"Prohibition, Secrecy, Celebrity - Tantric Buddhists and the Mediaeval Indian State »

Abstract: The aim of this talk is to present some hitherto little studied or unknown textual material (selected passages from treatises, commentaries, ritual manuals, and epigraphy) which could perhaps contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between the subculture of Indian tantric Buddhists and royal authority during the mature age of Vajrayāna (ca. 9th to 13th c.). I identify three approaches: 1) prohibition, where authors recommend a ban on esotericism, especially transgressive practices; 2) secrecy, where such practices are hidden with varying degress of success; and 3) celebrity, where the practices, or at least some of them, are revealed to the king in exchange of patronage.