The outline of the three main stages of the Kalachakra initiation: preparation ceremony, entering the mandala, and seven empowerments of entering as a child.

Review Among the seven ways of knowing, some are valid ways of knowing and some are invalid. The valid ways of knowing are bare cognition and inferential understanding and all the rest are not valid. “Valid” means that it is fresh and non-fraudulent, and “non-fraudulent” means...

The Madhyamaka presentation derives from Nagarjuna and his Indian and Tibetan commentators.

Buddha spoke of karma, as recorded in his sutras, while his disciples and later generations elaborated his teachings on karma in their abhidharma compilations.

The Sautrantika explanation of karma arose as a critique of the Sarvastivada abhidharma presentation that was later codified as the Vaibhashika view.

The Vaibhashika explanation of karma derives from the abhidharma texts of Vasubandhu and their Indian commentaries.

Tibetan astrology has materials that are similar to or derived from systems from India and China but are modified and used in very different ways to constitute the unique Tibetan system. Much of the materials for the study of these topics derive from the “Kalachakra Tantra.”

Ten heavenly bodies are treated in the Kalachakra system, all of which are called “planets.” A common feature with the ancient Greek and Hindu systems is the naming of the days of the week after the planets.

The Chinese-derived, or “black calculations,” also called “element calculations,” adds a few more features to the Tibetan calendar, such as correlations with animal and element cycles.

Magic-squares consist of a grid of three by three with numbers in each row and column adding to 15. Each number is correlated with a color and one of the five Chinese elements. In the Tibetan astro system, each year and each date has a magic-square number.