Although the first tantric Buddhist texts appeared in India in the 3rd century and continued to appear until the 12th century, scholars such as Hirakawa Akira believe that the Vajrayana probably came into existence in the 6th or 7th century, while the term Vajrayana first came into evidence in the 8th century.

Although the Vajrayana claims to be as ancient and authentic as any other Buddhist school, it may have grown up gradually in an environment with previously existing texts such as the mahasannipata and the ratnaketudharani.

The first tantric ( Vajrayana Buddhist ) texts appeared in the 3rd century CE, and they continued to appear until the 12th century.

The Vajrayana tradition has dedeveloped an extended body of texts:

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.

According to Jamgon Kongtrul, when Atiśa discovered the store of Sanskrit texts at Pekar Kordzoling, the library of Samye, " he said that the degree to which the Vajrayana had spread in Tibet was unparalleled, even in India.

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.

Shingon Buddhism developed a system that assigned authorship of the early sutras to Gautama Buddha in his physical manifestation, of the Ekayana sutras to the Buddhas as Sambhoghakaya, and the Vajrayana texts to the Buddha as Dharmakaya.

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.

However, it is the specifically Vajrayana texts that most strongly characterise it.

They were of various religions / spiritual traditions including Buddhism ( along with Vajrayana & Bon ) Taoism, Confucianism, Judaism, Nestorianism and Manichaeism as well as wide array of texts on Philosophy, History, Geography, Medicine, Astronomy, Mathematics, Divination, Dictionaries, Music scores, Dance notations, Social documents and Literature ( Popular narratives, Folk songs, Classical poetry ).

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 ).

# Marpa ( 1012 – 1097 ), the first Tibetan in the lineage, who translated the Vajrayana and Mahamudra texts into Old Tibetan

Ongoing contact between Southeast Asia and India brought a variety of doctrines, relics, and texts into Southeast Asia from both the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, as well as the Theravada and the other early Buddhist schools.

* Yogi Milarepa, a Vajrayana Buddhist guru, was rumored to have possessed a range of additional abilities during levitation, such as the ability to walk, rest and sleep, however such were deemed as occult powers.

While the basis for most Theravada chants is the Pali Canon, Mahayana and Vajrayana chants draw from a wider range of sources.

The Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism -- Shingon Buddhism — makes frequent use of mandalas in its rituals as well, though the actual mandalas differ.

Of the two ships that arrive, one carries the monk Kūkai — recently ordained by the Japanese government as a Bhikkhu — who absorbs Vajrayana teachings in Chang ' an and returns to Japan to found the Japanese Shingon school.

The MA in psychology was originally designed as an extension of Trungpa's Maitri program — a 16-week meditation course held in Connecticut, and based on Vajrayana teachings on esoteric energy patterns within the mind and body.

This set a fine example for all future Kagyu followers and showed the need for the correct basis of knowledge even when — especially when — one does the most powerful of Vajrayana practices.

Part 2, Vajrayana Seminary, is led by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and authorizes students to begin their Shambhala ngöndro — the preliminary practices for receiving the Rigden Abhisheka.

He further comments: " Vajrayana Buddhism, Vedanta, and Neoplatonic Christianity have so much in common that they could almost be regarded as varying interpretations of a single theory.

The Vajrayana is based on the concept of " skilful means " ( Sanskrit: upaya ) as formulated in Mahayana Buddhism.

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

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

This is the only form of Vajrayana Buddhism in which the scriptures are written in Sanskrit.

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.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, a Wisdom King ( Sanskrit व ि द ् य ा र ा ज vidyarāja, Chinese Míngwáng 明王, Japanese 明王 myō-ō ) is the third type of deity after Buddhas and bodhisattvas.

bde ' byung ) in Vajrayana Buddhism ( the religion of Tibet ) is a Sanskrit term meaning " place of peace / tranquility / happiness ".

Samantabhadra appears in the Vajrayana tantric text the Kunjed Gyalpo Tantra, as the Primordial Buddha, the ' embodiment ' ( Sanskrit: kaya ) or ' field ' ( Sanskrit: kṣetra ) of ' timeless awareness, gnosis ' ( Sanskrit: jñāna ) awakened since before the very beginning.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, an Ishta-deva or Ishta-devata ( Sanskrit: इष ् टद े वत ा) ( Yidam in Tibetan ) is a fully enlightened being who is the focus of personal meditation, during a retreat or for life.

Heruka ( Sanskrit ; Tib. khrag ' thung ), is the name of a category of wrathful deities, enlightened beings in Vajrayana Buddhism that adopt a fierce countenance to benefit sentient beings.

" magical instrument " or " magic circle ;" Sanskrit: adhisāra ) is a Vajrayana discipline which includes pranayama and body postures ( asanas ).

* Iṣṭha-deva ( tā ) ( Buddhism ): In Vajrayana Buddhism, a Yidam ( Tibetan ) or Ishtadevata ( Sanskrit ) is a fully enlightened being who is the focus of personal meditation, during a retreat or for life.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Five Dhyani Buddhas (), also known as the Five Wisdom Tathāgatas (), the Five Great Buddhas and the Five Jinas ( Sanskrit for " conqueror " or " victor "), are representations of the five qualities of the Buddha.

Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist art frequently makes use of a particular set of eight auspicious symbols, ashtamangala, in household and public art.

Agartha is frequently associated or confused with Shambhala, which figures prominently in Vajrayana Buddhism and Tibetan Kalachakra teachings and revived in the West by Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society.

These scriptures are the prime source for the studies of the Gelugpa tradition and these and other teachings of Tsongkhapa endured into the modern age and are seen as a protection against misconceptions in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.

" However, Butterfield also notes that " This personal secrecy is common with gurus, especially in Vajrayana Buddhism ," and acknowledges that Trungpa's organization is anything but a cult: " a mere cult leaves you disgusted and disillusioned, wondering how you could have been a fool.

They agreed to stay for several more weeks to hear the Vajrayana teachings, with Trungpa's promise that " there would be no more incidents ," and Merwin and Naone's assertion that " it would be with no guarantees of obedience, trust, or personal devotion to him.

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche attempted to lead his Vajrayana students in the West in what he referred to as " mindful drinking ," with mixed results.