What Is Tantric Buddhism, and Why Did It Become so Important in Tibet - Essay Example

Name of Author Professor Subject Date Tantric Buddhism In order to understand what Tantric Buddhism is, it is essential that we understand what Buddhism is because Tantric Buddhism originates from the general form of Buddhism. Buddhism is therefore a tolerant religion that emphasizes on practical methods of developing spiritual awareness and the significance of finding the truth by oneself. Its values centre on loving, kindness, compassion, equanimity, wisdom, hope and clarity of mind (Wayman 26). Therefore, its main hope is to eliminate suffering and promote healing and transformation so that everyone is able to experience highest peace (nirvana). Those who follow Buddha thus put their trust on spiritual growth on the Buddha being the perfect teacher; his teachings are the only way to awakening; and the lamas, tulkus and ordained. These three are considered objects of refuge and are revered by Buddhism as the ‘Three Jewels’. They are also considered the basis of Buddhist spiritual commitment. According to modern scholarship, Tantric Buddhism refers to the tantric movement of the Buddhist and the ‘Tantric paradigm of Buddhism’. Tantra means ‘to wrap on a loom’ possibly derived from the term ‘tan’ meaning ‘to weave or stretch’. In the Buddhist discourse therefore, Tantra refers to the collection of scriptures and particular teachings of the Buddha dedicated to certain deities used as focus of ritual and meditative practices (Peng 26). These Tantras are thus the root texts of Tantric Buddhism and signify the final stage of the Buddhist canon, with characteristically esoteric features. Simply put, the sense of weaving is preserved only to the extent that it implies a process where the philosophical threads of the Buddhist ideas, doctrines, and practices are entwined with all acts, thoughts and emotions towards the path of enlightenment. Tantric Buddhism is therefore essentially an esoteric form of religion whereby meditation forms the core of religion. In Tibet, these meditations were not necessarily found in the early Buddhist texts although they needed a lot of artificial help and close supervision of a perfect spiritual guide. According to experts, tantric Buddhism is an alternative path to enlighten to those that practice it. Scholars believe that today, Tantric Buddhism is the most radical, controversial and significant form of Buddhism. It is important to note that Tantric Buddhism was developed and practiced in Tibet for over fourteen centuries without the outside world understanding or even knowing of the practice (Stevenson n.a). This can be attributed to the fact that Tibet is located in a secluded area. During the 1950s, the precipitation of the Communist Chinese takeover fueled migration of Tibetan teachers into India. This trend has grown wide and far and Tibetan teachers continue to travel the world and setting up centres of Tantric Buddhism all across the world. Characteristically, Tantric Buddhism teaches that everyone is a potential Buddha since we are all essentially pure and luminous at the lowest level of existence. This purity is what Buddhist teachers refer to as Buddha-nature and it is typically covered by a dense layer of ignorance and negativity. This negativity and ignorance thus dominates the human body and leads to suffering. As such, Tantric Buddhism encourages those who practice it to adopt traits and characteristics of free-thinking beings through the use of special meditational practices in order to be in touch with their innate Buddha-nature (Peng 32). According to Tantric Buddhism, the human body is considered the microcosm and contains the lowest as well as the highest form of imaginable earthly existence. As such, it is possible for the human body to be turned into a hellish or heavenly state and the only way that the human body can be raised to a spiritual state is centered on Hindu Tantras which are Ida, Pingala and Susuma. Central to Tantric Buddhism is the realization of worldly existence as reality as nonexistent in reality through breath control and regulation and combining this with concentrated thoughts (Sonam 11). Ancient Tantric texts explaining the Tantric process of uniting compassion and knowledge use metaphors, similes and symbols from unsophisticated and vulgar language. To the average reader new to Tantric Buddhism may interpret such texts literally or etymologically. Although Tantric Buddhism may have borrowed its spiritual practices from the Hindus, it has managed to retain its Mahayanic philosophy pure consciousness as separate from sense-consciousness (Ray 56). In the Guhya-samaja, an ancient tantric text defines Vajra as reality. It explains reality as the oneness of different objects and beings where in reality there does not exist a distinction between male and female, good and bad and that such distinction is only conventional. Moreover, the activities of good or bad is an emanation of the Adi-Buddha and therefore a person’s acts of offences only have a conventional value in their own world but none in reality. This is what tantric Buddhism tries to drive into the minds of Tantric adepts; that there is no real difference between the two modes of life - unsocial and immoral life. Scholars have written a lot about Tantric Buddhism but it has managed to retain limited understanding due to its complex and multidimensional systems of Buddhist thoughts and mediation. According to a Dutch Buddhologist Jong, Tantric Buddhism remains the most neglected branch of Buddhist studies. To a beginner, it is a baroque array of deities, practices and symbols. From a Tibetan perspective, although divergent Tantras reveal numerous epistemologies, a common ground exists for all these philosophical threads. In Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, the key is to establish the basis on which the nature of the Buddha can be presented in mind and matter (Peng 41). This means that Tibetan Tantric Buddhism is oriented towards mental transformation from negative to positive states. Moreover, the path proposed by Tibetan Tantric