:::☼ƸӜƷ S░ P░ I░ R░ I░ T░ U░ A░ L ƸӜƷ☼::: FREEDOM.WITH :- facebook/group.php?gid=401605440855 JOIN now :- :::☼ƸӜƷ An `Express Train To Nirvana ƸӜƷ☼::: :::☼ƸӜƷ Swati Chopra ƸӜƷ☼::: Tantrayana, literally `vehicle of the text, evolved in the Indian subcontinent dur-ing the period of Buddhisms decline in the seventh and eighth centuries CE. It brought tantric and Mahayana Buddhist beliefs and practices into a unique amalgamation to form a new yana, or vehicle, to spiritual enlighten ment. Tantrayana came to be regarded by its adherents as the `express train to nirvana, for instead of the causal, step-by-step teachings of the other yanas, it sought to leapfrog the mun dane using the power of human imagination. The basis of this lay in the key tantric ac knowledgement of the sacredness of all life and phenomena. Nothing was evil or repulsive. In phenomena. Nothing was evil or repuls the Buddhist context, this translated into a view of the first noble truth of suffering as mental conditions, happy or otherwise, arising from and subsiding into an essentially changeless Buddhanature. Thus desires, too, were not to be identified with or repulsed, but seen as energy that could be transformed into positive mental states like com passion and loving-kindness. According to Tantrayana, human beings existed as gross and subtle bodies. Made of vital energy, the subtle body operated with the gross body and contained within it the energy system of chakra, energy centres and nadis, en ergy channels. Through detailed visualisation of deities, like bodhisattvas Avalokiteshwara, Mai treya and Tara, the practitioner could work on the energy body and transform it with the power of creative imagination into acquiring attri butes of the deity. By leaping into a direct percep tion of ones inherent Buddhanature, it was be lieved that the limited self could be transcended. Tantrayana was, however, only fantasy if not practised in awareness of shunyata, the Ma hayana doctrine of emptiness of all phenomena. By the middle of the seventh century, the first few among a long line of scholars from India began to wend their way into the Tibetan plateau. The first among these was Padmasambhava, known in Tibet as `Guru Rinpoche, who helped establish a predominantly Tantrayana form of Buddhism there. As everywhere else, Buddhism commingled with local culture and adopted elements of the existing Bon shamanism, such as its deities and rituals. Another new yana was founded, and Tibetan Buddhism came to be called Vajrayana, the `thunderbolt vehicle to nirvana. This did not happen overnight and was the result of constant innovation and exchange between Indian and Tibetan masters over the next few centuries. The term vajra literally means `thunder e term vajra literally means `thunder bolt, and Vajrayana, rooted in Tantrayana, was the vehicle that attempted to clear misconceptions clouding ones Buddhanature through radical shifts in consciousness. It aimed towards a direct experience of reality using tantric practices to drop distorted self-per ceptions, rather than spend lifetimes overcoming them. Desire too was to be cultivated in its positive avatar of compassion for all sentient beings. Because of its tantric character, which comprised a step-by-step ascension through practices that at each stage unlocked the next, a guru was indispensable to the practice of Vajrayana. At f each stage, the guru empowered the student with practices and teachings specific to that stage, and tailored to the needs of the student. The guru in this sense adapted the path to quicken the students progress. The permission to begin tantric practices, after a thorough grounding in the teachings of the Buddha and the . Mahayana doctrines, was also to be sought t from the guru. This is perhaps why the guru became the fourth jewel of Buddhism in Tibet, . alongside Buddha, dharma and sangha.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:02:10 +0000
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