Part II: Vajrayana Outer Yanas
Tibetan Buddhist meditation is a broad-ranging system based on the 9 yana journey, distinguished by a strong focus on the Tantric yanas (vehicles). The core of these is increasingly direct meditation on the nature of mind, characterized as luminous empty awareness, often visualized in deity form. This is the most rapid path to enlightenment.
Ultimate guide to Tibetan Buddhist Meditation, Part 1: Hinayana and Mahayana
Tibetan Meditation in Brief
Table of Contents
Detailed Explanation of Meditation System
Tantric / Vajrayana Meditation
The outer Tantras comprise the next level of view and meditation. According to the Mahayana teachings it takes thousands of immeasurable eons to attain enlightenment. In other words, the bodhisattvas take rebirth untold times in their journey to enlightenment, as did the Buddha himself. The Vajrayana shortens this, potentially allowing the serious practitioner, using the inner, highest Tantras to attain enlightenment in a single lifetime.
Tibetan monk meditation techniques
Ngöndro
In order to enter the Vajrayana path, the meditator does a set of practices called Ngöndro. These include the 4 reminders as the outer 4. The inner four are:
- Refuge / prostrations and bodhicitta
- 100 syllable mantra of Vajrasattva
- Offering of the Mandala
- Guru yoga, union with the mind of the teacher
Ngöndro is a tantric method of accumulating vast merit very rapidly. It is designed to accelerate one through the path of accumulation, the first of the five paths. All of tantric meditations are, in essence, meant to accelerate the 5 paths:
- Path of Accumulation of merit
- Joining the mind with prajna, leading to
- Path of seeing, when emptiness is directly seen by the mind in meditation
- Path of meditation – where the insight from Seeing is deepened and stabilized
- Path of non-meditation – Buddhahood, where there is no duality between mind and wisdom whatsoever
The outer tantras are called kriya, upa, and yoga yanas. I have never seen the outer tantras specifically linked with the ngöndro, however, they do seem to fit well with the 3 later ngöndros after prostrations. In the Vajrayana, the outer Tantras take from 13 lifetimes to as few as 7.
Outer Yanas – Kriya, Upa, Yoga
The first yana is called Kriya Yoga – yoga means union. Kriya – meaning Action – is a meditation on purity. The meditator lives very purely doing this practice, eating pure foods, paying special attention to cleanliness in the environment and of the body. The second ngöndro, Vajrasattva mantra, is focused on purification. This means clearing away obstacles – past negative karma, negative emotional tendencies, negative habits and so forth. Vajrasattva, the primordial deity, sends a steady stream of cleansing fluid into your body to purify all those problems, while you do 100,000 repetitions of his mantra. It takes a while.
Upa (also charya) Yoga is next. It means conduct. The deity is, in a sense, inviting one into the mandala more. The meditator focuses on both outer and inner experience – the view of the Yoga tantra with the behavior of the Kriya tantra.
The ngöndro I associate with this is mandala. One views the mandala as an arrangement of deities. Through a physical process of offering a saffron rice mixture with precious substances, one offers the mandala of one’s world to the deities mandala, accompanied by a chant to offer it. 100,000 repetitions are done. This generates tremendous generosity and merit. The ultimate generosity of non-attachment begins to seep through the seeming substantiality of wealth and world and possessions as you repeatedly offer it to the deity.
Yoga yana, vehicle of union with the mind of the deity. The final ngöndro is called Guru Yoga, uniting the mind with the mind of the guru. It’s important to expand beyond one’s idea of guru as solely the physical guru. There are four gurus. One, of course, is the physical, human guru. You would never disregard or forget about the human guru.
Second is the guru of the teachings. (I may not have this one quite accurate as I’m going from memory and cannot find the reference.) The dharma itself is regarded as a guru. Third is the guru of the phenomenal world. All appearances are the guru, teaching you how to proceed on the path of dharma.
When I realize appearances are my texts, I forget all about those big books with their letters in black
Milarepa, translated under the guidance of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtse, Rinpoche
The fourth guru is your own awareness, the deepest nature of your mind. The point of the four gurus is to dissolve the barriers of the mind. Utilizing the 4 gurus helps to overcome the conditioned nature of our being, creating porosity in the mind. One sees the barriers in the mind as artificial and unnecessary. The guru thus awakens mind more and more to reality by union with that reality. Guru yoga creates a kind of bridge to the inner tantras.
faq
Where to start with Tibetan Buddhism?
Begin with the three yanas – Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Study the main components of each – Four Noble Truths, 6 Paramitas, 8-fold path, Ngöndro, and Deity / Yidam.
What are the 3 main beliefs of Tibetan Buddhism?
The 3 main beliefs of Tibetan Buddhism are:
1) The 3 yanas, especially Vajrayana
2) Tibetan Buddhist practice: 3 Roots
3) Lineage: Tibetan Buddhism History
Is Tibetan Buddhism different than Buddhism?
Tibetan Buddhism is different from most forms of Buddhism in being a Tantric form of Buddhism, focusing on fruition, rather than a pure Mahayana / Hinayana form, which focus on causal paths to enlightenment.
Why is Tibetan Buddhism so different?
Tibetan Buddhism is different from other forms because of the reliance on the guru, the deity and the protectors to directly access and stabilize the mind of enlightenment.
Is there a Tibetan meditation techniques pdf
Yes, there are several on the web.
Where can I find a Tibetan Buddhist meditation centre?
Is meditation in Tibetan language necessary for practice?
No, many texts for study and practice now exist in English and other languages. However, some terminology and some ability to speak certain mantras are highly useful.
May all beings be happy
May all beings be peaceful
May all beings be safe
May all beings awaken to the light of their true nature
May all beings be free
