Aum Gung
Ganapathaye Namah
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma-sambuddhassa
Homage to The Blessed One, Accomplished and
Fully Enlightened
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful
Tantric
Buddhism
A Collection of Articles, Notes and References
Reference Chapter 2
(Revised:
References Edited by
Praise the Buddha
What’s in a name? That
which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
- William Shakespeare
Copyright © 2002-2010 Praise the Buddha
The following educational writings are STRICTLY for
academic research purposes ONLY.
Should NOT be used for commercial, political or any
other purposes.
(The following notes are subject to update and
revision)
For free distribution only.
You may print copies of this work for free
distribution.
You may re-format and redistribute this work
for use on computers and computer networks, provided that you charge no fees for its
distribution or use.
Otherwise, all rights reserved.
8 "... Freely you received, freely give”.
- Matthew 10:8 :: New American
Standard Bible (NASB)
1 “But mark this: There
will be terrible times in the last days.
2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their
parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather
than lovers of God—
5 having a form of
godliness but denying its
power. Have nothing to do with them.
6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all
kinds of evil desires,
7 always
learning but never able
to acknowledge the truth.
8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses,
so also these men oppose the
truth--men of
depraved minds, who, as far as
the faith is concerned, are rejected.
9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those
men, their folly
will be clear to everyone.”
- 2 Timothy 3:1-9 ::
New International Version (NIV)
6 As
he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
- Hebrews 5:6 :: King James
Version (KJV)
Contents
Color Code
Educational Copy of Some of the References
Color
Code
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Color
Code Identification
Main
Title Color:
Pink
Sub
Title Color:
Rose
Minor
Title Color:
Gray – 50%
Collected
Article Author Color:
Lime
Date
of Article Color:
Light
Collected Article Color:
Sea Green
Collected
Sub-notes Color:
Indigo
Personal
Notes Color:
Black
Personal
Comments Color:
Brown
Personal
Sub-notes Color:
Blue - Gray
Collected
Article Highlight Color:
Collected
Article Highlight Color:
Lavender
Collected
Article Highlight Color:
Aqua
Collected
Article Highlight Color:
Pale Blue
Personal
Notes Highlight Color:
Gold
Personal
Notes Highlight Color:
Tan
HTML Color:
Blue
Vocabulary Color:
Violet
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Due to space constraints, the new
updates are given in a sister website. Click
Tantric Buddhism
Educational Copy of Some of the References
FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Reference (Key points only)
Encyclopaedia of Buddhist Tantra /edited by Sadhu Santideva.
http://www.vedamsbooks.com/no19658.htm
Contents:
Vol. I:
10. The fourteen root Tantric vows.
16. What is Tantra—riding the wisdom tiger.
17. Discrimination between Buddhist and Hindu Tantra.
Vol. II:
28. Supernatural power, Buddhist and Hindu.
29. The eighty-four Mahasiddhas and the path of Tantra.
30. Tantric songs and twilight language.
31. Tantric sex.
32. Magic Tantra: philosophy and history of Tantra.
33. Divine sexuality.
34. The wheel of passion.
35. Significance of protectors.
40. The nine orifices of the body.
Vol. III:
44. The five owl precepts.
45. The foundational practices of Vajrayana—essential points.
50. Divinity in Buddhist Tantras.
51. Introduction to Vajrayana.
52. Vajrayana Buddhist teachings in the tradition of the Mahasiddhas nine teachings modules.
53. The Buddhist mystical tradition.
54. Initiation of disciples.
55. Vajrayana meditation.
Vol. IV:
66. On Buddhist views of devouring time.
67. Early Yogacara and its relationship with the modern school.
68. Influence of Yogacara and Tantras.
69. Embracing emotions as the path colours and elements in Tantric psychology.
76. An introduction to meditation practice.
Vol. V:
77. Moving being—primal energy exercise of Tibetan Dzogchen.
79. Woman and the Dakini.
80. Development of Tantric Buddhism.
81. Epitome of Shantideva’s "Entering the path to enlightenment".
82. Pretas and Pitaras.
83. Formal expression of the Preta belief, Buddhist conception of spirit.
84. First expression of the Preta belief in Buddhism.
85. Physical description of the Pretas.
86. Developing Samadhi.
87. Discourses on Sila, Samadhi and Panna.
88. Blavatsky "Esoteric Buddhism".
89. A Buddhist perspective on
Lucid dreaming.
