1.
Vajrayana
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Vajrayāna, Mantrayāna, Esoteric Buddhism and Tantric Buddhism refer to the Buddhist tradition of Tantra, an esoteric system of beliefs and practices that developed in medieval India. Vajrayāna is usually translated as Diamond Vehicle or Thunderbolt Vehicle, referring to the Vajra, according to Vajrayāna scriptures, the term Vajrayāna refers to one of three vehicles or routes to enlightenment, the other two being the Śrāvakayāna and Mahāyāna. Founded by Indian Mahāsiddhas, Vajrayāna subscribes to the known as the Buddhist Tantras. Elements of Tantric Buddhism can be traced back to groups of wandering yogis called mahasiddhas. These yogic circles came together in tantric feasts often in sacred sites and places which included dancing, singing, sex rites and it is interesting to note that at least two of the Mahasiddhas given in the Buddhist literature are actually names for Shaiva Nath saints who practiced Hatha Yoga. According to Schumann, a movement called Sahaja-siddhi developed in the 8th century in Bengal and it was dominated by long-haired, wandering yogis called mahasiddhas who openly challenged and ridiculed the Buddhist establishment. The Mahasiddhas pursued siddhis, magical powers such as flight and Extrasensory perception as well as liberation, earlier Mahayana sutras already contained some elements which are emphasized in the Tantras, such as mantras and dharani. The practice of visualization of Buddhas such as Amitabha is also seen in texts like the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra. Vajrayana developed a large corpus of texts called the Buddhist Tantras, some of which can be traced to at least the 7th century CE, the dating of the tantras is a difficult, indeed an impossible task according to David Snellgrove. The earliest such texts include the Mahavairocana Tantra and the Guhyasamāja Tantra. Later monastic Vajrayana Buddhists reinterpreted and internalized these radically transgressive and taboo practices as metaphors, the Kalachakra tantra developed in the 10th century. It is farthest removed from the earlier Buddhist traditions, and incorporates concepts of messianism, various classes of Vajrayana literature developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and Saivism. According to Alexis Sanderson, the Vajrayana Yogini-tantras draw extensively from Shaiva Bhairava tantras classified as Vidyapitha, there is even direct borrowing of passages from Saiva texts. The Guhyasiddhi of Padmavajra, an associated with the Guhyasamaja tradition, prescribes acting as a Shaiva guru and initiating members into Saiva Siddhanta scriptures. The Samvara tantra texts adopted the pitha list from the Shaiva text Tantrasadbhava, according to Louis de La Vallée-Poussin and Alex Wayman, the view of the Vajrayana is based on Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, mainly the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools. The major difference seen by Vajrayana thinkers is Tantras superiority due to being a vehicle to liberation containing many skillful methods of tantric ritual. The doctrine of Buddha-nature, as outlined in the Ratnagotravibhāga of Asanga, was also an important theory which became the basis for Tantric views, by passion the world is bound, by passion too it is released, but by heretical Buddhists this practice of reversals is not known. As Snellgrove notes, this doctrine is also present in Asangas Mahayana-sutra-alamkara-karika and therefore it is possible that he was aware of Tantric techniques
2.
Indonesian Esoteric Buddhism
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The particular lineage in Indonesia is referred to as Mantrayana. Mantrayana is historically designated and evident in the oldest extant Old Javanese esoteric Buddhist literature, Mantrayana is an extension of Mahayana Buddhism consisting of differences in the adoption of additional techniques rather than in philosophy. Some of these upāya are esoteric practices which must be initiated and transmitted only through a skilled spiritual teacher. The Buddhist empire of Srivijaya in Palembang, Sumatra was for more than 600 years the centre of Esoteric Buddhist learning in the Far East. Yi Jing praised the level of Buddhist scholarship in Srivijaya and advised Chinese monks to study there prior to making the journey to the great institution of learning, Nalanda Vihara. He wrote, In the fortified city of Bhoga, Buddhist priests number more than 1,000, whose minds are bent on learning and they investigate and study all the subjects that exist just as in India, the rules and ceremonies are not at all different. If a Chinese priest wishes to go to the West in order to hear and read the original scriptures, the temple complex at Borobudur in central Java was built as a Mandala, a giant three-dimensional representation of Esoteric Buddhist cosmology. All of the statues on each of its four sides have the same mudra. Another line of points to the depiction of the Gandavyuha. The Avatamsaka sutra does not preach a specific group of Dhyana Buddhas, the oldest extant esoteric Buddhist Mantranaya literature in Old Javanese, a language significantly influenced by Sanskrit, is enshrined in the Sang Kyang Kamahayanan Mantranaya. A stronghold of Esoteric Buddhism, Srivijaya attracted pilgrims and scholars from other parts of Asia, yijing reports that the kingdom was home to more than a thousand Buddhist scholars, it was in Srivijaya that he wrote his memoir of Buddhism during his own lifetime. Travellers to these islands mentioned that gold coinage was in use on the coasts, Candi Sukuh is a fifteenth-century Javanese-Hindu-Buddhist temple that demonstrates strong tantric influence. Candi Sukuh is located on the slope of Mount Lawu on the border between Central and East Java provinces. The monument was built around 1437, as written as a date on the western gate. The distinctive Dancing Ganesha relief in Candi Sukuh has a similarity with the Tantric ritual found in the history of Buddhism in Tibet written by Taranatha. Importantly, Ganesha also appears in Buddhism, not only in the form of the Buddhist god Vināyaka, ganeshas image may be found on Buddhist sculptures of the late Gupta period. As the Buddhist god Vināyaka, Ganesha is often shown dancing and it is this Dancing Ganesha form which is evident in Candi Sukuh. For more information on different permutations of Ganesha beyond Hinduism proper, refer Ganesha in world religions, the Lalitavistara Sutra was known to the Mantranaya stonemasons of Borobodur, refer, The birth of Buddha
3.
