For example, what scholars call Tantric Shaivism was known to its practitioners as the, Tantric Buddhism has the indigenous name of the Vajrayana, and Tantric Vaishnavism was known as the.

The period of Indian Vajrayana Buddhism has been classified as the fifth or final period of Indian Buddhism.

The Vajrayana tradition has dedeveloped an extended body of texts:

The lofty Tibetan Plateau and Geography of Tibet has had a profound effect on the Bonpo and the shaping of Vajrayana in general.

Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara has been influential in both Mahayana and Vajrayana, and his Shikshasamucaya contains references to texts that no longer exist in other forms.

Together with his students, Nydahl has created Buddhist centers that provide access to Vajrayana meditation methods without requiring an understanding of Tibetan language or culture.

A Tibetan Buddhist monk and scholar ; Geshe Kelsang has written twenty books that aim to provide Western Dharma practitioners with essential Buddhist texts ; some are books for beginners such as Transform Your Life and How to Solve Our Human Problems, books about the Mahayana path like Universal Compassion ( Lojong ), and books on Vajrayana ( Tantra ) like Mahamudra Tantra ; ( born 1931, in Tibet ).

It is an ancient shamanic idea that has common currency throughout the region ; it is prevalent in the Bön tradition and is also evident in the Vajrayana tradition.

The 14th Dalai Lama has composed a prayer for the movement praising various historic figures and lineages of Vajrayana from India and Tibet, part of which says:

Spirits of place are explicitly recognized by some of the worlds main religions: Shinto has its Kami which may incorporate spirits of place ; Christianity has spirits of place in the Angelic Choirs of Dominions and Principalities, Hinduism, Vajrayana and Bonpo traditions.

Despite being one of the largest Vajrayana sects in Taiwan, the True Buddha School has, in recent times, been criticized by six major Buddhist organizations in Malaysia and denounced in other mainstream Buddhist organizations in Taiwan and Hong Kong as a cult and as a breakaway from orthodox Buddhist teachings.

The Vajrayana teacher Drupon Thinley Ningpo Rinpoche has said that as part of the five precepts which a layperson takes upon taking refuge, that although they must refrain from taking intoxicants, they may drink enough so as they do not become drunk.

Sogyal Rinpoche has said that he decided to make teaching in Bhutan a priority since it is the only remaining independent Vajrayana Buddhist country in the world.

Coming from the concept of Vajyarana that " Everything " is Voidness, and thus in Vajrayana monks not only work with concepts of " Good "; but they also work with concepts of " Evil ".

In his introduction to Vajrayana Buddhism, The Tibetan Book of Living & Dying, Sogyal Rinpoche of the Rigpa network within the Nyingma school, explains lineage thus:

The mandalas are thus considered a compact expression of the entirety of the Dharma in Mahayana Buddhism, and form the root of the Vajrayana teachings.

The goal of spiritual practice within the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions is to become a Bodhisattva ( i. e. attainment of a state in which one will subsequently become a Buddha -- after some further reincarnation ), whereas the goal for Theravada practice is specific to become an arahant ( i. e. attain enlightenment with no intention of returning, not even as a Buddha ).

He had become " well-versed in astrology, writing and Sanskrit " by the age of three, " able to distinguish between the Buddhist and non-Buddhist doctrines " by the age of ten, and would eventually become a master of the teachings of Mahayana, Hinayana, and Vajrayana Buddhism under the guidance of over 100 different instructors.

Although there is historical evidence for Vajrayana Buddhism in Southeast Asia and elsewhere ( see History of Vajrayana below ), today the Vajrayana exists primarily in the form of the two major sub-schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Esoteric Buddhism in Japan known as Shingon, with a handful of minor subschools utilising lesser amounts of esoteric or tantric materials.

While Vajrayana Buddhism is a part of Tibetan Buddhism in that it forms a core part of every major Tibetan Buddhist school, it is not identical with it.

However the Tibetan Buddhist Gelug and Sakya schools also practice mahāmudrā, as does Shingon Buddhism, the other major sub-school of the Vajrayana.

