Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism derives from the confluence of Yoga and Buddhism which began to arrive in Tibet from India during 8th century and then more steadily from the 13th centuray onwards.

Indian Buddhism during time had incorporated both Hindu yogic & tantric practices, also with the classical teachings of the historical Buddha who lived during 500 BC.

It acknowledged that were 2 paths to enlightenment.

� One path was that taught in the sutras according to the historical teachings. The heart of sutra practice was based on concetration, morality, and wisdom.

� The other path, which has become the cornerstone of Tibetan variations, was tantric. This practice blended the sutra teachings with techniques adapted from Hindu systems of tantra and yoga.

Tantric systems transform the basic human passions of aversion and desire for the purpose of spiritual development.

Rather than denying such primal urges, tantra purifies them into wholesome and helpful forces.

Tantra: The tantric path includes several steps:

� Relying Upon a Spiritual Guide (learning from someone already on the path)
� The Danger of being Reborn in a Lower Realm
� Death and Impermanence (uncertainty of death & the unsatisfactory nature of this world)
� The Danger of being Reborn in a Lower Realm
� The Preciousness of Human Life (the importance of using life for something valuable)
� Taking Refuge from Samsara (the cycle of endless grasping and eventual disappointment)
� Recognizing that all Beings are as Precious as our Mothers (the beginnings of bodhichitta)
� Developing Equanimity (accepting, and seeing past, both good and bad experience)
� Karma (the law of cause and effect which works in this world as well as at esoteric levels)
� Remembering the Kindness of Others
� Developing Renunciation for Samsara (integrating spiritual understanding and values)
� Equalizing Self and Others (realising that we all want, and deserve, to be happy)
� The Disadvantage of Self-Cherishing