Buddhism in the Philippines
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Buddhism is a minor religion in the Philippines. Loanwords with Buddhist context appear in languages of the Philippines, the style are of Vajrayana influence. No written record exists about the early Buddhism in the Philippines and these records mention the independent states that comprise the Philippines and which show that they were not united as one country in the early days. The states’s trade contacts with the empire long before or in the 9th century must have served as the conduit for introducing Vajrayana Buddhism to the islands, ji Ying, a Chinese monk and scholar, stayed in Sumatra from 687 to 689 on his way to India. He wrote on the Srivijaya’s splendour, Buddhism was flourishing throughout the islands of Southeast Asia, many of the kings and the chieftains in the islands in the southern seas admire and believe in Buddhism, and their hearts are set on accumulating good action. Both empires replaced their early Theravada Buddhist religion with Vajrayana Buddhism in the 7th century, the Srivijaya empire flourished as a Buddhist cultural centre over 600 years from 650 to 1377 in Palembang, Sumatra. Built as a mandala on a hill from 770 to 825 in central Java, three generations of the Sailendra kings built the temple that displays a three-dimensional view of the Vajrayana Buddhist cosmology. Later on, the Javanese Majapahit empire took control over the Srivijaya, ritual practice rather than meditation makes Vajrayana Buddhism distinct from the other forms of Buddhism. Vajrayana Buddhism was also known as Tantric Buddhism and Mantrayana, the esoteric teaching, Vajrayana means Adamantine Vehicle or Diamond Vehicle that shows the way to awaken the Enlightenment. Mantrayana comes from the mantra, which means words of special vibrations. Mantrayana makes use of upaya or skillful means, such as the mantra and they serve as aids to mind cultivation. He mind is its sacred dwelling place, the Mantrayana practitioner sees her/himself as divine because, according to the Mahayana Buddhist perspective, their mind has been endowed with the ahistorical Buddha or Enlightenment nature. It is also known as the Dharma nature, the law that governs the universe. The Philippines’s archaeological finds include many Buddhist artifacts and they have been dated to belong to the 9th century. The artifacts reflect the iconography of the Srivijaya empire’s Vajrayana Buddhism, the artifacts imply also the presence of the Buddhist believers in the places where these artifacts turned up. These places extended from the Agusan-Surigao area in Mindanao island to Cebu, Palawan, hence, Vajrayana Buddhism must have spread far and wide throughout the archipelago. And Vajrayana Buddhism must have become the religion of the majority of the inhabitants in the islands, the gold statue of the deity Tara is the most significant Buddhist artifact. In the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition, Tara symbolizes the Absolute in its emptiness as the wisdom heart’s essence that finds its expression through love, the tear created a lake where a lotus flower emerges
4.
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism
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Tángmì refers to the traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism that have flourished among the Chinese people since the Tang dynasty in China. These traditions may also be referred to as Hànchuán Mìzōng (漢傳密宗 the Han Chinese Transmission of the Esoteric Tradition and it is sometimes referred as Dōngmì Eastern Esotericism, meaning the succession of Tang Esoterica in Japan transmitted by the Japanese monk Kūkai. In a more general sense, the Chinese term Mìzōng Esoteric Tradition is the most popular term used when referring to any form of Esoteric Buddhism. These traditions more or less share the same doctrines as Shingon Buddhism, Esoteric teachings followed the same route into northern China as Buddhism itself, arriving via the Silk Road sometime during the first half of the 7th century, during the Tang Dynasty. Vajrayana practices arrived from India just as Buddhism was reaching its zenith in China, during this time, three great masters came from India to China, Śubhakarasiṃha Vajrabodhi Amoghavajra These three masters brought the esoteric teachings to their height of popularity in China. During this era, the two main texts were the Mahavairocana Tantra and the Tattvasaṃgraha Tantra. Esoteric methods were incorporated into Chinese Buddhism during the Tang dynasty. Śubhakarasiṃhas most eminent disciple, Yi Xing, also practiced Chan Buddhism, in Chinese Buddhism there was no major distinction between exoteric and esoteric practices and the Northern School of Chan even became known for its esoteric practices of dhāraṇīs and mantras. However, Buddhist esoteric practices almost vanished from China during the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution initiated by Emperor Wuzong of Tang, before the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution, Master Kūkai from Japan came to Tang China to learn the complete esoteric teachings expounded by the three Indian masters. Kukai was taught by the great master Hui-kuo and it is claimed that he learned the complete teachings in two years before returning to Japan. The transmission to Japan later became Shingon Buddhism, which is referred to in Chinese as Dōngmì, Eastern Esoterica. Some said it is so named due to the temple Tō-ji at Nara, Japan, Dōngmì and Táimì became the two main systems of Esoteric Buddhism in Japan. During the Yuan dynasty, the Mongol emperors made Vajrayana the official religion of China, a common perception was that this patronage of lamas caused corrupt forms of tantra to become widespread. When the Mongol Yuan dynasty was overthrown and the Ming dynasty was established, in late Imperial China, the early traditions of Tangmi were still thriving in Buddhist communities. Robert Gimello has also observed that in communities, the esoteric practices associated with Cundī were extremely popular among both the populace and the elite. Since late 19th century, many Chinese and Taiwanese monks went to Japan to learn and these efforts are termed Renaissance of Tángmì. Due to this reason, Dōngmì, Eastern Mysteries, referring to Shingon Buddhism, is now used as an interchangeable term with Tángmì. In contemporary China there is a revival of Tang Mysteries
5.
Shingon Buddhism
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For that reason, it is often called Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, or Orthodox Esoteric Buddhism. The word Shingon is the Japanese reading of Chinese, 真言 Zhēnyán True Words, Kūkai returned to Japan as Huiguos lineage- and Dharma-successor. Shingon followers usually refer to Kūkai as Kōbō-Daishi or Odaishi-sama, the name given to him years after his death by Emperor Daigo. Before he went to China, Kūkai had been an independent monk in Japan for over a decade and he was extremely well versed in classical Chinese prose, calligraphy and Buddhist texts. Esoteric Buddhism was not considered to be a different sect or school yet at that time, Huiguo was the first person to gather the still scattered elements of Indian and Chinese Esoteric Buddhism into a cohesive system. When Kūkai was 22, he learned this mantra from Gonsō and he persevered in this mantra practice for seven years and mastered it. According to tradition, this brought him siddhis of superhuman memory retention. Kūkai would later praise the power and efficacy of Kokuzō-Gumonjiho practice, kūkais respect for Ākāśagarbha was so great that he regarded him as his honzon for the rest of his life. It was also during this period of intense mantra practice that Kūkai dreamt of a man telling him to out the Mahavairocana Tantra for the doctrine that he sought. The Mahavairocana Tantra had only recently made available in Japan. He was able to obtain a copy in Chinese but large portions were in Sanskrit in the Siddhaṃ script, which he did not know, and even the Chinese portions were too arcane for him to understand. He believed that teaching was a door to the truth he sought. Thus, Kūkai resolved to travel to China to spend the necessary to fully understand the Mahavairocana Tantra. When Kūkai reached China and first met Huiguo on the month of 805, Huiguo was age sixty. Huiguo exclaimed to Kūkai in Chinese, At last, you have come, I have been waiting for you. Quickly, prepare yourself for initiation into the mandalas, Huiguo had foreseen that Esoteric Buddhism would not survive in India and China in the near future and that it was Kukais destiny to see it continue in Japan. In the short space of three months, Huiguo initiated and taught Kūkai everything he knew on the doctrines and practices of the Mandala of the Two Realms as well as mastery of Sanskrit and Chinese. Huiguo declared Kūkai to be his disciple and proclaimed him a Dharma successor
6.
