Tantra Illuminated: The Philosophy, History, and Practice of a Timeless Tradition

What a powerhouseof information- and study- spiritual seekers realize you are THAT- Tat Tvam Asi

I like this book. I originally listened to the Audible book but found the amount of material to be too difficult to integrate. The Audible book lacks essential figures and tables although it does have chants and features that make for a good companion to the print book.The book has three major sections. First is the essential elements of nondual saiva tantra (NŚT). This is difficult material to convey due to the philosophical nature of the teachings and the experiential aspect of understanding. Reading and meditation are recommended. The recommended steps are invaluable in understanding the subtle nature.The second section is a description of major NŚT schools of thought, the deities, and unique practices. The reading here is interesting.The third section is about the practice. The practical descriptions are accurate but brief.The book also includes valuable end material including Christopher Wallis’ biography and spiritual heritage, and a very helpful guide in pronunciation of Sanskrit words.

Christopher (Hareesh) Wallis has written THE definitive, modern day work on classical non-dual Saiva Tantra (NST). This book is simply masterful. The author manages to write with a scholarly breadth, but in an easily accessible and engaging style. Many books on Tantra fall into two unfortunate categories. Either they are written in a dense, academic prose that does not lend itself well to the non-scholar, or else they are purporting the bastardized version of "Neo-Tantra" with its overt and almost exclusive emphasis on sexuality. The author manages to avoid both of these pitfalls and the result is an easily readable and enjoyable ride that delivers accurate, scholarly, and practical information on one of the most profound religious philosophies ever developed.In the book, the author manages to tackle the daunting task of actually defining, or at least delimiting, Tantra. This is no mean feat - scholars have been debating the meaning of Tantra for decades. After clearly presenting what Tantra is and what it is not, he delves into the philosophy of Tantra. What the author is calling non-dual Saiva Tantra (NST) is the Kuala variant of a Trika/Krama synthesis of Saiva Tanta as per Abhinavagupta, at least insofar as the philosophy is concerned. He carefully details the major "western" philosophical components of NST as well as the major philosophical points of interest inherent to NST. This section of the book is simply amazing. There is nowhere else that you can find all of the major philosophical components of classical Tantra in one place and that are explained so eloquently.After the philosophy section, the author gives a detailed, but generalized, accounting of the history of Saiva Tantra. A lot of his work is based off of Alexis Sanderson, who is the pre-eminent scholar of Saiva Tantra. Not only do we learn the genesis and development of the classical Tantra, but we also learn that the Tantra subsumed many elements of Patanjali's Yoga to produce Hatha Yoga, which he clearly shows has its roots in the Tantra. It is from Hatha Yoga that we obtained the Modern Postural Yoga. So not only do we get to learn about this history of classical Tantra, but we also learn about the Tantric roots of modern day yoga practice. The history is both relevant and fascinating.Finally, the author covers the practice of NST in the modern day context. He covers the three "Means" to awakening and gives a detailed analysis of how one can use many of these practices today. In summary, this is THE one-stop shop for the most relevant and useful information regarding classical Saiva Tantra. As a student-practitioner-teacher, I feel confident in saying that no other currently available book in the English language comes close to the status of Tantra Illuminated as literal "Bible" in the field.

I owe a great debt to this author. Reading this was just what I needed to awaken a brighter and more compassionate outlook on life. I've been a seeker for most of my life devouring the great spiritual classics from A(midism) to Z(oroastrianism) and I can say, hands down, that Tantra Illuminated is a spiritual work of art that can hold its own with any of world's spiritual classics and scriptures. Tantra Illuminated is not just an exciting and scholarly book about Tantra it is a true work of Tantra. If Abhinavagupta ever gets the fame and study he deserves in the West this book will likely have played a role in bringing that change about. It's true rocket fuel for the spirit and imaginal faculty.The last section on practice was probably my favorite part of the book. It helped me gain some new insights regarding human psychology and how to best operate the mind. Previously I had finished a few books on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy* and the connections / simmilarities between Stoic and CBT Thought. When reading this section I couldn't help but draw numerous parallels. The intimate connection between thought or cognition and emotion as well as some of the methods for taking advantage of this fact for self reprogramming being the most obvious. I would think that Kashmir Shaiva practitioners and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy practitioners would be mutually enriched by cross study.The author took a risk by leaving the realm of pseudo-objectivity often demanded in religious studies and instead wrote it from an unambiguously practitioner perspective. Thanks to this fact the book was not only scholarly and informative but also transformative. I hope more academic authors follow this trend.* My counselors enlisted the help of CBT techniques to help me overcome my drug addiction in the past so I was interested in learning more. CBT and some of the Stoic exercises helped save my life.

