New branches:
94-545: Tantric techniques : Fourfold division: Twofold division: Thought forms and visualisation: Yoga : The Ādi-Buddha ( Tibetan : དང་པོའི་སངས་རྒྱས། , Wylie : dang po'i sangs rgyas , THL : Dangpö Sanggyé ) is the First Buddha or the Primordial Buddha . Another common term for this figure is Dharmakāya Buddha. The term emerges in tantric Buddhist literature , most prominently in
188-679: A daughter and a son. He also founded a series of small monasteries in Bhutan, including Tharpa Ling , his main residence. Longchenpa's lineage survives in Bhutan. After living in Tharpa Ling for 10 years, he returned to Tibet and was reconciled with Changchub Gyaltsen, who even became Longchenpa's student. Longchenpa's writings and compilations were highly influential, especially on the Nyingma tradition. According to Germano, Longchenpa's work: had an immediate impact, and in subsequent centuries
282-541: A group of eight disciples (men and women) in order to initiate them into the Dzogchen teachings (in 1340). During this initial period of teaching, Longchenpa and his disciples experienced a series of visions of dakinis and states of possession (the possessions only happened to the women of the group) which convinced him and his disciples that Longchenpa was destined to teach the Dzogchen Nyingthig tradition of
376-415: A liminal zone on the borders between fields and forests. Their rites involved the conjunction of sexual practices and Buddhist mandala visualization with ritual accoutrements made from parts of the human body, so that control may be exercised over the forces hindering the natural abilities of the siddha to manipulate the cosmos at will. At their most extreme, siddhas also represented a defensive position within
470-502: A major innovation in and of themselves. A detailed account of Longchenpa's life and teachings is found in Buddha Mind by Tulku Thondup Rinpoche and in A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems by Nyoshul Khenpo . Pema Lingpa , the famous terton (finder of sacred texts) of Bhutan, is regarded as the immediate reincarnation of Longchenpa. Longchenpa is widely considered the single most important writer on Dzogchen teachings. He
564-532: A mantra. Vajrayāna Buddhists developed a large corpus of texts called the Buddhist Tantras , some of which can be traced to at least the 7th century CE but might be older. The dating of the tantras is "a difficult, indeed an impossible task" according to David Snellgrove . Some of the earliest of these texts, Kriya tantras such as the Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa ( c. 6th century ), teach
658-594: A movement called Sahaja -siddhi developed in the 8th century in Bengal . It was dominated by long-haired, wandering mahasiddhas who openly challenged and ridiculed the Buddhist establishment. The mahasiddhas pursued siddhis , magical powers such as flight and extrasensory perception as well as spiritual liberation. Ronald M. Davidson states that Buddhist siddhas demonstrated the appropriation of an older sociological form—the independent sage/magician, who lived in
752-808: A vision of Vimalamitra which asked him to restore the temple of Zhai Lhakhang (where the Seventeen Tantras had been concealed by Nyang Tingdzin Zangpo). In the process of this work, Longchenpa took on a Drikung Kagyu student named Kunga Rinchen. Kunga Rinchen had political designs and came into conflict with the powerful Changchub Gyaltsen, who had the support of the Mongol Authorities in Beijing and attacked Kunga Rinchen's monastery. Longchenpa fled to Bumthang , Bhutan to avoid conflict. Here he relinquished his monastic vows, married and had
846-692: A young girl who promised to watch over him and grant him blessings. Afterwards, Longchenpa met his main teacher, the Ngagpa Rigdzin Kumaradza (1266-1343), from whom he received Dzogchen teachings while traveling from valley to valley with a nomadic group of about seventy students. It is said Longchenpa lived in great poverty during this period, sleeping on a sack and eating only barley. Longchenpa accompanied Kumaradza and his disciples for two years, during which time he received all of Rigdzin Kumaradza's transmissions (mainly focusing on
940-407: Is "obscured by discursive thought". This doctrine is often associated with the idea of the inherent or natural luminosity ( Skt: prakṛti-prabhāsvara-citta , T. ’od gsal gyi sems ) or purity of the mind ( prakrti-parisuddha ). Another fundamental theory of Tantric practice is that of transformation. In Vajrayāna, negative mental factors such as desire, hatred, greed, pride are used as part of
1034-677: Is a Buddhist tradition of tantric practice that developed in Medieval India . Tantrism, which originated within Hinduism during the first millennium CE, significantly influenced South Asian Mahāyāna Buddhism, giving rise to distinct Buddhist tantric traditions. Emerging in the 7th century CE, these traditions spread across Southeast, East, and Central Asia, leading to distinct East Asian and Tibetan practices. Vajrayāna practices are connected to specific lineages in Buddhism, through
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#17327806662501128-445: Is a critical link between the school's exoteric (or sutra) and esoteric (i.e. tantric) teachings. Longchenpa's work also unified the various Dzogchen traditions of his time into a single system. Longchenpa is known for his skill as a poet and his works are written in a unique literary voice which was widely admired and imitated by later Nyingma figures. Longchenpa was the abbot of Samye , one of Tibet 's most important monasteries and