Newar Buddhism
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Newar Buddhism is the form of Vajrayana Buddhism practiced by the Newar people of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. It has developed unique socio-religious elements, which include a non-monastic Buddhist society based on the Newar caste system, the ritual priests, vajracharya and shakya form the non-celibate religious sangha while other Buddhist Newar castes like the Urāy act as patrons. Uray also patronise Tibetan Vajrayanin, Theravadin, and even Japanese clerics, as a result, Newar Buddhism seems to preserve some aspects of Indian Buddhism that were not preserved in schools of Buddhism elsewhere. According to the authors of Rebuilding Buddhism, The Theravada Movement in Twentieth-Century Nepal, chachā ritual song and dance and Gunlā Bājan music are other artistic traditions of Newar Buddhism. Although Newar Buddhism was traditionally bound to the Kathmandu Valley and its environs, there is at least one new Newar Buddhist temple in Portland, Oregon. A number of street celebrations are held periodically involving processions. The main events are Samyak, Gunla, Jana Baha Dyah Jatra, Bunga Dyah Jatra, vajracharya List of Buddhist stotras in Nepalbhasha List of Mahaviharas of Newar Buddhism Lewis, Todd L. Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal, Narratives and Rituals of Newar Buddhism. State University of New York Publications, gellner, David N. Monk, Householder, and Tantric Priest, Newar Buddhism and its Hierarchy of Ritual. - Review of this book Theodore Riccardi Jr. Tuladhar-Douglas, Will, remaking Buddhism for Medieval Nepal, The Fifteenth-century Reformation of Newar Buddhism. Locke, John K. Newar Buddhist Initiation Rites Mahajan, Phra Sujan, the Revival of Theravada Buddhism and its Contribution to Nepalese Society, Thesis, Bangkok, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University Bajracharya The Art of Newar Buddhism, The Huntington Archive
7.
Tibetan Buddhism
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Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, the regions surrounding the Himalayas and much of Central Asia. It derives from the latest stages of Indian Buddhism and preserves the Tantric status quo of eighth-century India, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Religious texts and commentaries comprise the Tibetan Buddhist canon, such that Tibetan is a language of these areas. Among its prominent exponents is the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, the number of its adherents is estimated to be between ten and twenty million. Westerners unfamiliar with Tibetan Buddhism initially turned to China for an understanding, there the term used was lamaism to distinguish it from a then traditional Chinese form. The term was taken up by scholars including Hegel, as early as 1822. Insofar as it implies a discontinuity between Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, the term has been discredited, another term, Vajrayāna is occasionally used mistakenly for Tibetan Buddhism. More accurately, it signifies a certain subset of practices included in, not only Tibetan Buddhism, the native Tibetan term for all Buddhism is doctrine of the internalists. There is an association between the religious and the secular the spiritual and the temporal in Tibet. The term for this relationship is chos srid zung brel, in the west the term Indo-Tibetan Buddhism has become current, in acknowledgement of its derivation from the latest stages of Buddhist development in northern India. Tibetan Buddhism comprises the teachings of the three vehicles of Buddhism, the Foundational Vehicle, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna, the Mahāyāna goal of spiritual development is to achieve the enlightenment of buddhahood in order to most efficiently help all other sentient beings attain this state. The motivation in it is the mind of enlightenment — an altruistic intention to become enlightened for the sake of all sentient beings. Bodhisattvas are revered beings who have conceived the will and vow to dedicate their lives with bodhicitta for the sake of all beings, Tibetan Buddhism teaches methods for achieving buddhahood more quickly by including the Vajrayāna path in Mahāyāna. Buddhahood is defined as a free of the obstructions to liberation as well as those to omniscience. When one is freed from all mental obscurations, one is said to attain a state of continuous bliss mixed with a simultaneous cognition of emptiness, in this state, all limitations on ones ability to help other living beings are removed. It is said there are countless beings who have attained buddhahood. Buddhas spontaneously, naturally and continuously perform activities to all sentient beings. However it is believed that ones karma could limit the ability of the Buddhas to help them, there is a long history of oral transmission of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism
8.
Religion in Inner Mongolia
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The region is inhabited by a majority of Han Chinese and a substantial minority of Southern Mongols, so that some religions follow ethnic lines. According to a survey held in 2004 by the Minzu University of China, about 80% of the population of the practice the worship of Heaven. Official statistics report that 12. 1% of the population are members of Tibetan Buddhist groups. 36%, the region was incorporated into China starting from the Mongol Yuan dynasty. Mongolian Buddhism, which is of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism, was the dominant religion in Inner Mongolia until the 19th century. Its monastic institution was virtually eradicated during the Cultural Revolution, that was particularly tough against the power of the lamas. Since the 1980s there has been a modest revival, with the reconstruction of some important monasteries, the cult of Genghis is also shared by the Han Chinese, claiming his spirit as the founding principle of the Yuan dynasty. In facts, there has been a significant integration of the Han Chinese of Inner Mongolia into the traditional Mongolian spiritual heritage of the region, reconstructed Buddhist monasteries and folk temples are massively attended by local Han. Moreover, as elsewhere in China, there has been a growing adoption of the Gelug sect. Buddhism was spread to the Mongols during the Yuan dynasty, under the reign of Kublai Khan, however, in this period Buddhism didnt penetrate among the general population, and its influence greatly diminished with the fall of the Yuan dynasty. In the 17th century the Gelug sect became dominant in Mongolian Buddhism and it was during the Manchu Qing dynasty that Buddhism among the Mongols reached its peak. With the states support, it was in period that most of the Mongolian Buddhist monasteries and institutes were constructed. Inner Mongolia was the centre of Mongolian Buddhism, in the 19th century, of the approximately 2000 monasteries in Greater Mongolia,1200 were in Inner Mongolia, by 1900, of the 243 incarnate lamas living in the territories of the Mongols,157 resided in Inner Mongolia alone. The Qing politics draw the most important of these lamas to the capital at Beijing, the situation became worse during the Cultural Revolution of China, in which religious expression was prohibited. More than ninety percent of the Buddhist monasteries in Inner Mongolia were destroyed in the years of the revolution. Many lamas and lay Buddhists continued to practice in secret, until the 1980s when the principle of freedom of religion was instituted in China, a slow revival began, with the reconstruction of some of the old monasteries and the establishment of new smaller temples. Identification with Gelug and other Tibetan-originated sects is curbed among Southern Mongols also because of the adoption of those schools by the Han Chinese. A phenomenon also present in parts of China, this influence of Tibetan schools among the Hans has been fueled by the proselytic activity of Chinese-speaking Tibetan lamas. Mongolian shamanism or Tengerism refers to the animistic and shamanic native religion of the Mongols and it is centered on the worship of the tngri and the highest Tenger or Qormusta Tengri
9.
