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| 'The Diamond Vehicle' or 'The Adamantine Vehicle', '''Vajrayana''' consists of a collection of techniques for the practice of ] ], along with the texts that expound those techniques (the Buddhist Tantras). It is also known to the west as ''Tantric Buddhism''. It is the tradition behind ], and is sometimes expounded as a third and seperate major school of Buddhism, the others being ] and ]. | 'The Diamond Vehicle' or 'The Adamantine Vehicle', '''Vajrayana''' consists of a collection of techniques for the practice of ] ], along with the texts that expound those techniques (the Buddhist Tantras). It is also known to the west as ''Tantric Buddhism''. It is the tradition behind ], and is sometimes expounded as a third and seperate major school of Buddhism, the others being ] and ]. | ||
Revision as of 07:19, 7 May 2003
'The Diamond Vehicle' or 'The Adamantine Vehicle', Vajrayana consists of a collection of techniques for the practice of Mahayana Buddhism, along with the texts that expound those techniques (the Buddhist Tantras). It is also known to the west as Tantric Buddhism. It is the tradition behind Buddhism, and is sometimes expounded as a third and seperate major school of Buddhism, the others being Mahayana and Theravada.
There are four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism: Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Geluk. All four schools identify themselves as belonging to the Mahayana or "Great Vehicle" tradition, and therefore are proponents of universal enlightenment. Historically the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism spread to China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, Mongolia and all the regions of Tibetan cultural sphere such as Bhutan and the entire Trans-Himalayan areas of India, and the republics of Thuva, Buriat and Kalmykya in the present-day Russian federation.
- The techniques are characterized by:
- The use of mantras, or short verbal formulae
- Strong focus on the guru, or teacher
- A highly-developed tradition of meditation, including concentration techniques such as the visualization of bodhisattvas.
Practitioners are introduced to a collection of Vajrayana practices through a series of initiations.
These can be divided into six categories:
- Three Outer Tantras:
- Kriyayoga
- Charyayoga
- Yogatantra
The practice of Atiyoga is divided into three classes: Mental (SemDe), Spatial (LongDe), and Esoteric Instructional (MenNgagDe).
Vajrayana developed in Northern India from about 600CE (hard to say exactly when), based on the Madhyamika teachings of Nagarjuna, Asanga, Vasubhandu, Chandrakirti, Padmasambhava and other, later masters and scholars.