Tantric Knowledge

OXFORD CENTRE SERIES: Tantric Knowledge joins The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies Mandala Publishing Series. This book joins other accessible texts on Hinduism authored by expert scholars, including The Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation and Study Guide; The Hindu Temple and Its Sacred Landscape; and Women in the Hindu World. EXPERT AUTHOR: Gavin Flood is a Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion at Oxford University, Academic Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, Senior Research Fellow at Campion Hall, and Yap Kim Hao Visiting Professor of Comparative Religious Studies at Yale-NUS Singapore. His publications include An Introduction to Hinduism, The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism, Religion and the Philosophy of Life, and The Truth Within: A History of Inwardness in Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. EDUCATION AID: This text serves as a comprehensive resource for both classwork and independent study of Hinduism. With the integration of discussion questions, suggested further reading, and images throughout, Tantric Knowledge offers an accessible introduction to the study of Hinduism. ONLINE COURSES: The titles included in this series will be the official publications accompanying online courses offered by the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.

The most misrepresented of all Hindu traditions, Tantra is a complex interweaving of teachings and practices that pervades Vaiṣnava, Śaiva, Śākta, and Smarta traditions. Its roots can be traced back to Vedic times and its influence has spread to Jainism, Buddhism, and beyond.

In Tantric Knowledge, Gavin Flood demystifies tantra, illustrating how it is more than just esoteric teachings, but is in fact the very fabric of the Hindu worldview. While sex and secret ritual are an element of some practices, tantra encompasses much more than that.

Tantric ideas have shaped core Hindu practices such as temple building, worship, mantra, yoga, ayurveda, meditation, and guru-disciple relationships. It is a part of everyday life. Tantric Knowledge also highlights how tantric traditions claim to possess knowledge about the nature of the universe, the nature of ourselves as human beings, and how we fit into the wider cosmos around us. Tantric knowledge is what the texts and traditions profess. The study of these traditions raises interesting questions of both historical and existential importance.