Remembering Ourselves
On Some Countercultural Echoes of Contemporary Tantric Studies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v1i1.11Keywords:
Advaita Vedanta, counterculture, orientalism, Ramakrishna, TantraAbstract
Through a brief cultural genealogy of the West’s encounter with Asian Tantric traditions from the late 1880s through the early 1980s and some personal reflections on the controversies surrounding the author’s Kali’s Child, this essay suggests that contemporary Indology’s orienting turn to Tantric texts and traditions and its occasional “excessive” focus on sexuality and gender do not derive in any direct or primary sense from Western colonialism, as is often argued, but rather from the altered states and newly won freedoms of a shared American- British counterculture. That is to say, Euro-American scholars turned to Tantric subjects in the 1980s and 90s because the counterculture from which they had just emerged in the 60s and 70s had earlier turned to these same traditions as “Asian countercultures” in which historical actors, accurately or no, saw their own convictions and experiences ecstatically reflected and religiously authorized. This thesis is then fleshed out through brief studies of Pierre Bernard, Sylvais Hamati, Sir John Woodroffe, Atul Behari Ghosh, Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, and Agehananda Bharati. Some final reflections on the poignant integrity of both the controversial scholarship and its critics conclude the essay.
References
Albanese, Catherine. 2006. A Republic of Mind and Spirit: A History of Metaphysical Religion in America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Badiner, Allan Hunt, and Grey, Alex, (eds). 2002. Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
Bharati, Agehananda. 1965a/1970. The Tantric Tradition. New York: Doubleday.
—1965b. ‘Sakta and Vajrayana: Their Place in Indian Thought.’ In Nakano, Gisho, (ed.), Studies of Esoteric Buddhism and Tantrism. Koyasan, Japan: Koyasan University.
—1973. ‘Hinduism, Psychotherapy, and the Human Predicament.’ In Cox, Richard H., (ed.), Religious Systems and Psycho-Therapy. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
—1975. ‘The Future (if Any) of Tantrism.’ Loka: A Journal from Naropa Institute: 126-30.
—1976. ‘Techniques of Control in the Esoteric Traditions of India and Tibet.’ In Bharati, Agehananda, (ed.), The Realm of the Extra-human: Ideas and Actions. The Hague: Mouton.
—n.d. ‘Fictitious Tibet: The Origin and Persistence of Rampaism.’ Tibet Society Bulletin 7: 1-10.
Brooks, Douglas Renfrew. 1992. ‘Encountering the Hindu “Other”: Tantrism and the Brahmans of South India.’ Journal of the American Academy of Religion 60(3): 405-36.
Butterfield, Stephen. 1994. The Double Mirror: A Skeptical Journey into Buddhist Tantra. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
Caldwell, Sarah. 2001. ‘The Heart of the Secret: A Personal and Scholarly Encounter with Shakta Tantrism in Siddha Yoga.’ Nova Religio 5(1).
Campbell, June. 1996. Traveler in Space: In Search of Feminine Identity in Tibetan Buddhism. New York: George Braziller.
Clarke, J. J. 1997. Oriental Enlightenment: The Encounter between Asian and Western Thought. London: Routledge.
Faure, Bernard. 1998. The Red Thread: Buddhist Approaches to Sexuality. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Flood, Gavin. 2006. The Tantric Body: The Secret Tradition of Hindu Religion. London: I. B. Tauris.
Forte, Robert, (ed.). 1999. Timothy Leary: Outside Looking In. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press.
Grinspoon, L., and Bakalar. J. B., 1997. Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered. New York: Lindesmith Center.
Haberman, David. 1999. ‘Religious Studies 2000.’ The Lester Lecture on the Study of Religion. Department of Religious Studies, University of Colorado.
Halbfass, Wilhelm. 1988. India and Europe: An Essay in Understanding. Albany, NY: SUNY.
Harris, Lis. 1999. ‘O Guru, Guru, Guru.’ The New Yorker, 14 November.
