With The Buddhist Tantras: A Guide, David B. Gray attempts to relate “one of the least understood body of scriptures” (1) in five chapters to an informed, but general, audience. From the outset, Gray notes the secrecy surrounding the Buddhist tantras and the inherent difficulty in making the material within the texts approachable for a non-specialist. Indeed, the texts are intentionally opaque, and leading a neophyte directly into their content is forbidden by the tradition that produced them.
Gray assumes the reader of his book will be at least familiar with Mahāyāna Buddhism and South Asian religions. This allows him to begin his study by exploring the place of the Buddhist tantras in the chronological development of the ‘overall Buddhist great tradition.’ Chapter 1 is an investigation into the most recent academic arguments that aim to explain the genesis of the tantric vehicle of Buddhism. Ultimately, he concludes that Vajrayāna (tantric Buddhism) was produced dynamically alongside similar tantric development in other South Asian religions, especially Hindu Śaivism. The author demonstrates the gradual progression from magical dhāraṇī and vidyā (apotropaic and/or hostile spells) texts to full-blown, self-conscious tantras.
Following his summary of the historical development of Vajrayāna, Gray shifts to a discussion of methods used in the production of tantras that placed the texts within the wider Buddhist tradition. The critical importance of teaching lineage is highlighted in this section of the book. Here, too, he remarks on the necessity of initiation by a master into any tantric tradition and underscores the centrality of ritual in the Vajrayāna tradition. It is ritual that makes the tantric Buddhist practitioner fit to undertake the project toward awakening that is taught and sanctioned by the guru, and this importance is not lost on the author.
After delving into the content of the texts, Gray turns back to historical development, this time to shine a light on the spread of Buddhist tantras beyond their homeland in South Asia. This history given in chapter 3 follows naturally from the discussion of the development of tantra within Buddhism in chapter 1, and readers may wish to read the third chapter before they turn to the content of the texts covered in chapter 2.
Following the discussion of the dissemination of tantric Buddhism, Gray provides a detailed exposition on historical efforts by Buddhist actors to place the tantras in the wider Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition and ascribe authority to the texts. The monumental text classification and translation projects undertaken by second millennium Tibetans are summarized, as are the taxonomies employed by first millennium East Asian Buddhists.
Gray closes with a discussion of the transgressive language present in the Buddhist tantras, a phenomenon he identifies as a “red thread” that pervades all Vajrayāna literature. The sex and violence depicted in the Vajrayāna canon is a source of confusion and disagreement, not just for scholars, but for tantric Buddhists as well. The disagreements tend to revolve around how literal certain prescriptions are to be taken: should one physically engage in sexual practices, only mentally engage, or take all transgressive language as merely code? Gray highlights historical attempts to adequately answer this question, mentioning luminaries such as Vilāsavajra, Abhayākaragupta, and (the tantric) Candrakīrti.
The Buddhist Tantras: A Guide will most serve readers who are informed about Buddhism and/or South Asian religions, but are not experts in Vajrayāna. The narrative flow of the writing will allow such readers to follow the story that Gray lays out, and track the ritual and historical development of tantric Buddhism. He pulls in examples from the entire tradition to illustrate points throughout the book, giving the reader a sense of the whole, complete tradition, even when poring over a section about historical development. Aspects of the entire tradition are therefore illustrated using specific textual examples from across the canon. This strategy mirrors traditional explanations of tantric material, where the canon is not treated as the product of historical development, but is instead beyond the limitations of time and therefore predates any human engagement with the texts. This same narrative technique makes the book less valuable as a reference work, as Gray frequently draws upon instances from the whole tradition to make a point, rather than indexing quotations to the time and place currently under discussion. The book needs to be read as a whole, not as sections, and if assigning it to an advanced undergraduate or graduate course this should be borne in mind.
Samuel M. Grimes is an assistant professor of religious studies at Fairfield University.
Samuel Grimes
Date Of Review:
November 27, 2024
