Tibetan Buddhism

The History of Buddhism spans the 6th century BC to the present, starting with the birth of Buddha Siddhartha Gautama on the Indian subcontinent, in what is now Lumbini, Nepal. This makes it one of the oldest religions practiced today. The religion evolved as it spread from the northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent through Central, East, and Southeast Asia. At one time or another, it influenced most of the Asian continent.

The history of Buddhism is also characterized by the development of numerous movements, schisms, and schools, among them the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana traditions, with contrasting periods of expansion and retreat.

Tibetan Buddhism is known for its rich mythology and iconography and for the practice of identifying the reincarnations of deceased spiritual masters. Tibetan Buddhism has exerted extensive and profound influence on the Tibetan race. Someone think the Tibetan Buddhism is not an independent Buddhism system. They identify it as a mixture of the traditional Buddhism and the Bon religion. But in fact, it is a false perspective.

Tibetan Buddhism contains the monks debating culture that did not exist in other religions. And the Buddhist figures in Tibetan Buddhism system are totally different in their appearances : they can be a little frightening.

Tibetan Buddhism derives from the confluence of Buddhism and yoga which started to arrive in Tibet from India briefly around the late eighth century and then more steadily from the thirteenth century onwards. Indian Buddhism around that time had incorporated both Hindu yogic and tantric practices along with the classical teachings of the historical Buddha who lived around 500 BC.

It acknowledged that there were two paths to enlightenment (complete transcendence of identification with the personal ego). One path was taught in the sutras according to the historical teachings. The heart of sutra practice was based on morality, concentration, and wisdom (not identifying with the personal ego). The other path, which has become the cornerstone of Tibetan variations, was tantric. This practice blended the sutra teachings with techniques adapted from Hindu systems of yoga and tantra.

Tibetan Tantra (also known as the Vajrayana) incorporates the major aspects of both the Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhist teachings. It is basically an esoteric extension of these themes. Hinayana and Mahayana are two schools of Buddhist practice that have similar goals and techniques but somewhat differing philosophies. For instance, Theravadin Buddhism (known for its Vipassana meditation) is a Hinayana teaching and Zen Buddhism is a Mahayana teaching. Tantra itself has various schools which can be grouped by the relative emphasis they place on working with exoteric and esoteric practices.

Teachings of great Tibetan Khagyu master Kalu Rinpoche

Tibetan Buddhism derives from the confluence of Buddhism and yoga which started to arrive in Tibet from India briefly around the late eighth century and then more steadily from the thirteenth century onwards. Indian Buddhism around that time had incorporated both Hindu yogic and tantric practices along with the classical teachings of the historical Buddha who lived around 500 BC.
It acknowledged that there were two paths to enlightenment (complete transcendence of identification with the personal ego ). One path was that taught in the sutras according to the historical teachings. The heart of sutra practice was based on morality, concentration, and wisdom (not identifying with the personal ego). The other path, which has become the cornerstone of Tibetan variations, was tantric. This practice blended the sutra teachings with techniques adapted from Hindu systems of yoga and tantra.

Tantric systems transform the basic human passions of desire and aversion for the purpose of spiritual development. Rather than denying such primal urges, tantra purifies them into wholesome and helpful forces. It is very much like trying to deal with a wild horse charging towards you. One way is denial : put up your hands and shout out, "stop, stop!" Probably you will be bowled over by the animal. Another, more clever, approach is to step aside and then jump on its back as it charges past you. In such a case, you have a chance to start coaxing it to move in certain directions, and over time you may be able to direct it into a stable. Truthfully, one needs some skill in both self-control and acceptance if one is to be successful with tantric work.

Tibetan Tantra (also known as the Vajrayana) incorporates the major aspects of both the Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhist teachings. It is basically an esoteric extension on these themes. Hinayana and Mahayana are two schools of Buddhist practice that have basically similar goals and techniques but somewhat differing philosophies. For instance, Theravadin Buddhism (known for its Vipassana meditation) is a Hinayana teaching and Zen Buddhism is a Mahayana teaching. Tantra itself has various schools which can be grouped by the relative emphasis they place on working with exoteric and esoteric practices.

The tantric path includes the following steps :

- Lamrim (literally, stages of the path) These are indispensable topics for reflection and contemplation and also the meditations and activities that should naturally follow on from them. The Lamrim embodies the necessary prerequisites for tantra. It is set out as a progressive set of steps.

Relying Upon a Spiritual Guide (learning from someone already on the path)

Karma (the law of cause and effect which works in this world as well as at esoteric levels)

Death and Impermanence (uncertainty of death and the unsatisfactory nature of this world)

The Danger of being Reborn in a Lower Realm

Taking Refuge from Samsara (the cycle of endless grasping and eventual disappointment)

Developing Renunciation for Samsara (integrating spiritual understanding and values)

Developing Equanimity (accepting, and seeing past, both good and bad experience)

Recognizing that all Beings are as Precious as our Mothers ( the beginnings of bodhichitta )

Remembering the Kindness of Others

Equalizing Self and Others (realising that we all want, and deserve, to be happy)

The Disadvantage of Self-Cherishing

The Advantage of Cherishing Others (loosening the hold of ego through caring)

Exchanging Self with Others (this is the core practice for developing bodhichitta--it involves developing the wish to voluntarily take on other's problems and freely give them one's own happiness in exchange. A sketch of the technique is as follows: breathe in others' woes as black smoke--let it settle into the heart, then breathe out all one's own happiness as white light--let it expand to fill all the cosmos. A practitioner should imagine and rejoice at the effect of both the in- and out-breath. For, on the in-breath, the reality and weight of all the problems in this world sink into the heart and help to dissolve the ego. Likewise, the out-breath brings relief and joy to all others.)

Developing Great Compassion

Taking Responsibility to Relieve Other's Burdens (exchanging self with others in action)

Sharing One's Own Good Fortune with Others

Bodhichitta (the desire to attain full enlightenment for the sake of all beings)

Tranquil Abiding (developing advanced stages of concentration)

Superior Seeing (developing emptiness--that is, non-identification with the personal ego)

Common Preliminary Tantric Practices (These are the beginning activities that are unique to the Vajrayana path).

Prostrations (physical prostration, visualisation and prayer for taking refuge)

Vajrasattva Meditation (visualisation and mantra recitation for purification)

Mandala Offering (visualisation and prayer for developing surrender and gaining merit)

Guru Yoga (visualisation, mantra recitation and prayer for developing devotion and receiving blessings)

Generation Stage of Tantra (These are preparatory practices that utilise imagination and much visualisation. They prepare the psychological and psychic groundwork for the spiritual energy that will be developed and harnessed in the following completion stage practices.)

Beginning Meditation (visualisation of oneself as a deity in the centre of a mandala full of other deities)

Subtle Meditation (visualisation of a body mandala which corresponds to points on the subtle nervous system)

Completion Stage of Tantra : These are very advanced meditations that primarily utilise subtle energies known as winds (prana and chi are some other names for this energy). These winds normally circulate throughout the psychic nervous system. When they are collected into a central place they provide great stability and clarity for the meditator. The normal collection point is commonly known as a chakra. It corresponds to a node or plexus in the psychic nervous system and acts as a link between the psychic, or astral, level of existence and our normal level of experience.

Tibetan yoga employs a simplified version of the metaphysical structure that is used in Hindu yoga. According to the Tibetan scheme there are three realms to consider in spiritual practice. These correspond to the Emanation Body (this world ), the Enjoyment Body ( the astral dimension ), and the Truth Body (a dimension that is much deeper that is, much more subtle than the astral)