Portal:Vajrayana Buddhism

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Vajrayana Buddhism Portal

A digug dorje. Vajrayāna (Sanskrit: वज्रयान; Bengali: বজ্রযান; Devanagari: वज्रयान; Sinhala: වජ්‍රායන; Malayalam: വജ്രയാന; Oriya: ବଜ୍ରଯାନ; Tibetan: རྡོ་རྗེ་ཐེག་པ་, rdo rje theg pa; Mongolian: Очирт хөлгөн, Ochirt Hölgön; Chinese: 金剛乘, pinyin: Jīngāng chéng), also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Way or Thunderbolt Way, is a complex and multifaceted system of Buddhist thought and practice which evolved over several centuries. According to Vajrayāna scriptures "Vajrayāna" refers to one of three vehicles or routes to enlightenment, the other two being the Hinayāna and Mahayana. Note that Hinayāna (or Nikaya) is not to be confused with Theravada (a practice lineage); although is sometimes equated to it. Founded by the Indian Mahāsiddhas, Vajrayāna subscribes to Buddhist tantric literature. Although the first tantric Buddhist texts appeared in India in the 3rd century and continued to appear until the 12th century, scholars such as Hirakawa Akira assert that the Vajrayāna probably came into existence in the 6th or 7th century, while the term Vajrayāna itself first appeared in the 8th century. Template:/box-footer Vajradhara, the tantric form of Shakyamuni, teacher of the tantra. Mahasiddha (Tibetan: གྲུབ་ཐོབ་ཆེན་པོ, Wylie: grub thob chen po; or Tibetan: ཏུལ་ཤུག, Wylie: tul shug; Sanskrit Devanagari: महासिद्ध; IAST: mahāsiddha, maha meaning "great" and siddha meaning "adept") is a term for someone who embodies and cultivates the "siddhi of perfection." They are a certain type of yogin/yogini recognized in Vajrayana Buddhism. Mahasiddhas were tantric practitioners, or tantrikas who had sufficient empowerments and teachings to act as a guru or tantric master. A siddha is an individual who, through the practice of sadhana, attains the realization of siddhis, psychic and spiritual abilities and powers. Their historical influence throughout the Indic and Himalayan region was vast and they reached mythic proportions which is codified in their songs of realization and hagiographies, or namthar, many of which have been preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist canon. The Mahasiddhas are the founders of Vajrayana traditions and lineages, such as Dzogchen and Mahamudra. Kalachakra thangka from the Sera Monastery. In Tibetan Buddhist and Indian Hindu/Buddhist traditions, Shambhala (also spelled Shambala or Shamballa; Tibetan: བདེ་འབྱུང་; Wylie: bde 'byung, pron. de-jung; Chinese: 香巴拉; pinyin: xiāngbālā) is a kingdom hidden somewhere in Inner Asia. It is mentioned in various ancient texts, including the Kalachakra Tantra and the ancient texts of the Zhang Zhung culture which predated Tibetan Buddhism in western Tibet. The Bön scriptures speak of a closely related land called Olmolungring. Hindu texts such as Vishnu Purana mention Shambhala as the birth place of Kalki, the final incarnation of Vishnu who will usher in a new Golden Age (Satya Yuga). Whatever its historical basis, Shambhala gradually came to be seen as a Buddhist Pure Land, a fabulous kingdom whose reality is visionary or spiritual as much as physical or geographic. It was in this form that the Shambhala myth reached the West, where it influenced non-Buddhist as well as Buddhist spiritual seekers — and, to some extent, popular culture in general. 13th Dalai Lama with the King of Sikkim, Darjeeling, India. Thubten Gyatso (February 12, 1876 – December 17, 1933), was the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet. In 1878, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. He was escorted to Lhasa and given his pre-novice vows by the Panchen Lama, Tenpai Wangchuk, and named "Ngawang Lobsang Thupten Gyatso Jigdral Chokley Namgyal". In 1879, he was enthroned at the Potala Palace, but did not assume political power until 1895, after he had reached his majority. Thubten Gyatso was an intelligent reformer who proved himself a skillful politician when Tibet became a pawn in the great game between Imperial Russia, China, and the British Empire. He was responsible for countering the British expedition to Tibet, restoring discipline in monastic life, and increasing the number of lay officials to avoid excessive power being placed in the hands of the monks. Tibetan Buddhism Mongol Buddhism Russian Buddhism Shingon Buddhism in Japanese Buddhism Tangmi in Chinese Buddhism Newar Buddhism Newest transmissions: Blue Lotus Assembly Celtic Buddhism New Kadampa Tradition Shambhala Buddhism True Buddha School File:Entrance to Nako gompa, Spiti.jpg File:Entrance to Nako gompa, Spiti Valley. Green Tara, painting by Prithvi Man Chitrakari, 1947. Tara (Sanskrit: तारा, tārā; Tibetan language: སྒྲོལ་མ, Drolma) or Ārya Tārā, also known as Jetsun Dolma (Tibetan language: rje btsun sgrol ma) in Tibetan Buddhism, is a deity in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. She is known as the "mother of liberation", and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. In Japan she is known as Tara Bosatsu (多羅菩薩), and little-known as Duōluó Púsà (多罗菩萨) in Chinese Buddhism. Tara is a tantric meditation deity whose practice is used by practitioners of the Tibetan branches of Vajrayana Buddhism to develop certain inner qualities and understand outer, inner and secret teachings about compassion and emptiness. Tara is actually the generic name for a set of Buddhas or bodhisattvas of similar aspect. These may more properly be understood as different aspects of the same quality, as bodhisattvas are often considered metaphoric for Buddhist virtues. The most widely known forms of Tārā are: Green Tārā, known as the Buddha of enlightened activity White Tārā, also known for compassion, long life, healing and serenity; also known as The Wish-fulfilling Wheel, or Cintachakra Red Tārā, of fierce aspect associated with magnetizing all good things Black Tārā, associated with power Yellow Tārā, associated with wealth and prosperity Blue Tārā, associated with transmutation of anger Cittamani Tārā, a form of Tārā widely practiced at the level of Highest Yoga Tantra in the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, portrayed as green and often conflated with Green Tārā Khadiravani Tārā (Tārā of the acacia forest), who appeared to Nagarjuna in the Khadiravani forest of South India and who is sometimes referred to as the "Twenty-second Tārā" There is also recognition in some schools of Buddhism of twenty-one Tārās. A practice text entitled In Praise of the Twenty-one Tārās, is recited during the morning in all four sects of Tibetan Buddhism. The main Tārā mantra is the same for Buddhists and Hindus alike: oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā. It is pronounced by Tibetans and Buddhists who follow the Tibetan traditions as oṃ tāre tu tāre ture soha. Hinduism Buddhism Chinese folk religion Shinto Taoism Religion WikiProject Religion WikiProject Buddhism WikiProject Tibet Buddhism on WikiNews Buddhism on WikiQuote Buddhism on WikiBooks Buddhism on WikiSource Buddhism on Wiktionary Buddhism on Commons Template:/box-footer

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