The Sakya Presentation of Inseparable Samsara and Nirvana The pathway level of the continuity is referring to partially purified, partially unpurified, so there’s some stoppings there. To understand how that is an everlasting stream of continuity, I think the most helpful is...

Questions about Translating Tibetan Texts  When we are doing the sadhana on our own, we could do it in our own language, but this raises the question of how to translate, how to keep the rhythm in a language that’s totally different, and things like this, and that we need...

Tantra practice transforms Buddha-nature factors by employing Buddha-figures as infographics to integrate complex realizations along the path.

Let’s continue with our format, which is to speak about various topics within tantra based on your questions and interests.  The Meaning of a Deity’s Hand Implements  What about the weapon-like instruments that the various Buddha-figures are holding, is there a...

Review The Two Meanings of the Word “Tantra” Yesterday, we began our discussion of tantra by looking at what the word means. We saw that it has two meanings from the root “to stretch out.” The first meaning is referring to something that stretches out as a continuum, with no...

Understanding the Two Meanings of the Word “Tantra” The topic for this weekend is tantra, which is a very vast topic and sometimes a bit mysterious. However, with some understanding of what tantra is all about, then it’s no longer mysterious and it all makes tremendous amount...

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...

Survey of the Misunderstanding One of the more perplexing and most easily misunderstood aspects of tantra is its imagery suggestive of sex, devil-worship, and violence. Buddha-figures often appear as couples in union and many have demonic faces, stand enveloped in flames, and...

Misunderstanding may arise from teachers or translators accidentally saying something incorrect.

Introduction The past, the present, and the future are important topics to study on the Buddhist path. This is because, for the purification of karma, it is helpful to understand the nature of past destructive actions that we have committed and their future karmic results....