importance of offertory fire rituals, which are the core subjects of exploration here.
Transformation: Soteriology, Astrology, Alchemy, and Healing: Directly related to action is some form of profound transformation. Transformation is the raison d’être of the Dharmic religions and indeed, most faiths, but the tantric paths stand out in the method they propose for practitioners and devotees to reach this stage. The foundational tantric process of transformation can have philosophical, literary, soteriological, epistemological, cosmological) and action, ritual, or yogic aspects. This section explores the tantric endeavors that seek to transform profoundly the human experience, changing our consciousness or existence into forms that are cosmic, transcendent, and transhuman, along with attaining abilities and powers that can manifest changes in the world.
Gender, Cosmogony, Embodiment, and Power: The complex and profound embrace of gender and sexuality is one of the most striking features of tantra. It is one of the most noticeable qualities, visually and philosophically, to newcomers. The cosmic power of feminine deities is both embodied and gendered power, and there are numerous goddess traditions. There are distinctive expressions of male and female sexual power suffusing the texts, rituals, symbols, and practices, and this embrace can even be widened to other spheres of duality-transcendence, including vegetation.
Extraordinary Beings: Deities and Founders: From the inconceivably cosmic, almost eldritch slayers of delusion and ignorance such as Yamantaka and Mahakala, to extraordinary mahasiddhas, gurus, thaumaturges, and sages, to astrological, territorial, directional, and local deities, and protectors, the tantric traditions are populated by some of the most flamboyant and epic deities and superhuman figures in all of the Dharmic traditions. This section explores such figures, from lineage founders to divine presences.
Imagery: Art, Architecture, and Visual Expressions: The mandala is one of the most iconic representations of tantric thought, but it actually has architectural origins, and therefore this chapter provides a deep dive into the aesthetic ideas, symbolic systems, and architectural styles that connect the entirety of tantric Asia. The focus here is on art history and architecture, along with essays on image consecration, ritual settings, and cosmological diagrams, and a discussion of these imagery’s cognitive functions.
Language, Literature, Words, and Metaphor: In tantra, words matter, with mantras and dharanis holding immense, crucial power. The tantric traditions produced a vast array of texts, revealing profound revelations in a diverse variety of languages and scripts. Many linguistic devices are employed, which have spread from South Asia to the entire Eurasian continent, from Central and Inner Asia plus Russia to Southeast and East Asia. This chapter explores the power of mantras and phonemes as cosmological devices, the melding of conceptual ideas in ritual texts, and in-depth examinations of Buddhist tantras and overviews of Tibetan and Jain literature.
Social Organization and Institutions: Without a doubt, the most significant social institution that the tantric traditions have passed down to us is the abhisheka/diksha, or master-to-disciple consecration—the initiation of disciples into a teaching and practice lineage through the approval and ceremony of a qualified master. This section explores the fascinating dimensions of both private and public social organizations, from medieval India to Nepal and from Bengal to Assam.
History and Historiography: Events, Memory, and Recollection: The memory of Padmasambhava, and other major figures of tantra, can be a fruitful field for understanding sociopolitical complexes, with diverse conceptions of time, events, recollection, and reenactment within tantric streams. Going beyond historiography—although that is also addressed—this section also explores how we perceive, construct, and understand tantra in the modern world.
The transmission of tantra began from India and spread across South Asia, before reaching China and finally Japan. After the fall of the super-monasteries (mahavihara) and the retreat of Buddhism as a whole from India, Buddhist tantra found a sanctuary in the Himalayan regions of the Tibetan Plateau, Nepal, and Bhutan. Meanwhile, Hindu expressions of tantra continued to thrive in South Asia, reshaping the contours of Dharmic religion. This body of spiritual thought has spread around the world and profoundly changed what we thought was possible about the world and ourselves. Based on its theoretical ambition, thematic scope, and scholarly comprehensiveness and rigor, The Oxford Handbook of Tantric Studies leaves no doubt that it is essential reading for any serious student, academic, and indeed practitioner of this majestic and mystic body of spiritual practice.
I would like to thank Prof. Patricia Sauthoff, assistant professor of the history of Indian medicine and alchemy at Hong Kong Baptist University, who provided me with a review copy of The Oxford Handbook of Tantric Studies. Prof. Sauthoff was a contributor to this volume, with her article titled, “Tantric Dimensions of Alchemy.”
Referenced
Payne, Richard K. and Glen A. Hayes (eds.). 2024. The Oxford Handbook of Tantric Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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