REL 320 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Gelug, Orgasm, Vajra
REL 320: The Buddhist Tradition:
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Unit 4: Study Guide
1. Tantric Distinction. Just as we used six key factors to distinguish Mahayana from Theravada in the last
unit, in this unit we will learn the key factors which distinguish tantric Mahayana from non-tantric
Mahayana: (1) a new set of texts, called tantras (instead of sutras) with new teachings and practices; (2)
the key practice which distinguishes tantra, a practice called deity yoga; (3) a special emphasis on the
bliss of enlightenment, and an emphasis on the use of sexual desire (and sometimes other intense feelings)
as part of the practice of the path; (4) a faster path to enlightenment; (5) a more dangerous path, and
therefore a need to keep some aspects of the practice secret; (6) a system of subtle physiology and subtle
psychology which is not seen in non-tantric systems.
2. Tantras (BVSI 80-82). Tantra is also called Vajrayana and Mantrayana (BVSI 81). It began in India,
where Tantra was a significant religious movement during the period 500-1200 A.D. During this time
there appeared the sacred texts of Buddhist tantra, which are called “tantras” instead of sutras (BVSI 81-
82).
Tantric Buddhists accept the Mahayana sutras, along with the earlier Buddhist texts used by Theravada.
They believe that the sutras teach necessary and vital practices of compassion and wisdom in a
preliminary way, and that the development of compassion and wisdom can be enhanced and accelerated
through using practices revealed in tantric texts. Tantric texts often take the form of sermons or
descriptions of rituals given by the heavenly forms of enlightened buddhas.
3. Tantra in Tibet (BVSI 80-83). When did Buddhism come to Tibet (BVSI 80)? By whom was Tibet ruled
until the 1950s (BVSI 82-83)? To what school of Tibetan Buddhism does this leader belong? Is he
celibate (BVSI 82)? Is all Tibetan tantra now only for celibate monks (BVSI 82)? What has happened to
Tibet since the 1950s (BVSI 83)?
4. Deity Yoga (IT 1-5 and 29-38). The key practice which distinguishes tantric from non-tantric Buddhist
practice is this: The tantric practitioner “learns to think, speak, and act now as if he or she were already a
fully enlightened buddha.” (IT 3-4) This is called deity yoga, which Lama Yeshe also refers to as “self-
emanation.” Lama Yeshe’s sect of Tibetan Buddhists, the Gelug-pa sect, which is also the sect to which
the Dalai Lama belongs (BVSI 82), considers deity yoga to be the one quintessential feature that sets
tantra apart from sutra-based practice.
In “deity yoga,” the term “deity” refers to an enlightened buddha or bodhisattva (IT 30-31). “Yoga” refers
to a systematic discipline of spiritual training. Tantric practice involves visualizing one’s body, speech,
and mind as the body, speech, and mind of an enlightened being, so as to actualize, or make real in the
present, our latent potential for enlightenment.
The French Surrealist Andre Breton said, “The imagined is what tends to become real.” Is this a statement
that tantric Buddhists would agree with? Since beginningless time, we have all been imagining ourselves
to have an essentially real and inherently existing self, but this has not caused this to become real. A self-
existent self, or a self-existent table, is impossible. Everything that exists only in interdependence with
other things. So if something is completely impossible, then imagining it cannot make it real.
On the other hand, all Buddhists think that by focusing your mind on some particular (and possible)
aspiration, you create predispositions for bringing that aspiration to fulfillment in the future. Tantric
Buddhism uses this principle and takes it to its logical conclusion: visualize oneself as a buddha, which
which one ultimately seeks to become.
Document Summary
Just as we used six key factors to distinguish mahayana from theravada in the last unit, in this unit we will learn the key factors which distinguish tantric mahayana from non-tantric. Tantra is also called vajrayana and mantrayana (bvsi 81). It began in india, where tantra was a significant religious movement during the period 500-1200 a. d. during this time there appeared the sacred texts of buddhist tantra, which are called tantras instead of sutras (bvsi 81- Tantric buddhists accept the mahayana sutras, along with the earlier buddhist texts used by theravada. They believe that the sutras teach necessary and vital practices of compassion and wisdom in a preliminary way, and that the development of compassion and wisdom can be enhanced and accelerated through using practices revealed in tantric texts. Tantric texts often take the form of sermons or descriptions of rituals given by the heavenly forms of enlightened buddhas.
