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INTRODUCTORY ESSAY
Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
—
GEORGE SANTAYANA
History is merely a list of surprises.
It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again.
—
KURT VONNEGUT
Tantra Without Context
I created this bibliography in early 2004, to begin to understand Tantra in a broader historical-cultural context. I was introduced to Tantric practice through attending workshops with Margo Anand and Charles and Caroline Muir, the best-known teachers of Tantra in the United States. I found the training in these workshops to be personally and professionally useful, and I have incorporated some of the philosophy and practices of Tantra into my sex therapy practice.
I am troubled, however, by the hype and entrepreneurism surrounding Tantra. Last year, the musician Sting was interviewed on afternoon television as he described long sessions of Tantric lovemaking with his wife. Author David Ramsdale demonstrated a “sexual energy orgasm” live on a cable channel.
A cursory Internet search finds many tantric workshops and trainings offered, mostly on the East and West coasts, as well as Hawaii. “Dakinis” and “goddesses” advertise sexual services in most major U.S. cities.
Hugh B. Urban, an academic historian of religion, has written a persuasive article (“The Cult of Ecstasy, Tantrism, the New Age, and the Spiritual Logic of Late Capitalism,”
History of Religions 2000, 40, 268-304) suggesting that Tantra is an ideal “religion” for our age where ecstasy has become commoditized and individualism and instant gratification are prized.
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