1222-523: Is a method which works faster. Various classifications are possible when distinguishing Vajrayāna from the other Buddhist traditions. Vajrayāna can be seen as a third yana , next to Śrāvakayāna and Mahayana . Vajrayāna can be distinguished from the Sutrayana . The Sutrayana is the method of perfecting good qualities, where the Vajrayāna is the method of taking the intended outcome of Buddhahood as
1316-615: Is a mythical weapon associated with Indra which was said to be indestructible and unbreakable (like a diamond) and extremely powerful (like thunder). Thus, the term is variously translated as Diamond Vehicle, Thunderbolt Vehicle, Indestructible Vehicle and so on. Chinese Esoteric Buddhism it is generally known by various terms such as Zhēnyán ( Chinese : 真言, literally "true word", referring to mantra), Tángmì or Hanmì (唐密 - 漢密, " Tang Esotericism" or " Han Esotericism") , Mìzōng (密宗, "Esoteric Sect") or Mìjiao (Chinese: 密教; Esoteric Teaching). The Chinese term mì 密 ("secret, esoteric")
1410-609: Is a translation of the Sanskrit term Guhya ("secret, hidden, profound, abstruse"). In Japan , Buddhist esotericism is known as Mikkyō ( 密教 , secret teachings) or by the term Shingon (a Japanese rendering of Zhēnyán ), which also refers to a specific school of Shingon-shū ( 真言宗 ) . The term "Esoteric Buddhism" is first used by Western occultist writers, such as Helena Blavatsky and Alfred Percy Sinnett , to describe theosophical doctrines passed down from "supposedly initiated Buddhist masters." Tantric Buddhism
1504-553: Is associated with groups of wandering yogis called mahasiddhas in medieval India . According to Robert Thurman , these tantric figures thrived during the latter half of the first millennium CE. According to John Myrdhin Reynolds, the mahasiddhas date to the medieval period in North India and used methods that were radically different from those used in Buddhist monasteries, including practicing on charnel grounds . Since
1598-494: Is bound, by passion too it is released, but by heretical Buddhists this practice of reversals is not known. The Hevajra further states that "one knowing the nature of poison may dispel poison with poison." As Snellgrove notes, this idea is already present in Asanga 's Mahayana-sutra-alamkara-karika and therefore it is possible that he was aware of Tantric techniques, including sexual yoga. According to Buddhist Tantra, there
1692-530: Is developed. Other early tantras include the Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi and the Guhyasamāja (Gathering of Secrets). The Guhyasamāja is a Mahayoga class of Tantra, which features forms of ritual practice considered "left-hand" ( vamachara ) such as the use of taboo substances like alcohol, consort practices, and charnel ground practices which evoke wrathful deities . Ryujun Tajima divides
1786-534: Is more common for a yogi or yogini to use an imagined consort (a buddhist tantric deity, i.e. a yidam). These later tantras such as the Hevajra Tantra and the Chakrasamvara are classed as " Yogini tantras" and represent the final form of development of Indian Buddhist tantras in the ninth and tenth centuries. The Kalachakra tantra developed in the 10th century. It is farthest removed from
1880-444: Is more complex than a simple process of religious imitation and textual appropriation. There can be no question that the Buddhist tantras were heavily influenced by Kapalika and other Saiva movements, but the influence was apparently mutual. Perhaps a more nuanced model would be that the various lines of transmission were locally flourishing and that in some areas they interacted, while in others they maintained concerted hostility. Thus
1974-496: Is no strict separation of the profane or samsara and the sacred or nirvana , rather they exist in a continuum. All individuals are seen as containing the seed of enlightenment within, which is covered over by defilements . Douglas Duckworth notes that Vajrayana sees Buddhahood not as something outside or an event in the future, but as immanently present. Indian Tantric Buddhist philosophers such as Buddhaguhya , Vimalamitra , Ratnākaraśānti and Abhayakaragupta continued
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#17327806662502068-672: Is not specifically Buddhist, Shaiva or Vaishnava . According to Alexis Sanderson , various classes of Vajrayāna literature developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and Shaivism. The relationship between the two systems can be seen in texts like the Mañjusrimulakalpa , which later came to be classified under Kriya tantra , and states that mantras taught in the Shaiva, Garuda and Vaishnava tantras will be effective if applied by Buddhists since they were all taught originally by Manjushri . Sanderson notes that
2162-576: Is referring to the actual realization of one's own innate gnosis. Thus, one could say that in the Kalacakra tradition, Ādibuddha refers to the ultimate nature of one's own mind and to the one who has realized the innate nature of one's own mind by means of purificatory practices. The Guhyasamāja Tantra calls Vajradhāra (the " Vajra holder"), the Teacher, who is bowed to by all the Buddhas, best of
