Vajrayāna Buddhism, also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayana, Mantrayana, Mantranaya, Esoteric Buddhism, Diamond Vehicle (Chinese: 金剛乘, jingangcheng, Japanese: 金剛乗, kongōjō) although these terms are not always regarded as equivalent, is an extension of Mahayana Buddhism consisting of differences in the adoption of additional techniques (upaya, or 'skillful means') rather than in philosophy. Thus, before terms such as Vajrayāna or Tantrayāna came into use, scholar-monks such as Buddhaguhya (fl. mid-8th CE) state that Mahāyāna is subdivided into two categories: pāramitā-yana (the "Perfection Method") and mantra-yana (the "Mantra Method"). Some of these upāya are esoteric practices which must be initiated and transmitted only through a skilled spiritual teacher. The Vajrayana is often viewed as the third major 'vehicle' (Yana) of Buddhism, alongside the Theravada and Mahayana.
Show new selections
Buddhism in Mongolia is essentially Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelugpa school. Traditionally, Mongols worshiped heaven (the "clear blue sky") and their ancestors, and they followed ancient northern Asian practices of shamanism, in which human intermediaries went into trance and spoke to and for some of the numberless infinities of spirits responsible for human luck or misfortune. Although the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty in the 14th and 15th century had already converted to Tibetan Buddhism, the Mongols returned to their old shamanist ways after the collapse of their empire. In 1578 Altan Khan, a Mongol military leader with ambitions to unite the Mongols and to emulate the career of Chinggis, invited the head of the rising Yellow Sect of Tibetan Buddhism to a summit. They formed an alliance that gave Altan Khan legitimacy and religious sanction for his imperial pretensions and that provided the Buddhist school with protection and patronage.
Suggest • More articles...
Tsongkhapa (Tibetan: ཙོང་ཁ་པ་; Wylie: Tsong-kha-pa) (1357 – 1419), whose name means "The Man from Onion Valley", was a famous teacher of Tibetan Buddhism whose activities led later to the formation of the Geluk (Dge-lugs) school. He is also known by his ordained name Lobsang Drakpa (Blo-bzang Grags-pa) or simply as "Je Rinpoche" (Rje Rin-po-che).
Tsongkhapa heard Buddha's Teachings from masters of all Tibetan Buddhist traditions, and received lineages transmitted in the major schools.[1]
His main source of inspiration was the Kadampa (Bka'-gdams-pa) tradition, the legacy of Atiśa. Based on Tsongkhapa's teaching, the two distinguishing characteristics of the Gelug tradition are:
- the union of Sutra and Tantra, and
- the emphasis on Vinaya (the moral code of discipline)
Suggest • More Biographies...
Suggest • More pictures...
- Copyedit some pages- find out what needs to be corrected.
- Update pages with any new information that might be missing.
- Expand articles that really need it. Show some care to pages that have been neglected.
- Peer Review is very important because other editors need our opinions.
|
