The Dawn of Tantra

The Dawn of Tantra is the record of a seminar given by the authors at a time when accurate accounts of Buddhist Tantra in English were sorely lacking. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was one of the first and greatest Buddhist Lamas to teach in the West; Guenther was the first Western philosopher to study Buddhist Tantra in depth and to write about it on the basis of practice.

In the book the authors take alternate chapters. Professor Guenther provides the theoretical framework of Tantra and Trungpa Rinpoche provides the Mahasiddha application of the teachings and practices as life. The Dawn of Tantra covers topics such as the mandala principle (kyil’khor); shunyata (emptiness); the Lama-student relationship; visualisation; and empowerment.

The book is devoid of the three main faults which are found so often in books which address Tantra: the sterile academic approach; the ‘Western Buddhist’ approach which over-simplifies – distorting Tantra by muddling it with comfortable Western concepts; and the historical traditionalist approach which obfuscates Tantra in elaborate medieval pietism. It is invaluable for anyone wishing to explore Tantra in greater depth.

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