The Ecstasy of Enlightenment: Teaching of Natural Tantra

By Thomas Cleary

Book Overview

The Ecstasy of Enlightenment is an inside look at the spiritual world of Tantraone of the most sophisticated, alluring, and controversial forms of Buddhism. Cleary unlocks the mysteries of the Carya-Giti, a collections of teachings by more than twenty famous Siddhas, or Tantric adepts, who lived during the illustrius Pala dynasty of old Bengal. These teachings emanate from one of the most dynamic sources of international Buddhism, at the height of its religious development, and as such, they are completely nonsectarian. Particularly noteworth is Cleary's demonstration of the parallels between Tantric Buddhism in Old Bengal and the original Zen Buddhism of China.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1578630274
• ISBN13: 9781578630271
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: Weiser Books
• Length: 232 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful translation and explication of the Carya Gita

A poet's sensitivity to language, combined with clarity of message and detailed, erudite commentary provide an insightful look into the technical language embedded in the vernacular teaching of the great Tantric Siddhas of old Bengal. The commentary seeks to shed light on the skillful means employed by the Siddhas and takes an Ekayana/Pan-Buddhist philosophical approach.