{"id":28281,"date":"2012-04-03T15:15:35","date_gmt":"2012-04-03T19:15:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=28281"},"modified":"2013-10-01T18:43:30","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T22:43:30","slug":"an-egoless-practice-tantric-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/","title":{"rendered":"“An Egoless Practice”: Tantric Art"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Bikaner, 2002, 14<\/p><\/div>\n

It could be a cult classic: the debut edition of Siglio Press\u2019s<\/em> Tantra Song<\/a>\u2014one of the only books to survey the elusive tradition of abstract Tantric painting from Rajasthan, India\u2014sold out in a swift six weeks. Rendered by hand on found pieces of paper and used primarily for meditation, the works depict deities as geometric, vividly hued shapes and mark a clear departure from Tantric art\u2019s better-known figurative styles. They also resonate uncannily with lineages of twentieth-century art\u2014from the Bauhaus and Russian Constructivism to Minimalism\u2014as well as with much painting today. Rarely have the ancient and the modern come together so fluidly.<\/em><\/p>\n

For nearly three decades, the renowned French poet Franck Andr\u00e9 Jamme has collected these visual communiqu\u00e9s, and it hasn\u2019t been easy: in 1985 he survived a fatal bus accident while traveling to visit Hindu <\/em>tantrikas in Jaipur. In<\/em> Tantra Song, Jamme assembles some of the most pulsating works he\u2019s acquired, while unpacking his experiential knowledge of Tantra\u2019s cosmology.<\/em><\/p>\n

Western views of Tantra tend toward hyperbole. (<\/em>The New York Times recently published an article, \u201cYoga and Sex Scandals: No Surprise Here,\u201d noting, \u201c<\/em>Early in the twentieth century, the founders of modern yoga worked hard to remove the Tantric stain.<\/em>\u201d) Jamme\u2019s book serves as a corrective to this slant and sheds significant light on the deep historical roots\u2014and fruits\u2014of the practice. Siglio will release a second edition<\/a> of the book on April 19. Jamme and I recently discussed these anonymously made paintings, the altered states they induce, and their timeless aesthetics.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It is possible to define Tantric practice?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tantra is extremely<\/em> difficult to explain. But it\u2019s important to note that these small paintings come from Tantric Hinduism, beginning in the fifth or sixth century, and not Tantric Buddhism. For instance, the goddess deities are Shiva, Kali, Tara, and so on. After painting, one is to meditate with these to finally make the divinity appear. It\u2019s an egoless practice. In Sanskrit tantra<\/em> means \u201cloom\u201d or \u201cweave,\u201d but also \u201ctreatise.\u201d The paintings date back to the handwritten Tantra treatises that have been copied over many generations, at least until the seventeenth century. At some point they evolved into this complex symbolic cosmology of signs.<\/p>\n

Hindu Tantrism combines devotional elements with ones that may seem more mystical, such as mantras and mudras. It is really a libertarian branch of Hinduism, and often it is forbidden. So the reputation of Tantrism in India itself is not great, but in fact the families who practice this kind of meditation and make these paintings are very free.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jaipur, 1995, 12 5\/8<\/p><\/div>\n

How did you find the paintings? Was it after the bus accident?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unfortunately the tale of how I came to actually find these works is a very bad story\u2014but that\u2019s life. The first time I saw them was in little catalogue for an exhibition that was in Paris in 1970, at Le Point Cardinal Gallery. I was intrigued\u2014they seemed so modest, compelling, and almost naturally abstract. They reminded me of poetry, and they stayed with me. Years later, I went to Nepal and stopped briefly in India, where I tried in vain to find them. In 1984 I took another trip to India but still<\/em> did not find them. Finally, in 1985 I decided to focus my search just on Rajasthan. I arrived in Delhi and four or five days later departed on a bus with my wife for Jaipur. I could tell the bus driver was under a lot of stress. Perhaps he hadn\u2019t slept in a long while. Sixty kilometers later\u2014after we had already run into a small farmer\u2019s cart, and the driver had to fight with the farmer\u2014we collided head-on with a huge truck. Seven people died in the crash. I really only have fragments of memory about this and what happened immediately afterward, but after being in Jaipur General Hospital with nine fractures, I was eventually sent back to Paris in sort of a hammock.<\/p>\n

After the bus accident I didn\u2019t feel like speaking about it for a long time. On the one hand, it was still a bit painful, and on the other it was so odd to listen to myself tell these very strange tales. But it sweetened. After the accident happened, it took two or three trips back to India before I decided to really try to find these paintings and seek out the families who make them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Near Udaipur, 2008, 15 1\/8<\/p><\/div>\n

