Shaivite Tantra and Buddhism

Forum for discussion of Tibetan Buddhism. Questions specific to one school are best posted in the appropriate sub-forum.
Post Reply
User avatar
Matt J
Posts: 1441
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2010 2:29 am
Location: Denver, CO

Shaivite Tantra and Buddhism

Post by Matt J »

Is anyone familiar with the book, Tantra Illuminated by Christopher Wallis? I saw it on the Naropa shelf of my favorite bookstore some months ago, and through a series of unusual events, I got the audio book for free (legally!) Unfortunately, because it is an audio book, I cannot really quote it. Strangely, it's actually pretty good as an audio book.

I've not gotten far, but his explanation of Shaivite Tantra sounds a lot like Buddhist tantra, although he believes that Shaivite trantra predates Buddhist tantra and is a source for Buddhist tantra. I haven't yet gotten into the meat of his discussion as I'm in the general overview stage.

Has anyone else read it? Thoughts? Thoughts generally?
"The world is made of stories, not atoms."
--- Muriel Rukeyser
User avatar
heart
Posts: 6295
Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2010 1:55 pm

Re: Shaivite Tantra and Buddhism

Post by heart »

The little I have read a few years ago make it pretty clear that the idea that the Tantra in Hinduism somehow predates Tantra in Buddhism (that certainly was the standard pov 30 years ago) is no longer at all sure. Not sure if it matters.

/magnus
"We are all here to help each other go through this thing, whatever it is."
~Kurt Vonnegut

"The principal practice is Guruyoga. But we need to understand that any secondary practice combined with Guruyoga becomes a principal practice." ChNNR (Teachings on Thun and Ganapuja)
Vasana
Posts: 2231
Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2013 11:22 am

Re: Shaivite Tantra and Buddhism

Post by Vasana »

The thread 'Dr. Sanderson: Phowa etc. are directly from Saivism' contains a lot of useful information on this topic.


http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.ph ... hilit=Vayu
'When thoughts arise, recognise them clearly as your teacher'— Gampopa
'When alone, examine your mind, when among others, examine your speech'.— Atisha
User avatar
Matt J
Posts: 1441
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2010 2:29 am
Location: Denver, CO

Re: Shaivite Tantra and Buddhism

Post by Matt J »

That is useful, thanks!
Vasana wrote:The thread 'Dr. Sanderson: Phowa etc. are directly from Saivism' contains a lot of useful information on this topic.


http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.ph ... hilit=Vayu
"The world is made of stories, not atoms."
--- Muriel Rukeyser
Norwegian
Posts: 2632
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2011 7:36 pm

Re: Shaivite Tantra and Buddhism

Post by Norwegian »

Post Reply

Return to “Tibetan Buddhism”