Introduction to Buddhism. Practice of Vajrayana - the most mysterious direction of Buddhism Essence and purpose

Sanskrit - “diamond chariot”) - one of Ch. directions of Mahayana and Buddhism in general, within the framework of which an amazing variety of yogic systems have been published. practices, monuments of literature and art. K con. 1 thousand n. e. V. became the dominant form of ind. Buddhism, in various historical periods it was widespread in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, China. V. has been preserved in Japan since the time of Kukai, the founder of the Shingon-shu school, but gained complete dominance in Tibet, where it is considered the crown of the teachings of the Buddha. According to Indian-Tib. tradition, there are two types of Mahayana - the “causal” vehicle of the paramitas and the “resultative” vehicle of the secret mantra, i.e. V.Dr. V.'s names are tantra, pitaka vidyadhara. Both types have the same goal, but the methods are different. V.'s supporters argue that the path of the secret mantra is much more powerful and can lead to the achievement of Buddhahood not in many kalpas, as in ordinary Mahayana, but in one life. The essence of V.’s special method is the so-called. the yoga of divine forms, which accelerates the acquisition of the second of the “two bodies of the Buddha,” that is, the “earthly body” (see Trikaya). V.'s literature is truly boundless. Thousands of V. texts were included in Tib. buddha canon, tens of thousands of works have been created and are being created to explain and develop the ideas of the canon. Influence of V. in the distribution area of ​​Tib. Buddhism, including Russia, that means. largely determined the character of the Buddhas. culture.

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VAJRAYANA (TANTRIC BUDDHISM)

At the beginning of the second half of the 1st millennium AD. e. in Mahayana Buddhism, a new direction, or yana (vehicle), is gradually emerging and being formed, called Vajrayana, or tantric Buddhism; this direction can be considered the final stage in the development of Buddhism in its homeland - India. The word “tantra” itself does not characterize the specifics of this new type of Buddhism. Tantra (like sutra) is simply a type of text that may not contain anything tantric. If the word "sutra" means "thread" on which something is strung, then the word "tantra", derived from the root "tan" (to pull, stretch) and the suffix "tra", means the basis of the fabric; that is, as in the case of sutras, we are talking about certain basic texts that serve as the basis, the core. Therefore, although the followers of Tantrism themselves talk about the “path of sutras” (Hinayana and Mahayana) and the “path of mantras,” they prefer to call their teaching Vajrayana, contrasting it not with Mahayana (tantras always emphasize that Vajrayana is the “path”, yana, within Mahayana), but the classical Mahayana path of gradual improvement, the so-called Paramitayana - the Path of Paramita, or perfections that lead to That Shore. That is, the Vajrayana is opposed precisely to the Paramitayana, and not to the Mahayana, which includes both the Paramitayana (achieving Buddhahood in three innumerable kalpas) and Vajrayana (achieving Buddhahood in one life, “in this body”). Regarding the aspect of wisdom (prajna), Vajrayana does not suggest practically anything new compared to the classical Mahayana and is based on its philosophical teachings - Madhyamaka, Yogacara and the theory of Tathagatagarbha. All the originality of the Diamond Chariot is associated with its methods (upaya), although the goal of using these methods is still the same - achieving Buddhahood for the benefit of all living beings. Vajrayana claims that the main advantage of its method is its extreme efficiency, “instantaneity”, allowing a person to become a Buddha within one life, and not three immeasurable world cycles - kalpas. At the same time, Vajrayana mentors always emphasized that this path is also the most dangerous, similar to a direct ascent to the top of a mountain along a rope stretched over all mountain gorges and abysses. The slightest mistake on this path will lead the unlucky yogi to madness or birth in a special “vajra hell”. The guarantee of success on this dangerous path is adherence to the bodhisattva ideal and the desire to achieve Buddhahood as quickly as possible in order to quickly gain the ability to save sentient beings from the suffering of samsara. If a yogi enters the Chariot of Thunder for the sake of his own success, in pursuit of magical powers and power, his final defeat and spiritual degradation are inevitable.

Therefore, tantric texts were considered sacred, and the beginning of practice in the Vajrayana system presupposed receiving special initiations and corresponding oral instructions and explanations from a teacher who had achieved the realization of the Path. In general, the role of the teacher, guru, in tantric practice is extremely large, and sometimes young adepts spent a lot of time and made enormous efforts to find a worthy mentor. Due to this intimacy of Vajrayana practice, it was also called the Vehicle of Secret Tantra or simply the secret (esoteric) teaching (Chinese mi jiao). All tantras, that is, doctrinal texts of the Vajrayana, which, like sutras, are instructions put by the authors of tantras into the mouth of Buddha-Bhagavan himself, were divided into four classes: kriya tantras (tantras of purification), charya tantras (tantras of action), yoga tantras (yogic tantras) and anuttara yoga tantras (tantras of the highest yoga), with the latter, or highest, class also divided into mother tantras (if they emphasized wisdom (prajna) and the feminine principle), father tantras (if they special emphasis was placed on method (upaya) and the masculine principle) and non-dual tantras (if these two principles played the same role). Each type of tantra had its own methods: in the kriya tantras, external forms of practice predominate, primarily various mystical rituals; in the Charyatantras elements of internal, contemplative practice appear; in yoga tantras it predominates, and anuttara yoga tantras exclusively relate to internal psychopractice. However, anuttara yoga tantras also have a number of very specific features that quite clearly distinguish this type of tantric texts from texts of other classes. The main methods offered by the first three classes of tantras can be reduced to the performance of special rituals-liturgies with complex symbolic meaning and to the practice of mantras, the technique of visualization (mental reproduction of images) of deities and contemplation of mandalas. The practice of reciting mantras is so important in Vajrayana that it is often even called Mantrayana - the Vehicle of Mantras (sometimes this name is applied to the practice of the first three categories of tantras). The technique of visualizing deities is also extremely developed in Vajrayana. A practicing yogi must learn to imagine this or that Buddha or bodhisattva not just as some kind of image, but as a living person with whom one can even talk. Usually the visualization of deities is accompanied by the recitation of mantras dedicated to him. This form of contemplation is especially characteristic of the methods of anutara yoga tantras of the first stage of practice (the so-called generation stage - utpatti krama). Anutara yoga tantras (that is, we repeat, tantras of the highest yoga) use all the methods and techniques described above, but their content is significantly changed. In addition, tantras of this class are also characterized by a number of specific features, which are usually associated in popular literature with the word “tantra”, and very often, when they talk about tantras, they mean the tantras of the highest yoga (Guhyasamaja tantra, Hevajra tantra, Chandamaharoshana tantra, Chakrasamvara tantra, Kalachakra tantra, etc.). What catches your eye when reading tantric texts of the highest yoga? First of all, the motives of sin, crime and horror, the themes of adultery, incest, murder, theft and even cannibalism repeated in positive contexts - all this is recommended for a true yogi to commit, everything that would seem to be completely opposite to the very spirit of Buddhism, which has always preached moral purity , compassion for all living things and abstinence. Vajrayana immediately began to work with the subconscious and unconscious, using images and archetypes to quickly uproot the very roots of affects: passions, drives (sometimes pathological), attachments that may not have been realized by the practitioner himself, however, influencing his consciousness “from the inside.” Then only came the turn of consciousness, transformed following the cleansing of the dark depths of the subconscious. A major role in determining the specific practice for each student by the guru (teacher) was played by clarifying the basic affect for his psyche: whether it is anger, passion, ignorance, pride or envy. Therefore, the texts of the Diamond Chariot tirelessly repeat that affects should not be eradicated or destroyed, but recognized and transformed, transubstantiated into awakened consciousness, just as in the process of alchemical transmutation the alchemist turns iron and lead into gold and silver.

