Courtesans and Tantric Consorts: Sexualities in Buddhist Narrative, Iconography, and Ritual

by Young,Serinity

• ISBN13: 9780415914833
• ISBN10: 0415914833
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2004-02-19
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The wisest teachings of Buddhism say that one must move beyond gender. But, as Serinity Young shows in this enlightening work, the rhetoric of Buddhist texts, the symbolism of its iconography, and the performative import of its rituals, all tell different, and often contradictory, stories. InCourtesans and Tantric Consorts, Serinity Young takes the reader on a journey through more than 2000 years of biographical writings, iconographic depictions, and ritual practices revealing the colorful mosaic of beliefs that inform Buddhist views about gender and sexuality.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
Abbreviations	xvii
Note on Transliteration	xix
Introduction	xxi
Part I Life of the Buddha	1	(20)
Chapter 1 Rejection and Reconciliation	3	(18)
Rejection: The Prince in the Women's Quarters	3	(6)
Reconciliation: The Ascetic and the Requisite of Enlightenment	9	(12)
Part II Parents and Procreation	21	(60)
Chapter 2 Mothers and Sons	23	(34)
Queen Maya	23	(20)
Conception and Birth Images	24	(17)
Trayastrimsa Heaven	41	(2)
Syama Jataka	43	(1)
Sons Saving Mothers	44	(3)
Queen Cama	47	(1)
Mothers and Compassion	48	(9)
Chapter 3 Medical Excursus	57	(10)
Chapter 4 Fathers and Heirs	67	(14)
King Suddhodana	67	(2)
Buddha as Father	69	(3)
Tibet	72	(11)
Male Lineage	75	(6)
Part III Sexualities	81	(150)
Chapter 5 Wives and Husbands	83	(22)
The Wives of the Buddha	88	(9)
Jataka Wives	91	(1)
Dreams of Buddha's Wives	92	(5)
The Saundarananda	97	(2)
Positive Images of Wives	99	(6)
Chapter 6 South Asian Courtesans	105	(16)
Sexual Categories	107	(1)
Devadasis	108	(3)
Male Courtesans	111	(2)
Transitions	113	(8)
Chapter 7 Courtesans In Buddhist Literature	121	(12)
Syama Jataka	121	(1)
Amrapali	122	(1)
The Manimekhaldi	123	(4)
The Deception of the Body	127	(6)
Chapter 8 Tantric Consorts: Introduction	133	(16)
Images and Practices	133	(6)
Mahasiddhas	139	(10)
Chapter 9 Tantric Consorts: Tibet	149	(16)
Padmasambhava	149	(1)
Yeshe Tsogyel and Mandarava	150	(5)
Tertons	155	(1)
Yid Thogma	155	(1)
Milarepa	156	(1)
Machig Lapdron	157	(8)
Chapter 10 The Traffic in Women	165	(14)
Nangsa's Story	169	(10)
Chapter 11 Women, Men, and Impurity	179	(12)
Female Sexuality and Pollution	179	(6)
The Instability of Masculinity	185	(6)
Chapter 12 Sex Change	191	(20)
Female to Male Stories	192	(9)
Male to Female Stories	201	(2)
Karma	203	(8)
Chapter 13 Other Lands/Other Realities	211	(20)
The Buddhist Universe	211	(1)
Lands of Women	212	(7)
Hells for Women	214	(5)
Pure Lands	219	(12)
Without Women	219	(3)
With Women	222	(9)
Conclusion	231	(2)
Bibliography	233	(16)
Index	249