Guest guest Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Excerpt from our review of the book.. Renowned Goddess of Desire; Women, Sex and Speech in Tantra by Loriliai Biernacki Do tantric writings glorify women as embodied divinity? Or do they instead treat women as a resource for the male practitioner? The answers to these two questions are yes and yes, according to feminist historian Loriliai Biernacki. Her point is that not all tantras are the same - they're 'by no means uniform in their attitude towards women...' (p 30) Biernacki indicates (pp 8-9) that she was favorably surprised by what is said about women in a particular group of Sanskrit texts, which in her view express 'a particular strand of Tantra' (p10). Texts of this strand include the _Brihannila Tantra_, which is the primary text used in Biernacki's study. These texts describe a way of worshipping and living which is called in Sanskrit the _Kali sadhana_; or, as Bieracki translates, the 'Kali Practice', and is also called the _shaktacara_ or 'Shakta Conduct'. (p 31) According to this particular strand of Tantra, women as a group are powerful beings, with natural aptitude for use of mantras either to bless or curse. (p 45) They can be excellent gurus. (p 46) Men in the path of Kali Practice are instructed to honour women -- all women, regardless of their age, or appearance, or ancestry, or character -- to honour women not only in ritual, but also in daily life... The rest of this book review can be found at http://home.pacific.net.au/~ferment/bier.html Om Santih Colin of Ferment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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