Who was Mahakala, the tantric Buddhist deity that the Tanguts worshipped for military victory and the fall of Genghis Khan?
tantra
A New Translation and Commentary of the Kalachakra Tantra by Niraj Kumar
A new translation of the Kalachakra Tantra from Niraj Kumar
Women in Indian Tantric Buddhism, Part One
There are two Vajrayana paths that lead to the spiritual realization of women – the path of a nun (Skt. bhikshuni, Tib. gelongma) who has renounced worldly existence, and the path of a yogini (Tib. naljorma) who can perform spiritual practice in solitude or combine it with family life. In the Indian Tantric tradition, there […]
Nairatmya, Part Two
Nairatmya. From tibetshop.com The practice of the dakini Nairatmya was transmitted to Tibet and preserved in the Tengyur, the second part of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. In the Kagyu and Gelug schools, she appears mainly as a spiritual wife of the fierce protective deity Hevajra and very rarely as an independent deity. She is revered […]
Mystery of Dakini’s Skull Cup
According to tantra, the human body is perceived as a sacred temple in which all higher forces and the whole truth about existence are present. One of those truths, fundamental to Vajrayana Buddhism, is impermanence (Skt. anitya, Tib. mitagpa). The visual representation of the transience of the human body, and hence the Buddhist idea of […]
Spontaneous Union
Everything in nature is conditioned by the fundamental principle expressed in the unity of opposites: yin-yang. The fusion of the male and the female is a creative act and the source of life. Even though Buddha Nature is beyond genders, Buddhist iconography uses sexual polarity to symbolize the Mahayana and Vajrayana concept of the union […]
Infinite Guru
Nothing will remain It will be brief Still I want you inside The minutes I serve you In the water mirror I offer you Endless Mandalas Until the meeting of the suns I touch the unreal It makes me smile And sigh The stream goes by I weave my fingers into yours One Last Time […]
Dharmodaya: The Source of Reality
Lyudmila Klasanova The six-pointed geometric star or hexagram is considered one of the most ancient spiritual symbols in the world and has a deep meaning in Tantric Buddhism. In Vajrayana it appears as ritual diagram and symbolic emblem of the female deity Vajrayogini (Tib. Dorje Naljorma) who is emanation of the perfect state of Buddha […]
Devotion to the Guru
Padma Drolma And if in all the beads nothing comes up I won’t forget you I’ll give another turn Despite my thousand stumbles For I know that thin are the lines which separate mastery from fear They are tiny and do not define Space is the shelter that does not welcome It afflicts me […]