Specialist in Things Tantric - STS NEWS # 2
File: News#285
STS NEWS #2, Dec. 26, 1985
Dear Specialist in Things Tantric,
I am re-editing this letter and dating it in December although most of it has been in the computer for a good while now and although I know it will be at least mid-January before I can get it reproduced and in the mail. For most of you this will follow previous communications designed to pull together a formal academic group to sponsor and promote the study of the tantric traditions. If this is the first of our letters to reach you, it should on any account be self-explanatory.
Overall response to our initial queries and suggestions has been more than gratifying. We had initially expected to pull together a membership of thirty or forty scholars actively working on tantric materials. So far our responses are closer to one-hundred and still coming in. Of particular surprise was the strong response from Europe. At any rate, we seem to have more than enough interested parties for the organization to work and may even get up to the 200 breaklimit for non-profit mailing privileges (though I understand that those are under some threat in the current congress). We are thus ready to move beyond the preliminary stage and formalize the organization.
At the end of this letter are three items with regard to which we ask your response. Some of these comprise nearly verbatim restatements of the bylaws proposals outlined in earlier correspondence. Though we got helpful comments on a number of those suggestions, there was no serious dissent on any of the points. Thus below we have drafted what is generally a yes/no ballot rather than a choice-of-options ballot.
As well as asking for your vote to formally constitute the society we also present you with a slate of candidates for the initial steering committee. We made a serious, and we feel successful, attempt to spread these both geographically and in terms of area of specialty, but the primary consideration was the enthusiasm for and willingness to help this venture in its formative stages.
It is our expectation, based on earlier responses, that the vote on the bylaws and steering committee will be largely pro- forma. The fact that both Orzech and Sanford are included in the proposed steering committee does not indicate any feelings of "ownership;" the society belongs to its members. However, inasmuch as all files etc. are currently held by us we feel that continuity here makes good sense. (In like fashion it seems sensible also for one of us to act as secretary-treasurer for at least the the immediate future. We do in this regard promise that we will in no way reimburse ourselves for out of pocket money spent so far; if the society prospers it will be seed money well spent.) Once the organization formally constituted and the Steering Committee in place, a number of the nuts and bolts decisions can be made in a more representative fashion. These ought to include setting up a system of rotating terms of office for the steering committee, validating (or not) our proposal outlined below for holding an initial conference in Fall 1986, deciding precisely what linkages to make to the American Academy of Religion and the Association of Asian Studies, deciding just how far and how fast to progress with a bulletin/journal, applying for any outside funding for which the society or its projects may be eligible (travel to conferences by overseas scholars seems one immediate possibility).
We have also, somewhat arbitrarily, decided to constitute the society's dues at $10.00 per year (actually 18 months for the first cycle, Jan. 86-June 87). This will of course be subject to review at some point. It would be nice to build up a small monetary cushion for the society, but beyond that we would expect it to use the monies it collects to directly further the organization's goals. And at this point we are not yet able to predict those costs with any great accuracy-- save to note that postage costs are even worse than we had expected. Payment of dues will constitute one a member of the society.
On a more speculative note. Pending some kind of concurrence or demural on the part of the Steering Committee, we would like to tentatively propose that the Society's first formal meeting be a smallish conference at the Quail's Roost Conference Center in Rougemont, N. C. This would probably be a Thur. eve to Sunday morning affair with the really substantive days being Friday and Saturday. This would allow six to eight panels/workshops. Ideally the whole of the conference would be cross-cultural, informal, and edge-of-the-field in nature, though not every session would have to be so. This meeting would take place some time in Oct. of l986 and be open to a total of around 50 participants. The first session might simply outline the accepted range of usage of "tantra/tantrism" or their equivalents in the major geographical- cultural areas we are concerned with. With this basic groundwork laid, we could then move on to more concrete topics. We would like to suggest three specific possibilities. (1) Tantric poetry as a form of twilight-language, (2) Tantrism and the performative and martial arts, (3)"Esoteric" and "secret:" appropriate labels for Tantra? Another useful panel might be one that provided some concrete exemplifications of the methodological problems encountered in dealing with texts, rituals, and rituals in texts. All of these are suggestive-- and what they are primarily intended to suggest is responses, be they specific proposals for these rubrics or proposals for counter-rubrics. (We need some of the latter in any case.)
This proposal probably also presupposes that the society would not formally participate in the l986 AAR program (though maybe we close doors too quickly if there are some restive self- motivators out there.) A likely initial ordering of events would seem to be: Quail's Roost in Fall l986, the AAS annual meeting in Spring l987, the AAR annual in Fall 1987. Again, all of this is subject (a) to concurrence of Steering Committee and (b) participation of society members. We could use some concrete feedback on this.