2256-547: Is said to be the purpose of all the various tantric techniques practiced in the Vajrayana. Longchenpa Samding Dorje Phagmo Longchen Rabjam Drimé Özer ( Tibetan : ཀློང་ཆེན་རབ་འབྱམས་པ་དྲི་མེད་འོད་ཟེར། , Wylie : klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer ), commonly abbreviated to Longchenpa (1308–1364, an honorific meaning "The One Who Is the Vast Cosmic Expanse") was a Tibetan scholar-yogi of
2350-566: Is seen as being a symbolic personification of the ground or basis ( ghzi ) in Dzogchen thought. Namkhai Norbu explains that the Dzogchen idea of the Adi-Buddha Samantabhadra "should be mainly understood as a metaphor to enable us to discover our real condition." He further adds that: If we deem Samantabhadra an individual being, we are far from the true meaning. In reality, he denotes our potentiality that, even though at
2444-607: Is seen as being the "Supreme Buddha" or the One Original buddha ( ichi-butsu ). The Lotus Sutra reveals the "Eternal Buddha" in the Essential Teaching (chapters 15-28). The Nikko -lineage, regard Nichiren himself as the Ādibuddha and dispute the contentions of other sects that view him as a mere bodhisattva . In the Medieval Orissan School of Vaishnavism , Jagannath was believed to be
2538-522: Is the superiority of Tantric methods, which provide a faster vehicle to liberation and contain many more skillful means ( upaya ). The importance of the theory of emptiness is central to the Tantric Buddhist view and practice. The Buddhist emptiness view sees the world as being fluid, without an ontological foundation or inherent existence, but ultimately a fabric of constructions. Because of this, tantric practice such as self-visualization as
2632-522: Is to become a Sammāsambuddha (fully awakened Buddha ); those on this path are termed Bodhisattvas . As with the Mahayana, motivation is a vital component of Vajrayāna practice. The Bodhisattva-path is an integral part of the Vajrayāna, which teaches that all practices are to be undertaken with the motivation to achieve Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. In the vehicle of Sutra Mahayana,
2726-463: The Hīnayāna ) and Mahāyāna (a.k.a. Pāramitāyāna ). There are several Buddhist tantric traditions that are currently practiced, including Tibetan Buddhism , Chinese Esoteric Buddhism , Shingon Buddhism and Newar Buddhism . Historically, there were also other esoteric Buddhist traditions, such as that of maritime Southeast Asia , which are no longer practiced today. In India, the initial term
2820-769: The Kun byed rgyal po , (ii) The Seventeen Tantras of the Great Perfection (including two closely affiliated tantras—the kLong gsal and Thig le kun gsal ) (iii) the Seminal Heart system of Vimalamitra ( Bi ma snying thig ) and (iv) the Seminal Heart system of the Dakini ( mKha' 'gro snying thig )." Longchenpa's Dzogchen philosophy is based on the Dzogchen view outlined in these tantric texts. This worldview sees all phenomena ( dharmas , Tib. chos) as
2914-582: The Mahāvairocanābhisaṃbodhi-sūtra ), is “the original ground dharmakāya.” (薄伽梵即毘盧遮那本地法身, at Taisho no. 1796:39.580). This is the position followed by Kūkai, the founder of Shingon, who says in his Dainichikyō kaidai that “Mahāvairocana is the self-nature Dharmakāya, which is the intrinsic truth-body of original awakening ,” (大毗盧遮那者自性法身卽本有本覺理身). Meanwhile, in the Japanese Amidist or "Pure Land" sects , Amitabha Buddha ("Amida")
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3008-616: The Vima Nyingthig and the Khandro Nyingthig ) . Longchenpa was permitted to teach after a three-year period of retreat (1336-1338) in mChims phu, not far from Samye (according to the mThong snang ’od kyi dra ba , other sources give longer periods like six years). He is said to have had various visions of different deities, including Padmasambhava, black Vajravārāhī, Guru drag po, and the goddess Adamantine Turquoise Lamp ( rDo rje gyu sgron ma ) Longchenpa then gathered
3102-477: The Esoteric Instruction series. Longchenpa also embarked on a project of compiling the main texts of the Vima Nyingthig and the Khandro Nyingthig along with a series of his own commentaries on these works. Most of Longchenpa's mature life was spent in his hermitage at Gangri Thokar, either in meditation retreat or studying and composing texts. In 1350, at the age of 42, Longchenpa had
3196-712: The Guhyasiddhi of Padmavajra, a work associated with the Guhyasamaja tradition , which prescribes acting as a Shaiva guru and initiating members into Saiva Siddhanta scriptures and mandalas. Sanderson says that the Samvara tantra texts adopted the pitha list from the Shaiva text Tantrasadbhāva , introducing a copying error where a deity was mistaken for a place. Ronald M. Davidson meanwhile, argues that Sanderson's arguments for direct influence from Shaiva Vidyapitha texts are problematic because "the chronology of
3290-672: The Kalachakra . "Ādi" means "first", such that the Ādibuddha was the first to attain Buddhahood . "Ādi" can also mean "primordial", not referring to a person but to an innate wisdom that is present in all sentient beings. In Indo-Tibetan Buddhism , the term Ādibuddha is often used to describe the Buddha Samantabhadra (in Nyingma , not to be confused with the bodhisattva Samantabhadra ), Vajradhara or Kalachakra (in
