Out of
Mahayana, came the Vajrayana school, often
referred to as the ‘third turning of the dharma wheel.’
Vajrayana schools exist primarily in Tibet,
Bhutan, and Nepal, There is also a Japanese sect,
Shingon.
The difference between Mahayana and Vajrayana is not in
the teachings so much as the spiritual practices used to
cultivate the enlightened mind.
These additional teachings are called
tantras; some
are written and some are strictly oral instruction from
teacher to student.
The tantric path focuses on
the means to
directly perceive the true, non-dual nature of reality
and the purpose of these practices is to develop
spiritually through cultivating the enlightened mind
directly,* without having to spend many lives
refining karma.
Today, Vajrayana students are usually given instructions
on deity visualization to prepare them for the higher
Tantric teachings. When a student is considered ready,
the Teacher ‘introduces’ the student to the true nature
of mind, then the student meditates upon this experience
until it can be sustained by the student alone.
Like the Mahayana, the Vajrayana schools also use
prayer, mantras, study of the sutras, and ritualistic
ceremonies; however, deity visualization is a
distinction of Vajrayana.
Tantric teaching is expressed as using one’s life
situations to transmute limiting karmic circumstances
through recognizing the pure essence of divinity that
exists beyond duality.
Union of life’s
dual energies (plus and minus, giving and receiving,
etc.) with non-attachment brings about wholeness. All
things are to be realized as they are, as emanations of
the VOID, or nothingness.*
Vajrayana first originated in India as a non-monastic
lineage, often practiced in secrecy or seclusion, but
eventually it incorporated monasticism. Because it
wasn’t originally mainstream, there is no fixed date for
the development of Vajrayana in India. However, it first
emerged historically around the 4th century
C.E. The most well-known Vajrayana school is Tibetan
Buddhism, which began with the tantric Teacher,
Padmasambhava, who arrived in Tibet in the mid-eighth
century C.E. Today, there are 4 main Buddhist schools in
Tibet. The Dalai Lama, modern Buddhism’s most recognized
figure, is the head of one of these sects, as well as
the temporal leader (in exile) of Tibet.
*Practices
and teachings in bold are also incorporated in HÜMÜH Buddhism.
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