Buddhism in Mongolia
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Buddhism in Mongolia derives much of its recent characteristics from Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelug and Kagyu lineages. Although the emperors of the Yuan dynasty in the 14th and 15th century had already converted to Tibetan Buddhism, the Mongols returned to their old shamanist ways after the collapse of their empire. In 1578 Altan Khan, a Mongol military leader with ambitions to unite the Mongols and to emulate the career of Genghis Khan and they formed an alliance that gave Altan Khan legitimacy and religious sanction for his imperial pretensions and that provided the Buddhist school with protection and patronage. Altan Khan of Mongolia gave the Tibetan leader the title of Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism combines Vajrayana with indigenous rituals of curing and exorcism, shares the common Buddhist goal of individual release from suffering and the cycles of rebirth. Tantrism contributed esoteric techniques of meditation and a repertoire of sacred icons, phrases and mudra that easily lent themselves to pragmatic and magical interpretation. In Tibet Buddhism thus became an amalgam, combining colorful popular ceremonies and these leaders, referred to as tulkus, held secular power and supervised a body of ordinary monks or lamas. The monks were supported by the laity, who thereby gained merit and who received from the instructions in the rudiments of the faith and monastic services in healing, divination. Though Tibetan influence is prevalent in Mongolia, Mongolian Buddhism is distinct, the earliest introduction of Buddhism into the Mongolian steppes took place during the periods of pre-Mongol states. Buddhism penetrated Mongolia from Nepal via Central Asia, many Buddhist terms of Sanskrit origin were adopted via the Sogdian language. The rulers of the pre- and para-Mongol states such as the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Rouran Khaganate, Buddhism prevailed among aristocrats and was patronised by the monarchs of the Northern Wei established by the Xianbei and of the Liao dynasty established by the Khitan people. The Khitan aristocracy regarded Buddhism as the culture of the Uyghur Khaganate that dominated the Mongolian steppes before the rise of the Khitans, the monarchs of the Jin established by the Jurchen people also regarded Buddhism as part of their Khitan. Tibetan Buddhist monasticism made an important impact on the development of Mongolian Buddhism. The Buddhist monkhood has always played significant political roles in Central and Southeast Asia, Mongols assisted Tibetans in unifying the country. The activities of the Mongols were conducive to the prominency of the Sakya school and then the Gelug, by the beginning of the twentieth century, Outer Mongolia had 583 monasteries and temple complexes, which controlled an estimated 20 percent of the countrys wealth. Almost all Mongolian cities have grown up on the sites of monasteries, Ikh Huree, as Ulaanbaatar was then known, was the seat of the preeminent living Buddha of Mongolia, who ranked third in the ecclesiastical hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. Two monasteries there contained approximately 13,000 and 7000 monks, respectively, over the centuries, the monasteries acquired riches and secular dependents, gradually increasing their wealth and power as the wealth and power of the Mongol nobility declined. Some nobles donated a portion of their dependent families — people, rather than land, were the foundation of wealth, some herders dedicated themselves and their families to serve the monasteries, either from piety or from the desire to escape the arbitrary exactions of the nobility. In some areas, the monasteries and their living buddhas were also the secular authorities, about 250,000 people, more than a third of the total population, either lived in territories administered by monasteries and living Buddhas or were hereditary dependents of the monasteries
10.
Buddhism in Russia
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Historically, Buddhism was incorporated into Russian lands in the early 17th century. Buddhism is considered as one of Russias traditional religions, legally a part of Russian historical heritage, besides the historical monastic traditions of Buryatia, Kalmykia and Tuva, Buddhism is now widespread all over Russia, with many ethnic Russian converts. The main form of Buddhism in Russia is the Gelukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism, although Tibetan Buddhism is most often associated with Tibet, it spread into Mongolia, and via Mongolia into Russia. By 1887, there were already 29 publishing houses and numerous datsans, after the Russian Revolution, the datsans were closed down. By the 1930s, Buddhists were suffering more than any religious community in the Soviet Union with lamas being expelled and accused of being Japanese spies. After the fall of the Soviet Union, a Buddhist revival began in Kalmykia with the election of President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and it was also revived in Buryatia and Tuva and began to spread to Russians in other regions. In 1992, the Dalai Lama made his first visit to Tuva in Russia, there are several Tibetan Buddhist university-monasteries throughout Russia, concentrated in Siberia, known as Datsans. India–Russia relations Buddhism in Buryatia Buddhism in Kalmykia Datsan - Buddhist temples in Russia Datsan Gunzechoinei Juergensmeyer, the Oxford Handbook of Global Religions
11.
Yugur
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The Yugurs, or Yellow Uyghurs, as they are traditionally known, are one of Chinas 56 officially recognized nationalities, consisting of 13,719 persons according to the 2000 census. The Yugur live primarily in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County in Gansu, Chinese historical documents have recorded these ethnonyms as Sālǐ Wèiwùr or Xīlǎgǔr. During the Qing dynasty, the Yugur were also called by a term that included fān, in order to distinguish both groups and their languages, Chinese linguists coined the terms Xībù Yùgùr Western Yugur and Dōngbù Yùgùr Eastern Yugur based on their geographical distribution. The population of kingdom, estimated at 300,000 in Song chronicles. In 1037 the Yugur came under Tangut domination, the Gansu Uyghur Kingdom was forcibly incorporated into the Western Xia after a bloody war that raged from 1028–1036. Mahmud al-Kashgari, who lived at the time in Kashgar, stated that Uyghur blood was pouring like a stream during this war. The Mongolic-speaking Yugurs are probably the descendants of one of the Mongolic-speaking groups that invaded North China during the Mongol conquests of the thirteenth century, the Yugurs were eventually incorporated into Qing China in 1696 during the reign of the second Qing ruler, the Kangxi Emperor. Then, in 1907, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim visited the Western Yugur village of Lianhua, Mannerheim was the first to conduct a detailed ethnographic investigation of the Yugur. In 1911, he published his findings in an article for the Finno-Ugrian Society, about 4,600 of the Yugurs speak Western Yugur and about 2,800 Eastern Yugur. Western Yugur has preserved many archaisms of Old Uyghur, the remaining Yugurs of the Autonomous County lost their respective Yugur language and speak Chinese. A very small number of the Yugur reportedly speak Tibetan, both Yugur languages are now unwritten, although the Old Uyghur alphabet was in use in some Yugur communities until end of 19th century. The Turkic speaking Yugur mainly live in the part of the County in Mínghuā District, in the Townships of Liánhuā and Mínghǎi. The Mongolic speaking Yugur mainly live in the Countys eastern part, in Huángchéng District, the Yugur people are predominantly employed in animal husbandry. The traditional religion of the Yugur is Tibetan Buddhism, which used to be practised alongside shamanism, the historical country of Sarig Yogir is a playable nation in the Paradox Interactive grand strategy video game Europa Universalis IV. Slide shows, maps and other material on the Yugur from author Eric Enno Tamm Original Western Yugur texts with English translation plus PDF grammar of Sarig Yugur