3384-1031: The Khandro Nyingthig, along with his own commentaries on these cycles (the Lama Yangtik and the Khandro Yangtik respectively) . Longchenpa also composed a supplementary commentary to the Nyingthig Yabshi , called the Zabmo Yangtig. According to Germano, Longchenpa's compilation "brought much needed order and organizational clarity to the at times chaotic mass of the Vimalamitra-transmitted Seminal Heart scriptures inherited from Kumaradza." Some of his other important original compositions include: 1. 2. 3. 4. 6. 7. 1. 2. 3. Apart from Longchenpa's names given below, he
3478-606: The Mantrayana leads one to Buddhahood in a single lifetime. According to the literature, the mantra is an easy path without the difficulties innate to the Paramitayana . Mantrayana is sometimes portrayed as a method for those of inferior abilities. However the practitioner of the mantra still has to adhere to the vows of the Bodhisattva . The goal of spiritual practice within the Mahayana and Vajrayāna traditions
3572-477: The Nyingma school ('Old School') of Tibetan Buddhism . According to tibetologist David Germano , Longchenpa's work led to the dominance of the Longchen Nyingthig lineage of Dzogchen (Great Perfection) over the other Dzogchen traditions. He is also responsible for the scholastic systematization of Dzogchen thought within the context of the wider Tibetan Vajrayana tradition of philosophy which
3666-638: The Tsik Dön Dzö and the Tekchok Dzö together constitute Longchenpa's primary scholastic work on the Dzogchen tradition. Longchenpa compiled various Dzogchen Menngagde scriptures (including the Seventeen Tantras ) into the collection known as the Nyingthig Yabshi ( The Inner Essence in Four Parts ). In this compilation, Longchenpa combines his editions of the Vima Nyingtig and
3760-561: The Vidyapitha tantras is by no means so well established" and that "the available evidence suggests that received Saiva tantras come into evidence sometime in the ninth to tenth centuries with their affirmation by scholars like Abhinavagupta (c. 1000 c.e.)" Davidson also notes that the list of pithas or sacred places "are certainly not particularly Buddhist, nor are they uniquely Kapalika venues, despite their presence in lists employed by both traditions." Davidson further adds that like
3854-402: The "All-Creating King" (Tib. Kunjed Gyalpo ), because all phenomena are said to be manifestations or displays of Samantabhadra. According to Namkhai Norbu , this does not mean there is some being called Samantabhadra that creates the universe, instead what it refers to is that all things arise from "the state of consciousness Samantabhadra, the state of Dharmakaya ." In this sense, Samantabhadra
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3948-424: The "lower vehicles" cannot be fully understood or justified (just like one cannot see the entirety of a mountain unless one is at the top). In his Theg mchog mdzod , Longchenpa also provides an extensive doxography of Buddhism (based on the nine yanas ) in order to explain why Dzogchen (i.e. Atiyoga) deserves the highest rank in this doxography. Longchenpa's understanding of the relationship between Dzogchen and
4042-488: The "path of the cause" is taken whereby a practitioner starts with his or her potential Buddha-nature and nurtures it to produce the fruit of Buddhahood. In the Vajrayāna, the "path of the fruit" is taken whereby the practitioner takes his or her innate Buddha-nature as the means of practice. The premise is that since we innately have an enlightened mind, practicing seeing the world in terms of ultimate truth can help us to attain our full Buddha-nature. Experiencing ultimate truth
4136-807: The Abbot Sonam Rinchen and master Lopon Kunga Ozer. Longchenpa was an avid student with a great capacity for memory. In 1327, Longchenpa moved to the Kadam monastic college of Sangpu Neutok , the most esteemed center of learning in Tibet at the time. He stayed for six years at Sangpu, mastering the entire scholastic curriculum of logical-epistemology , yogacara and madhyamaka as well as poetics. During this period, Longchenpa also received teachings and transmissions from different Tibetan Buddhist traditions, including Kadam, Sakya , Kagyu and Nyingma . Longchenpa studied under various teachers, including
4230-447: The Buddhist tradition, adopted and sustained for the purpose of aggressive engagement with the medieval culture of public violence. They reinforced their reputations for personal sanctity with rumors of the magical manipulation of various flavors of demonic females ( dakini , yaksi , yogini ), cemetery ghouls ( vetala ), and other things that go bump in the night. Operating on the margins of both monasteries and polite society, some adopted
4324-521: The Buddhists, the Shaiva tradition was also involved in the appropriation of Hindu and non-Hindu deities, texts and traditions, an example being "village or tribal divinities like Tumburu". Davidson adds that Buddhists and Kapalikas as well as other ascetics (possibly Pasupatas ) mingled and discussed their paths at various pilgrimage places and that there were conversions between the different groups. Thus he concludes: The Buddhist-Kapalika connection
4418-696: The Dharma simultaneously to boundless sentient beings each in his own language; "lord of mind": understands all the knowable which seems impossible. According to the 14th Dalai Lama , the Ādibuddha is also seen in Mahayana Buddhism as representation of the universe, its laws and its true nature, as a source of enlightenment and karmic manifestations and a representation of the Trikaya . In Chinese Esoteric Buddhism , and in Japanese Shingon ,