Thus, the tantric yogi himself turns out to be an alchemist, healing the psyche by transforming impurities and passions into the pure wisdom of the Buddha. And if the basis for the transmutation of metals is a certain primary matter, which forms the nature of both iron and gold, then the basis for the transformation of passions and drives into the wisdom of the Buddha is buddhattva - the nature of the Buddha, which is the nature of the psyche and all its states and which is present in any, even the most base mental act, just as water remains wet both in a sea wave and in any dirty puddle: after all, this dirt has nothing to do with the nature of water, which is always wet, clean and transparent. All tantric texts are highly symbolic, semiotic and are not at all designed for literal understanding. Much of their interpretation depends on the level at which the text is being interpreted. Thus, on one level, the requirement to kill parents may mean the eradication of affects and a dualistic vision of reality, which serve as parents for a samsaric being, and on another, it may mean stopping the movement of energy flows (prana) in the spinal column by holding the breath during the yogic practice of tantras. Particular attention should be paid to the sexual symbolism of the tantras, which is so obvious that Westerners even began to associate it with the word “tantrism” itself. It is not at all surprising that tantric yogis working with the subconscious paid special attention to sexuality (libido) as the basis of the very energy of the body, which was considered as a microcosm - an exact homomorphic copy of the universe.

In addition, the Vajrayana understood bliss and pleasure (sukha, bhoga) as the most important attribute of Buddha nature and even proclaimed the thesis about the identity of emptiness and bliss. Some tantras introduce the concept of the Great Bliss Body (mahasukha kaya), which is considered as the unified essence of all three Buddha Bodies. And the pleasure of orgasm was interpreted by tantriks as the most adequate samsaric expression of this transcendental bliss. In the sexual yoga of tantra, orgasm had to be experienced as intensely as possible, used for psycho-practical purposes to stop conceptual thinking, mental construction (vikalpa), get rid of subject-object duality and move to the level of experiencing the absolute bliss of nirvana. In addition, adherents of the Diamond Chariot correlated sexual images of the subconscious with the main provisions of the Mahayana doctrine. According to the Mahayana teachings, the awakened consciousness is born (without being, meanwhile, born) from the combination of the bodhisattva’s skillful method and his great compassion (karuna, its symbol is the vajra scepter) and wisdom as a direct intuition of emptiness as the inner nature of all phenomena (prajna, its symbol - bell). This integration of compassion-method and wisdom-emptiness (yuganaddha) is awakening (bodhi). Therefore, nothing prevented the tantric tradition from correlating compassion and method with the masculine, active principle, and wisdom with the feminine, passive, and metaphorically representing the awakening, the acquisition of Buddhahood in the form of male and female figures of deity-symbols in intercourse. Thus, tantric images of syzygys (pairs) of combining deities are nothing more than metaphorical images of the unity of compassion-method and emptiness-wisdom/bliss, generating in the ecstasy of love union and pleasure (in the tantras there is even a pun on bhoga-yoga, pleasure is yoga , psychopractice) awakening as the highest totality, integration of all psychosomatic aspects of the microcosm personality (in accordance with the tantric principle of identity, consubstantiality of the body and consciousness-mind). It is now quite clear that in the early period of the development of the Vajrayana, yogis who did not take monastic vows did indeed practice sexual rituals that required, as a necessary condition for their effectiveness, the self-identification of partners with deities. Sometimes sexual ritual was part of tantric initiation. Moreover, it has been argued that some forms of tantric yoga, especially at the completion stage of practice (utpanna krama, satpatti krama), require real intercourse with a partner (karma mudra), and not its meditative playback in the mind. These rituals continued to be practiced later, including in Tibet, but only by yogis who did not take monastic vows. The practice of such rituals and yogic methods for monks was strictly prohibited as incompatible with the Vinaya, which was clearly stated by such authorities of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition as Atisha (XI century) and Tsongkhapa (XIV-XV centuries), in no way, however, not condemning the methods themselves if they were practiced by lay yogis.

Therefore, in monasteries (the practice of Anuttara yoga tantra methods in a monastic environment was finally consolidated in the 11th-12th centuries), sexual yoga was completely abandoned, content with their meditative recreation through the practice of visualization and self-identification with the visualized character. But in any case, tantric yoga is by no means a sex technique preached by numerous tantric charlatans, and not a way of obtaining sensual pleasure through mystical eroticism, but a complex system of working with the psyche, with the subconscious for the realization of the religious ideal of Mahayana Buddhism - a psychotechnics that included a kind of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. Here it is appropriate to point out one significant difference between Buddhist Tantrism and Hindu (Shaivist) Tantrism, which developed in parallel with it. In Buddhism, the feminine principle is prajna, that is, wisdom, intuition of reality as it is and understanding of the nature of samsara as essentially empty states of consciousness; Prajna is passive. In Shaivism, the feminine principle is shakti, that is, strength, energy, unity with which joins the world-creating power of God; shakti is by definition active. Buddha-Hindu interaction at the level of yoga has gone so far, however, that in the latest tantras (for example, in the Kalachakra Tantra, early 11th century), the concept of “shakti” appears, which had not previously been used in Buddhist tantras. The archaic roots of tantrism can also be indicated by elements of magical ideas and forms of practice within the framework of Vajrayana Buddhism, but also rethought from the point of view of Buddhist ethics. The tantras are full of descriptions of rituals that can be formally attributed to magic, and, it would seem, even to harmful magic - the magic of rituals of pacification, enrichment, subjugation and destruction. However, the texts make important reservations: secret rituals of destruction should be performed only for the benefit of living beings (for example, to exterminate an enemy capable of destroying Buddhism or the monastic community in a given country). Nevertheless, one can find many examples in history when corresponding rituals were performed for less global reasons. The example of Japan is particularly characteristic here. So, in the XIV century. Emperor Godaigo resorted to them when he was fighting the military shogunal government in Kamakura; in 1854, the monks of the Shingon tantric school performed similar rituals when the squadron of the American Admiral Perry approached the shores of Japan, demanding the “opening” of the country on the basis of an unequal treaty, and, finally, rituals of subjugation and destruction were regularly performed by Japanese Shingon and Tendai monks during the Second world war. Particularly characteristic for these purposes is the performance of the ritual of “fire offering” (homa, or goma), which apparently dates back to the early Vedic era (the turn of the 2nd and 1st millennia BC).

Tantric Buddhism actually became the leading direction of the late Indian Mahayana during the reign of the kings of the Pal dynasty, the last Buddhist monarchs of India (VIII - early XIII centuries), and was borrowed in the same status by the Tibetan tradition that was formed simultaneously. Tantric yoga was also practiced by such a famous thinker as Dharmakirti. Essentially, the logical-epistemological branch of Yogacara in philosophy and tantra in Buddhist practice determined the specifics of Buddhism in the last period of its existence in its homeland (although individual Buddhist tantric yogis lived in the 15th and even 16th centuries, but after the Muslim conquest of Bengal and Bihar in the 13th century, Buddhism disappears as an organized religion in India). Both of these directions - the philosophy and logic of the late Yogacara and Vajrayana - largely determined the specifics of Tibetan Buddhism (and then Mongolian, also borrowed by the peoples of Russia - the Buryats, Kalmyks and Tuvans). In contrast, in the Far East, tantra received relatively little distribution (although it did influence the iconography of Chinese Buddhism quite strongly). Even in Japan, where, thanks to the remarkable personality of Kukai (Kobo Daishi; 774-835), the Shingon school of yoga tantras is quite strong, the influence of tantra was noticeably inferior to the influence of such schools as the Pure Land, Nichiren-shu, Zen or even Tendai. This is largely explained by the fact that Chinese Buddhism had already practically formed by the time of the heyday of the Vajrayana (a new wave of interest in the tantras led in the 11th century to the translation of a number of Anutara yoga tantras, but these translations were accompanied by significant deletions and editorial censorship of the texts). In addition, the cultural and ecological niche of the Vajrayana was occupied by Taoism in China. Nevertheless, Vajrayana still remains extremely relevant for Central Asian Buddhism and a very interesting phenomenon for religious studies in the spiritual life of the peoples of the East.

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Hello, dear readers!

Nowadays, Buddhism is becoming more and more widespread in our country. For the first time, many people encounter diverse information about it that is not always clear to inexperienced beginners. The practice of Vajrayana is something that will undoubtedly interest the inquisitive reader, and we will try to talk about it in a simple and understandable form.

Directions of Buddhism

The emergence of Buddhism dates back to around the 5th century of the first millennium BC. It belongs to one of the three world religions, which means that any person can profess it, no matter where he lives, what his nationality is and what race he is. As with any faith, Buddhism has its own directions.

In accordance with the chronology of occurrence, three main trends can be distinguished:

• Hinayana or Theravada
• Mahayana
• Vajrayana

Strictly speaking, Vajrayana arose as an offshoot of Mahayana, not contradicting it in philosophy, but having its own approach and methods of meditation.