90. Mystical physiological system.
"The term Tantra refers to a pan-Indian religious movements (also
called Tantrism) that arose
in about the 6 century AD within both Buddhism and Hinduism and to the
texts (either Buddhist or Hindu) setting forth its practices and beliefs. The
main emphasis of Tantrism is on the development of the devotee’s dormant psychophysical
powers by means of special meditations and ritual techniques. These are
essentially esoteric and must be passed on
personally from master to initiate. Stressing the
coordination of body, speech, and mind, they include the use of symbolic gestures (mudras);
the uttering of potent formulas (Mantras); the entering (through meditation) of sacred diagrams (mandalas) and yantras; the meditator’s creative visualization of and identification
with specific divine forms; and the physical, iconographic,
or mental use of sexual forces and symbols.
"In Buddhist tradition the word Tantra normally refers to a special class of the Buddha’s teachings and more specifically to the scriptures that embody it. But contrary to its normal usage, the word does not usually refer to the whole system of Tantric practice and theory. For the doctrinal system of Tantra, the terms Mantrayana ("Mantra Vehicle") and Vajrayana ("Vajra" or Adamantine Vehicle") are used instead.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Reference (Key points only)
Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism)
http://www.kheper.net/topics/Buddhism/Vajrayana.htm
Vajrayana metaphysics is, like
Indian Tantra, a hybrid affair: a coming together of
Indian Tantrism, Mahayana Buddhism, and the original
aboriginal shamanism - the Bon tradition - of
There are a number of other
important differences to Indian (Shakta) Tantra as well. In Indian tantra one starts
form the base chakra and progresses up. In Tibetan tantra one starts from the head, which is the
"lowest" level of consciousness (body, waking consciousness, wrathful
deities), and progresses down to the heart, which is the highest level of
consciousness.
With Indian Tantra the kundalini is awakened through specific breathing practices and yoga-postures. The prana or vital-force of the subtle body is thus manipulated through the breath and the physical body; through an extension of Hatha yoga which, the reader will recall, was associated from the beginning with Indian Tantra. In contrast, Vajrayana practice involves manipulating the vital force through the mind and concentration. Through intense visualisation of deities and so on, one activates the inner "winds" (= prana = ch'i) and "drops".
The Instead of the Kundalini-Shakti or "Serpent Fire" of Shakta
Tantrism, Vajrayana has
the Tumo (literally "fierce woman"). Through intense visualisation of deities and concentration upon the
"lower tip" (the minor chakra at the tip of the sex-organ), the winds (prana) are drawn
into the lower opening of the central channel (sushumna),
producing an intense heat, called tumo [Daniel
Cozort, Highest Yoga Tantra, p.71].
In her fascinating book, Magic and Mystery in
As a result of the tumo-heat, the drops melt and enter the central channel. The red "female" drops in the navel chakra ascends to the heart chakra, while the white drops in the crown chakra descend to the same chakra. The bliss of the drops flowing in the central channel is said to be a hundred times greater than that of orgasm [p.71]. The drops, moving up or down the central channel, finally enter the "indestructable drop" in the heart chakra, so called because it is said to be drop that passes from life-time to life-time, taking with it the "very subtle mind" and "very subtle wind" [p.72].
The entire visualisation or meditation stage itself is called the stage of Generation, as its purpose of is to construct or generate an actual enlightenment or buddha-body, the stage of Completion. The result of all this is that one rises in an "illusory body", so called because it is a spirit body rather than a physical body, and at death, rather than be caught up by the bardo and reincarnation, one remains in full consciousness in the illusory body, so attaining Buddhahood.
(Reference: Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism).)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Reference (Key points only)
Chapter 6: The Tibetan
After-Life: The "Bardo" or
http://www.kheper.net/topics/bardo/tibetan.html
…Padmasambhava,
the lengendary Indian Tantric master who was said to have introduced
Buddhism to Tibet in the middle of the eighth
century, conquering and converting all the
native demons and deities in the process.