4512-689: The Jñānapāda tradition of Guhyasamāja exegesis, which places Mañjuvajra (a tantric form of Mañjuśrī) at the center of the Guhyasamāja mandala. In the Nyingma School, the Adi-Buddha is called Samantabhadra (Skt.; Tib. ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་, Kuntu Zangpo ; Wyl. kun tu bzang po ), not to be confused with the bodhisattva Samantabhadra . Nyingma art often depicts this figure as a naked blue Buddha. According to Dzogchen Ponlop : The color blue symbolizes
4606-470: The Kalacakra tradition speaks of the Ādibuddha in the sense of a beginningless and endless Buddha, it is referring to the innate gnosis that pervades the minds of all sentient beings and stands as the basis of both samsara and nirvana. Whereas, when it speaks of the Ādibuddha as the one who first attained perfect enlightenment by means of imperishable bliss, and when it asserts the necessity of acquiring merit and knowledge in order to attain perfect Buddhahood, it
4700-644: The Sarma schools). There was also a tradition in India which saw Mañjuśrī as the Ādibuddha, as exemplified by Vilāsavajra's commentary to the Mañjuśrīnāmasamgīti . Vilāsavajra states in his commentary: The gnosis-being Mañjuśrī is not the bodhisattva who is the master of the ten stages ( bhumi ). Rather, he is the non-dual gnosis ( advayajñāna ), the perfection of wisdom ( prajñāpāramitā ) itself. According to Anthony Tribe, this tradition may have influenced
4794-600: The Vajrayāna Yogini tantras draw extensively from the material also present in Shaiva Bhairava tantras classified as Vidyapitha . Sanderson's comparison of them shows similarity in "ritual procedures, style of observance, deities, mantras, mandalas, ritual dress, Kapalika accouterments like skull bowls, specialized terminology, secret gestures, and secret jargons. There is even direct borrowing of passages from Shaiva texts." Sanderson gives numerous examples such as
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#17327806662504888-435: The adherents and texts of Vajrayāna claim these teachings have been passed down by an unbroken lineage going back to the historical Buddha ( c. the 5th century BCE ) or to other mythical Buddhas and bodhisattvas (e.g. Vajrapani ). According to Vajrayāna scriptures, the term Vajrayāna refers to one of three vehicles or routes to enlightenment , the other two being the Śrāvakayāna (also known pejoratively as
4982-523: The behaviors associated with ghosts ( preta , pisaca ), not only as a religious praxis but also as an extension of their implied threats. Tantrism originated within Hinduism and significantly influenced early South Asian Mahāyāna Buddhist practices, contributing to the emergence of unique Buddhist tantric traditions. These Buddhist tantric traditions, which developed in the 7th century CE, spread quickly across Southeast, East, and Central Asia, resulting in
5076-550: The central channel. Longchenpa sees these techniques are inferior, because they are strenuous and forceful and may lead to delusory appearances. Longchenpa contrasts these tantric techniques with those of Dzogchen in which "the winds are left to naturally calm down of their own accord, there is no insertion into the central channel." Germano describes Longchenpa's view on this topic as follows: In his Grub mtha' mdzod kLong chen rab 'byams pa also incisively criticizes these normative modernist tantric practices of forcefully inserting
5170-490: The deity is seen as being no less real than everyday reality, but a process of transforming reality itself, including the practitioner's identity as the deity. As Stephan Beyer notes, "In a universe where all events dissolve ontologically into Emptiness, the touching of Emptiness in the ritual is the re-creation of the world in actuality". The doctrine of Buddha-nature , as outlined in the Ratnagotravibhāga of Asanga ,
5264-424: The earlier Buddhist traditions, and incorporates concepts of messianism and astrology not present elsewhere in Buddhist literature. According to Ronald M. Davidson, the rise of Tantric Buddhism was a response to the feudal structure of Indian society in the early medieval period (ca. 500–1200 CE) which saw kings being divinized as manifestations of gods. Likewise, tantric yogis reconfigured their practice through
5358-495: The emanations or expressions ( rtsal ), displays ( rol pa ), and adornments ( rgyan ) of an ultimate nature or principle ( Dharmatā , Tib. chos nyid, or Dharmadhātu , Tib. chos kyi dbyings ) This ultimate principle is described in various ways by Longchenpa, using terminology that is unique to Dzogchen, such as the basis or ground ( ghzi ) or the "nature of mind" ( sems nyid ). Longchenpa describes this fundamental basis as being primordially pure and empty while also having
5452-403: The emphasis on the body's center and light-experiences, yet undercuts the tone of control and manipulation. Longchenpa wrote over 270 works according to Tulku Thondup. The Seven Treasuries ( mdzod bdun ), which elucidate the meaning of the Nyingma school's worldview and Dzogchen, are his most influential and famous original treatises. The Seven Treasuries are: According to Germano,
5546-405: The energy winds into the central channel in the attempt to achieve primordial gnosis . He contrasts this to Great Perfection contemplation in which the body's luminous channels are let be, and thus naturally expand outwards from their current presence as a thin thread of light at the body's center, so as to directly permeate one's entire existence and dissolve all energy blockages therein. He retains
