Esoteric Buddhism in India and Tibet
- Course Code:
- 15PSRH007
- Status:
- Course Not Running 2013/14
- Unit value:
- 0.5
- Year of study:
- Any
Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism represents the third and final stage in the historical and other developments of Indian Buddhism. The course first examines the historical background of the Buddhist tantras, and then proceed to discuss the following major topics:
- the categories of the Buddhist tantras;
- the tantric theory of deliverance;
- yogic and occult practices;
- tantric rituals, pantheon, and iconography.
In addition to the Indian tradition, the course will also cover the major aspects of tantric traditions in Tibet.
Objectives and learning outcomes of the course
Upon the completion of this course, the students should acquire a global grasp of the literary categories of the Buddhist tantras in India, and a comprehensive understanding of the principal tantric theories and practices. In terms of the tantric theories, the students will learn about the tantra perceptions of phenomenal existence as a psychic cosmos and its corresponding dynamics within the human body, and the tantra interpretations consciousness, emptiness, enlightenment, and nonduality of all polarities. In terms of tantric practices, the students will become acquainted with the tantra methods of meditational visualisations of buddhahood in personified and impersonified forms.
