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Vajrayana

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'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).

  • The techniques are characterized by:
    • The use of mantras, or short verbal formulae
    • Strong focus on the guru, or teacher
    • The visualization of bodhisattvas in meditation

Practitioners are introduced to a collection of Vajrayana practices through a series of initiations.

Vajrayana developed in Northern India from about 600CE (hard to say exactly when), based on the Madhyamika teachings of Nagarjuna, Asanga, Vasubhandu, Chandrakirti, and other, later masters and scholars.