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Chinese Buddhism
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Chinese Buddhism has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, medicine, and material culture. Chinese Buddhism is also marked by the interaction between Indian religions, Nepalese religion Chinese religion, and Taoism, various legends tell of the presence of Buddhism in Chinese soil in very ancient times. Nonetheless, the consensus is that Buddhism first came to China in the first century CE during the Han dynasty. Generations of scholars have debated whether Buddhist missionaries first reached Han China via the maritime or overland routes of the Silk Road, after entering into China, Buddhism blended with early Daoism and Chinese traditional esoteric arts and its iconography received blind worship. A number of accounts in historical Chinese literature have led to the popularity of certain legends regarding the introduction of Buddhism into China. According to the most popular one, Emperor Ming of Han precipitated the introduction of Buddhist teachings into China, the next day he asked his officials, What god is this. The emperor then sent an envoy to Tianzhu to inquire about the teachings of the Buddha, Buddhist scriptures were said to have been returned to China on the backs of white horses, after which White Horse Temple was named. Two Indian monks also returned with them, named Dharmaratna and Kaśyapa Mātaṅga, however, neither the Shiji nor Book of Han histories of Emperor Wu mentions a golden Buddhist statue. The first documented translation of Buddhist scriptures from various Indian languages into Chinese occurs in 148 CE with the arrival of the Parthian prince-turned-monk An Shigao, an Shigao translated Buddhist texts on basic doctrines, meditation, and abhidharma. An Xuan, a Parthian layman who worked alongside An Shigao, Mahāyāna Buddhism was first widely propagated in China by the Kushan monk Lokakṣema, who came from the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Gandhāra. Lokakṣema translated important Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, as well as rare, early Mahāyāna sūtras on topics such as samādhi and these translations from Lokakṣema continue to give insight into the early period of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Harrison points to the enthusiasm in the Lokakṣema sūtra corpus for the ascetic practices, for dwelling in the forest. The Dharmaguptakas made more efforts than any other sect to spread Buddhism outside India, to such as Afghanistan, Central Asia, and China. Therefore, most countries which adopted Buddhism from China, also adopted the Dharmaguptaka vinaya and ordination lineage for bhikṣus, warder, in some ways in those East Asian countries, the Dharmaguptaka sect can be considered to have survived to the present. They appear to have carried out a vast circling movement along the routes from Aparānta north-west into Iran. The Mahīśāsakas and Kāśyapīyas appear to have followed them across Asia into China, for the earlier period of Chinese Buddhism it was the Dharmaguptakas who constituted the main and most influential school, and even later their Vinaya remained the basis of the discipline there. Initially, Buddhism in China faced a number of difficulties in becoming established, the concept of monasticism and the aversion to social affairs seemed to contradict the long-established norms and standards established in Chinese society. Gentry Buddhism was a medium of introduction for the beginning of Buddhism in China, it gained imperial, by the early 5th century Buddhism was established in south China
13.
New Kadampa Tradition
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The New Kadampa Tradition – International Kadampa Buddhist Union is a global Buddhist organization founded by Kelsang Gyatso in England in 1991. In 2003 the words International Kadampa Buddhist Union were added to the original name New Kadampa Tradition, the NKT-IKBU is an international organization registered in England as a charitable, or non-profit, company. It currently lists more than 200 centres and around 900 branch classes/study groups in forty countries, the NKT-IKBU describes itself as ‘an entirely independent Buddhist tradition’ inspired and guided by ‘the ancient Kadampa Buddhist Masters and their teachings, as presented by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’. Its founder, Kelsang Gyatso, has sought to make Buddhist meditation, the NKT-IKBU is described as being very successful at disseminating its teachings and Geshe Kelsangs books have been called very popular. The NKT-IKBU has expanded more rapidly than any other Buddhist tradition in Britain and it has been described as a controversial organization and a controversial New Religious Movement, a cult, or a breakaway Buddhist sect. The same year Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited Kelsang Gyatso in India and invited him over to teach at the Manjushri Institute, which was a part of their FPMT network. Kelsang Gyatso, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher, monk and scholar from the Gelug Tradition, according to David N. Kay, Kelsang Gyatso was invited in 1976 by Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who sought the advice of the Dalai Lama when choosing Kelsang Gyatso. Whereas according to a NKT brochure, Lama Yeshe requested Trijang Rinpoche to ask Kelsang Gyatso to become Resident Teacher of Manjushri Institute, Kelsang Gyatso was requested by Lama Yeshe to lead the General Program of Buddhist study. From 1982 to 1990 this program was led by Geshe Konchog Tsewang, according to a disciple of Lama Yeshe from this time, Lama Yeshe intended the institute to become the central monastery of the FPMT. One of the jewels of the FPMT crown and the pioneer among the western centres. In the late 1970s, Kelsang Gyatso, without consulting Lama Yeshe, Kay sees this as the beginning of a conflict between Lama Yeshe and Kelsang Gyatso. However, according to Kelsang Gyatso, the opening of the Centre in York caused not one moment of confusion or disharmony. Kelsang Gyatso was asked to resign so that another Geshe, described by Kay as more devoted to FPMT objectives, many students of Kelsang Gyatso petitioned him to stay and teach them, and on this basis he decided to remain. In the following years prior 1990 Kelsang Gyatso established 15 centers under his own direction in Great Britain and Spain, both Kay and Cozort describe the management committee of Manjushri Institute from 1981 onwards as made up principally of Kelsang Gyatsos closest students, also known as the Priory group. According to Kay, The Priory Group became dissatisfied with the FPMTs increasingly centralized organisation, according to Kay, Lama Yeshe tried at different times to reassert his authority over the Institute, but his attempts were unsuccessful. Kay goes on to describe a conflict of authority which developed between the Priory Group and the FPMT administration in 1983. In February 1984 the conflict was mediated by the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in London, Kay states that after the death of Lama Yeshe in March 1984, the FPMT lost interest because they saw it as a fruitless case. Further, Kay argues that Lama Yeshes and Geshe Kelsangs different ideological perspectives provided the conditions for the dispute between the Institute and the FPMT to escalate
14.
