Kiss of the Yogini

WithKiss of the Yogini, David Gordon White sweeps away centuries of misunderstandings and misrepresentations, returning to original texts, images, and ritual practices to reconstruct the history of South Asian Tantra from the medieval period to the present day.Kiss of the Yoginicontains White's own translations from over a dozen Tantras that have never before been translated into any European language. It will prove to be the definitive work for anyone seeking to understand Tantra and the crucial role it has played in South Asian history, society, culture, and religion. "Kiss of the Yoginiis one of the few good, interesting books about Tantra, a passionately argued work that transforms scholarly understanding of its subject. . . . By reconstructing the medieval South Asian Kaula and Tantric traditions that involved sexual practices, David White hopes to restore the dignity and autonomy of the people who invented them and continue to practise them. This monumental scholarly work does precisely that."Wendy Doniger,Times Literary Supplement

David Gordon White is professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of Myths of the Dog-Man and The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India, both published by the University of Chicago Press, and the editor of Tantra in Practice.test