Buddhism is the personal method of adjusting its basis. Significance of Tantric Buddhism in Tibet In Tibet, Buddhism draws on the teachings of and meditation techniques of the Theravada and the philosophy of Mahayana. However, Vajrayana teachings are the only teachings that are well preserved in Tibet and it is through this heritage that the qualities of Tibetan Buddhism can be found. Tantric Buddhism became important in Tibet because Tibetan Buddhist believed in transmuting the negatives of craving, aggression and ignorance into wisdom (Ray 81). They thus understood that the samara (mundane world) is inseparable from enlightenment. Unlike Mahayana Buddhism, Tantric Buddhism presented people with profound, liberal and transformative Buddhist values. There was the need for Tibetan practitioners to get challenged during the Communist Chinese takeover of Tibet. Practitioners of Buddhism were thus challenged to evoke their power of creativity in visualizations so that they could experience the nature of an empty mind. Additionally, Tibetan Buddhist understood that Buddhas did have suppressed desires and emotions of the worldly life since they were human too. It was therefore important to recognize this fact in order to make it clear that an ascetic path wasn’t necessary to attain Buddhahood as Mahayana Buddhism believed it to be. By recognizing that Buddhas were human, Tantric Buddhism ensured that adherents understood that attaining Buddhahood required a lot of energy, diligent practice and determination. All these were required to suppress all kinds of desires over lifetimes because earthly emotions and desires are powerful forces that can attack any human being (Davidson 293). According to Tibetan Buddhists therefore, transforming these forces was counterproductive and therefore the only way to tackle them was to transmute them. Only Tantric Buddhism could offer such promise where the energies of desires, emotions and ecstasies could be redirected to a spiritual path through Tantric teachings. At this point, it is important to mention that Tantric Buddhism introduction into Tibet wasn’t accepted by either the locals or religious priests. In fact, it took five centuries for the resistance on Tantric Buddhism to subside and for it to be accepted by the general public. The acceptance of Tantric Buddhism proved significant to Tibet as they had in place four schools of Buddhism; Nyingma School, Kagyu School, Sakya School, and Gelug School. The first three were and still remain unreformed but the last school is sometimes referred to as the reformed school (Ray 120). The major difference between the first three schools and the last schools relate to their origin. While the first three originated purely from Indian Buddhism, the last School originates from the incorporation of Tantric Buddhism with Tibetan Buddhism. This is evident because the founder of the Gelug School Tsongkhapa (1357 to 1419), never left Tibet nor came into direct contact with Indian Buddhists. The need for identity thus drove Tibetan Buddhists to form a Buddhist school that they could call their own and therefore tantric Buddhism played a significant role in this endeavor. There was a period that proved very important to the survival of Tibetan Buddhism and practice. This period is referred to as the age of fragmentation and was characterized by the collapse of the imperial court in Tibet (Harvey 46). During the reign of Lang Darma (838-842), Tibet was plagued by external problems that saw Buddhist monasteries completely wiped out by the then king Lang Darma. However, the practices of Tantric Buddhism were able to be preserved by Tibetan Buddhists. Since it was the only remaining form of Buddhism being practiced at this time of turmoil, it gained popularity among Tibetan locals without garnering authority or legitimacy. Its survival therefore ensured that Buddhism did not die completely and as the dynasty began to be built a new, Tantric Buddhism became the basis of this rebuilding. Apart from the ‘age of fragmentation’, the first half of the 20th century presented Tibet with a trying period. The Communist government of China controls Tibet at this point in time thereby leading to the suffering of the local culture and religion of the country. As a result, the H.H the Dalai Lama set up a government-in-exile in India where he becomes its spiritual and political leader (Harvey 74). As a result of the Communist Chinese control of Tibet, Tibetan exiles settled in India, Nepal, Switzerland, Canada and the United States of America. Through the teachings of Tantric Buddhism the Dalai Lama managed to bring the plight of Tibetans to the world’s attention. Since the Tantric Buddhism teaches on embracing the values of compassion and wisdom, most exiles view the loss of their homeland without anger or resentment (Wayman 69). They believe that the changes are an expression of the true nature of human existence where all is not permanent and everything can change. These teachings have encouraged adherents to fuel the wide spread of Tantric Buddhism centres all across the world. Works Cited Stevenson, Mark. “Time travel in Tibet: Tantra, Terma and Tulku.” The Buddhist World, Powers, John. Victoria Univertsity of Technology. n.a. Print. Sonam, Ruth. Ed. Atisha’s Lamp for the Path: An oral teaching by the Geshe Sonam Richen. Ithaca, N.Y: Snow Lion Publications. 1995. Print. Davidson, Ronald. “Atisha’s lamp for the path to Awekening.” Buddism in Practice, Donald Lopez. Princeton: Princeton University. 1995. Print. Peng, Jia. An exploration of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism and its art: a potential resource for contemporary spiritual and art practice. Diss. UCL (University College London), 2013. Ray, Reginald A. Secret of the vajra world: The tantric Buddhism of Tibet. Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 2012. Web. Wayman, Alex. The Buddhist Tantras: Light on Indo-Tibetan Esotericism. New York: Routledge, 2013. Web. Harvey, Peter. An introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, history and practices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Read More