Shambhala Buddhism
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The Shambhala Buddhist sangha considers Sakyong Mipham to be its head and the second in a lineage of Sakyongs, with his father, Chögyam Trungpa, being the first. This is the basis, in myth and inspiration, of the Kingdom of Shambhala, furthermore, Shambhala vision applies to people of any faith, not just people who believe in Buddhism. The Shambhala vision does not distinguish a Buddhist from a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew, a Moslem, thats why we call it the Shambhala kingdom. A kingdom should have lots of spiritual disciplines in it, many prominent lamas come and offer teachings to the community on a regular basis. However, certain aspects of Shambhala Buddhism, known as Shambhalian practices, are unique to the sangha, in 1976, Trungpa Rinpoche began giving teachings, some of which were gathered and presented as Shambhala Training, inspired by his vision of the legendary Kingdom of Shambhala. Shambhalian practices focus on using mindfulness/awareness meditation as a means of connecting with ones basic sanity, the Shambhala of Chögyam Trungpa is essentially a secular approach to meditation, with roots in Buddhism as well as in other traditions, but accessible to individuals of any, or no religion. The greater social vision of Shambhala is that it is possible, moment by moment, Trungpas book Shambhala, The Sacred Path of the Warrior provides a concise collection of the Shambhala views. Shambhala Training is administered worldwide by Shambhala International, Shambhala Training is presented in a series of weekend programs, the first five of which are called The Heart of Warriorship, and the subsequent seven The Sacred Path. The Warrior Assembly is the fruition of the Shambhala Training Sacred Path program, during Warrior Assembly, students study the Shambhala terma text, The Golden Sun of the Great East, and receive the ashé practices of stroke and lungta. In turn, Warrior Assembly became a prerequisite for attending the Vajrayana Seminary, part 1, Sutrayana Seminary, is led by a Shambhala acharya and provides in-depth training and study of the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Shambhala teachings. Part 2, Vajrayana Seminary, is led by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, the Rigden Abhisheka enters the student into the practice of the Werma Sadhana. It is open to graduates of Shambhala Vajrayana Seminary who have completed their Shambhala ngöndro and to students who have received the Werma Sadhana. Trungpa Rinpoche is believed by his students to have received teachings directly from Gesar of Ling, an emanation of Padmasambhava. Their terma status was confirmed by the Nyingma master Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, the Shambhala dharma practices derived entirely or in part from these texts include those of werma, drala, Wind Horse, and meditations on four dignities of Shambhala, tiger, lion, garuda and dragon. Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso, a great 19th century Nyingma lama, some, such as the stroke of Ashé, have no known precedents. The Kalachakra tradition is central to Shambhala Buddhism, Trungpa Rinpoche requested that the Kagyu Kalachakra master Kalu Rinpoche perform the initiation for his Vajrayana students, which he did in 1986 in Boulder, Colorado. The Rigden Kings of Shambhala are central figures to the community, Gesar of Ling, a mythical Tibetan king, is also an important figure to Shambhala Buddhists, to whom he represents enlightened wisdom manifesting in the world as a leader. Many of the teachings of the Shambhala lineage derive from the Epic of Gesar as propagated by Mipham the Great, Trungpa Rinpoche was deeply influenced by his friend Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, a Japanese Zen master who was one of the first accomplished teachers to present dharma to Westerners
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True Buddha School
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The True Buddha School is a modern Vajrayana Buddhist sect based in Taiwan and parts of East Asia with influence from Sutrayana and Taoism. Founded in the late 1980s, the founder of this sect is Lu Sheng-yen, often referred to by his followers as a tulku and he is called the Root Guru by his disciples. Lu claims to be a fully enlightened buddha, known by his disciples as Living Buddha Lian-sheng and he is a writer who has written approximately 232 books to date. As of Feb of 2013, the organization claims over 5,000,000 became Buddhists through Lu, members of the True Buddha School emphasize the necessity to cultivate diligently for the benefit of spiritual advancement, as is practiced in general Vajrayana Buddhism. All students are expected to follow the fourteen Root Tantric Vows along with the Five Precepts that all Buddhists should follow, there is a structured curriculum to guide the students practice, and at each level, a specific yoga is practiced. To advance to the level, the student must achieve yogic response from the yoga being practiced in the current level. As a beginner, there are specific yogas that are practiced to establish a strong foundation, the yoga practiced in the first stage is Vajrasattva yoga, a great repentance yoga to purify bad karma. The next level is Guru Yoga, followed by Personal Deity yoga, True Buddha School has chapters across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Latin America, though the size of each local chapter varies. The main temple is located in Redmond, Washington, it served as the main residence where Lu resided while he was living in United States. He lived in Tahiti with his wife Lian Hsiang in solitude for six years before re-emerging in the US in 2006, the majority of the followers of the True Buddha School are located in Asia, and many devotees are from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. Across North America, Australia, and Europe, the majority of the students are immigrants of Asian descent, True Buddha Schools funding relies heavily on donations. This is supplemented with the income from the publication of Lus books, the money is used to publish its teaching materials and for charity work such as the South Asian tsunami relief effort. True Buddha School disseminates Buddhist teachings through Lus sermons, books and these materials are supplemented with sermons and articles by other acharyas certified by the grand master. Lus books are published in Chinese, with a limited number currently being translated into English. However, more translations are slowly being made to reach a wider audience, many of the major True Buddha School sadhanas and practices are available in English. Venerable Hsuan Hua warned his disciples about Lu Sheng-yens claims, lamenting that many people lack wisdom. Lu was criticized for eating meat, drinking alcohol, and playing around with women, despite being the largest Vajrayana sect in Taiwan, the True Buddha School has been criticized by six Buddhist organizations in Malaysia. Although the founder has attained various Tibetan lineages, questions remained, in 2002, Lu and his temple were sued in Washington State by a former member who alleged sexual abuse on the part of Master Lu
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Tantra
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Tantra is the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that co-developed most likely about the middle of 1st millennium CE. The term tantra, in the Indian traditions, also means any systematic broadly applicable text, theory, system, method, instrument, in Hinduism, the tantra tradition is most often associated with its goddess tradition called Shaktism, followed by Shaivism and Vaishnavism. In Buddhism, the Vajrayana tradition is known for its extensive tantra ideas, Tantric Hindu and Buddhist traditions have influenced other religious traditions such as Jainism, Sikhism, the Tibetan Bön tradition, Daoism, and the Japanese Shintō tradition. Tantra as genre of literature in Hinduism have been influential to its arts, icons, Hindu puja, temples and iconography are tantric in nature. The Hindu texts that describe these topics are called Tantras, Āgamas or Samhitās, in Buddhism, its tantra-genre literature has influenced the artworks in Tibet, historic cave temples of India, and imagery in southeast Asia. Tantra literally means loom, warp, weave, the connotation of the word tantra to mean an esoteric practice or religious ritualism is a colonial era European invention. The term is based on the metaphor of weaving, states Ron Barrett and it implies interweaving of traditions and teachings as threads into a text, technique or practice. The word appears in the hymns of the Rigveda such as in 10.71 and it is found in many other Vedic era texts, such as in section 10.7.42 of the Atharvaveda and many Brahmanas. In these and post-Vedic texts, the meaning of Tantra is that which is principal or essential part, main point, model, framework. The term “Tantra” after about 500 BCE, in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism is a bibliographic category, the same Buddhist texts are sometimes referred to as tantra or sutra, for example, Vairocabhisambodhi-tantra is also referred to as Vairocabhisambodhi-sutra. The various contextual meaning of the word Tantra varies with the Indian text, the earliest definitions and expositions on Tantra come from the ancient texts of Panini, Patanjali and the literature of the language-focussed, ritual-oriented Mimamsa school of Hindu philosophy. The word tantra, states Patanjali, means principal, main, Patanjali also offers a semantic definition of Tantra, stating that it is structural rules, standard procedures, centralized guide or knowledge in any field that applies to many elements. The ancient Mimamsa school of Hinduism uses the term tantra extensively, for example, When an action or a thing, once complete, becomes beneficial in several matters to one person, or to many people, that is known as Tantra. For example, a lamp placed amidst many priests, in contrast, that which benefits by its repetition is called Āvāpa, such as massaging with oil. Medieval texts present their own definitions of Tantra, in modern era scholarship, Tantra has been studied as an esoteric practice and ritualistic religion, sometimes referred to as Tantrism. There is wide gap between what Tantra means to its followers, and what Tantra has been represented or perceived as since colonial era writers began commenting on Tantra, many definitions of Tantra have been proposed ever since, and there is no universally accepted definition of Tantra. André Padoux in his review of Tantra definitions offers two, then rejects both, another definition, more common among observers and non-practitioners, is some set of mechanistic rituals, omitting entirely the ideological side. According to David N. Lorenzen, two different kinds of definitions of Tantra exist, a definition and a broad definition
17.