Humes, Cynthia. 2003. ‘Wrestling with Kali: South Asian and British Constructions of the Dark Goddess.’ In McDermott, Rachel Fell, and Kripal, Jeffrey J. (eds), Encountering Kali: In the Margins, at the Center, in the West: 145-68. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Kripal, Jeffrey J. 1995/1998. Kali’s Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
—2001. Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom: Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
—2006. The Serpent’s Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
—2007a. ‘Reality against Society: William Blake, Antinomianism, and the American Counter Culture.’ Common Knowledge 13(3).
—2007b. Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
—2007c. ‘Western Popular Culture, Hindu Influences On.’ In Cush, Denise, Robinson, Catherine, and York, Michael, (eds), The Encyclopedia of Hinduism. London: Routledge/Curzon.
Roszak, Theodore. 1969. The Making of a Counter Culture: Reflections on the Technocratic Society and its Youthful Opposition. New York: Doubleday.
Samuel, Geoffrey. 2005. Tantric Revisionings: New Understandings of Tibetan Buddhism and Indian Religion. London: Ashgate.
Sanderson, Alexis. 1985. ‘Purity and Power Among the Brahmans of Kashmir.’ In Carrithers, Michael, Collins, Steven, and Lukes, Steven, (eds), The Category of the Person: Anthropology, Philosophy, History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Saran, Prem. 1995. ‘Yoga, Bhoga, and Ardhanariswara: Individuality, Eudaemonism, and Gender in South Asian Tantrism.’ PhD dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Schwab, Raymond. 1983. The Oriental Renaissance: Europe’s Rediscovery of India and the East, 1680–1880. New York: Columbia University Press.
Sharma, Arvind. 1985. ‘The Rajneesh Movement.’ In Stark, Rodney, (ed.), Religious Movements: Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers. New York: Paragon House: 115-128.
Taylor, Kathleen. 2001. Sir John Woodroffe, Tantra and Bengal: ‘An Indian Soul in a European Body?’ Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press.
Urban, Hugh. 2003. Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics, and Power in the Study of Religion. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
—2006. Magia Sexualis: Sex, Magic, and Liberation in Modern Western Esotericism. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Versluis, Arthur. 1993. American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions. New York: Oxford University Press.
Weir, David. 2000. Brahma in the West: William Blake and the Oriental Renaissance. Albany, NY: SUNY.
White, David Gordon. 2003. The Kiss of the Yogini: ‘Tantric Sex’ in its South Asian Contexts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
White, David Gordon, (ed.). 2000. The Practice of Tantra: A Reader. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Badiner, Allan Hunt, and Grey, Alex, (eds). 2002. Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
Bharati, Agehananda. 1965a/1970. The Tantric Tradition. New York: Doubleday.
—1965b. ‘Sakta and Vajrayana: Their Place in Indian Thought.’ In Nakano, Gisho, (ed.), Studies of Esoteric Buddhism and Tantrism. Koyasan, Japan: Koyasan University.
—1973. ‘Hinduism, Psychotherapy, and the Human Predicament.’ In Cox, Richard H., (ed.), Religious Systems and Psycho-Therapy. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
—1975. ‘The Future (if Any) of Tantrism.’ Loka: A Journal from Naropa Institute: 126-30.
—1976. ‘Techniques of Control in the Esoteric Traditions of India and Tibet.’ In Bharati, Agehananda, (ed.), The Realm of the Extra-human: Ideas and Actions. The Hague: Mouton.
—n.d. ‘Fictitious Tibet: The Origin and Persistence of Rampaism.’ Tibet Society Bulletin 7: 1-10.
Brooks, Douglas Renfrew. 1992. ‘Encountering the Hindu “Other”: Tantrism and the Brahmans of South India.’ Journal of the American Academy of Religion 60(3): 405-36.
Butterfield, Stephen. 1994. The Double Mirror: A Skeptical Journey into Buddhist Tantra. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
Caldwell, Sarah. 2001. ‘The Heart of the Secret: A Personal and Scholarly Encounter with Shakta Tantrism in Siddha Yoga.’ Nova Religio 5(1).
