The great Indian tantric master Padmasambhava (Sanskrit: ‘Lotus-Born’) is credited with the introduction of Buddhism in Tibet during the eight century. Guru Rinpoche, as he is known to the Tibetans, is considered to be the founder of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Vajrayāna practitioners regard him as an emanation of the Lord of the […]
In Tantric Buddhism, Amitābha is one of the Five Dhyani Buddhas (the other four being Vairocana, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, and Amoghasiddhi respectively). Each of these Meditation Buddhas inhabits a cardinal direction; Amitābha resides in the West. There he dwells in a celestial realm known as Sukhāvatī; i.e., the Pure Land of “Ultimate Bliss” (Sanskrit: sukhāvatī). From […]
Born from a ray of clear light emitted by Buddha Amitabha, the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (also known as Chenrezig in Tibet) made the vow to continuously look after all sentient beings who are in need of help. Thus, the lord looks down from the heavens with the spiritual wisdom eye of compassion, constantly on the look […]
In traditional Buddhist mythology Vajrapāṇi is described as a fiery but benevolent nature spirit (Sanskrit: yakṣa). Early Buddhist tradition generally speaks of Vajrapāṇi as a guardian spirit of the historical Buddha (i.e. Siddhārtha Gautama). The Tibetans, however, consider this deity to be an important worldly protector (Sanskrit: dharmapala) of the Buddhist teachings or Dharma. Either […]
Vajrasattva is a being who aspires to become enlightened in order to benefit other sentient beings). As such, the bodhisattva is known in both Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism. This vajra being (Sanskrit: sattva) is also known as the diamond mind, referring to the tantric practitioner’s own quality of mind. His thunderbolt essence cuts through the […]
In Vajrayāna Buddhism, Tārā is worshipped as the female Buddha of Enlightened Activity. There are twenty-one different emanations of Tārā in the Tibetan pantheon. The foremost (Ārya Tārā) among them is Syamatara; i.e., Green Tārā, commonly known as Jetsun Dölma in Tibet. Indeed, Dölma is one of the most popular meditational deities or yidam (Sanskrit: […]