The relationship between the names and the essence of the doctrine

Let's look at the names of this movement to better understand what it is. The word “vajra” in Sanskrit means “diamond”, “yana” means chariot, path. In another way, Vajrayana is also called the “Diamond Chariot,” which symbolizes the inviolability of the awakened consciousness. It itself, that is, enlightenment, is like a flash of lightning or a clap of thunder.

This is associated with the original meaning of the word “vajra” - “a special weapon made from the thick above-ground part of a tree trunk above the roots - the butt - with sharp pieces of roots spread out to the sides.” The scepter of the Indian Zeus - Indra was also called. One of the ritual Buddhist objects - the vajra - now has the same shape, but without a handle.

Since reading mantras plays a huge role in Vajrayana, this direction is also often called Mantrayana. There are a great many mantras, but there are especially effective, secret mantras so powerful that they were hidden from ordinary people for a long time.

First of all, this is the Padmanentra mantra, which leads to the fulfillment of any desire; Vajrachakra mantra, eliminating laziness; Manibhadra mantra that brings wealth into the life of an adept.

It is believed that repeated recitation of mantras leads to the achievement of enlightenment. One of the famous teachers, Padmasambhava, passed on the golden mantra to his followers:

"Om A Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum."

It is considered golden because thanks to it, envy, pride, anger, disgust, desires, attachments, unwanted emotions, ignorance no longer darken the spirit; mind, speech and body become enlightened.

Vajrayana is also called Tantrayana, since knowledge is transmitted from teacher to student in the form of tantras - texts that have ambiguous interpretation. Buddhist Tantrism therefore presupposes an initiation, during which a teacher or guru, who has already achieved enlightenment, as necessary, explains the correct pronunciation of sounds to the student and gives him other instructions.

Otherwise, the guru is called “lama”, hence another name for Buddhism accepted in Europe – Lamaism. It is widespread in Tibet, where it came from India, in Mongolia, Japan, Nepal, Russia, Europe, America and other places. The spiritual leader of Buddhism today is the 14th Dalai Lama.

What are the main ideas of this direction? All the variety of Vajrayana names does not change the main thing:

“The methods used in Vajrayana serve one purpose: to become a Buddha by living one or more lifetimes to help all living things in need of compassion.”

Vajrayana Basics

A student who is going to practice Vajrayana must understand the emptiness of everything around him, that is, its lack of independence, and its appearance only in connection with other things. He must be motivated by compassion and have purity of vision, that is, have a calm mind so that he can see clearly.

The three roots of this practice are dakini, guru, yidam.

Dakinis, or “those who walk across the sky,” are one of the roots of the Vajrayana. They are enlightened feminine beings who patronize yogis and keep secret knowledge and practices. Some believe that dakinis are various forms of energy in personified form.

An ideal teacher - a guru - is considered to be one who has reached the pinnacle of spiritual perfection and can now pass on his skills and the essence of his teaching, and teach various psychotechnical techniques to his students.

Establishing spiritual unity with the chosen teacher, its strengthening and development is very important, therefore, traditionally, students observe their teacher for several years to make sure that they can completely trust him. After which the teacher checks the student for readiness to follow the proposed methods.

A significant role is played by the “yidam”, which represents the supreme being chosen by the adept himself. The yogi chooses it based on his needs, either himself or, in most cases, with the help of a teacher, so that the yidam helps him become a Buddha. By contemplating it, or using the method of visualization, one who strives to achieve perfection transforms his spirit, turning into an enlightened deity.

To enlighten the body, bodily exercises are used, to enlighten speech - repeated repetition of mantras, and the mind is enlightened by visualization or contemplation of enlightened yids and mandalas. This is how the trinity of mind, speech and body is realized in Buddhism.

Conclusion

With this we say goodbye for now. Friends, if you liked this article, share it on social networks.

E. A. Torchinov

Torchinov E.A. Religions of the world: experience of the beyond. Psychotechnics and transpersonal states. - 4th ed. - St. Petersburg: ABC-classics, St. Petersburg Oriental Studies, 2005, p. 368-385.

Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana)

In the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. Buddhism in India is entering the last period of its development, which received the name “tantric” in Buddhist literature. Here we must immediately say that the word “tantra” itself does not in any way characterize the specifics of this new type of Buddhism. “Tantra” is simply the name of a type of text that may not contain anything actually “tantric.” We have already touched on this issue when talking about Hindu Tantrism, but we consider it necessary to repeat it again. Just as the word “sutra”, which denoted the canonical texts of the Hinayana and Mahayana, has the meaning of “the basis of the fabric”, so the word “tantra” means just a thread on which something (beads, rosaries) is strung; that is, as in the case of sutras, we are talking about certain basic texts that serve as the basis, the core. Therefore, although the followers of Tantrism themselves talk about the “path of sutras” (Hinayana and Mahayana) and the “path of mantras,” they nevertheless prefer to call their teaching Vajrayana, contrasting it not with Mahayana (of which Vajrayana is a part), but with the classical Mahayana path of gradual improvement (paramitayana, the Chariot of Paramita or perfections that transfer to That Shore).368

What does the word Vajrayana mean? The word "vajra" was originally used to refer to the thunder scepter of the Vedic god Indra, but gradually its meaning changed. The fact is that one of the meanings of the word “vajra” is “diamond”, “adamant”. Already within the framework of Buddhism, the word “vajra” began to be associated, on the one hand, with the initially perfect nature of awakened consciousness, like an indestructible diamond, and on the other, awakening itself, enlightenment, like an instantaneous clap of thunder or a flash of lightning. The ritual Buddhist vajra, like the ancient vajra, is a special type of scepter that symbolizes awakened consciousness. Therefore, the word "Vajrayana" can be translated as "Diamond Chariot", "Thunder Chariot", etc. The first translation can be considered the most common.

How is Vajrayana (or Tantric Buddhism) different from other forms of Buddhism?

It should immediately be said that with regard to the aspect of wisdom (prajna), the Vajrayana does not offer practically anything new compared to the classical Mahayana and is based on its philosophical teachings: Madhyamika, Yogacara and the theory of Tathagatagarbha. All the originality of the Diamond Chariot is associated with its methods (upaya), although the goal of these methods is still the same - achieving Buddhahood for the benefit of all living beings. But why, the question arises, are these new methods needed, if already in the classical Mahayana there was an extremely developed system of yogic improvement?

First of all, the Vajrayana texts assert, the path it offers is instantaneous (like the path of Chan Buddhism) and opens up for a person the possibility of achieving Buddhahood not through three immeasurable kalpas, as in the old Mahayana, but in this very life, “in one body.” Consequently, an adept of the Diamond Chariot can more quickly fulfill his bodhisattva vow: to become a Buddha in the name of liberating all living beings from the swamp of birth-death. At the same time, Vajrayana mentors always emphasized that this path is also the most dangerous, similar to a direct ascent to the top of a mountain along a rope stretched over all mountain gorges and abysses. The slightest mistake on this path will lead the unlucky yogi to madness or
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Birth in a special “vajra hell”. The guarantee of success on this dangerous path is strict adherence to the bodhisattva ideal and the desire to achieve Buddhahood as quickly as possible in order to quickly be able to relieve living beings from the suffering of samsara. If a yogi enters the Chariot of Thunder for the sake of his own success, in pursuit of magical powers and power, his final defeat and spiritual degradation are inevitable.

Therefore, tantric texts were considered sacred, and the beginning of practice in the Vajrayana system required receiving a special initiation 137 and accompanying instructions from a teacher who has achieved the realization of the Path. In general, the role of the teacher in tantric Buddhism is especially great (here it is appropriate to recall the statement of Muslim Sufi ascetics who said that for Sufis who do not have a teacher, the teacher is the devil). Due to this intimacy of Vajrayana practice, it is also called the Vehicle of Secret Tantra or simply the secret teaching (Chinese mi jiao).

What is the specificity of tantric methods of achieving the awakening of consciousness?

Before answering this question, we note that all tantras (that is, the doctrinal texts of the Vajrayana, representing the personal instructions put by the authors of the tantras into the mouth of the Buddha, which, as we remember, the authors of the Mahayana sutras did) were divided into four classes: kriya-tpantpras (purification tantras), charya-tpantpras (action tantras), yoga tantras and anutara yoga tantras (highest yoga tantras). Each type of tantra had its own specific methods, although they had much in common. The difference, in fact, is between the first three classes of tantras and the last, which is considered (especially in Tibet, whose Buddhism strictly reproduced the late Indian tradition) to be the most excellent and perfect 138 .

