PRELIMINARIES TO BUDDHIST TANTRA
PAGE CONTENTS
Secrecy
Motivation for Practice
Prerequisites
Preliminary Practices
"Tantra activates many powerful subtle energies in our body and mind and,
if we do not have any mental training or discipline,
this excess energy will take the path of least resistance
through our negative emotions of attachment, jealousy, pride, egotism, and so
on"
Lama Ganchen
SECRECY
"Pure intellect, indeed, detached from soul, is the death of Man.
Intellect, self-confident and isolated in arrogant complacency, does not
ennoble Man. It humiliates him, deprives him of his personality. It kills that
loving participation in the life of things and creatures of which the soul,
with its emotions and intuitions, is capable. Intellect, by itself alone, is
dead and also deadly - a principle of disintegration."
From Giuseppe Tucci's "The Theory and Practice of the Mandala" -
Rider.
Why are Buddhists so secretive of tantra? Tantric practice is a highly
advanced form of psycho-physical exercises in order to achieve transformation
of one's body and mind quickly into the perfected state of a Buddha. Simply
said, these methods are not without danger when used without the proper
guidance and precautions. To avoid people getting involved in these practices
without proper guidance, the practices are kept secret for people without
explicit permission to practice from a qualified teacher. Often, teachers
require disciples to do extensive practices before being allowed any
permission; more about that is written in below paragraphs on prerequisites and
preliminaries. So please keep in mind that the secrecy around tantra is
basically for safety, just like it is proper to lock a gun away from the reach
of children.
Whatever is included on these web pages about tantra is general knowledge
which is allowed for uninitiated to read, and is intended to at least take away
some misunderstandings about tantric practices.
MOTIVATION FOR PRACTICE
To clarify where tantric practices fit in the Buddhist system, it may be
useful to explain a bit more about the various motivations or scopes.
Traditionally, only the "small, middle and high scope" are taught to
distinguish the various motivations for practising. Here, I would like to
present a somewhat unconventional approach, starting even below spiritual
practice:
- The "Animal Scope": Wanting immediate happiness for oneself.
- The "Worldly Human Scope": Wanting immediate happiness for oneself and
others.
- The Buddhist Small Scope: Wanting happiness for oneself in a future life.
- The Buddhist Middle Scope: Wanting to escape the cycle of uncontrolled
rebirth for oneself. (Hinayana)
- The Buddhist Great Scope: Wanting others to go beyond suffering forever
(enlightenment), and reach Buddhahood oneself to help others on their path.
(Mahayana)
- The "Buddhist Tantric Scope": Wanting others to be happy as soon as
possible, and reach Buddhahood oneself quickly to serve them. (Vajrayana)
A teaching from "Being Peace" by Thitch Nhat Hahn:
"A woman who practices reciting Buddha Amitabha's name, is very tough and
recites "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA" three times daily. Although she is doing this
practice for over 10 years, she is still quite mean, shouting at people all the
time. She starts her practice lighting incense and hitting a little bell.
A friend wanted to teach her a lesson, and just as she began her
recitation, he came to her door and called out: "miss Nuyen, miss Nuyen!".
As this was the time for her practice she got annoyed, but she said to
herself: "I have to struggle against my anger, so I will just ignore it." And
she continued: "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA..."
But the man continued to shout her name, and she became more and more
oppressive.
She struggled against it and wondered if she should stop the recitation to
give the man a piece of her mind, but she continued reciting: "NAMO AMITABHA
BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA..."
The man outside heard it and continued: "Miss Nuyen, miss Nuyen..."
Then she could not stand it anymore, jumped up, slammed the door and went
to the gate and shouted: "Why do you have to behave like that? I am doing my
practice and you keep on shouting my name over and over!"
The gentleman smiled at her and said: "I just called your name for ten
minutes and you are so angry. You have been calling Amitabha Buddha's name for
more then ten years now; just imagine how angry he must be by now!"
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PREREQUISITES
The following aspects are considered prerequisites before a disciple can
engage in tantric practice:
1. Refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
2. Renunciation: a realisation is best, but a proper understanding is
essential.
3. Bodhicitta: a realisation is best, but a proper understanding is
essential. For most of the initiations, it is required to take the aspiring
Bodhisattva vows or the Bodhisattva vows.
4. Emptiness: a direct realisation is best, but a proper understanding is
essential (see the page on Wisdom).
5. Reliance on a spiritual teacher: proper confidence in a teacher and
verifying his/her qualifications is essential.
6. Empowerment or initiation: without this ceremonial permission to practice
by a qualified teacher, tantric practice is improper.
7. Tantric vows: for the higher tantric classes, one needs to take tantric
vows. These vows are secret to the uninitiated, so students need to take 'a
leap of faith' and trust the teacher and the practice before taking them.
8. Faith/confidence: solid confidence both in the teacher and the teachings
is essential to avoid serious karmic problems when doubts arise. 'Blind faith'
will generally not have the power to pull someone through when things are
difficult.
The only proper motivation to practice tantra is bodhicitta, or the wish to
become fully enlightened in order to help all sentient beings. This is the
reason why at least an understanding of bodhicitta is essential prior to
engaging in tantric practice. To enforce this motivation, usually, an extra
prerequisite is taking either the Aspirational Vows or the full Bodhisattva
Vows.
Next, at least some understanding of the philosophy of emptiness is essential
for tantric practice, as this is the basic mental state in which tantric
practice becomes more than just ritual or strange practice of imagination.
Ideally, a tantric practitioner should have full realisations of bodhicitta
and emptiness instead of merely a conceptual understanding. In that case,
tantric practice can guide one very swiftly to the state of Buddhahood.
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Mandala offering sets
Vajrasattva
Making prostrations
Tsa-tsas
PRELIMINAR
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