I have been reading from different sources attempting to clarify definitions and construct my own understandings of these traditions from Indian Hindu and Buddhist and Tibetan Buddhist sources. My knowledge remains limited to my small experience and tiny capacity for understanding, but maybe I can make some sense of these things in order to be a better guide for the students.
What is Tantra?
Today from the Tibetan Buddhist Gelug perspective, there are two - First from Alexander Berzin, who has worked extensively with HH the 14th Dalai Lama on Kalachakra initiation. Berzin also hosts an opensource website with layers of resources for those looking to study more deeply. These quotes are from his book, Taking the Kalachakra Initiation, which is written to help the aspirant prepare for receiving the initiation. (1997, Snow Lion Publications: Ithaca, New York)
"Some people have odd notions about tantra and imagine, with great anticipation, that an initiation is an entranceway into a magic world of exotic sex and superpowers. When they learn that this is not the case, but rather that tantric practice is complex, advanced, and requires seious committment and the keeping of many vows, they become frightened and are put off. Neither of these reactions, of excitement of fear is appropriate." (p.17)
"The word tantra means an everlasting stream of continuity... the everlasting stream is our mind - specifically its subtlest level know as primordial clear light - which provides continuity throughout all our lifetimes. Like a pure laser beam of mere clarity and awareness, unadulterated by the gross oscillations of conceptual thought of disturbing emotions, it underlies each moment of experience, whether we are awake or asleep." (p.18)
Berzin goes on to describe the continuity like a radio that remains on through the process of finding the station to tune in to. Through the station playing the music, the static between the stations, or how loud the radio is playing, the radio is still a radio - an open receiver for broadcast. Tapping in to this continuity is the point of the practice - recognizing that it is there within each of us (each a different radio) and we all can recognize this potential.
Lama Thubten Yeshe, one of the first visitors and teachers to the United State and the "West" from the Tibetan Buddhist Gelug tradition in the 1970s and 1980s, often gave teachings on the meanings and definitions of tantra in order to benefit his students. He often said that the western mind was ripe for receiving and understanding these teachings and that, "The practice of tantra is so suitable for the modern West because it is 'scientific.'" (p. xii)
Here are some quotes from his book Introduction to Tantra: The Transformation of Desire. Compiled by Jonathan Landow. 2001: Wisdom Publications, Sommerville, MA.
(quotes below from Jonathan Landow's preface)
"Tantra, far from being a system of dogma to be accepted on faith or authority, is in fact a practical, step-by-step exploration of the human condition leading to self-discovery, and its results are verifiable through our own observations and experiences." (p. xii)
"The practice of tantra, which is designed to take advantage of this hidden inner resource and utilize it to the maximum extent, offers us the best opportunity to overcome these presures and transform our lives into the meaningful, integrated whole that we desire." (p. xii)
"Tantra is a path of joy and affirmation, qualities so sadly lacking in many of the currently depleted forms of what were once powerful spiritual traditions." (p. xii)
"According to the Buddhist teachings, no matter how confused or deluded we may be at the moment, the underlying and essential nature of our being is clear and pure. In the same way that clouds can temporarily obscure but cannot damage the light-giving power of the sun, so too the temporary afflictions of body and mind - our confusion, anxiety, and the suffering they cause - can temporarily obscure but cannot destroy or even tough the fundamentally clear nature of our consciousness." (p. 2)
"And the ultimate purpose of all spiritual practices, whether they are called Buddhist or not, is to uncover and make contact with this essential pure nature." (p. 2)
"When we have developed our own inner purity, inner compassion, and inner love, we can then see the reflection of this purity and loving-kindness in others. But if we have not contacted these qualities within ourselves, we will see everyone as ugly and limited. For whatever we see every day in our outer reality is actually nothing more than a projection of our own inner reality." (p. 2)
Lama Yeshe goes on to describe the difference between the two main approaches of Tibetan Buddhism - according to the sutrayana and tantrayana. Sutrayana refers to the gradual causal path of purifying and cleansing the mind of its faults and limitations and replacing them with beneficial qualities of love and wisdom. "This path consists of creating specific causes - behaving ethically, developing our powers of concentration, training in meditative insight, and so forth - for the future attainment of full awakening." (p. 3)