5640-464: The expansive, unchanging quality of space, which is the ground of all arisings, the basis of all appearances, and the source of all phenomena. The absence of robes symbolizes the genuine reality beyond any dualistic, conceptual, or philosophical clothing. That is the dharmakaya buddha: the genuine body of absolute truth. In Nyingma, Samantabhadra is also considered to be the source of all Dzogchen teachings. The Kunjed Gyalpo Tantra calls Samantabhadra
5734-534: The famous Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339), from whom he received the six yogas of the Kālacakra and the six dharmas of Nāropa . Longchenpa left Sangpu to practice in the solitude of the mountains, after coming into conflict with certain Khampa scholars. After leaving Sangpu, Longchenpa entered a period of retreat for eight months in complete darkness (winter 1332–1333), where he had some important visions of
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#17327806662505828-873: The first Buddha avatar of Vishnu , or Adi-Buddha; with Gautama Buddha and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu being further incarnations of the Buddha-Jagannath. Gurus of Gaudiya Vaishnavaism argue that epithets for the Buddha like Sugata Buddha and Adi Buddha refer to the 9th avatar among the Dashavataras of Vishnu, who was a different person from Gautama Buddha, based on Amarakosha and other Buddhist texts. Tantra techniques (Vajrayana) New branches: Tantric techniques : Fourfold division: Twofold division: Thought forms and visualisation: Yoga : Vajrayāna ( Sanskrit : वज्रयान ; lit. ' vajra vehicle'), also known as Mantrayāna ('mantra vehicle'), Mantranāya ('path of mantra'), Guhyamantrayāna ('secret mantra vehicle'), Tantrayāna ('tantra vehicle'), Tantric Buddhism , and Esoteric Buddhism ,
5922-435: The first Buddhist monastery established in the Himalayas . However, he spent most of his life travelling or in retreat . Longchen Rabjam was born in 1308 in a village in the Dra Valley in Yuru, U-Tsang . He was born to the Nyingma lama Lopon Tsensung , a descendent of the Rog clan. Longchenpa's mother died when he was nine and his father died two years after. After being orphaned, he entered Samye monastery in 1320 under
6016-525: The formation of various distinct traditions in East Asia and Tibet. There are other Mahāyāna sutras which contain "proto-tantric" material such as the Gandavyuha and the Dasabhumika which might have served as a central source of visual imagery for Tantric texts. Later Mahāyāna texts like the Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra ( c. 4th –5th century CE) expound the use of mantras such as Om mani padme hum , associated with vastly powerful beings like Avalokiteshvara . The popular Heart Sutra also includes
6110-415: The highly influential Seven Treasuries and his compilation of Dzogchen scripture and commentaries, the Nyingthig Yabshi (The Inner Essence in Four Parts). Longchenpa was also a terton (treasure revealer) and some of his works, like the Khadro Yangtig, are considered terma (revealed treasure texts). Longchenpa's oeuvre (of over 270 texts) encapsulates the core of Nyingma thought and praxis and
6204-468: The importance of the practice of the "four ways of resting" in the nature of awareness ( cog gzhag bzhi ) and the "three samadhis" ( ting nge 'dzin gsum ), offering also detailed explanations for their practice. In the foreword to the book The Meditations of Longchen Rabjam , Thrangu Rinpoche explicitly notes: One of the most renowned presentations of Dzogchen is given in Longchen Rabjam’s Chöying Dzöd . This text gives clear instructions on how to develop
6298-409: The influence was both sustained and reciprocal, even in those places where Buddhist and Kapalika siddhas were in extreme antagonism. Davidson also argues for the influence of non-Brahmanical and outcaste tribal religions and their feminine deities (such as Parnasabari and Janguli). According to several Buddhist tantras as well as traditional Tibetan Buddhist sources, the tantras and the Vajrayana
6392-401: The lower vehicles is inclusive, and he sees Dzogchen as embracing all of the eight vehicles while also sublimating and transcending them. Longchenpa categorized Dzogchen as a teaching within "secret mantra" ( Vajrayana ), and specifically, he considered it to be part of the perfection stage of secret mantra practice , defining this "great perfection phase" ( rdzogs rim chenpo ), as "resting in
6486-413: The metaphor of being consecrated ( abhiśeka ) as the overlord ( rājādhirāja ) of a mandala palace of divine vassals, an imperial metaphor symbolizing kingly fortresses and their political power. The question of the origins of early Vajrayāna has been taken up by various scholars. David Seyfort Ruegg has suggested that Buddhist tantra employed various elements of a “pan-Indian religious substrate” which
6580-432: The most common Dzogchen names for the state of original buddhahood—is nothing other than the primordial, innate awareness that is naturally free, even before any notions of "buddhas" or "sentient beings" have emerged. In Dzogchen thought, there are said to be five aspects of Samantabhadra. Longchenpa explains these as follows: Vesna Wallace describes the concept of Ādibuddha in the Kalachakra tradition as follows: when
