Vajrayāna and the Culmination of the Path
Book - 2024
"His Holiness the Dalai Lama skillfully illuminates the unique qualities and complexities of Vajrayāna, as practiced in Tibet, and illuminates the method to eradicate the subtlest obscurations preventing the full awakening of a buddha. Speaking to newcomers and advanced students alike, he explains the similarities and differences of the Sūtra and Tantra paths. Having gathered many of the doubts and difficult points concerning the tantric path, he clarifies the purpose of receiving proper empowerment by qualified gurus and the ethical restraints and commitments required to enter the path of secret mantra. The paths and stages of the four tantric classes are explained, as are the generation-stage and completion-stage practices of Highe...st Yoga Tantra. You are introduced to the practices of clear appearance and divine identity common to all tantric sādhanas, as well as the unique practices of illusory body and actual clear light that overcome the subtlest defilements on the mind and eliminate all obscurations quickly. The understanding of emptiness in Sūtra and Tantra is the same, but the consciousness perceiving emptiness differs. In Highest Yoga Tantra that consciousness is great bliss, which arises from knowing the methods to manipulate the channels, winds, and drops of the subtle body. In short, in Vajrayāna and the Culmination of the Path the Dalai Lama sets out the path that leads to blissful awakening and enables us to be of great benefit to all sentient beings"--
- Subjects
- Published
-
New York :
Wisdom Publications
2024.
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Other Authors
- Edition
- First edition
- Physical Description
- xxiii, 430 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN
- 9781614299578
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Introduction by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
- 1. Method and Wisdom in Sutra and Tantra
- Method and Wisdom
- Wisdom in Paramitayana and Vajrayana
- Method in Paramitayana and Vajrayana
- Method and Wisdom Practiced Together
- The Inseparability of Method and Wisdom
- What Makes Vajrayana Fast
- 2. Introduction to Tantra
- The Meaning of Vajrayana
- The History of Tantra
- Tantric Deities
- The Purpose of Vajrayana
- Abandoning False Expectations of Vajrayana
- Terminology
- Tantric Masters
- Tantric Practitioners
- 3. Entering Tantrayana
- Empowerment, Permissory Rites, and Oral Transmission
- Preliminary Practices
- Empowerment
- Rituals
- After Receiving Empowerment
- Tantric Ethical Restraints and Commitments
- Empowerment Taken Prematurely
- The Practice of Sadhanas
- Women and Vajrayana
- Unusual Behavior
- The Four Classes of Tantra and the Nine Vehicles
- Practicing Vajrayana in a Gradual Manner
- 4. All-Encompassing Yoga
- The Method
- 5. The Path of Kriya Tantra
- Becoming a Suitable Vessel
- Keeping the Ethical Restraints and Commitments Purely
- Practicing the Close Approximation
- Achieving the Actual Attainments (Siddhi)
- Training in the Body, Speech, and Mind of a Buddha
- Yoga with Signs and Yoga without Signs
- 6. The Paths of Carya Tantra and Yoga Tantra
- Carya (Performance) Tantra
- Becoming a Suitable Vessel
- Keeping the Ethical Restraints and Commitments Purely
- Practicing the Close Approximation
- Achieving the Actual Attainments (Siddhi)
- Yoga Tantra
- Becoming a Suitable Vessel
- Purely Keeping the Ethical Restraints and Commitments
- Practicing the Close Approximation
- Achieving the Actual Attainments (Siddhi)
- Concluding Comments on the Three Lower Tantras
- Vajrayana and the Five Paths and Ten Grounds
- 7. Highest Yoga Tantra
- Levels of Meaning
- Distinguishing the Four Classes of Tantra
- How Vajrayana Brings Awakening
- Meditational Deities and the Ultimate Nature of Desire
- Excellent Features of Highest Yoga Tantra
- Utilizing Afflictions in the Path
- Cultivating Serenity and Insight in Highest Yoga Tantra
- Meditation on Emptiness in Vajrayana
- Bliss and Emptiness
- Meditation Sessions in the Generation Stage
- Post-Meditation Time
- Meditation Sessions in the Completion Stage
- 8. The Tantric Perspective of Body and Mind
- The Tantric View of Body and Mind
- The Body
- The Mind
- Mental Consciousness
- Knowing an Object
- Supersensory Perception and Karmic Winds
- Death, Bardo, and Rebirth
- Taking Death, Bardo, and Rebirth into the Path to the Three Buddha Bodies
- Purifying the Basis of Purification
- Near-Death Experiences and the Illusory Body
- Preserving Good Qualities from Life to Life
- 9. The Path of Highest Yoga Tantra
- Becoming a Suitable Vessel
- Keeping the Ethical Restraints and Commitments Purely
- The Path to Follow-Generation Stage
- Uncommon Factors to Be Abandoned by the Generation Stage
- The Coarse and Refined Yogas of Single Mindfulness
- Generation Stage and Completion Stage
- 10. Introduction to the Completion Stage
- Putting Together the Elements of the Path
- The Vast and Profound
- Levels of Completion-Stage Practice
- Paths That Overcome Ordinary Death, Bardo, and Rebirth
- The Nine Mixings
- More about the Nine Mixings
- Advice
- 11. Going Deeper into the Completion Stage
- Isolated Body
- Isolated Speech
- Isolated Mind
- Practice with a Mudra
- The Inseparability of Bliss and Emptiness
- The Completion-Stage Practice of the Two Truths
- Illusory Body
- Correlations between the Basis, Path, and Result
- Conduct Enhancing the Path
- Meanings of "Clear Light"
- Actual Clear Light
- Learners' Union-the Inseparability of the Two Truths
- The Union of the Two Truths
- The Five Paths according to Vajrayana
- The Completion Stage according to Other Highest Yoga Tantras
- How to Manifest the Results
- 12. The Path of Kalacakra Tantra
- Becoming a Proper Vessel
- The Ethical Restraints and Commitments to Keep Purely
- Practicing the Path of Kalacakra: The Generation Stage
- Practicing the Path of Kalacakra: The Completion Stage
- Six Branches of the Completion Stage
- Heartfelt Advice
- 13. The Four Tibetan Traditions
- Nalanda and the Four Tibetan Traditions
- The Texts Shared in Common in the Four Tibetan Traditions
- How to Approach the Various Tibetan Buddhist Traditions
- The Nyingma Tradition
- The Kagyu Tradition
- The Sakya Tradition
- The Gelug Tradition
- Similarities among Traditions
- Are Sentient Beings Already Awakened?
- Sutra and Tantra Methods to Meditate on Emptiness
- Dzogchen, Highest Yoga Tantra, and Madhyamaka
- 14. Coming to the Same Point
- Differences in Approach, Unity in Results
- Confusion Involving Terminology
- Mind as the Creator
- Presentations from Different Perspectives
- Avoiding Misunderstandings
- Self-Empty and Other-Empty
- The Jonang Tradition
- The Mind and I
- Different Perspectives on the Clear-Light Mind
- Bliss and Emptiness
- 15. A Song of the Four Mindfulnesses and the Culmination of the Path
- Mindfulness of the Guru
- Mindfulness of Compassion and Bodhicitta
- Mindfulness of the Body as a Divine Body
- Mindfulness of the View of Emptiness
- Why Vajrayana Is the Culmination of the Path
- 16. Epilogue: Advice for My Disciples
- Entering Tantrayana
- Learning, Reflecting, and Meditating
- Skillful Practice
- The Importance of Daily Practice
- Notes
- Glossary
- Recommended Reading
- Index
- About the Authors