As mentioned, in the first half of this course we will be discussing rituals and symbols as they appear in tantra and divine embodiment within the Asian context.
We will consider these points in much further detail in coming weeks, but in brief here is what we mean by tantra and divine embodiment…
Tantra refers to various religious practices that became predominant in much of both Hinduism and Buddhism in northeastern India from around the 5th century CE. In fact, the cultural roots of tantra go back many centuries before that.
Do you know what this is? It is called a vajra. It has a ritual use in Tantric Buddhism. It also has symbolic meaning. The two sides stand for the union of wisdom and skillful means. So we can connect the vajra to both ritual and symbol.