In Buddhism the vajra is the symbol of Vajrayana, one of the three major branches of Buddhism.

These included the Chinese monk I Ching, who made several lengthy visits to Sumatra on his way to study at Nalanda University in India in 671 and 695, and the 11th century Bengali Buddhist scholar Atisha, who played a major role in the development of Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet.

One will be able to find monasteries and Dharma centres from all three major traditions of Buddhism in Singapore: Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana.

All four major schools of Vajrayana Buddhism, Nyingma, Gelug, Sakya and Kagyu schools, maintain active centers in Brazil.

In this way, one may see the tradition of terma and terton as analogous to that of inspiration and providing a legitimate cultural forum to ensure continuation of tantric tradition, and ensuring Vajrayana Buddhism's and Bön's continued relevancy in an evolving world.

" In contrast to its traditional presentation in Tibet, where the esoteric practices are largely the domain of the monastic sangha, in America Trungpa introduced the Vajrayana to the lay sangha.

The teachings also combine elements of traditional Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhism with teachings and practices initiated by the founders of Shinnyo-en, Shinjō Itō ( né Fumiaki Itō ; March 28, 1906 – July 19, 1989 ) who trained at Shingon, and his wife Tomoji Itō ( née Tomoji Uchida, May 9, 1912 – August 6, 1967 ), the first woman in the 1, 000-year history of Daigo-ji monastery in Kyoto to receive the rank of daisōjō () as a laywoman.

Various Buddhist schools, including all three traditional vehicles ( Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana ), are active as either informal groups or civil associations.

To do so, he bent the traditional rules restricting how certain Vajrayana teachings could be transmitted.

Chakras play an important role in the main surviving branch of Indian Vajrayana, Tibetan Buddhism.

Vajrayana ( Devanagari: वज ् रय ा न ; Oriya: ବଜ ୍ ରଯ ା ନ, Tibetan: ར ྡོ་ ར ྗེ་ ཐ ེ ག ་ པ ་, rdo rje theg pa ; Mongolian: Очирт хөлгөн, Ochirt Hölgön, Chinese: 密宗, mì zōng ) is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle.

For Vajrayana Tibetan death rituals, see phowa.

Deity yoga ( Tibetan: lha ' i rnal ' byor ; Sanskrit: Devata ) is the fundamental Vajrayana practice.

As a Tantric Mahasiddha Padmasambhava's contribution ensured that Tibetan Buddhism became part of the Vajrayana tradition.

Buddhist scholar Alexander Berzin refers to " the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions of Tibetan Buddhism ".

The ' skillful means ' of the Vajrayana in Tibetan Buddhism refers to tantra techniques, Dzogchen ( Tibetan ; Sanskrit: maha-ati ) and Mahamudra ( Tibetan: Chagchen ).

The lineage for Shingon Buddhism differs from that of Tibetan Vajrayana, having emerged from India during the 9th-11th centuries in the Pala Dynasty and Central Asia ( via China ) and is based on earlier versions of the Indian texts than the Tibetan lineage.

In the Highest Yoga Tantra class of the Tibetan Vajrayana Amitābha is considered one of the Five Dhyāni Buddhas ( together with

Amrit ( Tibetan: bDud. rTsi, pronounced " dutsi "), also plays a significant role in Vajrayana Buddhism as a sacramental drink which is consumed at the beginning of all important rituals ( e. g. abhisheka, ganachakra, Homa ).

Maha Ati is a term coined by Chögyam Trungpa, a master of the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism.

Bon or Bön ( ) is a branch of Tibetan Vajrayana.

Among his contributions are the translation of a large number of Tibetan texts, the introduction of the Vajrayana teachings to the West, and a presentation of the Buddhadharma largely devoid of ethnic trappings.

An incident that became a cause célèbre among some poets and artists was the Halloween party at the Snowmass Colorado Seminary in the fall of 1975, held during a 3-month period of intensive meditation and study of the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana vehicles of Tibetan Buddhism.