Kalachakra Resources
The Vajrayana Research Resource
Chakrasamvara
Kalachakra
Nyingma Studies
Caryagiti
The Archive
Leave Feedback
by James Francis Hartzell, doctoral dissertation, Columbia University, 1997
A wide-ranging, in-depth study of the Saivite and Buddhist Tantric traditions, this dissertation in thirteen chapters covers the historical development of Tantra in the Indian context prior to the Islamic invasions, relying principally on Sanskrit texts. The dissertation provides an introduction to Tantric studies, the Vedic and historical roots of the ideas and emergence of the traditions, the early Tantric literature and social position of the cults, the goals of the practices as understood by their advocates, with considerable technical detail on advanced stages and ultimate goals of Tantric Yoga. Chapter 1 traces the emergence of the field as a legitimate branch of Indology. Chapter 2 examines the Vedic roots of Tantric ideas and practices. Chapter 3 weighs the evidence and arguments for the earliest emergence of surviving written Tantric texts. Chapter 4 surveys early Buddhist Tantric literature in Sanskrit, and Chapter 5 provides a similar overview of the early Saivite Tantric literature, delimited historically by the citations in Abhinavagupta's Tantraloka. Chapter 6 discusses the social status of Tantra in the eyes of non-practitioners, with depictions of Tantric devotees by poets, satirists, and story tellers. Chapter 7 looks at the anatomy and physiology of the subtle body in the Ayurvedic medical tradition, the oldest Vedic Upanisads, the Yoga, Samkhya, and Yogacara schools, the relationship of medical physiology to Tantric physiology, and the role of the subtle body in Tantric Yoga. Chapter 8 examines the principles and objectives of Tantric initiation rites. Chapter 9 looks at the sexual yogas in the Buddhist and Saivite Tantric traditions. Chapter 10 introduces the Kalacakratantra text and its commentary Vimalaprabha by Pundarika, and examines evidence for historical and geographic origins of the texts. Chapters 11-13 are annotated translations of the Mahoddesas 1-3 of the fifth chapter of Kalacakratantra and Vimulaprabha, with a section from Mahoddesa Four on the Dharmasamgraha. The author has not included his full translation of the fourth Mahoddesa.
by Yong-Hyun Lee doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2003
Abhayakaragupta was one of the key religious figures who lived in India in the period from the latter half of the eleventh century to the first half of the twelfth century C. E. Among his many works is the Vajravali in which he made a grand synthesis of tantric liturgies, and indeed the Vajravali is his magnum opus. Abhayakaragupta clearly aspired in the Vajravali to create a liturgical system that could be applied to all mandalas known in Buddhist tantra at his time. As a systematizer, Abhayakaragupta needed to harmonize the various systems available to him. He aspired to sketch out, theoretically, a sequence of rituals that could be used with any number of different mandalas. The primacy of mandala rituals for Abhayakaragupta stemmed from their centrality in tantric practices. The aim of this study is to analyze Abhayakaragupta's liturgical system by exploring the way in which, with attempting to standardize practices, he brought together and synthesized the diverse ritual heritage to which he was heir. This thesis explores two important aspects of the Vajravali: First, it attempts an objective description of Abhayakaragupta's synthesis of mandala rituals in the Vajravali; second, it offers a contextual analysis of this creative synthesis.
The Kalacakra challenges the methods of synthesis, distinction, and classification in conventional Vajrayana. One of the Kalacakra's fundamental challenge lies in the method of synthesizing non-tantric Mahayana Buddhism and the Vajrayana, which was advocated by exegetes of late Buddhist tantra. The Kalacakra criticizes the standard method of synthesis which link the Vajrayana to non-tantric Mahayana Buddhsim. Instead, the Kalacakra's method of synthesis is to assimilate non-tantric Mahayana into the Vajrayana in order to emphasize the unity of the Buddhist heritage. Thus the Kalacakra calls the Vajrayana the Samyaksambuddhayana, the Vehicle of the Perfectly Enlightened Ones, instead of the Bodhisattvayana, the soteriological characterization of the Vajrayana advocated by exegetes of late Buddhist tantra.