6674-413: The nature of a subtle self-arising awareness. This empty and spontaneous primordial glow ( ye gdangs ) is the subtle basis for the arising of all phenomenal appearances. Longchenpa brought Dzogchen thought more closely into dialogue with scholastic Buddhist philosophy and the Sarma tantric systems which were normative in the Tibetan academic institutions of his time. One of Longchenpa's main motivations
6768-453: The path. As noted by French Indologist Madeleine Biardeau, the tantric doctrine is "an attempt to place kama , desire, in every meaning of the word, in the service of liberation." This view is outlined in the following quote from the Hevajra tantra : Those things by which evil men are bound, others turn into means and gain thereby release from the bonds of existence. By passion the world
6862-471: The path. Vajrayāna can also be distinguished from the paramitayana. According to this schema, Indian Mahayana revealed two vehicles ( yana ) or methods for attaining enlightenment: the method of the perfections ( Paramitayana ) and the method of mantra ( Mantrayana ). The Paramitayana consists of the six or ten paramitas , of which the scriptures say that it takes three incalculable aeons to lead one to Buddhahood. The tantra literature, however, says that
6956-423: The practice of Dzogchen merely relies on a pointing out ( sems khrid ) of the mind's nature in an encounter with a teacher. In his Grub mtha' mdzod , Longchenpa describes how Dzogchen transcends the classic tantric generation and perfection stages which for him are based on effort, mental constructs and fixation. For Longchenpa, Dzogchen relies on simple ( spros med ) and more natural methods which are based on
7050-569: The practice of Tantra focuses on the transformation of poisons into wisdom, the yogic circles came together in tantric feasts , often in sacred sites ( pitha ) and places ( ksetra ) which included dancing, singing, consort practices and the ingestion of taboo substances like alcohol, urine, and meat. At least two of the mahasiddhas cited in the Buddhist literature are comparable with the Shaiva Nath saints ( Gorakshanath and Matsyendranath ) who practiced Hatha Yoga . According to Schumann,
7144-531: The present moment we are in samsara, has never been conditioned by dualism. From the beginning, the state of the individual has been pure and always remains pure: this is what Samantabhadra represents. But when we fall into conditioning, it is as if we are no longer Samantabhadra because we are ignorant of our true nature. So what is called the primordial Buddha, or Adibuddha, is only a metaphor for our true condition. Karl Brunnhölzl states: Longchenpa's Treasure Trove of Scriptures ...explains that Samantabhadra—one of
7238-410: The pristine unfabricated enlightening-mind of awareness" (in his bSam gtan ngal gso 80.2). Furthermore, Longchenpa defended the validity of Dzogchen as a stand-alone system of formless and effortless perfection stage practice, which did not require preliminary practice of the generation stage of deity yoga (unlike other tantric systems) nor standard tantric initiation rituals. Instead, for Longchenpa,
7332-568: The recognition of the nature of the mind and the Dzogchen view ( Ita ba ) of reality. Longchenpa also argues that this Dzogchen method is "superior to that of stress-filled actualization involved in ordinary generation and perfection" ( Zab mo yang tig vol. 11, 344.2-6). In the root verses and auto-commentary to his chapter on meditation within The Treasury of the Dharmadhatu ( chos dbyings mdzod ), Longchenpa placed strong emphasis on
7426-650: The revelation of Buddhist tantras to Padmasambhava , saying that he was an emanation of Amitabha and Avaloketishvara and that his arrival was predicted by the Buddha. Some accounts also maintain Padmasambhava is a direct reincarnation of Buddha Shakyamuni. According to Alex Wayman , the philosophical view of the Vajrayana is based on Mahayana Buddhist philosophy , mainly the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools. The major difference seen by Vajrayana thinkers
7520-532: The tantras into those which were "a development of Mahāyānist thought" and those "formed in a rather popular mould toward the end of the eighth century and declining into the esoterism of the left", this "left esoterism" mainly refers to the Yogini tantras and later works associated with wandering yogis. This practice survives in Tibetan Buddhism, but it is rare for this to be done with an actual person. It
7614-455: The tantric view continued to be debated in medieval Tibet. Tibetan Buddhist Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo (1012–1088) held that the views of sutra such as Madhyamaka were inferior to that of tantra, which was based on basic purity of ultimate reality. Tsongkhapa (1357–1419) on the other hand, held that there is no difference between Vajrayāna and other forms of Mahayana in terms of prajnaparamita (perfection of insight) itself, only that Vajrayāna
7708-422: The teachings of lineage holders. Others might generally refer to these texts as the Buddhist Tantras . It includes practices that make use of mantras , dharanis , mudras , mandalas and the visualization of deities and Buddhas. According to contemporary historical scholarship, Vajrayāna practice originated in the tantric era of medieval India ( c. the 5th century CE onwards ). However, traditionally,