…the moment of death is considered the highest state of consciousness.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Reference (Key points only)
The Origin and History of Tantra
http://www.kheper.net/topics/Tantra/history.htm
The word "Tantra" comes from the root tan, to "extend", "continue", “multiply". "Tantra" means "what extends knowledge"
Some Indian pandits
and Western scholars argue that Tantra constitutes
the continuation of the original Indian aboriginal
tradition (especially the Dravidian),
which predates the coming of the Indo-European Aryan invaders and their Vedic
religion (2nd millenium b.c.e.). According to this theory, the ritualistic Vedism and the yogic-mystical aboriginal tradition
co-existed independently for some time.
But the Aryan political takeover, and intermarriage with the native
population, resulted in the Dravidian religion being assimilated into the Vedic
the result of the merger being the mystical
Hinduism of the Upanishads.
Growing out of this yogic
tradition, Tantra appears in provinces that had not
been strongly Vedicised:
e.g. the Northwest,
This was the period of classical Tantra, which lasted for some centuries. Nowdays Tantra remains as a living tradition only among the Tibetan people (Vajrayana Buddhism), or at least was until the Chinese communist invasion, although strong traditional remnants also occur elsewhere - for example in areas of India and in Japan.
Although we often hear the word "Tantra" nowadays in the various alternative religions that have recently sprung up in the West, such as the teachings of the various Gurus - Rajneesh, Muktananda, etc - this has little to do with the original movement
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Reference (Key points only)
Edwards,
Cliff. (Fall 2002) A Few Notes on Norman Dubie's
The Spirit Tablets at
http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v1n2/poetry/dubie_n/notes.htm
Pre-Buddhist
Several books currently in many
bookstores will help explain Tantric, Vajrayana concepts and terms met in Dubie's
poem. The Shambhala
Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen (Boston: Shambhala,
1991) allows one to turn to definitions of Tantrism, Vajrayana, dakini, the Bardo, and more. Lama Anagarika Govinda's Foundations of Tibetan
Buddhism (Boston: Weiser Books, 1969)
continues to be available and is useful. Lama Yeshe's
Introduction to Tantra
(
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Reference (Key points only)
Tantrism
http://www.geocities.com/intangible_soul/rtant.html
Without training in meditation... it is impossible to transform sexual activity into the spiritual path. Misunderstanding Tantra, some people with no experience of meditation indulge in sexual misconduct and claim to be great Tantric practitioners. Such people are destroying the Buddhadharma and creating the cause to be reborn in hell.
- Geshe Kelsan, author of "Tantric Grounds and Paths"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Reference (Key points only)
Tantric Sexual Rituals
http://www.mystae.com/restricted/streams/scripts/tantra.html
Tantrism
was a "movement appearing in
- John Ferguson, An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Mysticism and the Mystery Religions
…
Tantra tries to realize the continuous connection between all human states and conditions, including ones that are usually thought polluting or dangerous; all are the Buddha-nature, if perceived and experienced rightly. Thus hatred and revulsion, which are the oppositions of love and desire, dissolve in the realization that all states are equally the undifferentiated Buddha-nature and are without real characteristics of their own."
- John Bowker, World Religions: The Great Faiths Explained and Explored (1997), p. 74
…
"Another name for Tantric Buddhism is Vajrayana, the Vehicle of the Thunderbolt. The
vajra is a double-headed ritual implement, used with
a bell. Held in the right hand, it represents the
masculine, skillful means, and compassion. The bell in the left hand
represents the feminine, wisdom, emptiness, and nirvana. It is especially
common in
- John Bowker, World Religions: The Great Faiths Explained and Explored (1997), p. 74
"In the creative process, initially the sexual pair, Shiva and Shakti, within both man and world, are so deeply joined in sexual union they are unaware of their differences and beyond Time. They then become aware of their distinction and the female 'objective' separates from the male 'subject'. She performs her dance of illusion, persuading the male 'subject' he is not one but many, and generating from her womb the world of multiplied objects in what seems to be a sequence in time. These 'subjects' now each perceive a differentiated reality, seeming to be composed of separate particles of objective fact, and live lives that seem to be extended in time."