Who introduced you to the families?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A very odd man, sort of an astrologer. I essentially went to see him because he knew the father of one of my best friends in India at that time. I had come back to Rajasthan about two years after the accident and I just wanted to have a peaceful, restful stay at his house in Udaipur. However, quite quickly he noticed that I was not feeling very well, so he talked about it with his father, who suggested that I go to this astrologer. During our meeting we discussed my astrological chart, and he asked me what I was searching for. I told him I just wanted to know more about these paintings. He told me to come back in two days.<\/p>\n

During the second meeting, after a ritual you can read more about in the book, he told me I had paid my tribute to the goddess Shakti after being in such pain after the accident and that I could carry on with this research. And at the very end of this meeting, as I was walking out of his house, he said to me with a strange and mysterious smile, \u201cWait, I forgot to give you something.\u201d Everything began after that\u2014he provided me with the first two addresses of families he knew as tantrikas<\/em>. It was the first information I had to set up a meeting. This set me traveling\u2014at least fifteen trips so far\u2014all over Rajasthan.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jodphur, 2008, 13 5\/8<\/p><\/div>\n

And what happened when you visited them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The main idea was to learn some precise things about this art, since at the time there was very<\/em> little published about it. So it took at least ten years to sketch out an ethnologic survey. I learned that the vocabulary of the paintings is very similar to that of ragas in Indian classical music. We don\u2019t really know who began making them, or precisely when, but we can see that every so often\u2014maybe once a century\u2014a new musical \u201cnote\u201d or motif appears.<\/p>\n

Of course, these people don\u2019t consider themselves to be artists. It is a kind of traditional activity in the family. At a very young age, they learn to do meditation and other related exercises, one of which is to paint. Sometimes these pieces are made as gifts for someone else in the family, who can then worship it. They are now being collected in the West, but in India people have collected this art for centuries, because it is very simple and beautiful.<\/p>\n

You began exhibiting them in Paris in 1994. What has the reception been like in France? <\/strong><\/p>\n

All kinds of people, but mostly artists, are very interested. The curator and collector Ajit Mookerjee published a few images of them previously in his books, such as Yoga Art<\/em> from 1975, but other than that they were really unknown here. It is always a good sign when artists especially appreciate a particular kind of art, since they seemingly know the field and the history the best. \u00a0It means perhaps it won\u2019t be very popular\u2014but that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Saganur, 2001, 9 1\/4<\/p><\/div>\n

And what effect has this art had your own life and writing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think it\u2019s had a big influence on my work, because my roots are elsewhere. And I\u2019ve never had just one collection of them\u2014there is a constant turnover, especially after I began organizing exhibitions. Right after the strange accident in \u201985, I wrote The Recitation of Forgetting<\/em>\u2014I\u2019ve been very lucky, John Ashbery translated it into English\u2014and there are reminiscences of some of the Tantric images in the book, but it\u2019s the only one where I mention them. But perhaps a small influence has been that I am able now to write in a more meditative way. So the effect has been more oblique.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Near Udaipur, 1999, 13<\/p><\/div>\n

I think when you travel as frequently as I do you can search, try to understand, and try to know more. But you especially find yourself when you travel.<\/p>\n

I have been particularly touched by the welcome I’ve received in the United States, thanks especially to John Ashbery, who opened the door. And it\u2019s a pleasure, too, because with this work\u2014my poetry and collecting of this art\u2014I feel I\u2019ve become a citizen of the world. I don\u2019t mean to say that my work has not been appreciated in France, but it\u2019s been interesting to see the contemporary art world in the States really embrace this Tantric abstract art.<\/p>\n

It is striking how much these paintings recall artists like Daniel Buren<\/a> and Agnes Martin<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, which could mean that our notion of progress\u2014past, present, and future\u2014is not correct. And it could also mean that abstract art is not necessarily a Western, nineteenth-century art-historical development. It dates back to Native American, Tibetan, and Australian Aboriginal sand painting, for sure.<\/p>\n