The Kalacakra also challenges the distinction between yogatantra (father tantra) and yoginitantra (mother tantra), the generally accepted two great traditions in the Vajrayana. The Kalacakra's challenge is particularlly focused on the criteria for these two divisions, upaya or prajna, which is, in turn, considered to be the essence of yogatantra and yoginitantra. For instance, the Vimalaprabha Commentary on the Kalacakratantra claims that the Hevajratantra, which consists of prajna (wisdom) and upaya (method), is eventually a yogatantra, diametrically opposing the general classification of the Hevajratantra as a yoginitantra. This claim implies that the Kalacakratantra is also a yogatantra because it has the indivisible nature of prajna and upaya or of emptiness and compassion. The Kalacakramandala also obscures the classification of the Kalacakratantra as a yogatantra or a yoginitantra, because neither the male nor the female predominates in this grand mandala. Abhayakaragupta had to deal with this unique mandala in synthesizing a liturgical heritage, but he succeeded in harmonizing it with other Buddhist mandalas. There is a slight evidence that Abhayakaragupta considered the Kalacakramandala to be the pinnacle of all Buddhist mandalas.
The Kalacakra challenges the methods of synthesis, distinction, and classification in conventional Vajrayana. One of the Kalacakra's fundamental challenge lies in the method of synthesizing non-tantric Mahayana Buddhism and the Vajrayana, which was advocated by exegetes of late Buddhist tantra. The Kalacakra criticizes the standard method of synthesis which link the Vajrayana to non-tantric Mahayana Buddhsim. Instead, the Kalacakra's method of synthesis is to assimilate non-tantric Mahayana into the Vajrayana in order to emphasize the unity of the Buddhist heritage. Thus the Kalacakra calls the Vajrayana the Samyaksambuddhayana, the Vehicle of the Perfectly Enlightened Ones, instead of the Bodhisattvayana, the soteriological characterization of the Vajrayana advocated by exegetes of late Buddhist tantra.
The Kalacakra also challenges the distinction between yogatantra (father tantra) and yoginitantra (mother tantra), the generally accepted two great traditions in the Vajrayana. The Kalacakra's challenge is particularlly focused on the criteria for these two divisions, upaya or prajna, which is, in turn, considered to be the essence of yogatantra and yoginitantra. For instance, the Vimalaprabha Commentary on the Kalacakratantra claims that the Hevajratantra, which consists of prajna (wisdom) and upaya (method), is eventually a yogatantra, diametrically opposing the general classification of the Hevajratantra as a yoginitantra. This claim implies that the Kalacakratantra is also a yogatantra because it has the indivisible nature of prajna and upaya or of emptiness and compassion. The Kalacakramandala also obscures the classification of the Kalacakratantra as a yogatantra or a yoginitantra, because neither the male nor the female predominates in this grand mandala. Abhayakaragupta had to deal with this unique mandala in synthesizing a liturgical heritage, but he succeeded in harmonizing it with other Buddhist mandalas. There is a slight evidence that Abhayakaragupta considered the Kalacakramandala to be the pinnacle of all Buddhist mandalas.
by Edwin Marshall Bernbaum doctoral dissertation, University of California-Berkley 1985
The theme of the mythic journey has provided a powerful vehicle for symbolism expressing the deepest concerns of many different religious and cultural traditions. This dissertation examines the treatment and development of this theme in guidebooks to Sambhala, an earthly paradise of Indian and Tibetan mythology that is said to hold the highest of Buddhist teachings for a time in the future when Buddhism will he lost in the world outside. After presenting a survey of indigenous literature and translations of key Tibetan texts, the dissertation analyzes the myth of Sambhala into its three basic themes of the messianic history and prophecy, the earthly paradise, and the mythic journey. It traces the development of these themes in Tibet and examines the ways in which they have appropriated and transformed material from a variety of sources in Hindu mythology, including the prophecy of the Kalki avatar of Visnu and itineraries to the northern paradise of Uttarakuru in the Ramayana and Mahabharata. This section includes translations from Sanskrit of pertinent passages from the two epics. Drawing on tension and interaction theories of metaphor, the dissertation goes on to formulate and apply the concept of rcetaphoric juxtaposition as a means of elucidating the underlying process governing the development of the mythic journey to Sambhala and the syncretism found in it
The descriptions below were written by Andy Wistreich for http://kalachakranet.org/
The descriptions below were written by Andy Wistreich for http://kalachakranet.org/
by John Ronald Newman, doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1997
Chapter One of the Viamalprabha was translated back in the eighties by John Newman, a student of Geshe Sopa from Madison, Wisconsin. The translation was ground-breaking in its time, and was the first section of the Vimalaprabha to appear in English.