- Philip Rawson, The Art of Tantra
"What yogis see as the eternal, unwasting, solitary, pure, supreme Brahman, that is the ultimate state of the Great Goddess [Shakti]. That all-embracing existence, higher than the highest, universal, benevolent and faultless, which is in the genitals of Prakriti, that is the ultimate state of the Great Goddess. That which is white, spotless, pure, without qualities and distinction, that which is realized only in the self, that is the ultimate state of the Great Goddess."
- Hindu Text (from An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Mysticism and the Mystery Religions)
"A close analogy was found by Shellon [Annotations on the Sacred Writings of the Hindus] between the rituals of the Hindus and those of the Egyptians. He equated Shiva with Osiris, and Shakti with Isis, represented by the same equilateral triangle with a dot in the center, the same emblem of the generative power - two coexisting principles of nature, active and passive, linga and yoni.
"Shellon
describes Hindu Tantric sexual rituals as being
performed with naked temple courtesans or yoginis,
young and beautiful, representing the goddess Shakti,
or power, reciting mantras, becoming sexually excited and inducing promiscuous
orgies among the votaries which he qualifies as 'very licentious' but
constituting a mysterious initiation. He further describes Shakti as
represented in coitu
sitting on Shiva's erect member, just as
- Peter Tompkins, The Magic of Obelisks
"...Not only initiation, but the very capacity to reach to Tantric goal can only be transmitted along a line of female 'power-holders'... Tantra demands that every bond with the everyday conventional world must be broken if one is to obtain enlightenment."
- Philip Rawson, The Art of Tantra
…
"...All the faculties - the senses, the emotions, and the intellect - should be encouraged and roused to their highest pitch, that the person's store of memories and responses can be awakened and re-converted into the pure energy from which they all originated. Feelings and pleasures thus become the raw material for transformation back into enlightenment."
"Raise your enjoyment to its highest power, and then use it as a spiritual rocket fuel."
- Philip Rawson, The Art of Tantra
"The ambrosia is the nectarlike reproductive secretion which, at the highest point of ecstasy, pours into the brain with such an intensely pleasurable sensation that even the sexual orgasm pales into insignificance before it. This unbelievably rapturous sensation - pervading the whole of the spinal cord, the organs of generation and the brain - is nature's incentive to the effort directed at self-transcendence, as the orgasm is the incentive to the reproductive act."
- Gopi Krishna
Kenneth Rextroth, in his introduction to the works of the seventeenth-century alchemist Thomas Vaughan, states "that the 'Vessel of Nature', the vessel in which the alchemical operation takes place, is a 'menstruous substance'. 'It is the matrix of Nature, wherein you must place the universal sperm as soon as it appears beyond its body. The heat of this matrix is suphureous, and it is that which coagulates the sperm...This matrix is the life of the sperm, for it preserves and quickens it.' And he ends his postscript by stating that he is convinced that this basic secret of alchemy was originally 'revealed' to man, 'for it is the secret of Nature, even that which the philosophers call "the first copulation"...' Such sexual symbolism is not rare in alchemy (i.e., the sexual yoga of Chinese alchemy and Tantrism).
-
Colin Wilson, Mysteries
"The 'left-hand' worshippers, who follow the destructive principle and claim that they can utilize it, worship [Kali] in secret. In the higher levels of initiation, worship is changed, for both the Tantra (left hand) and other worshippers
"The Tantrics explain that the physical license of the worship of Kali is needed for brutish mankind in this evil (Kaliyuga) time. This is because only a few can liberate themselves from the flesh and reach divinity direct. Kalipuja (Kali-worship) gives the brutish man and woman an outlet and an idea of how intoxicating true communion with the divine could be.”
