Many misconceptions circulate in the West about Tantric religion whether Buddhist or Hindu mainly because scholars have relied exclusively on textual sources. Here for the first time is an account of how Tantric Buddhism works in practice. Monk Householder and Tantric Priest is a detailed ethnography of the Mahayana and vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhism of the Newars of the Kathmandu valley Nepal. It describes the way of life and social organisation of the Hindu-Buddhist city of Lalitpur the relationship of Buddhism to Hinduism and the place of religion and ritual in the life of Newar Buddhists. The study of the Newars has wider implications for it allows us to grasp how Buddhism-works and worked in its original context of caste and Hindu Kingship. This is an important book which should appeal to those interested in Buddhism and religious studies specialists as well as to South Asianists sociologists and social anthropologists. |
