Kali Kaula

Jan Fries' Kali Kaula is quite simply the best introduction to tantra written by a contemporary occultist. -- Phil Hine This is truly the real deal and brings together research which would otherwise require you to read hundreds of books. --livingtraditions-magazine.com In depth, and covers the topic well. Another great piece of work from Jan Fries. I really enjoy the writings of Jan Fries for two major reasons, 1. the length and breadth of his knowledge is impressive and it shows through like a torch in the night in all his books. And 2. his candor, he does not shy away from stating his own personal feelings as well as being willing, able and honest in diving deep into the darker more chthonic side of topics. Now Kali Kaula is a wonderful book, especially now a-days for a western and predominately new age audience who has an interest in the subject covered and I share his animosity in that you have to wade through tons of crap before you get to a book that is not some new age fixation on sex and/or westernized interpretations of what actually is taught. I don't have a large knowledge base in tantric traditions, but its subject has always been a big interest of mine as I have been a great lover of Maha Kali, almost all of my adult life. So I initially purchased this book with the hopes that it would deepen my understanding of not only tantra but also Kali Ma, which it did. One of the biggest things that I learned is the term Tantra is really just a place holder, for a vast school of Hindu teachings, Tantra we learn means texts (basically), and that there are several school most notably Kriya and Kaula which are what most think of when they think of Tantric Teachings. Fries goes into great depth of the history of Tantra without becoming to drawn out and the original artwork done by the author are great. I particularly enjoyed the Night Side interpretation of Ganesha, as he sat on the cremation grounds. Particularly as one of his notable characteristics is as a remover of obstacles. - G. Ridgeway, Amazon Reviewer And while the author is well aware that Tantra is huge, vast and overwhelming. You could write a hundred books on the subject. , the author has managed to come up with a book that covers certain Tantric traditions. I decided to focus on the early traditions, basically Kula, Kaula, Krama and a bit of Trika ... He consciously ignored the vast majority of Tantric movement that belong to Buddhism or Right-Hand-Path-Stay-in-Line-and-do-as-you-are-told Hindu Tantra. W. Kaminski, Amazon Reviewer