The main methods offered by the first three classes of tantras can be reduced to the performance of special rituals-liturgies that have a complex symbolic meaning, which presupposed a contemplative (psychotechnically oriented) reading of them by the performing yogi, and to the practice of mantras, the technique of visualizing deities and contemplating mandalas.
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The practice of reading mantras is so important in Vajrayana that sometimes the path of the first classes of tantras is even called mantrayana (Vehicle of Mantras). Strictly speaking, the repetition of mantra prayers is well known in Mahayana. However, the nature of Mahayana prayers and tantric mantras and dharani (from the same root dhr, “to hold” as dharma; dharani - combinations of sounds, syllables encoding the content of detailed texts of a psychotechnical nature, their peculiar syllabic and sound synopsis) are completely different. Mahayana mantras are usually designed to understand the immediate meaning of their constituent words and sentences. For example: “Oh m! Svabhava shuddha, sarva dharma svabhava shuddha. Hum! (“Om! Pure self-existence, pure self-existence of all dharmas. Hum!” Or the prajna-paramita mantra from the “Heart Sutra”: “Om! Gate, gate, paragate, parasashate, bodhi. Svaha!” (“O you, who translates for limits, transfers beyond the limits, transfers beyond the limits of the infinite, glory!”) Or the famous mantra “Om mani padme hum” - “Om! Precious Lotus Hum!” (meaning the great compassionate bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, to whom this mantra is dedicated). It should be noted that the words om (aum) and hum are left without translation. This sacred untranslatability already directly relates them to tantric mantras. The sound combinations that form these mantras, such as hum, ah, hri and the like, do not have any dictionary meaning. the direct impact of their very sound, the very sound vibrations and modulations of the voice when pronouncing them on the consciousness and psychophysical parameters of the yogi repeating them. Pronouncing mantras also implies contemplative concentration and understanding of the inner meaning of the mantra and its impact. The practice of tantric mantras involves a special initiation, which is accompanied by an explanation of the correct pronunciation of a particular sound.

The technique of visualizing deities is also extremely developed in Vajrayana. A practicing yogi should ideally learn to imagine this or that buddha or bodhisattva not just as some kind of picture, but as a living person with whom one can even talk. Usually visualization
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The deity is accompanied by the reading of mantras dedicated to him. Mandala la (lit.: “circle”) is a complex three-dimensional (although there are also icons depicting mandalas) model of the psychocosm in the aspect of the enlightened consciousness of a particular buddha or bodhisattva (his image is usually placed in the center of the mandala). The yogi visualizes the mandala, builds, as it were, an internal mandala in his consciousness, which is then combined with the external mandala by an act of projection, transforming the world around the yogi into the divine world (more precisely, changing the yogi’s consciousness in such a way that it begins to unfold at a different level, corresponding to the level of deployment of the consciousness of the deity of the mandala: this is no longer the “world of dust and dirt” of the consciousness of the layman, but the Pure Earth, the “field of the Buddha”). In passing, we note that there were even grandiose temple complexes built in the shape of a mandala. According to many researchers, this is, for example, the famous Indonesian monastery of Borobudur, which is a giant mandala in stone.

Anutara yoga tantras (highest yoga tantras) use all the methods and techniques described above, but their content is significantly changed. In addition, tantras of this class are also characterized by a number of specific features that are usually associated in popular literature with the word “tantra”, and very often, when they talk about tantras, they mean the tantras of the highest yoga (“Guhyasamajatantra”, “Hevajra tantra”, “Kalachakra tantra”, etc.). But before considering their specifics, let us ask ourselves the question of the origin of the Vajrayana, its roots, which will greatly help to understand both the essence of the tantric texts of the highest yoga and the nature of the methods described in them.

As already mentioned, Buddhism was largely formed within the framework of the protest of a living religious and moral feeling against the frozen Brahmanical dogmatism and ritualism, against the snobbish pride of the “twice-born.” But by the time of the appearance of the Diamond Chariot, Buddhism itself, as a widespread and prosperous religion, had its own external piety , enchanted by his righteousness and virtues acquired within the walls of monasteries; arose
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The monastic elite, who replaced the spirit of the teachings of the Awakened One by scrupulously following the letter of monastic rules and formal regulations. This gradual fading of the living religious impulse prompted a number of followers of Buddhism to challenge the traditional monastic way of life in the name of reviving the spirit of the teachings of the Buddha, contrary to all formalism and dogmatic deadness and based on direct psychotechnical experience. This tendency found its highest expression in the images of mahasiddhas (great perfect ones), people who preferred the experience of individual hermitage and yogic perfection of the monastery.
sky isolation. In the images of the Mahasiddhas (Naropa, Tilopa, Maripa, etc.) there is a lot of grotesque, foolish, and sometimes shocking things about the average man in the street. his popular ideas of holiness and piety. These were, first of all, practitioners, yogis, who were interested precisely in the speedy achievement of a religious goal, and not in the scholastic subtleties of interpretation of the Dharma and the endless discussions about them in monastic centers that became an end in themselves. The Mahasiddha yogis did not bind themselves by taking formal vows, led a free lifestyle, and even outwardly, with their long hair (and sometimes beards), differed from shaved monks (it is interesting that even now, when performing tantric rituals in the datsans of Mongolia and Buryatia, lama monks wear on their shaved heads wigs with the characteristic hairstyle of Vajrayana yogis). Without dogmatic prejudices, they freely associated with fellow Hindu yogis who disdained the restrictions of Brahmanical orthodoxy, which led to an unlimited exchange of ideas and methods of yogic practice. Apparently, it was in this environment that the techniques and images characteristic of the tantras of the highest yoga class, adopted much later by monastic Buddhism, were formed.

Speaking about the mahasiddhas, it is impossible to at least briefly mention the six yogas of Naropa:
1) yoga of internal heat,
2) yoga of the illusory body,
3) dream yoga,
4) clear light yoga,

5) intermediate state yoga,
6) yoga of consciousness transfer.
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All these types of yoga are extremely interesting in terms of developing a psychological approach in religious studies, since many of the states described (and achieved) in them are quite familiar and transpersonal to psychology. Let's say a few words about the yoga of the intermediate state and the yoga of internal heat.

The first of them presupposes the yogi’s ability to enter an intermediate state between death and a new birth (antpara bhava, Tib. bardo, Chinese zhong yin). The yogi reaches a special state of consciousness, which he identifies as intermediate. In it, the sensation of the body disappears, and the consciousness of the yogi (psychological subject) can move freely in space, experiencing various visions. At the same time, the yogi feels that he is, as it were, tied to his body with an elastic thread. Breaking the thread would mean actual death. Why do you need to enter an intermediate state? In Tantric Buddhism, there is the idea that everyone who has died at some point experiences awakening and contemplates the clear light of the empty Dharma body. Consolidating this experience (which, according to tradition, almost no one succeeds in) means achieving Buddhahood and leaving samsara. Therefore, the yogi strives, during his lifetime, to enter the state of samadhi, the intermediate state, and try to achieve awakening in it.

Note that S. Grof describes similar experiences in his patients during transpersonal sessions 139 .

Yoga of internal heat (chunda yoga, Tib. tpummo) is especially popular in the Tibetan school of Kagyu-pa (kajud-pa). Typologically, it corresponds to the kundalini yoga of Shaivism, although it does not know the concept of kundalini shakti and its connection with Shiva-atman. Chunda yoga involves working with the nadi chakras to sublimate internal energy (which is expressed externally in strong heating of the body) and transformation of consciousness.

