Author: David Gordon White
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal
Year: 2004
Language: English
Pages: 596
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8121511151
Description
The Alchemical Body excavates and centers within its Indian context the lost tradition of the medieval Siddhas. Working from a body of previously unexplored alchemical sources, David Gordon white demonstrates for the first time that the medieval disciplines of Hindu alchemy and hatha yoga were practiced by one and the same people, and that they can only be understood when viewed together. White opens the way to a new and more comprehensive understanding of medieval Indian mysticism, within the broader context of South Asian Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam.
REVIEWS
White proves a skillful guide in disentangling historical and theoretical complexities that have thus far bedeviled the study of these influential aspects of medieval Indian culture.-Yoga World
Excellent..a tome of vast learning.-Marianne Winder, AMBIX: Journal of the Society for History of Alchemy & Chemistry
Anyone seriously interested in finding out more about authentic tantra, original hatha yoga, embodied liberation..sacred sexuality, paranormal abilities, healing, and of course alchemy will find White's extraordinary book as fascinating as any Tom Clancy thriller.-Georg Feuerstein, Yoga Journal
David White has done us a great service by presenting us with such a wide-ranging and thorough piece of research into a challenging subject.. It is a masterly synthesis of a huge range of new material on a difficult topic, and white's insights occur with a bewildering frequency. This book will be of the greatest interest to the general reader on medieval India and is certain to encourage much audience participation from those engaged directly in the field.
-David Templeman, Asian Studies Review
Contents
PREFACE
Note on Transliteration
Abbreviations
ONE
Indian Paths to Immortality
TWO
Categories of Indian Thought: The Universe by Numbers
THREE
The Prehistory of Tantric Alchemy
FOUR
Sources for the History of Tantric Alchemy in India
FIVE
Tantric and Siddha Alchemical Literature
SIX
Tantra in the Rasarnava
SEVEN
Corresponding Hierarchies: The Substance of the Alchemical Body
EIGHT
Homologous Structures of the Alchemical Body
NINE
The Dynamics of Transformation in Siddha Alchemy
TEN
Penetration, Perfection, and Immortality
EPILOGUE
The Siddha Legacy in Modern India
NOTES
SELECTED BIBLIOGRPHY
INDEX