Table of Contents

1. Introduction: A Plethora of Promises 2. Early Medieval India 3. The Medieval Buddhist Experience 4. The Victory of Esoterism and the Imperial Metaphor 5. Siddhas and the Religious Landscape 6. Siddhas, Literature, and Language 7. Siddhas, Monks, and Communities 8. Conclusion: The Esoteric Conundrum Appendix: Probable Pasupata Sites

Promotional Information

This groundbreaking work describes the historical origins of the Tantric movement in early medieval India. Drawing on primary documents-translated into English for the first time from Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Bengali-Davidson shows how changes in medieval Indian society, including economic and patronage crises, a decline in women's participation, and the formation of large monastic orders, led to the rise of the esoteric tradition in India that became the model for Buddhist cultures in China, Tibet, and Japan.

About the Author

Ron Davidson is associate professor of religious studies and director of the program in Asian studies at Fairfield University in Connecticut. He is the co-author (with Steven D. Goodman) of Tibetan Buddhism: Reason and Revelation.

Reviews

A truly pioneering and wide-ranging work-one much to be commended to students of all of the diverse phenomena that Davidson brings within its purview. -- Dan Arnold Journal of Religion This groundbreaking volume will find a primary place on the bookshelf of every serious scholar... This exceptional work deserves a wide audience -- Frederick M. Smith Religous Studies Newsletter This work is unmistakably a rich contribution to research in this area. -- Christian K. Wedemeyer History of Religions