According to experts, tantric Buddhism is an alternative path to enlighten to those that practice it. Scholars believe that today, Tantric Buddhism is the most radical, controversial and significant form of Buddhism. It is important to note that Tantric Buddhism was developed and practiced in Tibet for over fourteen centuries without the outside world understanding or even knowing of the practice (Stevenson n.a). This can be attributed to the fact that Tibet is located in a secluded area. During the 1950s, the precipitation of the Communist Chinese takeover fueled migration of Tibetan teachers into India.

This trend has grown wide and far and Tibetan teachers continue to travel the world and setting up centres of Tantric Buddhism all across the world. Characteristically, Tantric Buddhism teaches that everyone is a potential Buddha since we are all essentially pure and luminous at the lowest level of existence. This purity is what Buddhist teachers refer to as Buddha-nature and it is typically covered by a dense layer of ignorance and negativity. This negativity and ignorance thus dominates the human body and leads to suffering.

As such, Tantric Buddhism encourages those who practice it to adopt traits and characteristics of free-thinking beings through the use of special meditational practices in order to be in touch with their innate Buddha-nature (Peng 32). According to Tantric Buddhism, the human body is considered the microcosm and contains the lowest as well as the highest form of imaginable earthly existence. As such, it is possible for the human body to be turned into a hellish or heavenly state and the only way that the human body can be raised to a spiritual state is centered on Hindu Tantras which are Ida, Pingala and Susuma.

Central to Tantric Buddhism is the realization of worldly existence as reality as nonexistent in reality through breath control and regulation and combining this with concentrated thoughts (Sonam 11). Ancient Tantric texts explaining the Tantric process of uniting compassion and knowledge use metaphors, similes and symbols from unsophisticated and vulgar language. To the average reader new to Tantric Buddhism may interpret such texts literally or etymologically. Although Tantric Buddhism may have borrowed its spiritual practices from the Hindus, it has managed to retain its Mahayanic philosophy pure consciousness as separate from sense-consciousness (Ray 56).

In the Guhya-samaja, an ancient tantric text defines Vajra as reality. It explains reality as the oneness of different objects and beings where in reality there does not exist a distinction between male and female, good and bad and that such distinction is only conventional. Moreover, the activities of good or bad is an emanation of the Adi-Buddha and therefore a person’s acts of offences only have a conventional value in their own world but none in reality. This is what tantric Buddhism tries to drive into the minds of Tantric adepts; that there is no real difference between the two modes of life - unsocial and immoral life.

Scholars have written a lot about Tantric Buddhism but it has managed to retain limited understanding due to its complex and multidimensional systems of Buddhist thoughts and mediation. According to a Dutch Buddhologist Jong, Tantric Buddhism remains the most neglected branch of Buddhist studies. To a beginner, it is a baroque array of deities, practices and symbols. From a Tibetan perspective, although divergent Tantras reveal numerous epistemologies, a common ground exists for all these philosophical threads.

In Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, the key is to establish the basis on which the nature of the Buddha can be presented in mind and matter (Peng 41). This means that Tibetan Tantric Buddhism is oriented towards mental transformation from negative to positive states. Moreover, the path proposed by Tibetan Tantric Buddhism is the personal method of adjusting its basis. Significance of Tantric Buddhism in Tibet In Tibet, Buddhism draws on the teachings of and meditation techniques of the Theravada and the philosophy of Mahayana.

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