- Arkon Daraul, Secret Societies
(Reference: Tantric Sexual Rituals.)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Reference
Men-Tsee-Khang Online
http://www.mentseekhang.org/picture/bud.html
TIBETAN BUDDHISM
Tibetan Buddhism is a synthesis of two major Buddhist systems: Mahayana and Tantrism. Both concern themselves with the attainment of Buddhahood or enlightenment. Mahayana Buddhism, the so,called Great Vehicle, evolved from T'heravada, the early form of Buddhism, around the Ist C. AD. Centering on the intellectual problem of being, it focuses on a gradual i but ultimately complete understanding of a well-established body of spiritual knowledge. The Mahayana ideal is the bodhisattva, a person who seeks enlightenment not for his own sake but for the salvation of all living things. He delays entry into nirvana, the final escape from the vicious cycle of existence, in order to save others from suffering.
The development of Tantrism (Vajrayana, the 'Diamond
Vehicle') began in the 2nd or 4th C. in
Tantrism is
generally non-doctrinal. It employs yogic
and meditative methods to effect an abrupt and complete transformation of the
practitioner. A central precept is the identification of emptiness (sunyata) with compassion (karuna).
The realization of this basic truth, which leads to ultimate enlightenment,
must be by experiential rather than cognitive
means. To achieve this profound change, it is necessary for the student
to harness his physical and mental processes
instead of being enslaved by them.
The arduous journey begins with the student being accepted by a recognized teacher, who first initiates him into the practice. A direct understanding of compassion is attained through meditation. This allows insight into the transitory nature of life and the suffering of mankind. The second stage involves yogic or contemplative exercises, which includes specific spiritual experiences. These include the use of meditative gestures and postures (mudras), sacred syllables, phrases (niantras) and icons. Through them the student is trained to visualize, and then subsequently identify himself with, various divinities, each of which represents a particular cosmic force. He comes to realize an essential truth-that each divinity is finally equated with emptiness. This is when he acquires an extraordinary consciousness, a state beyond all duality, which embodies eternal bliss.
Despite great differences,
Mahayana and Tantrism invigorated and interacted with
each other. During the 7th-llth C., they were brought to
At this time, with students
congregating around various charismatic masters, rival sects developed. As a
result, a number of distinctive schools developed, each with its own style and
emphasis. In the contest for spiritual and political dominance, monasteries
squared off against each other, forging alliances with local lords. This internecine strife came to a head when the Gelugpa sect appealed to the Mongol chieftain, Gushri Khan, for help against the Kadampal
who were allied with the princes of
MAIN SECTS OF TIBETAN BUDDHISM
Nyingma
The Nyingma
is the Old School sect, founded during the First Diffusion of Buddhism in
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cross-Reference
Tsogyelgar Lamas
http://www.aroter.org/flaming_jewel/tsogyelgar_lamas.htm
Padmasambhava was a Mahasiddha whose enlightened powers were beyond compare. As part of his teachings, he hid spiritual treasures
- terma - in the mindstreams of his
primary 25 disciples. These treasures, like time-released
capsules, reveal themselves when
the time and place are most suited for the sublime teachings of the Inner Tantras.
(Reference: Tsogyelgar Lamas.)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Nyingma hold that there are nine paths to enlightenment, the first three based on the sutras and the other six on the tantras. Dzokchen ('Great Perfection') is a tantric discipline transmitted within the sect. Imbued with a Zen-like quality, it is based on a program of accelerated meditation, which enables the student to achieve enlightenment within a relatively short time.
Nyingmapa
monks often marry and work individually in small village chapels and remote cave retreats. The
sect's most visible practitioner is the wandering ngakpa, a
long-haired adept who supports himself by dispensing occult services (rainmaking,
exorcism, divination). Among the most important
Nyingma monasteries are Mindroling
and Dorje Drak, both sited
on the banks of the Tsangpo near the
Sakya
This school was named after its
principal monastery, founded during the Second
Diffusion of Buddhism by Kon Chogyal
Pho (1034-1102). Its systematically organized
teachings derive from the Indian tantric sage, Birupa, and were brought to
Sakya's rise to
prominence in the 13th-14th C. was largely due to the heroic efforts of five
masters, the so-called Five Patriarchs. The greatest were Sakya
Pandita and Phagpa. They
allied themselves with the Mongol empire in
Kagyu
Kagyu
means 'orally transmitted precepts'. It
places fundamental emphasis on the direct transmission of esoteric teachings
from master to pupil. The lineage, characterized by
asceticism, started with the Indian master, Tilopa. It was subsequently passed to Naropa, Marpa, and
The Kagyu system focuses strongly on aspects of practical mysticism. A basic discipline is Hatha Yoga, which specializes in breathing techniques and postures. Its supreme goal is the Great Seal (mahamudra), the overcoming of dichotomous thought in the very being of Buddhahood. To achieve enlightenment within a lifetime, or at the moment of death, the practitioner relies on the Six Yogas of Naropa (self-produced heat, illusory body, dreams, the experience of light, the intermediate state between death and rebirth, the passing from one existence into another). Following the tradition of Marpa, the school does not demand celibacy or association with a religious institution.
