Demystifying Tantra with Richard Payne

About this episode

Richard Payne discusses the complexities and misconceptions surrounding Tantric Buddhism.

Tantric Buddhism is often mischaracterized or misunderstood, both in the academy and in the popular imagination. Scholar Richard Payne has dedicated much of the past twenty years to studying tantric teachings and practices—and to dispelling some of the common misconceptions associated with the tradition. Payne is the Yehan Numata Professor of Japanese Buddhist Studies at the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Berkeley, as well as an ordained priest in the Shingon tradition of Japanese esoteric Buddhism. In his new book, Tantra Across the Buddhist Cosmopolis, he examines the evolution of tantric traditions from early medieval India to the present day. In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Payne to discuss the difficulties in trying to define tantra, how tantra challenges popular and scholarly notions about the nature of religion, and how he came to ordain as a Shingon priest.

People in this episode

Host: James Shaheen

Guest: Richard Payne

Topics covered

• Tantric Buddhism
• misconceptions
• religion
• Japanese esoteric Buddhism
• tantra definition

Keywords

• Tantric Buddhism
• Richard Payne
• Shingon
• tantra
• Buddhist studies
• esoteric Buddhism
• religion

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Institute of Buddhist Studies, Shingon

Books & works: Tantra Across the Buddhist Cosmopolis

More episodes of Tricycle Talks

• Reincarnating the Buddhas of Bamiyan with Tuan Andrew Nguyen · June 10, 2026 · 49 min
• Writing into the Void with Ruth Ozeki · May 27, 2026 · 56 min
• Finding Balance to Engage More Fully with Margaret Cullen · May 20, 2026 · 1h 2m
• A Beginner’s Guide to Dark Retreat with Andrew Holecek · May 13, 2026 · 48 min
• Did the Buddha Really Teach That There Is No Self? · April 22, 2026 · 56 min
• Opening to Wonder with Ada Limón · April 15, 2026 · 59 min