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On Supreme Bliss: A Study of the History and Interpretation of the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra

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Abstract

This thesis explores the development of an important Indian Buddhist scripture. the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra, and the tradition of exegesis and practice based upon it. It consists of an edition and translation of the first four chapters of the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra, as well as a translation of the corresponding portion of Tsongkhapa's Total Illumination of the Hidden Meaning, a Tibetan commentary on this scripture. These texts are contextualized via efforts to define "Tantric Buddhism" as it is understood by the tradition itself, and via explorations of both the intellectual and socio-historical contexts within which Tantric Buddhism developed, and the ways in which different subtraditions within it were elaborated and categorized.
      It is argued that a common element of Tantric traditions is their resistance to the hegemonic ideology of caste. An exploration of this ideology and Buddhist resistance to it is undertaken. Tantric discourse was deployed as a form of resistance against caste ideology, but also constituted a counter ideology, which centered around the figure of the guru as a nexus of power and authority, and articulated in the model of the maṇḍala.
      The Cakrasaṃvara Tantra, is notable for the strong presence of "non-Buddhist elements." The Cakrasaṃvara Tantra, is a composite text drawing from diverse sources, and while it probably reached its final form in a Buddhist monastic context, there is significant textual evidence suggesting that it was the product of a non-monastic, renunciant milieu in which sectarian identification was not particularly relevant. The Cakrasaṃvara Tantra, is, in Levi Strauss' terms, a bricolage. It provides a particularly striking example of the processes of adaptation and reinterpretation which have continually led to the development of religious traditions. The Cakrasaṃvara's identification as a Buddhist tradition was the result of the efforts of commentators in India who constructed it as such, and by Tibetan commentators, who completed this process of adaptation.

Citation	Gray, David Barton. "On Supreme Bliss: A Study of the History and Interpretation of the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra." PhD diss., Columbia University, 2001.

Table of Contents About the Book Texts Translated Quotes

• 1. The Study of the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra: Contextualizing the Tantric1
  • 1. "Tantrism" and Colonialism9
  • 2. Defining "Tantrism" and the Tantric25
  • 3. Tantrism in Context
    • 1. Non-Origins39
    • 2. Buddhist Origins45
    • 3. Hindu Origins53

• 2. Passion, Compassion and Self-Mastery: Approaches to Tantric Buddhism65
  • 1. Purity66
  • 2. Transformation and Perfection
    • 1. The Alchemy of Passion and Compassion86
    • 2. Union and Self-Consecration95
  • 3. The Way of Great Bliss
    • 1. Joy and Asceticism103
    • 2. Transgression and Self-Mastery
      • 1. Interpretation and Ambiguity113
      • 2. The Logic of Mastery128
  • 4. Concluding Models147

• 3. Competing Discourses in Theory and Practice152
  • 1. The Discourse on Varṇa
    • 1. Hegemonic and Counter-Hegemonic Ideologies153
    • 2. Myth, Counter-myth and Ritual161
    • 3. On Dissent, Protest and Counter-Culture: Resistance or
          Reproduction?178
  • 2. The Practice of Dissent
    • 1. Heresies193
    • 2. Renunciation and Liminality
      • 1. Liminal Persons200
      • 2. Liminal Places223
  • 3. Cosmic Mastery: Visions of Authority Within and Beyond the World
    • 1. Cosmology and Awakening240
    • 2. The Collapse of Time and Space in the Maṇḍala250
    • 3. Mastery in and of the World
      • 1. The Guru, the King and the Maṇḍala262
      • 2. Lineage and the Transmission of Alternate Modes of
           Authority280

• 4. Revelation and Taxonomy: Categorizing Tantric Literature293
  • 1. Modes of Tantric Discourse
    • 1. Primary Revelation299
    • 2. Primary Exegesis303
    • 3. Secondary Revelation309
    • 4. Secondary Exegesis313
  • 2. Tantric Doxography
    • 1. Compilations314
    • 2. Classification Schemes319
  • 3. Tantric Taxonomy and Early Medieval Indian Society348

• 5. Tantric Historiography
  • 1. Traditional Histories364
  • 2. Modem Chronologies389

• 6. The Cakrasaṃvara Tantra and the Origins of Heruka
  • 1. The Texts of the Cakrasamvara Tantra
    • 1. Description of Texts 431
    • 2. Survey of Contents438
  • 2. A Geneology of the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra
    • 1. Buddhist Sources446
    • 2. Hindu Sources464
  • 3. Heruka
    • 1. The Origin of Heruka473
    • 2. The Purification of Heruka496

• Bibliography: Primary Sources505
• Bibliography: Secondary Sources525

• Appendix A: An Edition of the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra, Chapters One to Four588
• Appendix B: A Translation of the Cakrasrupvara TantTai Chapters One to
                       Four614
• Appendix C: Tsongkhapa's Total Illumination of the Hidden Meaning, Ch. 1-4622
• Appendix D: Sumatikīrti's Laghusaṃvaratantrapaṭalābhisandhi760
• Appendix E: Cakrasamvara Lineage Lists765

tantra - Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism. Skt. तन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད། Ch. 密宗

Vajrayāna - The esoteric Buddhist tradition which developed as a syncretic system involving deity worship, use of mantras, physical energy, and mystical practices. It is also known as the mantra tradition and the tantric school as a result of being based on texts known as tantras. Skt. वज्रयान Tib. རྡོ་རྗེ་ཐེག་པ། Ch. 金剛乘