Shakti and Sh�kta: Essays and Addresses on the Sh�kta tantrash�stra

by Arthur Avalon

Overview

Collection of essays on the practices of Tantra by Sir John George Woodroffe also known by his pseudonym Arthur Avalon, was a British Orientalist whose work helped to unleash in the West a deep and wide interest in Hindu philosophy and Yogic practices.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781950330348
Publisher:	Classic Wisdom Reprint
Publication date:	06/13/2019
Pages:	378
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.88(d)

About the Author

Woodroffe was the eldest son of James Tisdall Woodroffe and his wife Florence, daughter of James Hume. James Woodroffe was Advocate-General of Bengal and Legal Member of the Government of India, a Justice of the Peace, and a Knight of St. Gregory. John was educated at Woburn Park School and the University College, Oxford, where he took second classes in jurisprudence and the Bachelor of Civil Law examinations. He was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1889, and in the following year was enrolled as an advocate of the Calcutta High Court. He was soon made a Fellow of the Calcutta University and appointed Tagore Law Professor. He collaborated with Ameer Ali in a widely used textbook, Civil Procedure in British India. He was appointed Standing Counsel to the Government of India in 1902, and in 1904 was raised to the High Court Bench. He served there for eighteen years, becoming Chief Justice in 1915. After retiring to England he served as Reader in Indian Law to the University of Oxford. He died on 18 January 1936 in France.

Table of Contents

Chapter One Indian Religion As Bharata Dharma 5

Chapter Two Shakti: The World as Power 17

Chapter Three What Are the Tantras and Their Significance? 29

Chapter Four Tantra Shastra and Veda 37

Chapter Five The Tantras and Religion of the Shaktas 57

Chapter Six Shakti and Shakta 67

Chapter Seven Is Shakti Force? 91

Chapter Eight Cinacara (Vashishtha and Buddha) 93

Chapter Nine The Tantra Shastras in China 99

Chapter Ten A Tibetan Tantra 103

Chapter Eleven Shakti in Taoism 109

Chapter Twelve Alleged Conflict of Shastras 113

Chapter Thirteen Sarvanandanatha 121

Chapter Fourteen Cit-Shakti (The Consciousness Aspect of the Universe) 125

Chapter Fifteen Maya-Shakti (The Psycho-Physical Aspect of the Universe) 141

Chapter Sixteen Matter and Consciousness 163

Chapter Seventeen Shakti and Maya 169

Chapter Eighteen Shakta Advaitavada 177

Chapter Nineteen Creation as Explained in the Non-dualist Tantras 183

Chapter Twenty The Indian Magna Mater 197

Chapter Twenty-one Hindu Ritual 211

Chapter Twenty-two Vedanta and Tantra Shastra 221

Chapter Twenty-three The Psychology of Hindu Religious Ritual 225

Chapter Twenty-four Shakti as Mantra (Mantramayi Shakti) 235

Chapter Twenty-five Varnamala (The Garland of Letters) 251

Chapter Twenty-Six Shakta Sadhana (The Ordinary Ritual) 255

Chapter Twenty-Seven The Pañcatattva (The Secret Ritual) 285

Chapter Twenty-Eight Matam Rutra (The Right and Wrong Interpretation) 339

Chapter Twenty-nine Kundalini Shakta (Yoga) 357

Chapter Thirty Conclusions 371