ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the transformation of anger in tantric Buddhism, through the iconography and rituals associated with the wrathful deities, and the ways in which wrathful' identity has been outlined in Buddhist tantric biographical texts. One of the most striking features of tantric Buddhism is that, despite its emphasis on enlightenment as a question of individual practice and responsibility, it fosters a large number of deities who evoke devotional worship. Tribe's analysis of wrathful deities examines chronological and thematic developments in Indian tantric Buddhism through its texts, which he divides into five classes: Kriya, Carya, Yoga, Mahayoga, and Yogini. The transmission of Buddhism into Tibet is also portrayed as the forced conversion and subjugation of local territories and deities who became dominated by a largely male monastic religious elite. Therefore, while tantric Buddhist practice may have been coloured by indigenous religions, their inferiority was stressed.
