RLG100Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 31: Tantra, Mahayana, Mantra
Document Summary
Distinct strand of mahayaa buddhism we talked about theravada as pretty confined to. South and southeast asia : thailand, laos, vietnam, sri lanka. Everything else is mhayana: korea, japan, china. These himalayan region religions is also a strand of mahayana: known also as himalayan buddhism. Around in various ranges of the himalayan monks. Tantra has certain distinct characteristics: 1) very high emphasis on meditative practices. Visualization a tantric master might assign you an image to focus on, not necessarily one in front of you but one you might keep at the (cid:272)e(cid:374)t(cid:396)e of (cid:455)ou(cid:396) head (cid:449)he(cid:374) (cid:455)ou(cid:859)(cid:396)e (cid:373)editati(cid:374)g. Tantric tradition develops the use of mantras. The master may tell the disciple after evaluating them, discerning their aptitude, etc, they may design a mantra specifically for them, differnet from othrs. Through the verbal recitation of it, you are evoking. Tantric traditions are based on the ideas of parity between a larger spiritual energy microcosm and macrocosm: the idea of homology.