Gelug
The Gelug ('Virtuous Ones') is
The Lamrim Chenmo, Tsong Khapa's
great work, is based on the Bodhipathapradipa by Atisha. Codifying the way to enlightenment, it details the process of mental purification through ten spiritual
levels that lead ultimately to salvation. Another important text, the Ngagrim Chenmo ('Great Graduated
Tantric Path'), is a highly technical treatise of
ritual and mystical practice that provided guidance on the tantra.
However, this course was only open to students
already fluent in theoretical learning. Like
Atisha before him, Tsong Khapa stressed the thorough learning of the sutras before graduating
to the tantras. Additionally, he instigated a system of
examinations, of which the highest degree granted was geshe. In 1409, he founded Ganden, his
first and greatest monastery.
From Tsong Khapa's chief disciples
came the line of the Dalai Lamas, considered the
incarnations of Chenresi (Avalokiteshvara),
the Bodhisattva of Compassion. This title of the sect's paramount leader
was first conferred posthumously upon Gedundrub (1391-1474), disciple and nephew of Tsong Khapa. Another reincamating lineage within the Gelugpa
system is that of the Panchen Lamas, the abbots of Tashilhunpo
Monastery in Shigatse.
In
the 17th C., the Fifth Dalai Lama, under the patronage of the Mongols, became
Kadam
The patriarch of the Kadam ('Bound by Precept') school was Atisha, whose teachings stressed the need for austere monastic discipline and devotion to a teacher prior to the start of tantric practice. The Mahayana sutras were given a prominent role and the tantras were relegated to a secondary position. Dromtonpa was Atisha's main student; he founded Reting Monastery, and codified the Kadampa system. Other renowned masters of the sect included Sharapa, Potowa, and Puchungwa; all founded important monasteries in the Phanyul and Kyi Chu valleys.
Students observed four fundamental rules: celibacy, abstinence from intoxicants, prohibition of travel and of money-handling. The central practice was purification of the mind, the purging of all intellectual and moral shortcomings, a process that led to a clear perception of emptiness. The sect's primary text was the Perfection of Wisdom Discourses (Prairtaparamita) and its major centers were Reting, Langtang, and Sangphu. The Gelugpas absorbed the Kadampas in the 15th century.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
http://www.geocities.com/praisethebuddha/misc/tantric/refer/chap2.html
Published on internet:
Revised: Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Information on the web site is given in good
faith about a certain spiritual way of life, irrespective of any specific
religion, in the belief that the information is not misused, misjudged or
misunderstood. Persons using this information for whatever purpose must rely on
their own skill, intelligence and judgment in its application. The webmaster
does not accept any liability for harm or damage resulting from advice given in
good faith on this website.
Back to
Tantric Buddhism Index
Back to
Miscellaneous Writings Main Page Index
Back to Praise the Buddha
Homepage Index
A Mini Homepage Index
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
“Thou belongest
to That Which
Is Undying, and not merely to time alone,” murmured the Sphinx, breaking its muteness at last. “Thou art
eternal, and not merely
of the vanishing flesh. The soul in man cannot be killed, cannot die. It waits, shroud-wrapped,
in thy heart, as I waited,
sand-wrapped, in thy world. Know thyself, O mortal! For there is One within thee, as in all men, that
comes and stands at the bar and bears
witness that there IS a God!”
(Reference: Brunton, Paul. (1962) A Search in Secret
Amen