Tricycle Talks Demystifying Tantra with Richard Payne
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Feb 25, 2026 Richard Payne, Yehan Numata Professor of Japanese Buddhist Studies and ordained Shingon priest, unpacks tantric Buddhism across Asia. He discusses why delineation trumps definition, tantra’s invisible spread and coherence, ritual forms from fire rites to deity-identification, and how practices serve communal and protective roles beyond personal transformation.
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Decadence Is A Western Historical Frame
- The idea of religious decadence is a Western historiographical trope imported into Buddhist history.
- Payne links this to Reformation-era thinking and Kamakura-era Japanese reformers who used decay/purification narratives to legitimize change.
Vedic Feasting Shapes Tantric Fire Rituals
- Vedic ritual models influenced Tantric Buddhist rites, especially the feast/honored-guest structure.
- Payne traces goma/homa (Japanese fire ritual) organization—invitation, offerings, thanks—to Vedic precedents adapted into tantric form.
Interiorization Is Embodied, Not Only Mental
- Interiorization reframes external ritual as embodied yogic processes, not just mental visualization.
- Payne describes breath as interior fire and offerings as internal digestion, linking practices to Tathagata Garbha visualizations and Chinese Taoist exchanges.
