The Path of Desire: Living Tantra in Northeast India

By: Hugh B. Urban

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Synopsis: A provocative study of contemporary Tantra as a dynamic living tradition. Tantra, one of the most important religious currents in South Asia, is often misrepresented as little more than ritualized sex. Through a mixture of ethnography and history, Hugh B. Urban reveals a dynamic living tradition behind the sensationalist stories. Urban shows that Tantric desire goes beyond the erotic, encompassing such quotidian experiences as childbearing and healing. He traces these holistic desires through a series of unique practices: institutional Tantra centered on gurus and esoteric rituals; public Tantra marked by performance and festival; folk Tantra focused on magic and personal well-being; and popular Tantra imagined in fiction, film, and digital media. The result is a provocative new description of Hindu Tantra that challenges us to approach religion as something always entwined with politics and culture, thoroughly entangled with ordinary needs and desires.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
Book Size:: 288 Pages
ISBN-13:: 9780226831121
Related ISBNs:: 9780226831107
Publisher:: University of Chicago Press
Date of Addition:: 03/26/24
Copyrighted By:: The University of Chicago
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Religion and Spirituality, Social Studies, Philosophy
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.