Um livro consistente para quem quer entender o Tantra clássico. Bem embasado.

First off, let me say that I absolutely loved this book (hence the five stars). That being said, it's not a book about "tantra" in the broadest sense. There is very little to no discussion of tantric Buddhism, tantric Vaishnavism, or the dualistic streams of tantra (shaiva siddhAnta). There is also not much discussion on the tantric traditions that are alive and well today, such as the shrI vidyA. The book is mostly about Non-dual Shaiva Tantra as it evolved in the Kashmir region, and the author admits as much. This is the author's area of specialization, but he does a very good job of presenting its tenets, history, and practice.What I loved about this book is that it discusses NST (Non-dual Shaiva Tantra) and its history in an objective but reverential manner as becomes a practitioner with a Western academic background. This is really important, because it's difficult to find material on these topics from Indian authors (especially in regional languages) that is not overtly reverential or adulatory to the point of distorting the material. Having read this book, I now have a much clearer idea of the historical context of tantric religions in India and their content. The author also lists several primary sources to follow up, which is also extremely useful. He presents a concise overview of the philosophy of NST. I can see myself coming back to the section on the history of NST many times as I continue my studies.Now for some issues that I feel should also have been addressed, though I appreciate that it would have made the book considerably larger. The author doesn't really discuss the interplay of the vedic/vedAntic, aitihAsic, and purANic streams of Hinduism with his subject. This is a serious shortcoming, because there's plenty of potent material on this available today, and readers would justifiably wonder how they can benefit from that material in their tantric practice. For e.g., how does the shiva purANa relate to NST? Also, while there are brief mentions of shaiva siddhAnta and shrI vidyA, these would have warranted longer treatments in a book on "tantra", since these are very much alive and popular tantric traditions in India. It's almost as if the author wanted to sever tantric worldview from any vedic influences, but clearly the trend in history has been in the opposite direction. There are obvious similarities between the nondualistic notions as is present in NST and that of advaita vedAnta, but the author seems to ignore or downplay these connections.There is also a very obvious silence on the supernatural or magical claims in tantra. There is practically no mention of siddhis or any prayogas that are mentioned in tantric scriptures. There is also no mention of temple culture, which is strange because many temples are run according to specific Agamas, and temples are a very important aspect of modern Hinduism. Perhaps the author wanted to "sanitize" tantra to make it more palatable to an audience who would look at these factors with suspicion. This is understandable, and I will not blame the author for it.All in all, I really enjoyed the book, and I highly recommend that every Hindu who is interested in Tantra read it, provided you keep in mind that it presents only a small fraction of the tantric landscape as it exists today.

A brilliant scholarly exposition of the history and practices of the varied forms of Tantra, but which in particular focuses on the non-dual aspects of Shaivism. Dr Wallis is not only a brilliant scholar and translator of Sanskrit texts but an excellent teacher too. His knowledge and understanding of the Tantras and other texts is grounded in the practice of non-dual Shakashaivism. This book is both well written and comprehensive in its understanding of vitually all aspects of Tantra.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone on a spiritual path, no matter the tradition they’re following. It’s extremely deep and insightful, fascinating, inspiring and always wonderfully accessible while being true to its subject. It transpires from every sentence that the author has done a tremendous work, both spiritual and academic, and I’m deeply grateful for this introduction to the tantrik path.

Ya lo habia empezado a escuchar en audiobook cuando entendi que necesito un libro fisico para hacer las anotaciones y leerlo una y otra vez. Es un libro precioso y trabajo increible. Estoy muy agradecida ✨🙏✨El libro en si esta bien, aunque me gustaria que las paginas esten mas blanquitas. Pero no es un punto que le quita una estrella. Estoy contenta con la compra :)