1

Tantra exists in certain traditions of Buddhism (I guess mostly in Tibetan and certain Theravada schools as well). It also exists in Kashmir Shaivism, as explained in the Vijnana Bhairava.

Can someone please help me understand how the schools Buddhism and Kashmir Shaivism differ (and are similar) in their approaches as well as goals for Tantric practices.

Improve this question
1
  • 1
    Both schools are pretty secretive about their tantric practices, and perhaps because of the secrecy often there is confusion even among practitioners of the same school regarding exact details. I don't know if any researcher has done a comparison, but any such research would be enormously difficult and risks being incomplete. It is likely both have a single common source for their tantric lineage - they are adjacent regions after all, and many believe Tantra in Buddhism is a Hindu import. And Tantra in Hinduism many believe is an import from tantric cults who existed before Hinduism.
    – Buddho
    Commented Jul 7, 2015 at 17:22

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

Load Buddha was enlightened by understanding the eternal law (of patichchasamuthpada) OR four Noble truth, and Moksha. OR delusion and how to avoid it. OR Life is a dream and how to awake from it.

For explaining this he (and his followers) used several methods according to what the listener already believed.

Tantra-meditation and ritual practices that seeks to channel the divine energy of the macrocosm or godhead into the human microcosmThantra

Bhairav Tantra-it briefly presents 112 meditation methods or centering techniques (dharanas). Bhairav Tantra

These include several variants of -breath awareness,(Ānāpānasati (Pali; Sanskrit ānāpānasmṛti, meaning "mindfulness of breathing") is a form of Buddhist meditation now common to Tibetan, Zen, Tiantai and Theravada Buddhism as well as Western-based mindfulness programs.)

-concentration on various centers in the body,(Sathipattana)

-imagination and visualization and contemplation through each of the senses.(Five Aggregates)

  • Moksha - Identity with Shiva(the deity who represents Universal Consciousness) - Link Kashmir Shaivism

Dilution is I - (My Self) concept. To remove this need systematic process. Tantra images are intermediate steps of some traditions.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .