In
this comprehensive study of Tantric art, Philip Rawson invites us
to join a meditative and visual exploration of the self and the universe.
Originating in India in 600 AD and increasingly linked with recent
trends of Western art, Tantra is a metaphysical fusion of eroticism,
mathematics, and magic, a diffuse worldview in which the cult of ecstasy
reigns. It is through the astonishing collection of illustrations
in the book—sixteenth century engravings of the process of
Creative Generation, reliefs of Hindu goddesses made for worship,
a Tibetan magician's costume made of human bone—that Rawson
makes accessible the mystical and fundamentally undefinable world
of Tantra.
"A book
to have for beauty and interest, which may well be a guide to
an understanding of life." —Arts Review
In
this comprehensive study of Tantric art, Philip Rawson invites us
to join a meditative and visual exploration of the self and the universe.
Originating in India in 600 AD and increasingly linked with recent
trends of Western art, Tantra is a metaphysical fusion of eroticism,
mathematics, and magic, a diffuse worldview in which the cult of ecstasy
reigns. It is through the astonishing collection of illustrations
in the book—sixteenth century engravings of the process of
Creative Generation, reliefs of Hindu goddesses made for worship,
a Tibetan magician's costume made of human bone—that Rawson
makes accessible the mystical and fundamentally undefinable world
of Tantra.