Title

From Theravada To Tantra: The Making Of An American Tantric Buddhism?

Abstract

This paper examines recent innovations in the American vipassana or insight community, specifically a current I identify as West Coast Vipassana that has revisioned the Theravadin Buddhist goal of liberation, from a transcendental condition that demands a renunciation of the world, to an embodied enlightenment that affirms everyday householder life as a site for awakening. I draw on Jeffrey J. Kripal's tantric transmission thesis to advance an essentially tantric hermeneutic of West Coast Vipassana. I argue that while West Coast Vipassana is originally based in Theravada Buddhism, an Asian renouncer tradition that sharply differentiates between the immanent and transcendent, it has taken a markedly tantric turn in America. I also note, however, that it considerably differs from traditional Buddhist tantric traditions such as Tibetan Buddhism or esoteric Japanese Buddhism in being distinctively modern and American. © 2013 Taylor and Francis.

Publication Date

11-1-2013

Publication Title

Contemporary Buddhism

Volume

14

Issue

2

Number of Pages

221-238

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1080/14639947.2013.832496

Socpus ID

84890062905 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84890062905

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