Visualization

Common Features of Tantra  Tantra is a type of practice which is found not only in Buddhism, but also in Hinduism and, to a small extent, also in Jainism, the three major Indian religions. When we want to look at what Buddhist tantra is all about, it’s very necessary, I...

The Way of Proceeding I’d like to conduct this seminar like offering you a sampler box of chocolates. That means a little taste of this Buddhist topic and a little taste of that one. So the seminar will not be organized so logically. Let me give you a sense of what I have in...

Points 1 and 2 “Lojong” is the Tibetan word usually translated as “mind training,” but I don’t find this translation terribly appropriate, because it seems to imply an exclusively intellectual activity to most people. “Lo” means “attitude” while “jong” means both “to cleanse”...

Kriya tantra (ritual tantra) is the first of the four tantra classes in the Sarma classification scheme and the first of the six tantra classes in the Nyingma scheme. It puts a great deal of emphasis on cleanliness, vegetarianism and purification.  Preliminaries ...

The Sanskrit and Tibetan classical Buddhist literature provides the source material for how to relate to a spiritual mentor. Most of the texts, however, explicitly refer only to the relationship with a tantric master. The main examples include Ashvaghosha's Fifty Stanzas on...

Keeping Our Level of Participation Private By evaluating our preparation for receiving Kalachakra empowerment and our ability to keep the vows and commitments, we can make a realistic decision whether to attend as an active participant or an interested observer. Spiritual...

I am very happy to be with all of you today. Although I am not a monk, still I have had the good fortune to have been able to study Kalachakra with a number of different great Lamas. Based on their kindness in teaching me, I shall try to pass on their wisdom to you by...

Introduction Tantra, in brief, is a Mahayana system of practice to reach enlightenment so as to be of best benefit to all beings. As the word “tantra” connotes, it employs an everlasting continuum of practice with Buddha-figures as a path to purify away the obscuring factors...

For the remainder of this seminar, I’d like to not follow a strict structure, but just answer questions you might have about tantra and let a wider picture of tantra unfold from that. Can Visualization Help with Dealing with Disturbing Emotions?  When, on a practical...

Once we have practiced for a while, trying to maintain this deep awareness of nondual profound and clear – the profound understanding of voidness and the clarity of the visualization – then we practice the four types of mental stability. Not necessarily that we practice all...