Scholars and practitioners find this opening chapter very helpful as it lays down the basis for the whole Kalackara tradition and then goes on to focus on the outer Kalacakra, including the astrology (most of which is not included in the translation here), and many historical and geographical reference points for the tradition. Most importantly, the opening sections of the chapter summarise all five chapters, giving a complete overview of the Kalacakra. The translation is accessible, and has an air of authority, no doubt reflecting Newman's personal connection to the tradition, through his teacher Geshe Sopa. As most people know, the first western initiation by His Holiness the Dalai Lama took place at Madison in 1981, and the following year, Serkong Rinpoche taught on Kalacakra there. One can sense the benefits of these connections in Newman's work, which is more than an academic treatise.
Scholars and practitioners find this opening chapter very helpful as it lays down the basis for the whole Kalackara tradition and then goes on to focus on the outer Kalacakra, including the astrology (most of which is not included in the translation here), and many historical and geographical reference points for the tradition. Most importantly, the opening sections of the chapter summarise all five chapters, giving a complete overview of the Kalacakra. The translation is accessible, and has an air of authority, no doubt reflecting Newman's personal connection to the tradition, through his teacher Geshe Sopa. As most people know, the first western initiation by His Holiness the Dalai Lama took place at Madison in 1981, and the following year, Serkong Rinpoche taught on Kalacakra there. One can sense the benefits of these connections in Newman's work, which is more than an academic treatise.
by Jensine Andresen, doctoral dissetation, Harvard University, 1997
Andresens thesis is based around her 'preliminary translation' of Chapter Three of the Kalacakratantra together with its commentary the Vimalaprabha, which is the chapter on the initiation. In this respect, it picks up where Vesna Wallace's thesis based around the second chapter leaves off. In most other respects however, this is a very different type of work. I cannot comment on the accuracy of the translation, but since she herself describes it as 'preliminary' she acknowledges that in future her work will be refined. The third chapter is highly technical and is almost entirely focused on the ritual. However, as the book on the initiation by the Dalai Lama and Jeffrey Hopkins shows, even a study of the initiation can elucidate important understanding of the structure of the practice of the tantra, since it is here that the seeds are sown for all the realisations through all the yogas. The layout of the translation is useful, since it contains the Sanskrit then Tibetan then English, with the commentary added in brackets, and like Vesna Wallace, Jensine Andresen also includes references to Buton's commentary. As she tells us in her abstract at the beginning, Andresen adopts a multi-disciplinary critical approach to Kalacakra as a cultural phenomenon, looking at 'the social, psychological, economic and political factors that have propelled this tradition forward.' Like David Reigle in Kalacakra Sadhana and Social Responsibility, she works across the canvass of history, looking at Shambhala, Tibet, and the West as comparable contexts within which Kalacakra has achieved social significance and meaning. True to her post-modernist methodology, her chapters arise as apparently disconnected fragments in her quest to engage with multiple readings of her central 'text', the initiation itself. She successfully deconstructs the concept of the initiation as an offering us as alternatives, the initiation as a video, as a spectacle, as a political vehicle, and in the process examines the notion of ritual as a social phenomenon. She helps us to see Kalacakra in a series of settings, as an instrument of power. Her critical stance inevitably renders her somewhat an outsider to this power, so practitioners may find themselves at odds with her perspective, since they are harnessing this power for the inner purpose of spiritual development, whilst Andresen seems mostly to look at Kalacakra as a social phenomenon. However, she cannot help being drawn into it, and has herself taken the initiation and has attended like the rest of us. We can sympathise with her orientation of one foot in the western academic tradition, and one foot in the Buddhist practice tradition. However, it makes for a serious tension in the whole work, which comes to a head in her final chapter, . Here, Western academic balance is sacrificed to a feeling of panic at the commodification of Tibetan Buddhism, through its encounter with capitalist culture. I feel that the issues raised by Jensine Andresen are most relevant to our project of introducing this rich, diverse and powerful tradition to the West. We might read her concerns as a series of warnings. She warns against the development of the Kalacakra Initiation as an exotic spectacle. She warns against the tradition whereby the Kalacakra initiation is an instrument of powerful men in patriarchal cultures. She warns of how the internet and capitalist culture may have a destructive effect on the Kalacakra tradition. Although she does not say as much, for me, her whole thesis is a warning against losing touch with Kalacakra as a practice tradition, and of course this danger applies to the whole of Buddhism. The wherewithal to remedy this lies completely in our hands. I guess that Jensine Andresens thesis is evidence of the fear of losing the plot which can beset us unless we root our entire project in personal practice and pure motivation.
Off-Site Kalachakra Resources
Simply the best online resource for the study of the Kalachakra cycle of Tantric Buddhism
Another useful resource on the Kalachakra cycle
