The teaching and practice of the Vajrayana, or ‘Secret Mantra Vehicle’, lies at the heart of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition of Tibet. Based on the motivation of bodhichitta -- the wish to attain, for the sake of others, the state of complete enlightenment -- the Vajrayana is a path centered on cultivating pure perception. It contains many powerful methods for accumulating merit and wisdom, in order to arrive swiftly at a direct realization of buddha nature and the nature of reality itself. Through the practices of visualization, mantra recitation and meditation, ordinary perception is transformed into a ‘sacred outlook,’ where everything is seen and experienced purely in its true nature.

It is important to remember that all these methods are merely skillful means (upaya), not the goal itself. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama says, “Buddhism is not about rituals, mantras, visualizations, or ceremonies. They may be part of it, but the fundamental point of Buddhism is to transform the mind.” He also explains that the word ‘mantra’ in Secret Mantrayana means ‘that which protects the mind.’ Here, mantra protects the mind against ordinary perception. This is also the real meaning of ‘vajra’ in the word ‘Vajrayana.’

Vajradhara and the 84 Mahasiddhas

Vajrayana was first taught privately by Buddha Shakyamuni  at the request of King Indrabodhi of Oddiyana. He taught chosen disciples of high merit how to transform phenomenal appearance into a pure mandala. In order to teach this he emanated the Guhyasamaja mandala, gave empowerment of this and then gave the tantric teachings. Thus it was taught apart from the three turns of the Wheel of Dharma. He also prophesied that he would in a future time emanate to teach the Vajrayana. In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra he said he would be reborn in a lake. This was fulfilled by the birth of Padmasambhava also known as Pema Jungne, the Lotus Born Lama, and Guru Rinpoche.

The Hinayana view is that Shakyamuni transmitted his teachings to seven accomplished disciples: Odsung, Kungawo, Shane Göchen, Nyerbe, Phagpa Dhidhika, Nagpopa and Lgthong. The Mahayana account is that it was transmitted through the boddhisattvas including Maitreya, Manjusri, etc as intermediaries to Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Asanga, Vasubandhu, Gunaprabha, Sakyaprabha, Dignana and Dharmakirti; to the two wonderful teachers Santideva and Candragomin; to the four great teachers, Mahabrahamana Saraha, Dharmapala, Rahula and Virya. The Tantric Vajrayana teachings were transmitted through Vajrapani and the eighty-four mahasiddhas.

The Vajrayana is classified within Nyingma School [the oldest sect of tibetan buddhism] as Outer and Inner Tantras. The Outer Tantras are Kriya, Carya and Yoga Tantras. The Inner Tantras are Mahayoga, Anuyoga and Atiyoga (Dzogchen). The inner Tantras belong specifically to the Nyingma tradition. It was the first two of these that were passed on to King Indrabodhi. They were transmitted through the Vidyadaras Kukkuraja, Lilavajra, Buddhaguhya, Padmasambhava and others. Atiyoga was passed to the first human Vidyadhara Garab Dorje to Manjusrimitra, Sri Simha, Jnanasutra, Vimalamitra, Padmasambhava and others.

Padmasambhava

Five years after the Parinirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha, as he predicted, Guru Padmasambhava, the Lotus Born Lama arises in Oddiyana to transmit the Mantrayana teachings known as the Inner Tantras: Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga.

28 Years After the Parinirvana of the Buddha, King Indrabodhiof Sahor, also known as King Dza, received the transmission of the Mahayoga and Anuyoga Tantras from the Bodhisattva Vajrapani. He began a long lineage of Vidyadharas (Awareness Holders) who realised and transmitted these teachings for many centuries in India.

Garab Dorje was born 166 Years after Buddha’s Parinirvana in Oddiyana, northwest of India. He was an incarnation of Vajrasattva. He was the first human to teach the Atiyoga Tantras. He passed the Atiyoga to Manjushrimitra, an emanation of the Boddhisattva Vajrapani between the first and third Century CE. In turn he transmitted them to Shri Simbha. He realized them and passed them to Jnanasutra, Buddhaguhya, and to the masters who brought them to Tibet: Vimalamitra, Padmasambhava, and Vairotsana.

