Geoffrey Samuel (1) (1946–)

This is a thoroughly researched and erudite work on the social history of Indic religions. A historical treatise that traces the social, religious and political atmosphere that gave rise to the yogic and tantric systems. There aren’t many philosophical discussions and ritualistic details in this work.

He traces the origins of Yoga and Tantra by following the various developments in the Indic religions up to the 13th century CE. Instead of trying to build a linear structure, he traces the various ritualistic traditions and cults that were present in the Indic scene, and the dialectic that happened between them, resulting in the formation of the renunciate, Yogic and tantric orders.
Fortunately he doesn’t just focus on the textual sources but also uses archaeological, linguistic and anthropological sources to give a clear account of the social contours where these two traditions evolved and flourished.

He starts the book with a chapter on the Indus valley civilisation and the famous iconography that many scholars have supposed to be a Proto – Siva sitting in a Yogic posture. However Samuel warns us that the evidence for that is far from conclusive. This is followed by a long chapter on Indic historiography.
The book is then divided into two parts. Part one focusing on Meditation and Yoga, and the part two focusing on Tantra. The period in focus in the first part is mainly the period of second urbanisation. In this, he focuses on the Bhrahmanical and Sramanic ascetic traditions and the Yaksha religion and its role in the renunciate traditions. He gives a very clear account of the rise of the renunciate schools. In the second part, he follows the social changes from after the fall of the Mauryas to the rise of the Guptas and upto 13th century CE. The Vratya rituals, the Kapalika style ascetics and the transgressive practices associated with cremation grounds, the local village goddess cults, the low caste ritual groups and the kula traditions, the rise of the fierce, wild goddesses and the influence of Chinese alchemy that gave rise to the Kundalini system.

The word Tantra has been associated with a wide range of rituals and practices and so he doesn't try to define it. But he does mention a categorisation of Saiva and Buddhist Tantra into three phases. The first being the transgressive practices associated with death and the cremation ground, and with the goals of harnessing magical powers and sorcery. The second being the rise of sexual yoga and kundalini style practices probably influenced by Chinese alchemical traditions. These were adopted by both Saiva and Buddhist practitioners giving way to the elaborate rituals associated with the fierce goddesses, the Yogini Tantras and the ritual cycles of Hevajra and Chakrasamvara Tantras. By the 11th and 12th centuries these trangressive and sexual practices became the esoteric practices for the advanced practitioners. They became internalised and were increasingly seen as a set of practices leading to a psychological liberating insight.

One thing I would have loved to see discussed more is the impact of the tantra on gender relations. Especially during the time, when with the increasing dominance of the patriarchical Brahmanical culture with the ideas of purity and impurity, women were increasingly marginalised and restricted in the society. Once again he is circumspect about this, but he does accept the fact that condition of women was far better in South India than in the North.

The period dealt with in this book is very vast to fit in a single volume. So this not in any way a comprehensive account. Also the sources that he uses are mainly secondary and he is very circumspect about making any primary assertions. But this still is a very important contribution to the field.… (mais)

Let me start with two negatives, which explain the 4 (rather than 5) star rating:

First of all, the academic practise of inserting credits to authors mid-sentence is immensely irritating, and this is a constant sin in this book. A typical, not the worst, example: "Certainly such practitioners have been important in more recent times in most Theravadin countries (Tambiah 1984; Carrithers 1983; Taylor 1993; Tiyaranich 1997, 2004; see also Keyes 1987; Lehman 1987; Tambiah 1987)." -- Editors and publishers, please, when you have academic authors, insist that they put these references either at the bottom of the page or as end notes. These constant interruptions only detract from the key messages. Readers are not on a Ph.D. committee and do not need the constant credential reminders.

I also felt that the author kept hedging on issues--'it could be this, it could be that' positioning. A word count on 'seems', 'appears' 'has suggested' would have been a useful exercise. Samuel is an expert; he should voice and support his own position. Put conflicting views in the footnotes.

But to turn to the content, the sections on the central relationship in Brahmanical thought between celibacy, religion and male identity, were illuminating and helpful in understanding the rise of tantra in Indic religions.

Also excellent was the entire 'story' of the role of Siva and how Siva (and such forms as Bhairava) became associated with yogic and Tantric practices as "he became the first and supreme example of a fundamental principle of Indian religious life; the power of disorder, destruction and transgression...the need to come to terms and worship the things that can go wrong and create misfortune" (p. 114). The subsequent section on Saiva Tantra and the Yogini cults, which begins with the statement that "the Saiva ascetics were consciously positioning themselves outside of respectable society" was also one of those 'ah ha!' moments for me.

If you can sustain patience through the constant academic referrals and fence-walking, the rewards are many.… (mais)

Samuel is an anthropologist and his book discusses the social and cultural contexts through which yoga and tantra developed, from roughly 400 BCE up to 1200 CE. So he doesn't go into deep meanings of terms such as "Tantra". Maybe it means continuity, like tradition, but it seems also to mean woven fabric - perhaps referring to the interweaving of relative and absolute truths, the mundane and the sacred, in our experience. Tantra is a method for dissolving our habitual tendency to maintain a wall between these poles. Samuel shows how this spiritual understanding of Tantra is interwoven with pragmatic magical purposes for such ritual practice, such as healing, or success in battle. Samuel doesn't give us any simple linear story of origination, but presents a multi-faceted collection of stories, some combination of which might be the ultimate explanation... to whatever extent any explanation can actually be ultimate.

Samuel does a great job of presenting and weighing evidence. While he is clearly a major player in the academic world where spirituality is held at arm's length as an object of study, Samuel does not in the least belittle that object's value. Indeed he manages an occasional humorous notice of the limitation of the academic approach: p. 334 mentions the "demythologized universe" that "most contemporary Western Academics" live in.

I am a very lazy and occasional student of the history of South Asian history, but at least I have learned the most elementary ABC over the years. This book certainly got me up toward FGH at the very least. I learned about the distinction between herders and farmers - ah, Cain and Abel, it is a widespread distinction - but here is seems to get embodied e.g. in the Mahabharata vs. the Ramayana.

This book doesn't tell us what happened but shows us much of the key evidence and some of the ways we can connect the dots to make a story from that. Many committed practitioners will likely be frustrated - this book won't side with any of the traditional stories. Nor does it dismiss the traditional stories. They are simply given a place alongside whatever other evidence the academic world has managed to piece together so far. Samuel seems quite up to date with the current state of research in this area. Anyone curious and open-minded is sure to learn a lot from this book. It is not so dense in academic minutae to frustrate an occasional amateur like myself. I imagine that even a committed academic will find some fresh and valuable perspectives here too.… (mais)