Campbell, June. 1996. Traveler in Space: In Search of Feminine Identity in Tibetan Buddhism. New York: George Braziller.
Clarke, J. J. 1997. Oriental Enlightenment: The Encounter between Asian and Western Thought. London: Routledge.
Faure, Bernard. 1998. The Red Thread: Buddhist Approaches to Sexuality. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Flood, Gavin. 2006. The Tantric Body: The Secret Tradition of Hindu Religion. London: I. B. Tauris.
Forte, Robert, (ed.). 1999. Timothy Leary: Outside Looking In. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press.
Grinspoon, L., and Bakalar. J. B., 1997. Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered. New York: Lindesmith Center.
Haberman, David. 1999. ‘Religious Studies 2000.’ The Lester Lecture on the Study of Religion. Department of Religious Studies, University of Colorado.
Halbfass, Wilhelm. 1988. India and Europe: An Essay in Understanding. Albany, NY: SUNY.
Harris, Lis. 1999. ‘O Guru, Guru, Guru.’ The New Yorker, 14 November.
Humes, Cynthia. 2003. ‘Wrestling with Kali: South Asian and British Constructions of the Dark Goddess.’ In McDermott, Rachel Fell, and Kripal, Jeffrey J. (eds), Encountering Kali: In the Margins, at the Center, in the West: 145-68. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Kripal, Jeffrey J. 1995/1998. Kali’s Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
—2001. Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom: Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
—2006. The Serpent’s Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
—2007a. ‘Reality against Society: William Blake, Antinomianism, and the American Counter Culture.’ Common Knowledge 13(3).
—2007b. Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
—2007c. ‘Western Popular Culture, Hindu Influences On.’ In Cush, Denise, Robinson, Catherine, and York, Michael, (eds), The Encyclopedia of Hinduism. London: Routledge/Curzon.
Roszak, Theodore. 1969. The Making of a Counter Culture: Reflections on the Technocratic Society and its Youthful Opposition. New York: Doubleday.
Samuel, Geoffrey. 2005. Tantric Revisionings: New Understandings of Tibetan Buddhism and Indian Religion. London: Ashgate.
Sanderson, Alexis. 1985. ‘Purity and Power Among the Brahmans of Kashmir.’ In Carrithers, Michael, Collins, Steven, and Lukes, Steven, (eds), The Category of the Person: Anthropology, Philosophy, History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Saran, Prem. 1995. ‘Yoga, Bhoga, and Ardhanariswara: Individuality, Eudaemonism, and Gender in South Asian Tantrism.’ PhD dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Schwab, Raymond. 1983. The Oriental Renaissance: Europe’s Rediscovery of India and the East, 1680–1880. New York: Columbia University Press.
Sharma, Arvind. 1985. ‘The Rajneesh Movement.’ In Stark, Rodney, (ed.), Religious Movements: Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers. New York: Paragon House: 115-128.
Taylor, Kathleen. 2001. Sir John Woodroffe, Tantra and Bengal: ‘An Indian Soul in a European Body?’ Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press.
Urban, Hugh. 2003. Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics, and Power in the Study of Religion. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
—2006. Magia Sexualis: Sex, Magic, and Liberation in Modern Western Esotericism. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Versluis, Arthur. 1993. American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions. New York: Oxford University Press.
Weir, David. 2000. Brahma in the West: William Blake and the Oriental Renaissance. Albany, NY: SUNY.
White, David Gordon. 2003. The Kiss of the Yogini: ‘Tantric Sex’ in its South Asian Contexts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
White, David Gordon, (ed.). 2000. The Practice of Tantra: A Reader. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Published
2007-06-01
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Kripal, J. J. (2007). Remembering Ourselves: On Some Countercultural Echoes of Contemporary Tantric Studies. Religions of South Asia, 1(1), 11-28. https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v1i1.11