Mahasiddha
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Mahasiddha is a term for someone who embodies and cultivates the siddhi of perfection. They are a type of yogin/yogini recognized in Vajrayana Buddhism. Mahasiddhas were tantra practitioners or tantrikas who had sufficient empowerments and teachings to act as a guru or tantric master, a siddha is an individual who, through the practice of sādhanā, attains the realization of siddhis, psychic and spiritual abilities and powers. The Mahasiddhas are the founders of Vajrayana traditions and lineages such as Dzogchen, inverse astronauts, the psychonauts voyaged deep into inner space, encountering and conquering angels and demons in the depths of their subconscious minds. The exact genealogy and historical dates of the Mahasiddhas are contentious, Dowman holds that they all lived between 750 and 1150 CE. Abhayadatta Sri is an Indian scholar of the 12th century who is claimed to have recorded the hagiographies of the siddhas in a text known as The History of the Eighty-four Mahasiddhas. Dowman holds that the eighty-four Mahasiddha are spiritual archetypes, The number eighty-four is a whole or perfect number, thus the eighty-four siddhas can be seen as archetypes representing the thousands of exemplars and adepts of the tantric way. The siddhas were remarkable for the diversity of their family backgrounds and they were found in every reach of the social structure, kings and ministers, priests and yogins, poets and musicians, craftsmen and farmers, housewives and whores. Reynolds states that the tradition evolved in North India in the early Medieval Period. This is demonstrated in the biographies of the great siddhas of the Vajrayāna tradition. Tilopa attained realization as a grinder of sesame seeds and a procurer for a prominent prostitute, sarvabhakṣa was an extremely obese glutton, Gorakṣa was a cowherd in remote climes, Taṅtepa was addicted to gambling, and Kumbharipa was a destitute potter. These circumstances were charnel grounds because they were despised in Indian society, according to Ulrich von Schroeder, Tibet has different traditions relating to the mahasiddhas. Among these traditions, two were particularly popular, namely the Abhayadatta Sri list and the so-called Vajrasana list, the number of mahasiddhas varies between eighty-four and eighty-eight, and only about thirty-six of the names occur in both lists. In many instances more than one siddha with the name exists. In the days when the siddhas of the later Tibetan traditions flourished in India, sometimes a disciple would have the same name as his guru, while still other names were based on caste or tribe. In such a context the distinction between siddhas of the name becomes blurred. The entire process of distinguishing between siddhas with the name of different texts and lineages is therefore to large extent guesswork. The great variation in phonetic transcription of Indian words into Tibetan may partly be the result of various Tibetan dialects, whatever the reasons might be, the Tibetan transcription of Indian names of mahasiddhas clearly becomes more and more corrupt as time passes
18.
Sahaja
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Sahaja, meaning coemergent, spontaneously or naturally born together is a term of some importance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhist spirituality. Sahaja practices first arose in Bengal during the 8th century among Buddhist yogis called Sahajiya siddhas, the Buddhist siddha Saraha was the founder of the Buddhist movement termed Sahajayana which flourished in Orissa and Bengal. Sahajiya mahasiddhas like Saraha, Kanha, Savari and Luipa were tantric Buddhists who expounded their beliefs in songs and dohas in the Apabhraṃśa languages, many of the songs in this tradition are preserved in the Charyapada. Sahajiyas such as Saraha believed that enlightenment could be achieved in this lifetime, though he was a famed Buddhist sage. The sahajiyas practiced a form of union which was supposed to bring the female and male elements together in balance. Saraha and his disciples were also practitioners of Mahamudra meditation, and Saraha composed a famous Mahamudra meditation text along with his Three Cycles of Doha. Sahajiyas also criticized the Hindu caste system, Sahajayana Buddhism became very popular in the Pala Empire, especially among commoners. One of the texts associated with the Sahajiya Buddhists is the Hevajra Tantra. The tantra describes four kinds of Joy, From Joy there is some bliss, from the Joy of Cessation comes a passionless state. The Joy of Sahaja is finality, the first comes by desire for contact, the second by desire for bliss, the third from the passing of passion, and by this means the fourth is realized. The Joy of Cessation is nirvana, then there is a plain Joy between the two. Sahaja is free of them all, for there is neither desire nor absence of desire, nor a middle to be obtained. The siddhi, Indrabhuti, wrote a commentary on Sahaja teachings called the Sahajasiddhipaddhati, Sahaja is one of the four keywords of the Nath sampradaya along with Svecchachara, Sama, and Samarasa. Sahaja meditation and worship was prevalent in Tantric traditions common to Hinduism and Buddhism in Bengal as early as the 8th–9th centuries, the British Nath teacher Mahendranath wrote, Man is born with an instinct for naturalness. He has never forgotten the days of his perfection, except insomuch as the memory became buried under the artificial superstructure of civilization. The tree grows according to Sahaja, natural and spontaneous in complete conformity with the Natural Law of the Universe, nobody tells it what to do or how to grow. It has no swadharma or rules, duties and obligations incurred by birth and it has only svabhava - its own inborn self or essence - to guide it. Sahaja is that nature which, when established in oneself, brings the state of absolute freedom and it influenced the bhakti movement through the Sant tradition, exemplified by the Bauls of Bengal, Dnyaneshwar, Meera, Kabir and Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism
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Buddhahood
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In Buddhism, buddhahood is the condition or rank of a buddha. The goal of Mahayanas Bodhisattva path is Samyaksambuddhahood, so one may benefit all sentient beings by teaching them the path of cessation of dukkha. This contrasts with the goal of Hinayana path, where the goal is Arhatship, in Theravada Buddhism, Buddha refers to one who has become awakened through their own efforts and insight, without a teacher to point out the Dharma. A samyak sambuddha teaches the dharma to others after his awakening, a pratyeka-buddha also reaches Nirvana through his own efforts, but does not teach the dharma to others. An Arhat needs to follow the teaching of a Buddha to attain Nirvana, in this broader sense it is equivalent to Arahant. Buddhahood is the state of an enlightened being, who having found the path of cessation of suffering, is in the state of No-more-Learning. There is a spectrum of opinion on the universality and method of attainment of Buddhahood. The level to which this manifestation requires ascetic practices varies from none at all to a requirement, dependent on doctrine. Mahayana Buddhism emphasizes the Bodhisattva ideal instead of the Arhat, the Tathagatagarba and Buddha-nature doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism consider Buddhahood to be a universal and innate property of absolute wisdom. This wisdom is revealed in a current lifetime through Buddhist practice. Buddhists do not consider Siddhartha Gautama to have been