essays

Venerating the symbolic woman, subjugating the human girl On the portrayal of women in the Tantra of Caṇḍa­mahāroṣaṇa By Marah Rose Seremak Leiden University, Tantric Buddhism Prof.dr. J.A. Silk January 2026 Figure 1: Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa with consort,. In Passionate Enlightenment by M. Shaw, 2021, University of Chicago Press (p. 49). Tantric Buddhism is often described as a tradition in which the feminine is exceptionally valued. Women are praised as the embodiments of wisdom, awakening is said to be impossible without them and sexual union between two tantric (heteronormative) partners is framed as a central ritual means to liberation. Some scholars, most notably Shaw (1994), have interpreted tantra as a fundamentally inclusive and even gynocentric spiritual path. Supposedly, women and men participate in reciprocal, mutually liberative relationships, with women even receiving additional praise and attention. In this essay I challenge this reading through a close reading of the Tantra of ...

How does philosophy help us overcome sorrows? When I was sixteen, I had an exceptional teacher of Dutch language who ignored the standard curriculum and instead taught us his favourite works of literature and philosophy. As we struggled through demanding texts, students complained they could not see the point of reading them. My teacher explained that with patience, these texts might offer us new worlds of meaning that we might roam through for years to come. Philosophy, in this sense, offers perspectives we might draw upon in moments of sorrow or doubt. In this essay, I honour his insight, specifically exploring how philosophy helps us understand and respond to sorrow. Following my teacher’s advice, I engage with a specific text, namely al-Kindī’s (d.873) On the Means of Dispelling Sorrows , which presents a striking example of philosophy as a guide through life. The text is structured as an epistle addressed to al-Kindī’s brother. al-Kindī, often hailed as the father of Arabic philos...