Caption texts by Jamme, from <\/em>Tantra Song: Tantric Painting from Rajasthan<\/a>. All images and text are copyrighted.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It could be a cult classic: the debut edition of Siglio Press\u2019s Tantra Song\u2014one of the only books to survey the elusive tradition of abstract Tantric painting from Rajasthan, India\u2014sold out in a swift six weeks. Rendered by hand on found pieces of paper and used primarily for meditation, the works depict deities as geometric, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":244,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[419],"tags":[6915,35,1776,1785,6913,6914,1048,6879,6509,67,6916],"class_list":["post-28281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-culture","tag-agnes-martin","tag-art","tag-bauhaus","tag-buddhism","tag-constructivism","tag-daniel-buren","tag-india","tag-meditation","tag-minimalism","tag-painting","tag-tantra"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n"An Egoless Practice": Tantric Art by Lauren O'Neill-Butler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"April 3, 2012 \u2013 It could be a cult classic: the debut edition of Siglio Press\u2019s Tantra Song\u2014one of the only books to survey the elusive tradition of abstract Tantric\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""An Egoless Practice": Tantric Art by Lauren O'Neill-Butler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"April 3, 2012 \u2013 It could be a cult classic: the debut edition of Siglio Press\u2019s Tantra Song\u2014one of the only books to survey the elusive tradition of abstract Tantric\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-03T19:15:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-10-01T22:43:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/plate18.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"690\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lauren O'Neill-Butler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lauren O'Neill-Butler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lauren O'Neill-Butler\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/656b1503e630c734bda079a440f2e748\"},\"headline\":\"“An Egoless Practice”: Tantric Art\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-03T19:15:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-10-01T22:43:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/\"},\"wordCount\":1641,\"commentCount\":17,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/plate18.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Agnes Martin\",\"art\",\"Bauhaus\",\"Buddhism\",\"Constructivism\",\"Daniel Buren\",\"India\",\"meditation\",\"minimalism\",\"painting\",\"Tantra\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Arts & Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"An Egoless Practice\\\": Tantric Art by Lauren O'Neill-Butler\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/plate18.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-03T19:15:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-10-01T22:43:30+00:00\",\"description\":\"April 3, 2012 \u2013 It could be a cult classic: the debut edition of Siglio Press\u2019s Tantra Song\u2014one of the only books to survey the elusive tradition of abstract Tantric\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/plate18.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/plate18.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“An Egoless Practice”: Tantric Art\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/656b1503e630c734bda079a440f2e748\",\"name\":\"Lauren O'Neill-Butler\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/767074d8eff5ce4fa9f2ed91af88d3a3e146740a6694dace6e1b34e181805dd2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/767074d8eff5ce4fa9f2ed91af88d3a3e146740a6694dace6e1b34e181805dd2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lauren O'Neill-Butler\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/lobutler\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"An Egoless Practice\": Tantric Art by Lauren O'Neill-Butler","description":"April 3, 2012 \u2013 It could be a cult classic: the debut edition of Siglio Press\u2019s Tantra Song\u2014one of the only books to survey the elusive tradition of abstract Tantric","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"An Egoless Practice\": Tantric Art by Lauren O'Neill-Butler","og_description":"April 3, 2012 \u2013 It could be a cult classic: the debut edition of Siglio Press\u2019s Tantra Song\u2014one of the only books to survey the elusive tradition of abstract Tantric","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2012-04-03T19:15:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-10-01T22:43:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":690,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/plate18.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lauren O'Neill-Butler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lauren O'Neill-Butler","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/"},"author":{"name":"Lauren O'Neill-Butler","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/656b1503e630c734bda079a440f2e748"},"headline":"“An Egoless Practice”: Tantric Art","datePublished":"2012-04-03T19:15:35+00:00","dateModified":"2013-10-01T22:43:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/"},"wordCount":1641,"commentCount":17,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/plate18.jpg","keywords":["Agnes Martin","art","Bauhaus","Buddhism","Constructivism","Daniel Buren","India","meditation","minimalism","painting","Tantra"],"articleSection":["Arts & Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/","name":"\"An Egoless Practice\": Tantric Art by Lauren O'Neill-Butler","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/plate18.jpg","datePublished":"2012-04-03T19:15:35+00:00","dateModified":"2013-10-01T22:43:30+00:00","description":"April 3, 2012 \u2013 It could be a cult classic: the debut edition of Siglio Press\u2019s Tantra Song\u2014one of the only books to survey the elusive tradition of abstract Tantric","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/plate18.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/plate18.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/03\/an-egoless-practice-tantric-art\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“An Egoless Practice”: Tantric Art"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/656b1503e630c734bda079a440f2e748","name":"Lauren O'Neill-Butler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/767074d8eff5ce4fa9f2ed91af88d3a3e146740a6694dace6e1b34e181805dd2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/767074d8eff5ce4fa9f2ed91af88d3a3e146740a6694dace6e1b34e181805dd2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lauren O'Neill-Butler"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/lobutler\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/244"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28281"}],"version-history":[{"count":71,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60823,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28281\/revisions\/60823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}