The remaining types of Naropa yoga are much less known to researchers. Of particular interest, apparently, is dream yoga with its technique of “being awake in a dream,” which gradually turns into the ability to practice yoga in a dream 140 It is known that Chan (Zen) monks can also remain in constant contemplation (including dreams).
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One more point is important to note when talking about mahasiddhas. The tendency towards the substantialization of awakened consciousness, which we spoke about in relation to the theory of tathagatagarbha, finds its full completion in the texts associated with the names of the mahasiddhas and in the later tantras, which, obviously, is also due to the convergence of Hindu and Buddhist yoga in a psychotechnically (and not doctrinally) oriented Indian Vajrayana traditions. The non-dual dharmakaya is often described in them in the same terms as the divine atman of the Upanishads and the Gita, and sometimes directly named after the Hindu gods (Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, etc.). Therefore, it is not surprising that the official cult of medieval Indonesia, which was influenced by both Hindu Shaivism and Tantric Buddhism, was the cult of a single and absolute God - Shiva Buddha. It took Tsongkhapa's enormous efforts to reconcile the position of the tantras exclusively with the classical form of Madhyamika Prasangika, which was considered the highest philosophy in his Gelug-pa school, within the framework of the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. In the old schools of Tibetan Buddhism (Sakya-pa, Kagyu-pa and Osochenyigma-pa), the original “convergent” character of the “theology” of the tantras was preserved in its more or less original form.

What catches your eye when reading tantric texts of the highest yoga? First of all, these are the motives of sinful, criminal and terrible, used in a positive sense, the themes of adultery, incest, murder, theft and other vices - all this is recommended for the true yogi to commit, everything that, it would seem, is so contrary to the very spirit of Buddhism, which has always preached moral purity , compassion and abstinence. And suddenly - statements that the way to satisfy all passions is identical to the way to suppress them, suddenly sermons delivered by Buddha-Bhagavan, who resides in the yoni, the “lotus” of the female genital organs, sermons from which bodhisattvas listening to them fall faint, because these sermons are filled with calls to kill parents and teachers, commit acts of the most monstrous incest, eat not only animal meat, but also indulge in cannibalism, as well as make offerings to the Buddha with meat, blood and sewage.
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What's behind all this? Have some “Satanists” taken possession of the image of the gentle Buddha to seduce living beings from the path of liberation? Or is it something else? But what?

First of all, it should be noted that the tantric method, although, according to tradition, leads to the same result as the method of the classical Mahayana sutras, nevertheless, in its character it is directly opposite to it. Mahayana (Dai Hinayana) worked primarily with consciousness, with that thin superficial layer of the psyche that is characteristic of a person and is closely related to the type of civilizational development of a particular society and its level. And only gradually the enlightening effect of Mahayana methods affects the deeper layers and layers of the psyche, transforming them. Vajrayana is a different matter. She directly began to work with the dark abysses of the subconscious and unconscious, using its crazy surreal images to quickly uproot the very roots of affects: passions, drives (sometimes pathological), attachments - which may not have been realized by the practitioner himself. Then only came the turn of consciousness, transforming following the cleansing of the dark depths of the subconscious. A major role in determining the guru of a particular practice for each student was to clarify the basic affect (klesha) for his psyche: whether it is anger, passion, ignorance, pride or envy. Therefore, the texts of the Diamond Chariot tirelessly repeat that affects should not be suppressed and destroyed, but recognized and transformed, transubstantiated into awakened consciousness, just as in the process of alchemical transmutation the alchemist turns iron and lead into gold and silver. Thus, the tantric yogi himself turns out to be such an alchemist, healing the psyche by transforming the filth and passions into the pure wisdom of the Buddha. And if the basis for the transmutation of metals is a certain primordial matter that forms the nature of both iron and gold, then the basis for the transformation of passions and attractions into the wisdom of a Buddha is the nature
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Buddha, which is the nature of the psyche as such and which is present in any, even the most base mental act, just as water constitutes the nature of both sea waves and any, even the most polluted body of water: after all, this dirt has nothing to do with the nature of the water itself, which is always clean and transparent . The Tibetan tradition of Dzog-chen calls this nature of consciousness “consciousness” (chitta-tva, sems-nyid), as opposed to simply the psyche or consciousness (citta, sems); in the Chinese Chan tradition, this same essence is called the nature of consciousness (xin xing), which is revealed in the act of seeing nature (ts jiang xing, Japanese kensho). Its essence is pure and non-dual gnosis (junyana, Tib. rig-pa or yeses, Chinese zhi).

And here the Vajrayana adherents find themselves in complete agreement with one of the main postulates of Mahayana philosophy - the doctrine of the identity and non-duality of samsara and nirvana.

Further, all tantric texts are highly symbolic, semiotic and are not at all designed for literal understanding (let’s not forget that we are talking about secret and dangerous for profane teaching). Much of their interpretation depends on the level at which the text is being interpreted. Thus, on one level, the requirement to kill parents may mean the eradication of the klesha of a dualistic vision of reality, which serves as parents for a samsaric being, and on another, the suppression of the movement of energy flows in the spinal column by holding the breath in the process of yogic practice of tantras. The same is true for other metaphors of crime ( compare the phrase from Psalm 136 “On the rivers of Babylon”: “And Your babies will be dashed against the stone”, where by “babies” the Orthodox Church understands sins).

Particular attention should be paid to the sexual symbolism of tantrism, which is so obvious that it has even become associated among the European layman with the word “tantrism” itself.

On the one hand, it is not at all surprising that tantric yogis working with the subconscious paid special attention to sexuality (libido) as the basis of the very energy of a person’s psychosomatic integrity. On the other hand, adherents of the Diamond Chariot correlated sexual images
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Subconscious minds with the main provisions of the Mahayana doctrine. Let us recall that, according to the teachings of the Mahayana, the awakened consciousness is born (without being born) from the combination of the skilful methods of the bodhisattva saving living beings, his great compassion (karuna; ritual symbol - skepstr-vajra) with wisdom, intuitive comprehension of emptiness as the nature of all phenomena (prajna; ritual symbol - bell). This integration of compassion and wisdom gave rise to awakening (bodhi). Therefore, nothing interfered with the tantric tradition, but, on the contrary, was in the best harmony with its guidelines to correlate compassion and method with the masculine, active principle, and wisdom with the feminine, passive principle, and to metaphorically represent awakening, the acquisition of Buddhahood in the form of male and female figures in intercourse deities-symbols. Thus, tantric images of combining deities are nothing more than metaphorical images of the unity of compassion-method and wisdom, generating awakening as the highest wholeness, the integration of the psyche (yuga-naddha).

Science has long been faced with the question of whether tantric practice had real rituals that presupposed physical intimacy between the men and women participating in them, who identified themselves with “karuna” and “prajna,” respectively, or whether these rituals were always of a purely internal, contemplative nature. It seems that there can be no clear answer to this question. It is possible that in the early, “dissident” period of the development of the Vajrayana, yogis (who did not take monastic vows) actually practiced sexual rituals, which, however, required the obligatory entry of partners into a state of self-deepening and identification with deities. Later, when tantric yoga became an integral part of Buddhist practice in monasteries (especially in Tibet, and especially after Tsongkhapa’s reforms), such rituals were completely abandoned, content with their recreation in contemplation through the practice of visualization and self-identification with the visualized object. But in any case, tantric yoga is by no means a technique
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Sex, preached by numerous charlatans from Tantra, is not a way of obtaining pleasure through mystical eroticism (although Tantra places special emphasis on bliss, sukha, and sometimes equates pleasure and psychotechnics, Sanskrit bhoga and yoga), but a very complex system of working with the psyche, with the subconscious for the implementation of the religious ideal of Buddhism - psychotechnics, which includes a kind of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy.

Here it is appropriate to point out one significant difference between Buddhist Tantrism and Shaivite Tantrism. In Buddhism, the feminine principle is prajna, that is, wisdom, intuition of reality as it is and understanding of the nature of samsara as essentially empty states of consciousness; Prajna is passive. In the Shaivism-feminine principle - shakti, that is, strength, energy, the unity of which attaches to the world-creating power of God; Shakti is by definition active. The Buddhist-Hindu convergence, however, went so far that in the latest tantras (for example, in the Kalachakra Tantra, 10th century) the concept of “shakti” appears, which had not previously been used in Buddhist tantras.

Tantric Buddhism brought into being a new pantheon of deities unknown to other forms of Buddhism. When a Buddhist icon depicts a many-armed and many-headed deity, hung with skulls, often clutching his prajna in his arms, then this is an icon of tantric Buddhism. What is the religious meaning of such images?

Just as the sexual symbolism of the tantras had its prototype in the archaic fertility cults (apparently of Dravidian origin) of ancient India, which were radically rethought by Buddhism and became, essentially, derivatives of archaic cults and images, being included in the system of Buddhist philosophy and psychology, the tantric pantheon is also in was largely rooted in the cults of archaic deities, the veneration of which was largely preserved in the lower classes of the Ikasts of Indian society and beyond them among the pariahs (Dombi, Chandala). Who are all these tantric yoginis (witches, demons) and dakimi, magical maidens who teach adepts the highest secrets in cemeteries among skeletons and cremation ashes? In origin it is very
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Unattractive bloodsucking vampires (their fangs are also visible on Tibetan thangka icons), ghouls and demons of the lowest layer of Indian mythology. But don’t their grotesque and terrible images best correspond to the surreal creations of the liberated and raging subconscious? Or doesn’t the transformation of a bloodsucker werewolf into the bearer of the secrets of the path to liberation best symbolize the idea of ​​the all-presence and universality of Buddha nature, which forms the essence of even vicious psychic impulses? Buddhist yogis also did not miss the opportunity to slightly shock the monastic elite by venerating such images. In general, it should be said that Vajrayana, using the form and appearance of objects of ancient cults and folk beliefs and superstitions, radically rethought their content, transforming primitive demons and imps into symbols of certain mental states, which turned them into artificially constructed archetypes or, more precisely, into artificially constructed images archetypes of the unconscious.

A special class of tantric deities consists of the so-called tutelary deities (shita devata, Tib. yidam). These deities, multi-armed and multi-headed, with many attributes, are the most complex psychological archetypal symbols denoting higher states of consciousness. Essentially, the teaching of any tantra, its highest goal is awakening, and the methods it offers can be visually presented in the form of imageyidama. Therefore, their names usually coincide with the names of the tantras: Hevajra (Yamantaka), Kalachakra, Guhyasamaja, etc. Thus, the yidams symbolize perfect awakening and therefore, in their status, correspond to the Buddhas, identical to them. Their menacing appearance, bared fangs and other warlike attributes, in addition to the high psychological meaning, demonstrate their readiness to destroy all vices and passions, turning them into blood ~ awakening and wine - amrita (elixir of immortality), filling channels, bowls from skulls, on many tantric icons. In the process of tantric contemplation, a yogi who knows the corresponding text by heart and owns the dharani encoding it, and
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Also, having the necessary initiations, visualizes a certain deity (yidam), identifies himself with it, transferring its attributes to himself, and ultimately reaches the state of awakening, which this deity symbolizes in a given tantric system.

One of the main provisions of the Vajrayana is the thesis of non-duality, the identity of body and consciousness. In general, consciousness occupies a central place in the teachings of the Vajrayana: both samsara and nirvana are nothing more than two different states of the same consciousness; awakening is comprehension of the nature of consciousness as such. And this consciousness is declared to be non-dual (advaya) with the body and consubstantial with the latter. This naturally follows the desire of the tantric yogi to work not just with consciousness, but with the psychophysical whole of his body, which is non-dual in nature. Therefore, an important role in the methods of the Diamond Chariot is played by working with various psychophysical and energetic structures of the body. According to tantric paraphysiology (we talked about it earlier, in connection with Shaivite yoga), the body at its subtle, energetic level is endowed with special channels (nadis) through which it circulates energy (prana). Three channels are considered the most important. In Buddhist tantra they are called: avadhuti (it runs in the center along the spinal column and is similar to the Hindu sushumna), lalana and rasana, going to the right and left of avadhuti and symbolizing the method - compassion and wisdom (the ide and nourishment of Hindu tantra). The yogi strives to introduce the energy flows of the side channels into the central channel, which is inactive in the layman, to fuse them into a single whole and thus obtain the elixir of awakening, which he directs to the brain.

Exercises of this kind require certain preparation, training in motor and especially breathing exercises, as well as the ability to visualize the channel system. This practice, like a similar Hindu one, also includes exercises with the chakras. In Buddhist tantra, the three chakras most often used are related to the three bodies of the Buddha, as well as the thought, speech and body of the Buddhas (body - upper, brain center,
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Nirmanakaya;

speech is the throat center, sambhogakaya, thought is the heart center, dharma-kaya). It is interesting that, unlike Hinduism, the highest state is associated here not with the head (sahasrara), but with the heart (anahatpa) center. An interesting parallel here may be the “mental prayer” of the Byzantine hesychasts, pronounced precisely from the heart.

Opening the chakras (their activation), it is believed, and generally working with the energy of the body leads to the yogi mastering various superpowers (called riddhis in Buddhism): the ability to fly, become invisible, etc. About the great Tibetan yogi and poet Milarepa (XI-XII centuries), for example, there is a legend that he took refuge from a thunderstorm in a hollow horn thrown on the road, and the horn did not become larger, but Milarepa did not become smaller. It is believed that a yogi can even make his body immortal so that, fulfilling the bodhisattva vow, he can remain with people and instruct them for an entire world period. Thus, among the elderly lamas of Buryatia, until recently there was a legend that the famous yogi and mahasiddha Saraha (7th century?) visited one of the Buryat monasteries in the 20s of the 20th century. And although the Vajrayana teaches the yogi to look at all such powers and abilities as empty and illusory in nature, among the people the reputation of miracle workers and wizards is firmly established for the adherents of the Diamond Chariot.

The structure of tantric yoga is not precisely defined; Rather, it can be said that each text offered its own structure of the path. Thus, Hevajra Tantra (and Chandamaharoshana Tantra) speaks of six stages of yoga: 1) withdrawal of the senses from their objects (pratyahara), 2) contemplation (dhyana), 3) control of the breath (pranayama), 4) concentration of attention (dharana). ), 5) fullness of awareness-memory (anusmriti), 6) concentration (samadhi). The same text also recommends hatha yoga. Lal Mani Joshi notes in this regard: “The method of esoteric unity makes the yogi master not only his psychophysical complex in all its aspects, light and dark, good and evil, but also the visible and invisible entities and forces of the universe.” 14 2 .
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The tantric element actually became the leading one in late Indian Buddhism in the 8th - 12th centuries. and was inherited in such a gesture by the Tibetan tradition that was formed simultaneously. On the contrary, in the Far East tantra has received very little distribution (although its role in Chinese Buddhist culture is beginning to be overestimated) 143 ; even in Japan (Shingon school), where, thanks to the educational activities of Kukai (Kobo Daishi, 774-835), Vajrayana (at the level of yoga tantras) became more widespread, its influence cannot be compared with the influence of such directions as the Pure Land, teaching Nichiren or Zen. This is explained by the fact that Chinese Buddhism had almost completed its formation by the time the Vajrayana began to flourish, as well as the occupation of the cultural niche of Tantrism in China by Taoism. Nevertheless, Vajrayana remains extremely relevant for Central Asian Buddhism and a very interesting religious phenomenon for religious studies.

Above we talked about some specific features of tantric practice: the use of images of the criminal and terrible (murder, incest, etc.), the ritual (whether real or imaginary) use of blood and impurities, etc. It makes sense to dwell on the role of these components of tantric practice in more detail, comparing with some aspects of marginal religious beliefs of the medieval West, namely with ideas about the devil’s Sabbath. Such a comparison is desirable and important for two reasons: firstly, the coven reveals, on a surface level, a number of parallels with tantric images and symbols, and when comparing the symbols of these two types, the nature of tantric practice turns out to be much clearer; secondly, S. Grof shows that visions of the satanic coven are quite common in experiences
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Stages of BPM III in transpersonal sessions, which also in the mode of comparing the Sabbath with tantra makes it possible to understand the psychological meaning of the latter. So, first let's say a few words about the images of the Sabbath in the context of psychological research by transpersonal psychologists 144 .

The Sabbath archetype, available in transpersonal experiences, had precedents in the European Middle Ages, when "witches" used psychoactive compounds that included belladonna, henbane, datura and mandrake, also adding animal ingredients such as toads and salamanders. These components contain the potent psychoactive alkaloids atropine, scopolamine hyoscyamine, and the toad's skin secretes the psychedelics dimethylserotonin and bufotenine.

In S. Grof’s sessions, visions of the “sabbath” type were associated with the BPM III complex of experiences. The sexual element of the Sabbath is presented in sadomasochistic, incestuous and scatological forms. The head of the coven is the devil, in the form of a huge black goat named Master Leonard. He deflowers virgins with a huge scaly phallus, copulates with all witches indiscriminately, takes kisses on the anus and encourages participants in wild incestuous orgies in which mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, brothers and sisters participate.

The devil's feast at the Sabbath includes substances eaten by participants in this action, such as menstrual blood, sperm, excrement and cut fetuses, seasoned with spices. A characteristic aspect of the Sabbath is blasphemy, ridicule and perversion of Christian liturgical symbolism, especially the sacraments of baptism and communion.

All this has parallels in tantric practice. -Master Leonard doesn't look any more intimidating than most tantric yidams. As for the incestuous dishes consumed at the Sabbath, they have direct analogues in tantric texts. And finally, the blasphemous parody of Christian shrines is quite consistent with the offering of impurities to the Buddhas in the Vajrayana ritual and ridicule of the norms of monastic behavior.
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An important part of the Sabbath ceremony is the renunciation of Christ and all Christian symbols by the participants. In the context of the BLM III experience, this means a refusal to move on from BLM IV with its experience of purifying death-rebirth, and in a religious context, the refusal of reciprocal salvation and the incessant repetition of terrible actions (in the perinatal context - refusal of archetypal development and fixation in birth pangs). Here the temptation to release all forbidden internal impulses in a hellish orgy and from a victim of evil to become evil oneself triumphs.

It is at this point that the fundamental and even diametric difference between the tantric symbolism and the satanic symbolism of the Sabbath is rooted. Tantra also strives for the release of internal impulses of evil, but not for enslavement by them, but for liberation from them. If for a coven participant they are valuable in themselves, then for a tantric yogi they are completely devalued. The tantric yogi consciously uses “devilish” images of the suppressed subconscious and releases them not for cultivation, but for liberation from them through their awareness and transformation. Psychologically, this means accelerated psychotherapeutic elimination of both the complexes described by 3. Freud and the BPM complexes (complexes of perinatal origin) and the transition to higher transpersonal states that have become accessible to the consciousness that has been cleansed of impurity. Here, as it were, the devil is used to achieve the divine (cf. the assertions of medieval theologians that God can force Satan to serve his purposes). And if the Satanist at the Sabbath renounces Christ (salvation), then the tantric yogi performs all forms of his practice (sadhana) “to achieve Buddhahood for the benefit of all living beings.” And it is precisely this attitude (bodhichitta) that is an indispensable precondition for practicing tantric psychotechnics - yoga 145.
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137 On initiations, see: Devi-Neel A. Initiations and initiates in Tibet. St. Petersburg, 1994.
138 The Tibetan school of Nyingma-pa (Ancient school) called Anuttara yoga Great Yoga (Maha Yoga) and supplemented the classification with two more types of yoga: Anu Yoga (Primordial Yoga), which involved working with the psychophysiological centers of the body (chakras, nadis), and Ati Yoga (Excellent Yoga), or Dzog Cheng.
139 Grof S. Areas of the human unconscious. pp. 191-194.
140 About this technique, in particular, see: Laberge S, Reingold X. Study of the world of lucid dreams. M., 1995.
141 For example: “This body-vajra is Brahma, speech-vajra is Shiva (the Great Lord), thought-vajra, the king, is the great magician Vishnu” (Guhyasamaja Tantra. XVII 19; Sanskrit text: “Kayavajro bhaved brahma vachvajras tu mahesvarah, cittavajradharo raja saiva visnurmahardhikah"). Nal Mani Joshi adds: “We can say that Vajrasattva is much higher than all these gods, for he is the unity of them all (see: Lal ManiJoshi. Op. cit. P. 125-126).
142 Lal MamJoshi. Op. cit. Part 3 // Buddhist Studies Review. Vol.9. 2. 1992. P. 160.
143 cm.: Orzech Ch. D. Seeing Chen-Yen Buddhism: Traditional Scholarship and the Vajrayana in Cliina // History of Religions. Vol. 20. No. 2.1989. P. 87-114.
144 See: Grof S. Beyond the Brain. pp. 247-250.
145 About Vajrayana (Buddhist tantra), see: Anagarika Govinda, Lama. Psychology of early Buddhism: Foundations of Tibetan mysticism. St. Petersburg, 1993; Bhattacharya B. An Introduction to Buddhist Esotericism. Bombay, 1932; Hevajratantra/Ed. by Snellgrjve D. L L, 1959; SnellgroveD.L. Indian Buddhism and its Tibetian Successors. L, 1987; Lal MamJoshi. Studies in the Buddhistic Culture of India. Delhi, 1977; Wayman A.Yoga of the Guhyasamajatantra. Delhi, 1977.

There is no doubt that Tantric Buddhism is one of the most unusual and mysterious teachings on the planet. We will talk about the unusual principles, essence, basic ideas and philosophy of Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana), that is, about what this teaching is based on.

According to Buddhism and in particular tantric, our true state is beyond the mind, birth and death, it is indestructible and eternal. In Buddhism, God is not a final state, but an intermediate one that a person can achieve.

And the ultimate goal of Buddhism is to achieve an indestructible state, which is filled with complete freedom, happiness and joy. And of course this state is continuous.

What is Tantra?

And the word tantra is translated as continuity and therefore it becomes clear that tantra is the achievement of the ultimate goal, which is absolute, complete and continuous freedom or nirvana, where rebirth and suffering are completely stopped.

History of Tantric Buddhism

In general, we can say that Tantra originated in India. So there is a story that back in the time of Buddha Shakyamuni Indian king Indrabodhi asked the Buddha if there was a way to achieve enlightenment and liberation without giving up his kingdom and leading an ordinary life .

And it is believed that the Buddha transformed into the tantric deity Guhyasamaja yab-yum (male and female aspects of enlightenment) and bestowed the teachings of tantra to the Indian king.

As you can understand from this, tantra works with transformation and energy levels. This energy is associated with the manifestation of deity, which acts as a symbol of the continuity of our deepest essence. Of course, our continuity cannot be understood with the mind and it is necessary to practice tantra under the guidance of a real master.

There is also information that tantra existed in countries neighboring India. However, you should know that all tantras are associated with some master who, after enlightenment, received instructions on tantra from the highest realms of divine existence and then transmitted it to this world.

And tantric teachings became most widespread in Tibet, after the arrival of Padmasabhava there. Also a famous master and translator of texts, Marpa visited India three times and studied with the Indian Mahasidhi Naropa.

The essence of tantric Buddhism

In essence, tantric teaching is based on the state of primordial enlightenment, which is located within everyone, and not outside. And if most religions of the world believe that a person suffers by the will of God, then Buddhism believes that all suffering arises as a result of karma, that is, one’s own bad deeds of the past.

And of course, all tantric teachings are based on the fact that the world is impermanent and is a source of suffering. Birth, illness and death are the companions of man.

Only when such a correct view of things takes root and initiation into tantric practice is given. And you need to know that the practice of sutra and tantra are combined in Tibetan Buddhism.

Because in tantra there is refuge in the law, and the practice itself is dedicated to all living beings, which is why Mahayana exists there. And Mahayana, as many already know from the previous article, is not so much personal enlightenment, but for the most part there is a consciousness of desiring salvation from samsara for all living beings.

And as we can understand from the teachings of Buddhism, the essence of tantric teaching is the same as in ordinary teaching - it is the achievement of Buddhahood, but in a special way, inherent only in tantrism.

Methods and principles of Tantric Buddhism

There are different types of tantras: These are Kriya, Charya, Anuttara and Maha tantras. To understand how they work, we can turn to the sutras of Buddhism - where the method of achieving enlightenment is renunciation.

And already in the Mahayana the principle of enlightenment is bodhichitta (desire for all beings to achieve enlightenment). So in tantra there is bodhichitta from the Mahayana, refuge from the sutra and the yoga of deities inherent only to it.

And the basic principle of Tantric Buddhism is that desires or passions are not denied(as in Hinayana) and are transformed into the spiritual path, into the path of liberation.

One can even say more that the genius move and path of Tantric Buddhism is that passion itself becomes wisdom or continuity of the original state.

It should be noted here that only Maha Anuttara Tantra uses full sexual contact to transform sexual arousal into a path of realization. And not only sexual desire is transformed, but also anger and attachment. Therefore, it is not entirely correct to associate tantra and tantrism with the manifestation of sexual energy.

Principles and essence of real Tantra

Another important principle of real tantra is that tantra is a union - a union of bliss and emptiness, when the subtlest level of consciousness perceives the Clear Light and there is a realization that you are this Clear Light, and with its help you perceive the great Emptiness, and in this great bliss arises.

Another important principle of Tantrism is the use of energy channels in the human body that are invisible and can only be felt as energy flows through them.

So the principle of the channels is to direct the passions or desires that move in the channels into the central channel and cause the dissolution of the gross mind into the subtle one, thereby gaining a Body of Energy that does not depend on the physical.

The Energy Body or Illusory Body can go anywhere, for example, to the pure lands or to Shambhala. The Illusory Body is considered the body of a Buddha and therefore Buddhahood is always within us.

Basic Ideas of Tantric Buddhism

Tantric Buddhism strives for Buddhahood and the basic idea is that everyone has this state and it can be achieved through certain methods.

Tantric Buddhism, or as it is also called Vajrayana (the indestructible chariot), received special development in Tibet. After all, it’s cold there and the special practice of the body channels really helps when practicing.

There are separate yogas on the path to Buddhahood, and these are called the Six Yogas of Naropa, which are practiced both separately and together in Tantrism.

What are the six Yogas of Naropa?

The first yoga of Naroma is considered - Yoga Tummo– yoga "inner fire", through which one gains bliss and the state of Clear Light.

It was thanks to this yoga that Milarepa managed without clothes in the snowy mountains. In this practice, yogis raise their body temperature to 45-47 degrees. In Tibet, there was no snow on the roofs of the houses in which the masters of this yoga practiced, even in the snowiest winter.

Dream yoga

Yoga of Sleep or Dreams is an amazing yoga when even in a dream the yogi knows that he is sleeping.

You know, in a dream you can create whatever you want. For example, if you think about an elephant, an elephant will appear, or you yourself can just think about it and immediately become one. You can create hundreds of beautiful girls for yourself and do whatever you want with them, but when this experience becomes boring, you simply dissolve everything and remain in the light, in the light of wisdom.

Yoga of the illusory body or astral yoga

Yoga of the Illusory Body - with the help of this body you can go wherever you want - to the stars, to Shambhala or the Pure Lands of Buddha. By the way, it freely passes through rocks, water, earth and moves faster than the speed of light.

Other types of tantric yoga

There are other, lesser known types of tantric yoga. Yoga Phowa - the consciousness of the practitioner at the moment of death is transferred to the enlightened worlds or Lands of Buddhas.

Bardo Yoga - when you fully gain control over your future birth and gain experience of past lives and many worlds.

Yoga of Clear Light – leads to the knowledge of transcendental experience.

Philosophy of Tantric Buddhism

The philosophy of Tantric Buddhism says that our original state is identical to the state of Buddha and this is what we have and always have been, but because of our experience and discrimination, in other words because of our karma, because of the accumulated actions of the past we won't recognize her.

And the philosophy of Tantrism is that only the state of Buddha is happiness, and everything else is transitory, subject to decay and doomed to suffering.

In general, motivation in Buddhism is getting rid of reincarnations that make us suffer, and tantric Buddhism is one of the ways to achieve indestructible happiness and freedom.

Conclusion:

Any secret in a person must be revealed sooner or later. And tantric Buddhism and its philosophy and original essence, which not even many “Russian masters” of tantra know about, reveals to us a great secret about man, namely, man in form looks like a man, but the real form has no form - it is light, clear light inside each of us.

We are all Light, Light without form. Imagine a loving mother, and she is holding her beloved child and there is a light in her eyes that is visible, and imagine a light spread out into infinity, and you are at the same time light, and bliss, and joy...

Life is or seems boring to us when we are limited by our own boundaries and concepts. When the framework is removed, we lose the concept of suffering, we no longer believe in it, and we no longer need it.

In our next articles we will try to tell even more. And of course, we will answer the most frequently asked question

Vajrayana tantric Buddhism, the science of comprehending secrets.
Vajrayana Tantric Buddhism, Diamond Chariot Buddhism. One of the areas of Buddhism that arose approximately in the 5th century AD on the territory of modern Tibet and became widespread primarily in inaccessible areas of Tibet, the arid Mongolian steppes, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.
As can be seen from the geography of distribution, immediately after its appearance Tantric Buddhism, Vajrayana took root throughout Southeast Asia. Vajrayana translated from Sanskrit means the Vehicle of the Vajra; this teaching also has other eloquent names
This is the diamond chariot, and the chariot of secret mantras, and the chariot of tantra, all the diversity speaks of how deeply spiritual and unexplored this direction of the Buddha’s teaching is.

Currently, the Vajrayana teachings are widespread throughout eastern and southeast Asia in the regions of Nepal, the Pamirs, and so on. Vajrayana is preached in some Chinese schools (in the form of separate applied knowledge in Chan and Taoist monasteries); it has gained widespread influence in Japan, and in recent decades in Western European countries.
The essence of the teaching comes down to achieving spiritual perfection with the help of meditative practices, with the help of tantric practices in order to comprehend the final result of Tantrayana.
Meanwhile, Tantric Buddhism itself as a teaching has been studied very little, and contains many mysteries and secrets that have yet to be revealed. In its own way, it is a micro universe, the nature of which is not yet known. Compared to other forms of Buddhism, Tantric Buddhism has a number of individual features unique to it.
One of the fundamental differences of tantric Buddhism is that the main adherents of tantric practices are lay people, and not hermits and monks traveling or living in monasteries. Hence its mystical orientation, which sometimes runs counter to spiritual practices.

However, it cannot be said that tantric Buddhism denies spiritual practices; rather, they are supplemented. The essence of the teaching comes down to a common denominator. “A person’s knowledge of himself as an individual, and the achievement of transformation in a specific period of time, which we call life.”
Another distinctive feature of Tantric Buddhism is that in its pantheon there is a wide selection of various Buddhas and other deities, the exact number of which no one can say.
In Tantric Buddhism, man is positioned as an integral part of nature. Because of this, many treatises and mantras are devoted to the forces of nature, their deification and man as part of these forces.
What are the main canons of Tantric Buddhism?

— First of all, this is a constant spiritual practice, staying in a divine state (Sadhana) which leads to enlightenment, and ultimately to the reincarnation of the individual.
Tantric Buddhism is one endless practice:

• Enlightenment of man as an individual.
• transformation of man from an earthly form into a divine one.
• constant meditative practices as the only goal for comprehending the truth.
• purity of awareness and vision of the world.

Another important fact that deserves attention is that the transfer of secret knowledge passes from teacher to student.
As we said earlier, the main means of achieving the true path is the secret mantra. Because of its power, a person does not have to live seven lives and seven reincarnations to achieve the truth. One is quite enough, provided the correct path of comprehension is followed.
Let's figure out what the right path includes in the tantric understanding

• constant meditative practices, including yoga practice.
• studying and reading mantras.
• constant chanting and reverence of the so-called mentor (guru) whose instructions are unshakable.
• constant reference to a mentor, teacher

What are tantras, what is their purpose and what are the known types of tantras?
Tantra itself means continuity, the name reflects the meaning of the teaching in which energy is continuous and infinite, and covers every point of the universe.

• Kalachakra tantra “Wheel of Time Tantra” is one of the most canonical tantras, which states that man and the world around him form a single whole, and just as the universe can change the energy in a person, so a person can change the energy in the universe.
• Yamantaka Tantra "Tantra of Wrath" is also one of the strongest tantra teachings, which is based on the constant study of philosophy. And rigid, principled approaches to meditation.
• Hevajra tantra is the so-called “mother tantra”, the basis of which comes down to wisdom and compassion.
• Chakramsavara tantra “Tantra of keeping the commandments” is one of the most powerful tantras preaching the ideas of the divine light principle and freedom. Achieving a bright beginning comes through the destruction of one’s own “I”
• Guhyagarbha is the tantra for realizing the true path.
• Chandamaharoshana is the tantra of great meanings and infinity.
• Mahamaya - tantra (Mahamy) - “tantra of great illusion.”

Conclusion: Tantric Buddhism as a teaching is very mysterious and little-studied; it is no coincidence that scientists around the world are still struggling to decipher the meaning of many tantras. Since Tantric Buddhism is like the universe, and we do not know even a small part of it, it is very interesting to study it.