Possibly some of these teachings reached Tibet by the 5^th Century CE. Nevertheless, it was not until the 8^th Century CE that Buddhism began to be established in any systematic and general way. King Trisong Detsen (b.circa 742 CE) invited an Indian abbot, Shantarakshita to Tibet to establish a great monastery and after encountering difficulties on his advice he solicitated the help of a tantric practitioner, Padmasambhava.

Padmasambhava is known as the second Buddha throughout the Himalayan region. His legacy is found throughout the region and in many caves he used for meditation one can still see handprints and footprints he impressed into solid rock such was the extraordinary power of his realisation.

Samye Monastery

Modelled on the famous Otantapuri Temple in Bihar, Samye Monastery was eventually completed. The sixty-four hundred thousand teachings of Dzogchen obtained from Bodhgaya in India and elsewhere were introduced to Tibet by Padmasambhava. Under the direction of Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, and Vairotsana oversee the translation of the Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga (Dzogchen) Tantras into Tibetan and more than a hundred each Tibetan and Indian panditas translated most of the then known Buddhist teachings into Tibetan. Buddhaguhya the renowned Pandita of Nalanda transmitted the Mahayoga teachings to Tibetan disciples such as Nyags Jnanakumara, who brought them to Tibet.

The inner tantras were transmitted from generation to generation in two ways: The Kama (long) transmission from realized master to student which might be an unbroken chain of individuals over a long period of time and the Terma (short) transmission. The latter is derived from teaches concealed by Padmasambhava and his spiritual consort Yeshe Tsogyal to be discovered when the circumstances were right by tertons. They are therefore a very direct communication and are appropriate to circumstances now whereas the long transmission offers the confidence of knowing that it has worked and been realized by a succession of people before.

The Treasure transmission comprises the innumerable treasure texts revealed by subsequent Treasure Masters, which were hidden by Guru Rinpoche himself in 9th century as well as numerous teachings later revealed through enlightened minds and meditative visions of Nyingma masters. Hundreds of masters have appeared who have revealed treasures. Among them, Nyangral Nyima Özer (1124-92), Guru Chowang (1212-70), Dorje Lingpa (1346-1405), Padma Lingpa (b.1405) and Jamyang Khyentse (1820-1892) are renowned as the Five Kings of the Treasure Masters. Their revealed treasures concern, among others, the cycle of teachings and meditations related to Avalokiteshvara, Guru Rinpoche’s sadhanas, the Dzogchen teachings, the Ka-gyey cycle of teachings, the Vajrakila or Phurba cycle of teachings, medicine and prophecies.

Taktsang Dzong

Consequently, as well as the standard Mahayana Buddhist canon of the Kangyur and Tangyur, many further teachings may be found in the Collection of a Hundred Thousand Nyingma Tantras, compiled in thirteenth century by Tertön Ratna Lingpa (1403-1473) and organised by Kunkhyen Longchen Ramjampa (1308-1363). Besides this, numerous works such as the sixty volumes of the Rinchen Terdzod compiled by Kongtrul Yonten Gyatso (1813-1899) and the writings of Rongzom, Dodrupchen, Paltrul, Mipham and many others have added to the rich collection of Nyingma literature.

Yeshe Tsogyal, King Trisong Detsen, Vairocana the Translator, gNyags Jnanakumara, Sangye Yeshe, and Rinchen Chogother together with the 25 disciples of Padmasambhava were charged with the responsibility to pass the Dharma on to future generations. They have all repeatedly been reborn as masters of kama and terma to guide successive generations of practitioners and protect the Nyingma School even to the present day.

The Nyingma classifies the teachings into 9 yanas or vehicles. These can each be considered both as being complete within themselves having a ground, a path and a fruit, or alternatively as steps along a continuum towards the Great Perfection. It is also said that each contains all of the other yanas.

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