Vajrayāna, the “thunderbolt vehicle,” is probably the most exotic of the three major branches of Buddhism. Much of the attraction to this style of Buddhism, both to “insiders” and “outsiders,” stems from the role of Tantras, texts describing complex meditations and rituals, as well as the evocative symbolism and transgressive behavior associated with them. To a large extent, these aspects reflect the infusion of non-Buddhist practices from various Indian religious movements; doctrinally speaking, Vajrayāna does not differ appreciably from Mahāyāna. Since Vajrayāna remains the dominant religion in the Himalayan region (Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, etc.), this discussion will use Sanskrit and Tibetan technical terms.
Tantras
Often considered the secret teachings of the Buddha, the Tantras were likely composed more than a thousand years after the historical Buddha’s passing. The term tantraitself is Sanskrit for “fabric/woven” and refers to practices that weave together body, speech, and mind...
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Thompson, J. (2020). Buddhism’s Vajrayāna: Tantra. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24348-7_9348
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