Sahaja is the natural state of mind realised as bliss void by the Mahasiddhas. The Siddhas' realisation of this void is in the form of songs of enlightenment called Doha or Charyagiti, simple allegories of nature and village life. The lyrics portray erotic mysticism to express the experience of Tantric sadhana. This book presents selected contributions at conferences on the subject that critically re-evaluate Doha and Charyagiti collections of songs, referring to works of yore as well as scholarly contributions in the modern era. Beginning by discussing the origins of the sahajayana, the articles explore the Indian mahasiddha traditions in Tibetan translation, the Tibetan Shakyapa tradition on Mahamudra and Karma Kagyu perspective, the Buddhist Nawar tradition from Nepal, the Indian Natha tradition, and the Vaishnava Sahajiya tradition of Bengal. The aim is, among other things, to understand the concept of sahaja from a contemporary Indian perspective. |
