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Rating: 
Summary: A 'primer' coat of many colors
Review: Feuerstein has done the English-speaking world a genuine service with this introduction to Tantra, suited especially to the casual intelligent reader. This is not suited to those interested in an anthropological, historical, or how-to approach (see reviews below for more details); instead, Feuerstein covers the basic topics in a rather plain-vanilla fashion. Feuerstein's first positive task is to dispell certain commercial flapdoodle still current in our fabulously corporate culture about tantra imagined as a kind of low-tech Orgasmatron (thanks, Woody Allen). He then gives a very straightforward (if oversimplified) explication of tantric history and practice germain to both Buddhists and Hindus on topics such as mantra and the guru. (Yes, I'm aware that tantra is both Buddhist and Hindu, and neither Buddhist nor Hindu.) Now, what Feuerstein has accomplished is no mean task. He writes with the detail of of a scholar and the credibility of a practitioner.
One may ask why book-learning is needed in this context, if tantra is a path of energy and relationship. Well, there is a genuine danger, after all, in not knowing what you're talking about:
"Someone with insufficient knowledge resembles a maimed person trying to climb a rock,
Someone who studies scriptures for the sake of becoming a scholar
Is like someone who searches for lethal weapons.
In short, if you do not know your own tradition,
How will you, a blind person lost in the middle of a vast plain, ever find your path?"
(The great tantric master, Padgyal Lingpa.)
Rating:
Summary: As good as anything by Karen Armstrong and maybe better
Review: It's often hard to understand metaphysical books about tantra because there are few scholars who can write in a clear way that's accessible even for practitioners, let alone people who have never had a guru or traveled to India to experience tantric teachings firsthand. In America, yoga has so often devolved into a physical practice with spiritual pretensions, instead of a deeply spiritual practice. I returned from India from a six-month trip in 1998, during which time I stumbled into meeting a guru and then spent five weeks studying with him in Benares. When I came home, it was very hard to begin to articulate what had taken place. This book was a godsend, a link to connect my experience with a tradition that extends millennia back in time. And secondly it helped to link my friends and family to the experiences I just had by reading a clear description of the path and experiences involved in Tantra. I hesitate even to use the word Tantra, given that it's so very, very misused in the West. This book sets the record straight (Tantra does NOT equal sex) and presents the practice and history of Tantra in all its profundity. We are indebted to the author for his great gift to all of us. For the other reviews that criticize the author's lack of experience in Tantra, you should be aware that the author has a Tantric Buddhist teacher which led him to bring his considerable talents to present the first guide and most helpful explanation of these profoundly important teachings. I've given numerous copies to family and friends, all of whom have enjoyed it immensely. Until Karen Armstrong decides to tackle this subject (highly unlikely, given her orientation), this is the best book available. Highest recommendation!
Rating:
Summary: As good as anything by Karen Armstrong and maybe better
Review: The book does not seem to realise that tantra evolved initially as indigenous to India, especially Bengal, as separate from Vedic influence and was picked up by so-called Hinduism and by Buddhism. However, tantra is still a spiritual science distinct from these religious traditions and distinct from Vedic culture. The Vedic culture took aspects of Tantra because of Vedic deficiencies. The books is also largely academic giving no insight into personal experience which in a spiritual disciple role is so important to tantra. Tantra is a spiritual science and yet this books still formulates matters by way of considering Vedic, Hindu and Buddhist concepts. George Feurstein unfortunately may have succumbed to be a popular author but as to actual understanding of tantric meditation techniques, spiritual practices and spiritual science, does not appear up to the mark. Is his latest book "Yoga for Dummies" any reflection of a new found status?
Rating: 
Summary: Misses the mark about tantra origins
Review: The book does not seem to realise that tantra evolved initially as indigenous to India, especially Bengal, as separate from Vedic influence and was picked up by so-called Hinduism and by Buddhism. However, tantra is still a spiritual science distinct from these religious traditions and distinct from Vedic culture. The Vedic culture took aspects of Tantra because of Vedic deficiencies. The books is also largely academic giving no insight into personal experience which in a spiritual disciple role is so important to tantra. Tantra is a spiritual science and yet this books still formulates matters by way of considering Vedic, Hindu and Buddhist concepts. George Feurstein unfortunately may have succumbed to be a popular author but as to actual understanding of tantric meditation techniques, spiritual practices and spiritual science, does not appear up to the mark. Is his latest book "Yoga for Dummies" any reflection of a new found status?
Rating:
Summary: Important book, yet not complete enough
Review: This scholarly, well written and easily accessible book does a great job at dispelling some of the modern myths about tantra as being solely the yoga of sex. Instead, as the reader will find out, tantra is one of the most sophisticated paths to spiritual enlightenment ever conceived and has deeply influenced both Buddhism and Hinduism. However, the book has a few major shortcomings: 1. It is primarily based on scriptural research, not first-hand, practical knowledge of tantra. Since tantra is primarily a spiritual practice and secondarly a philosophy, personal insight--either by the author or others--would have greatly enhanced the book. 2. It is based on research of ancient tantric scriptures while failing to include the revised tantric scriptures of modern sages such as Shrii Shrii Anandamurti (a.k.a. P. R. sarkar), which are much more applicaple to our times. 3. It fails to show that tantra is a distinct spiritual path, or transcendental science, apart from both Hinduism or Buddhism, and with a much longer history than either of these religions. Keeping these shortcomings in mind, I recommend reading this book.
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