About Esoteric transmission

In Vajrayāna Buddhism, esoteric transmission is the transmission of certain teachings directly from teacher to student during an empowerment (abhiṣeka) in a ritual space containing the mandala of the deity. Many techniques are also commonly said to be secret, but some Vajrayana teachers have responded that secrecy itself is not important and only a side-effect of the reality that the techniques have no validity outside the teacher-student lineage.
Manjuvajra Embracing His Consort

Tantric practices – The esoteric South Asian traditions

Tantra are the esoteric traditions of and Buddhism that developed in South Asia from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term tantra, in the Indian traditions, also means any systematic broadly applicable text, theory, system, method, instrument, technique or practice. A key feature of these traditions is the use of mantras, and thus they are commonly referred to as Mantramārga ("Path of Mantra") in Hinduism or Mantrayāna ("Mantra Vehicle") and Guhyamantra ("Secret .
Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje with Nyingma Masters

Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje with Nyingma Masters

This 19th-century depicts the central figure of Do Khyentse Dorje with previous above. Painting Chart Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje with Nyingma Masters N°1 Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje was born in 1800 in the Golok region of Amdo to nomadic parents. His father was Chokor Sonampel of the Golok Akyong clan, and his mother was Tsewang Men of the Dawaclan. The First Dodrubchen Jigme Trinle Oser, who would .
Buddha Amitayus in his Pure Land Sukhavati.

Dzogchen practices – Awakening rigpa

Dzogchen ("Great Perfection" or "Great Completion"), also known as atiyoga (utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. The primordial ground is said to have the qualities of purity (i.e. emptiness), spontaneity (lhun grub, associated with luminous clarity) and compassion (thugs rje). The goal of Dzogchen is knowledge of this basis, this knowledge is called rigpa (Skt. vidyā). There are numerous spiritual .
An 18th century Mongolian miniature which depicts a monk generating a tantric visualization.

Vajrayana practices – The tantric samaya vows

along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism are names referring to Buddhist traditions associated with Tantra and "Secret Mantra". Practitioners of Vajrayāna need to abide by various tantric vows or pledges called samaya. These are extensions of the rules of the Prātimokṣa and Bodhisattva vows for the lower levels of tantra, and are taken during initiations into the empowerment for a particular Unsurpassed Yoga Tantra. The special tantric vows .
Monks attending the 2003 Kalachakra empowerment in Bodhgaya, India.

Vajrayana – Buddhist tantric traditions

Vajrayana is Tantric Buddhism, the form of Northern Buddhism that relies primarily on the Tantras, technical manuals said to have been taught by the Buddha, and offer complete enlightenment in 1, 7 or 21 lifetimes. practices are connected to specific lineages in Buddhism, through the teachings of lineage holders. Others might generally refer to texts as the Buddhist Tantras. It includes practices that make use of mantras, dharanis, , mandalas and the visualization of .