News items. Several announcements have come in to the society.
- Harvey Alpert of.... called to tell me that he will be general editor of a multi-volume project dealing with the Shaivism of Kashmir and related issues. The sponser is SUNY press. He also mentioned that a separate ten-essay volume which he is editing, Understanding Mantras, should be out in l986.
- Agehananda Bharati was unable to produce a summary of the proceedings of the International Tantra Convention scheduled in London in August 1985. With good reason. The meeting was cancelled.
- Bruce Burrill has listed the society on INDRANET, a micro-computer based electronic bulletin board set up for the use of those interested in Buddhist studies. The board is open to all relevant forms of information and will also have the capacity to download reviews and the like to anyone with an appropriate modem and retrieval system. Bruce's address is 421 S. Mills St., Madison, Wisc. 53715. The INDRANET phone number is 608-255-5227.
- Andre Padoux has sent us a copy of the May 1985 Rapport Scientific to the Centre National de la Recherche Scientific. The report is entitled "L'Hindouism: textes, doctrines, pratiques" and is about 15pp long. We will be glad to zerox and mail out copies to any interested parties in the US or Canada for $1.50 (to cover reproduction and postage). It contains a good deal of tantra-related material.
- Anna Seidel of the Hobogirin in Kyoto has has asked us to mention the publication of Cahiers d'Extreme-Asie, an annual, bi- lingual (French and English) newsletter of the the Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient. Though most of the articles and reviews deal with Taoist and Sino-Japanese Buddhist topics, some of you may wish to subscribe personally or wish to recommend the newdsletter to your library. The cost is US $12 for individuals and $17 for institutitons. Inquiries should be addressed to Anna Seidel, E.F.E.O., Rinkoin, Shokokuji, Kamikyoku, 602 Kyoto, Japan. (Vol. 1 included articles by Max Kaltenmark, Hubert Durt, Frits Staal, and Allan Grappard; Vol. 2 will have articles by Etienne Lamotte, Rolf Stein, Jean Levi, Edward Schafer, Bernard Faure, Farzeen Baldrain, and Christian Deschamps. And, of special interest to us perhaps, a report on "Tendai Studies in Japan-- State of the Field" by Paul Swanson.)
- Tony Stewart was recently approached by Prof. Joseph T. O'Connell about setting up a panel on the sahajiyas for the 1986 Bengal Studies Conference. Tony suggests interested parties contact Prof. O'Connell directly. His address is: Prof. Joseph T. O'Connell, St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, 81 St. Mary St., Toronto, Ontario M5S 1J4 Canada. (Phone (416) 926-1300, ext. 3238)
- Ann Waltner was kind enough to insert a notice about the development of our society in the Newsletter of the Committee on Women in Asian Studies. We would like, in turn, to bring their newlsetter to your notice. Their address is Committee on Women in Asian Studies, %Victoria B. Cass, Department of East Asian Studies, Falwell Hall, University of Minnessota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
- A final note of minor interest. The Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has funded some short term secretarial help (through June l986) that may be used for our needs. This will help us both to coalesce still scattered paperwork and to shorten mailing times, both important issues at this stage of development.
Yours,
James H. Sanford
Charles D. Orzech
Ballot
Please mark and return the ballot and dues portions of this letter to Prof. James Sanford, 101 Saunders Hall, Univ. of No. Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C., 27514, USA. (Ballot by Feb. 25th)
Item 1. Bylaws of the Society for Tantric Studies
- The name of the organization is the Society for Tantric Studies.
- The goal of the Society for Tantric Studies is to deepen the understanding of the history, nature, and dynamics of the tantric traditions and to disseminate this knowledge within appropriate academic settings. To accomplish these aims the society will: disseminate information and stimulate discussion by sponsoring or participating in panels and conferences; will distribute to members such materials as membership lists, panel and/or conference papers, and a bulletin; and will in general further the interests of the field.
- Membership in the Society for Tantric studies will be open to all persons who share the purposes of the organization and who pay the annual dues.
- The Society for Tantric Studies shall be governed by a steering committee of eight persons who will be elected on a regular basis by vote of the general membership.
------------------------------cut on this line------------------
I approve ______, disapprove ______ the proposed bylaws.
Item 2. Steering Committee.
Please vote for eight. You may write-in up to eight alternative candidates.
Agehananda Bharati
Charles D. Orzech
Kees W. Bolle
James B. Preston
Glen Hayes
James H. Sanford
Per Kvaerne
Joanne P. Waghorn
Other candidate(s):
Dues. Enclosed find my dues payment for the period Jan 1, 1986 - July 1, 1987.
Name:
Address:
