Vajrayana

Vajrayana is a form of Mahayana Buddhism that uses tantric practices, rituals, and initiations as a path to awakening. It is especially associated with Tibetan Buddhism, though it also developed in India and across East Asia.

Tantra: A body of esoteric texts and practices that use ritual, mantra, and visualization for spiritual transformation. Vajrayana adapts tantric methods as a path within Mahayana Buddhism.
Mahayana: A major Buddhist tradition centered on the bodhisattva path and the aspiration to liberate all beings. Vajrayana presents itself as a tantric form of Mahayana.
Indian Buddhism: The Buddhist traditions that developed in the Indian subcontinent from the fifth century BCE onward. Vajrayana emerged from Buddhist communities and institutions in India.
Guru: A spiritual teacher who guides disciples and transmits teachings or practices. Vajrayana places special emphasis on the teacher’s role in instruction and empowerment.
Theravada: A Buddhist tradition grounded in the Pali canon and practiced widely in South and Southeast Asia. Its canonical and institutional forms differ from Vajrayana’s tantric transmission.
Deity yoga: A tantric meditation practice in which practitioners visualize themselves as a buddha or other enlightened figure. It exemplifies Vajrayana’s use of identification with awakened forms.
Bodhisattva: A being who seeks awakening in order to benefit all sentient beings. The bodhisattva ideal supplies Vajrayana’s ethical and motivational foundation.
Buddhist tantra: Esoteric Buddhist teachings and practices recorded in tantric scriptures and transmitted through initiation. These traditions provided Vajrayana’s characteristic ritual systems.
Dalai Lama: The title of the spiritual leaders of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, traditionally regarded as reincarnations of Avalokiteśvara. The Dalai Lamas have shaped the public and political history of Tibetan Buddhism.
Zen: A Mahayana Buddhist tradition emphasizing meditation, direct insight, and disciplined practice. Zen and Vajrayana share Mahayana roots but emphasize different methods and ritual forms.

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