Review We have been talking about the meaning of the word “tantra” to get a general introductory picture of it. We saw that there are two meanings – one is the “warp of a loom” upon which all the threads of the themes of practice from sutra are interwoven as the different...

We’re going to be speaking about tantra and various aspects of it. I’ll try to leave a little bit of time open for more questions in order to give you an opportunity to ask different things that might be of interest to you concerning the topic. Sutra Study and Practice ...

Recap: Looking at Tantra in More Depth We’ve been looking at tantra in more and more depth. We’ve seen that it refers to an everlasting continuum and also to a loom, the strings of a loom on which we can weave many things. We’ve seen that this everlasting continuum refers on...

Introduction  We started our discussion of tantra in general with an introduction to what tantra actually is. One of the main points that I try to emphasize is that tantra is an advanced practice. It’s a practice that is not intended for beginners. Even if we have started...

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...

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...