This book analyses our conventional ways of looking at Buddhism in general and Buddhist tantra in particular. It investigates how the frameworks and structures that were developed for European studies and Biblical studies have been deployed to interpret various facets of Buddhism. Many such models that still dominate the historical imagination of Buddhist studies have been examined in this book. This book also proposes an alternative approach towards Buddhist studies and advocates incorporating the critical research of tantra texts from the perspective of traditional accounts.

Buddhist Tantra: Methodology and Historiography, Pranshu Samdarshi, Independently published, Paperback, 161 pages, $11.99

Dr. Pranshu Samdarshi is cultural historian of early South Asia. Presently he is serving as an assistant professor at Nalanda University, Rajgir, Bihar India. His research concerns the history and literature of Buddhist traditions in Southern Asia and Tibet. He holds a diploma in Pali, MA and MPhil degrees in Buddhist Studies from University of Delhi. For his PhD research at the Department of History, University of Delhi, he has explored the dynamic relationship between sacred feminine imagery and Buddhist Tantra practice. He has also received teachings on Buddhist philosophical texts from traditional Buddhist masters for almost two decades. He has authored few books, research papers, reviews, and articles for journals and magazines. He has been awarded a Junior Research Fellowship and a Senior Research Fellowship by the University Grants Commission (UGC). He has served as an Assistant Professor at International Center for Spiritual Studies, Amrita University, Bengaluru campus for two years. He has also designed and taught courses on Buddhist studies at Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok and Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, Delhi.