Indian Esoteric Buddhism
Subtitle: A Social History of the Tantric Movement
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: Dec 18, 2002
Format: digital
Number of pages: 475
ISBN-13: 9780231501026
Description: Despite the rapid spread of Buddhism -- especially the esoteric system of Tantra, one of its most popular yet most misunderstood forms -- the historical origins of Buddhist thought and practice remain obscure. This groundbreaking work describes the genesis of the Tantric movement in early medieval India, where it developed as a response to, and in some ways an example of, the feudalization of Indian society. Drawing on primary documents -- many translated for the first time -- from Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tibetan, Bengali, and Chinese, Ronald Davidson shows how changes in medieval Indian so.
Notes: Source title: Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement