Vajrayana

Tantra (; ) is an esoteric yogic tradition that developed in the Indian subcontinent, beginning in the middle of the 1st millennium CE, initially within Shaivism and Shaktism, and subsequently in Mahayana Buddhism and Vaishnavism. Tantra presents complex cosmologies, viewing the body as divine and typically reflecting the union of Shiva and Shakti. Tantric goals include Siddhi (supernatural accomplishment), bhoga, and Kundalini ascent; while also addressing states of possession (āveśa) and exorcism.

Vajrayāna (), otherwise known as Mantrayāna ("Mantra Vehicle"), Guhyamantrayāna ("Secret Mantra Vehicle"), Tantrayāna ("Tantra Vehicle"), Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, is a vehicle in the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition that emphasizes esoteric practices and rituals aimed at rapid spiritual awakening. Emerging between the 5th and 7th centuries CE in medieval India. Vajrayāna Buddhism incorporates a range of techniques, including the use of mantras (sacred sounds), dhāraṇīs (mnemonic codes), mudrās (symbolic hand gestures), mandalās (spiritual diagrams), and the vi

thumb|The guru-smiti relationship. Watercolour, Punjab Hills, India, 1740. Guru ( ; IAST: guru) is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential figure to the disciple (or shisya in Sanskrit, literally seeker [of knowledge or truth]) or student, with the guru serving as a "counsellor, who helps mould values, shares experiential knowledge as much as literal knowledge, an exemplar in life, an inspirational source and who helps in the spiritual evolution of a

thumb|A 10th century Chola dynasty bronze sculpture of the Hindu god [[Nataraja (Shiva) posing various mudras]] thumb|Indian Buddha Shakyamuni statue making the bhūmisparśa or "earth witness" mudra, thumb|12th-century Japanese scroll showing different mudra gestures

thumb|335x335px|Indra bearing a Lotus and Vedic form of a Vajra thumb|upright|A Tibetan Bell and Dorje (Vajra) are inseparable ritual tools thumb|upright|A Double Vajra appears in the national emblem of Bhutan.

, born posthumously called , was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his deat

Yogachara () is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through the interior lens of meditation, as well as philosophical reasoning (hetuvidyā). Yogachara was one of the two most influential traditions of Mahayana Buddhism in India, along with Madhyamaka.

Vairocana ("The Sun", "Solar" or "Shining" in Sanskrit), also known as Mahāvairocana (Great Sun), is a major Buddha from Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. He is often compared to the Sun, because both bestow their light impartially upon all beings. However, unlike the Sun, whose light can be blocked, and which disappears at night, Vairocana's light is omnipresent, impossible to block, and shines eternally. Hence, he is called the "Great Sun". In East Asian Buddhism, Vairocana is called () or ().

Nanzhao (), also spelled Nanchao (, Yi language: ꂷꏂꌅ, Mashynzy), was a dynastic kingdom that flourished in what is now southwestern China and northern Southeast Asia during the 8th and 9th centuries, during the mid/late Tang dynasty. It was centered on present-day Yunnan in China, with its capitals in modern-day Dali City. The kingdom was officially called Dameng (大蒙) from 738 to 859 AD, Dali (大禮) from 859 to 877 and Dafengmin (大封民) from 877 to 902.

The Aghori (from , ) are a Hindu monastic order of ascetic Shaivite sadhus based in Uttar Pradesh, India. They are the only surviving sect derived from the Kāpālika tradition, a Tantric, non-Puranic form of Shaivism which originated in Medieval India between the 4th and 8th century CE.

is a type of Buddhist mummy. In Japan the term refers to the practice of Buddhist monks observing asceticism to the point of death and entering mummification while alive. Although mummified monks are seen in a number of Buddhist countries, especially in Southeast Asia where monks are mummified after dying of natural causes, it is believed that it is only in Japan where monks have induced their own deaths by starvation.

celestial realm or pure abode of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism

offering made into fire in Indian religions

The Kāpālika (Sanskrit : कापालिक) tradition was a Tantric, non-Puranic form of Shaivism which originated in medieval India between the 4th and 8th century CE. The word is derived from the Sanskrit term kapāla, meaning "skull", and kāpālika can be translated as the "skull-men" or "skull-bearers".

thumb| practitioners (Shugenja) in the mountains of Kumano, Mie ([[Kōshō Tateishi)]] thumb|upright|Statue of En no Gyōja, the founder of . [[Kamakura period, c. 1300–1375, Kimbell Art Museum.]] thumb|upright|Stairs on the way to Ōminesan-ji, the holy site of '' thumb|upright|Acala|Fudō Myōō silk scroll from [[Daigo-ji (Kyoto), a major Shingon temple and site]] thumb|upright|Zaō Gongen'', a key deity in , in Kinpusen-ji Temple

Thaumaturgy (), especially in Christianity, is the art of performing prodigies or miracles. More generically, it refers to the practical application of magic to affect change in the physical world. Historically, thaumaturgy has been associated with a supernatural or divine ability, the manipulation of natural forces, the creation of wonders, and the performance of magical feats through esoteric knowledge and ritual practice. Unlike theurgy, which focuses on invoking divine powers, thaumaturgy is more concerned with utilizing occult principles to achieve specific outcomes, often in a tangible a

"vehicle" of Buddhism

highly restricted sexual practices found in Hindu and Buddhist tantra

right|thumb|300px|Hevajra and Nairātmyā, surrounded by a retinue of eight ḍākinīs. Marpa Lotsawa|Marpa transmission. Hevajra (Tibetan: ཀྱེའི་རྡོ་རྗེ་ kye'i rdo rje / kye rdo rje; Chinese: 喜金剛 Xǐ jīngāng / 呼金剛 Hū jīngāng;) is one of the main yidams (enlightened beings) in Tantric, or Vajrayana Buddhism. Hevajra's consort is Nairātmyā (Tibetan: བདག་མེད་མ་ bdag med ma).

thumb|Small and big ghanta in Changu Narayan Temple, Nepal Ghanta (Sanskrit: घण्टा, IAST: ghaṇṭā; Tibetan: drilbu) is the Sanskrit term for a ritual bell used in Hindu religious practices. The ringing of the bell produces what is regarded as an auspicious sound. Hindu temples generally have one metal bell hanging at the entrance and devotees ring the bell while entering the temple which is an essential part in preparation of having a darshan. A bell is also rung by the pujari during pūjā or yajna – during the waving of light, burning of incense in front of the deity, while bathing the deity, a

In Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, the Sanskrit term Bīja () (Jp. 種子 shuji) (Chinese 種子 zhǒngzǐ), literally seed, is used as a metaphor for the origin or cause of things and cognate with bindu. thumb|right|100px|The Om bija in Esoteric Buddhism

Spread of Buddhism through the Silk Road

Vajrabodhi (, , 671–741 CE) was an Indian esoteric Buddhist monk and teacher in Nalanda and later in Tang China. He is one of the eight patriarchs in Shingon Buddhism as well as Zhenyan Buddhism. He is notable for introducing Vajrayana Buddhism in the territories of the Srivijaya Empire which subsequently evolved into a distinct form known as Indonesian Esoteric Buddhism.

Religious symbols in Buddhism

Buddhist differentiation of conventional & ultimate (paramārtha) truth

'''Hyech'o''' (; ; 704–787), was a Silla Buddhist monk and traveller active during Korea's Three Kingdoms period. He is primarily remembered for his account of his travels in medieval India, the .

The Charyapada is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayāna tradition of Buddhism from the tāntric tradition in Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.

enlightened beings in Mahayana Buddhism

Vajrayana Buddhist text

Śubhakarasiṃha (637–735 CE) () was an eminent Indian Buddhist monk and translator of Esoteric Buddhist texts.

Buddhist mantra

Mikkyō (, from ), or Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, is the lineage of Vajrayana Buddhism transmitted to Japan, primarily in the early Heian by Kūkai, and to a later extent by Saichō and his successors such as Ennin. It consists of complex systems of icons, meditative rituals, and ritual languages; distinct from the exoteric (, 顕経) schools.

Buddhist tantra

Luipa or Luipada (c. 10th century) was a mahasiddha siddhacharya from Eastern India. He was a Buddhist saint from the Kãivartā community. He was a writer of a number of Buddhist texts and one of the early poets of Charyapada, a late Apabhraṃśa collection of poems.

Buddhist ceremonial flaying knife

The kuji-in () or jiǔzìyìn (), also known as Nine Hand Seals, is a system of mudras and associated mantras that consist of nine syllables. The mantras are referred to as kuji (), which literally translates as nine characters. The syllables used in kuji are numerous, especially within Mikkyō (Japanese Esoteric Buddhism).

Kānhapā, Kanha or Kanhapada or Krishnacharya ( c 10th century AD) was one of the main poets of Charyapada, the earliest known example of Assamese, Bengali, Maithili, Bhojpuri, and Odia literature. He was a tantric Buddhist and a disciplle of Jalandhar.Page21 Kanhapada is also a prominent siddhacharya to Nath Sampradaya after Matsyendranatha and Gorakhnath. His poems in Charjyapad are written in a code, whereby every poem has a descriptive or narrative surface meaning but also encodes tantric Buddhist teachings. Some experts believe this was to conceal sacred knowledge from the uninitiated.

Mahayana sutra, probably composed in China, found in Taisho No. 245 and 246

Dānapāla or Shihu (died 1017) was an Indian Buddhist monk and prolific translator of Sanskrit Buddhist sutras during the Song dynasty in China.

thumb|300px|Padmasambhāva|Padmasambhava, the archetypal vajra master in [[Tibetan Buddhism, holding a vajra and a skullcup, both important tantric ritual implements.]]

Ratnākaraśānti (also known as Ratnākara, Śāntipa, and Śānti) (late 10th-century CE to mid 11th-century CE) was an influential Buddhist philosopher and vajrayana tantric adept and scholar. He was the "gate scholar" of Vikramaśilā university's eastern gate (modern-day Bihar in India), a key post in the university's leadership. Ratnākara was known by the title kalikālasarvajña ("the Omniscient One of the Degenerate Age") and is depicted as one of the eighty-four mahāsiddhas (great yogic masters).

The samaya (, , pinyin: Sānmèiyē jiè; rōmaji: sonmaya kai), is a set of vows or precepts given to initiates of an esoteric Vajrayana Buddhist order as part of the abhiṣeka (empowerment or initiation) ceremony that creates a bond between the guru and disciple.

type of stupa in Buddhism

newar Buddhist temple in Nepal

thumb|right|The seventeenth chapter of the Rishu-kyō printed on hakubyō-style (白描) paper. The scroll has been designated as National Treasure of Japan in the category paintings. The Rishu-kyō (理趣経), formally known as Prajñāpāramitā-naya-śatapañcaśatikā (般若波羅蜜多理趣百五十頌), is a Buddhist esoteric scripture. It is considered an abridged version of the Rishu Kogyo (理趣広経), the sixth assembly of the eighteen assemblies within the Vajrasekhara Sutra (金剛頂経). It is primarily recited in the various branches of the Japanese Shingon school (真言宗) and Chinese esoteric sects as a standard scripture.

Lawapa or Lavapa () was a figure in Tibetan Buddhism who flourished in the 10th century. He was also known as Kambala and Kambalapada (Sanskrit: ). Lawapa, was a mahasiddha, or accomplished yogi, who travelled to Tsari. Lawapa was a progenitor of the Dream Yoga sādhanā and it was from Lawapa that the mahasiddha Tilopa received the Dream Yoga practice lineage.

The Āryamañjuśrī­mūlakalpa (The Noble Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī) is a Mahāyāna sūtra and a Mantrayāna ritual manual (kalpa) affiliated with the bodhisattva of wisdom, Mañjuśrī. In Tibetan Buddhism it is classified as a Kriyā-tantra. According to Sanderson (2009: 129) and the study by Matsunaga (1985), the text is datable to about 775 CE.