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. Some of these additional Teachings are written and some are strictly oral instruction from teacher to student. Vajrayana 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 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. Deity visualization, however, is a misunderstanding of modern Vajrayana.

The original 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.