7802-501: The three vajras, best of the great best, supreme lord of the three vajras. Alex Wayman notes that the Pradīpoddyotana , a tantric commentary, explains that the "three vajras" are the three mysteries of Body, Speech, and Mind, which are the displays of the Ādibuddha. Wayman further writes: Tsong-kha-pa 's Mchan-'grel explains the "lord of body": displays simultaneously innumerable materializations of body; "lord of speech": teaches
7896-706: The tradition of Buddhist philosophy and adapted it to their commentaries on the major Tantras. Abhayakaragupta's Vajravali is a key source in the theory and practice of tantric rituals. After monks such as Vajrabodhi and Śubhakarasiṃha brought Tantra to Tang China (716 to 720), tantric philosophy continued to be developed in Chinese and Japanese by thinkers such as Yi Xing and Kūkai . Likewise in Tibet , Sakya Pandita (1182–28 – 1251), as well as later thinkers like Longchenpa (1308–1364) expanded on these philosophies in their tantric commentaries and treatises. The status of
7990-482: The use of mantras and dharanis for mostly worldly ends including curing illness, controlling the weather and generating wealth. The Tattvasaṃgraha Tantra ( Compendium of Principles ), classed as a "Yoga tantra", is one of the first Buddhist tantras which focuses on liberation as opposed to worldly goals. In another early tantra, the Vajrasekhara (Vajra Peak), the influential schema of the five Buddha families
8084-412: The view and practice the meditation of resting in the nature of awareness. Studying and practicing these meditations will be of great benefit to everyone who encounters these instructions. Longchenpa also critiques tantric perfection stage methods (such as the six yogas of Naropa ) which focus on manipulating the winds ( vayu ) in the channels ( nadis ) of the subtle body in order to confine them into
8178-504: The Ādibuddha is typically considered to be Mahāvairocana . In Japanese Shingon Buddhism, the terms Primordial body ( honji-shin ) and Dharmakaya principle ( riho-jin ) are used to refer to the Ādibuddha. It is also associated with the letter A, the first letter of the Siddham Alphabet, and is seen as the source of the universe. Śubhakarasiṃha's Darijing shu (J. Dainichikyōsho ; 大日經疏) states that Mahāvairocana (teacher of
8272-480: Was Mantranāya (Path of Mantras), and Mantrayāna (Mantra Vehicle). Later, other terms were adopted, like Vajrayāna. In Tibetan Buddhism practiced in the Himalayan regions of India , Nepal , and Bhutan , Buddhist Tantra is most often termed Vajrayāna (Tib. རྡོ་རྗེ་ཐེག་པ་, dorje tekpa , Wyl. rdo rje theg pa ) and Secret mantra (Skt. Guhyamantra , Tib. གསང་སྔགས་, sang ngak , Wyl. gsang sngags ). The vajra
8366-472: Was a prolific author and scholar, as well as a compiler of Dzogchen texts. According to David Germano, Longchenpa's work systematized the Dzogchen tradition and its extensive literature while also providing it with a scholastic and philosophical structure based on the standard doctrinal structures that were becoming dominant in the Tibetan Buddhism of late tenth to thirteenth centuries. According to Germano, Longchenpa's main Dzogchen scriptural sources were: "(i)
8460-457: Was also an important theory which became the basis for Tantric views. As explained by the Tantric commentator Lilavajra, this "intrinsic secret (behind) diverse manifestation" is the utmost secret and aim of Tantra. According to Wayman this "Buddha embryo" ( tathāgatagarbha ) is a "non-dual, self-originated Wisdom ( jnana ), an effortless fount of good qualities" that resides in the mindstream but
8554-492: Was highly developed at the time among the Sarma schools. Germano also notes that Longchenpa's work is "generally taken to be the definitive expression of the Great Perfection with its precise terminological distinctions, systematic scope, and integration with the normative Buddhist scholasticism that became dominant in Tibet during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries." Longchenpa is known for his voluminous writings, including
8648-545: Was taught by the Buddha Shakyamuni , but only to some individuals. There are several stories and versions of how the tantras were disseminated. The Jñana Tilaka Tantra , for example, has the Buddha state that the tantras will be explained by the bodhisattva Vajrapani . One of the most famous legends is that of king Indrabhuti (also known as King Ja) of Oddiyana (a figure related to Vajrapani, in some cases said to be an emanation of him). Other accounts attribute
8742-424: Was to provide a learned defense of Dzogchen thought and practice. Longchenpa's writings also intended to prove the overall superiority of the Dzogchen path over the other eight vehicles of sutra and tantra. His work also posits that this supreme Dzogchen view is not just the pinnacle of Buddhism (which Longchenpa compares the peak of a mountain), but it is in fact a keystone to the entire Buddhist Dharma, without which
8836-490: Was to serve as the explicit model for many Nyingma compositions. In particular, his Seminal Heart writings were intensely philosophical as well as contemplative, and architectonic in nature. Though on the whole their characteristic doctrines and terminology are present in the earlier literature stemming from ICe btsun seng ge dbang phyug onwards, their terminological precision, eloquent style, systematic range and structure, and integration with normative Buddhist discourse constitute
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