the only Buddha, the Pali Canon refers to many previous ones, while the Mahayana tradition additionally has many Buddhas of celestial origin. A common Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist belief is that the next Buddha will be one named Maitreya, the various Buddhist schools hold some varying interpretations on the nature of Buddha. All Buddhist traditions hold that a Buddha is fully awakened and has completely purified his mind of the three poisons of desire, aversion and ignorance, a Buddha is no longer bound by Samsara, and has ended the suffering which unawakened people experience in life. Most schools of Buddhism have also held that the Buddha was omniscient, however, the early texts contain explicit repudiations of making this claim of the Buddha. Some Buddhists meditate on the Buddha as having ten characteristics, in the Madhupindika Sutta, Buddha is described in powerful terms as the Lord of the Dhamma and the bestower of immortality. Similarly, in the Anuradha Sutta Buddha is described as the Tathagata—the supreme man, actually, the Buddha was a human being, not a mere human being as is sometimes said but a special class of human called a complete person. Such complete persons are no different from others and indeed they physically remain quite ordinary. Sangharakshita also states that The first thing we have to understand -, but a special kind of human being, in fact the highest kind, so far as we know
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Bodhisattva
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Bodhisattvas are a popular subject in Buddhist art. In early Indian Buddhism, the term bodhisattva was primarily used to specifically to Gautama Buddha in his former life. The Jataka tales, which are the stories of the Buddhas past lives, depict the various attempts of the bodhisattva to embrace qualities like self-sacrifice, mount Potalaka, for example, is one of Bodhisattvayana. Because Hinayana was disliked and the terms Śrāvaka-Bodhisattva or Pratyekabuddha-Bodhisattva were not widely used, nevertheless, bodhisattva retained an implied reference to someone on the path to become an arhat or pratyekabuddha. In contrast, the goal of Mahayanas bodhisattva path is to achieve Samyaksambodhiṃ, when, during his discourses, he recounts his experiences as a young aspirant, he regularly uses the phrase When I was an unenlightened bodhisatta. The term therefore connotes a being who is bound for enlightenment, in other words, in the Pāli canon, the bodhisatta is also described as someone who is still subject to birth, illness, death, sorrow, defilement, and delusion. Some of the lives of the Buddha as a bodhisattva are featured in the Jataka tales. According to the Theravāda monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, the path is not taught in the earliest strata of Buddhist texts such as the Pali Nikayas which instead focus on the ideal of the Arahant. In later Theravada literature, the bodhisatta is used fairly frequently in the sense of someone on the path to liberation. He also quotes an inscription from the 10th Century king of Sri Lanka, Mahinda IV, paul Williams writes that some modern Theravada meditation masters in Thailand are popularly regarded as bodhisattvas. Like perhaps some of the early Mahāyāna forest hermit monks, or the later Buddhist Tantrics and they are widely revered, worshipped, and held to be arhats or bodhisattvas. Mahāyāna Buddhism is based principally upon the path of a bodhisattva, according to Jan Nattier, the term Mahāyāna was originally even an honorary synonym for Bodhisattvayāna, or the Bodhisattva Vehicle. The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra contains a simple and brief definition for the term bodhisattva and this definition is given as the following. Because he has enlightenment as his aim, a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is so called, the early Rastrapalapariprccha sutra also promotes a solitary life of meditation in the forests, far away from the distractions of the householder life. The Rastrapala is also critical of monks living in monasteries and in cities who are seen as not practicing meditation. These texts seem to indicate the initial Bodhisattva ideal was associated with a strict forest asceticism, Mahāyāna Buddhism encourages everyone to become bodhisattvas and to take the bodhisattva vows. With these vows, one makes the promise to work for the enlightenment of all sentient beings by practicing the six perfections. Indelibly entwined with the vow is merit transference
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Kalachakra
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The Kalachakra is a term used in Vajrayana Buddhism that means wheel of time or time-cycles. Kālacakra is usually used to refer to a very complex teaching, although the teaching is very advanced and esoteric, there is a tradition of offering it to large public audiences. Kālacakra refers both to a patron Tantric deity or iṣṭadevatā, of Vajrayana Buddhism and to the philosophies and meditation practices contained within the Kālacakra Tantra and its many commentaries. The Kālacakra Tantra is more called the Kālacakra Laghutantra, and is said to be an abridged form of an original text. Some Buddhist masters assert that Kālacakra is the most advanced form of Vajrayana practice, the Kālacakra deity represents a buddhahood and thus omniscience. Since Kālacakra is time and everything is under the influence of time, kālacakri, his spiritual consort and complement, is aware of everything that is timeless, not time-bound or out of the realm of time. In Yab-Yum, they are temporality and atemporality conjoined, similarly, the wheel is without beginning or end. The term wheel evoked herewith is a principal polyvalent sign, teaching tool, organising metaphor, some wheel cognates are the aṣṭamaṅgala symbol of the dharmacakra, Vishnus Sudarshana Chakra and the theory of saṃsāra. Kālacakra refers to different traditions, for example, it is related to Hindu Shaiva, Samkhya, Vaishnava, Vedic, Upanishadic and Puranic traditions. The Kālacakra mandala includes deities which are accepted by Hindus, Jains. The Kālacakra sand mandala is dedicated to individual and world peace and physical balance. The Dalai Lama explains, “It is a way of planting a seed, one doesn’t need to be present at the Kalachakra ceremony in order to receive its benefits. ”The Kālacakra Tantra is divided into five chapters. The first two chapters are considered the ground Kālacakra, human experience is by some described in terms of four mind states, waking, dream, deep sleep, and a fourth state which is available through the energies of sexual orgasm. The potentials which rise to these states are described, together with the processes that flow from them. The last three chapters describe the other or alternative Kālacakra, and deal with the path and fruition, the third chapter deals with the preparation for the meditation practices of the system, the initiations of Kālacakra. The fifth and final chapter describes the state of enlightenment that results from the practice, in Tibet, the Kālacakra astrological system is one of the main building blocks in the composition of Tibetan astrological calendars. The astrology in the Kālacakra is not like the Western system, in that it employs complicated astronomical calculations to determine, for example, the exact location of the planets. According to the Kālacakra tantra, Suchandra, dharmaraja of Shambhala, along with King Suchandra, ninety-six minor kings and emissaries from Shambhala were also said to have received the teachings
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