Tantrayana is the faster method because one is trained to utilize the subtle energy of desire and negative emotions in order to more quickly and efficiently cleanse the mind of its faults. "Although tantric practitioners do not neglect creating the same causes as the followers of sutra, they take the future result of full spiritual evolution as the very starting point in their path. To put this in other words, the tantric yogi or yogini - as these supremely skillful practitioners are called in Sanskrit - learns to think, speak, and act now as if he or she were already a fully enlightened buddha." (p. 3)
"Speaking generally we can say that all the many practices of tantra involve the principle of transformation. As modern science has demonstrated, the physical universe with its infinite variety of phenomena - from the smallest subatomic particle to the largest galaxy - is in an unceasing state of transformation and evolution from one form of energy to another. Our own body and mind are also energy, and whether we are healthy or ill, mentally balanced or berserk, depends on whether our mental and physical energies are harmonious or not. Through the proper practice of tantra all of our energies, including the subtle yet very powerful energies we are not ordinarily aware of, are harnessed to accomplish the greatest of all transformations. This is our evolution from an ordinary, limited and deluded person trapped within the shell of a petty ego into a fully evolved, totally conscious being of unlimited compassion and insight." (p.5)
From these quotes we can understand - tantra is about transformation of our deluded mind into the inherent clear and luminous lazer beam that is our primordial nature. Methods and techniques of tantric practice are of a resultant nature, taking this truth to be, philosophically, all one needs to accomplish enlightenment.
"Instead of viewing pleasure and desire as something to be avoided at all costs, tantra recognizes the powerful energy aroused by our desires to be an indispensable resource for the spiritual path. Because the goal is nothing less than the realization of our highest human potential, tantra seeks to transform every experience - no matter how 'unreligious' it may appear - into the path of fulfillment." (p. 9)
A major feature about the rise of tantrism in India (Hindu and Buddhist) was its reactionary nature to the social taboos of the time - Buddhist tantra emerged from the Hindu tradition being practiced at the time of Sakyamuni, but its base is deep in the Hindu system of religious practice. We cannot take this out of its context. Brahmanical Hinduism 2500 years ago (this information needs more understanding.... ) set up a social caste system which supported the civility of the time. Social taboos such as eating meat, drinking alcohol, and having sex were embraced by tantric practitioners not necessarily in order to transgress social boundaries, but rather to liberate themselves from the social structure. Social taboos being forbidden became the cause of desire for many. Using the energy of desire in a proper way was thought to facilitate spiritual enlightenment.
The historical Buddha Sakyamuni took this a step further by developing a philosophy of finding a balance between desire and aversion. He denied his desires for six years to the extent that toward the end of this time he was not much more than a skeleton. "Instead of bringing him closer to his goal of transcendence, it was only making him too weak to think and meditate clearly." (p.12)
Lama Yeshe continues to explain the first teaching on tantra by Sakyamuni Buddha was given to a king who requested such a teaching that would allow the king himself to take care of his subjects properly but he would not be able to do as Sakyamuni himself had done and renounce his worldly existence to find spiritual enlightenment. The Buddha gave the Kalachakra Tantra to the king as a way to balance the responsibilities of a ruler, but also offer the potential of realization on the spiritual level. This is seen as a noble act; the king is able to fulfill his responsibilities as a ruler but also accomplish personal realization. (p. 13)
Questions remaining:
Where did the Buddha come up with Kalachakra teachings? How did they fit into the Hindu context at the time? How old are Hindu tantra teachings and how are they different than the tantra teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha? How did Hindu yogis view Siddhartha and his path? How different are Buddhism and Hinduism, actually? What is the difference? How did the teachings at the time of the Buddha change or develop into the teaching we are able to find from different Buddhist traditions today? Example: Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism. If Sakyamuni taught different tantric practices during his lifetime, how have they all been preserved and disseminated - who understands these things and how are they taught? How does one explain all of this subtlety to university students who have misconceptions about tantra based on flashy cultural images of sex and candy?
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