Tantra in Tibet: Tibetan Buddhism:

"Tantra - Sanskrit, literally 'weft, context, continuum';...

"The 'ancient Tantras' of the Nyingmapa school divide the supreme yoga 
Tantra into three further categories: maha-, anu- and ati-yoga
(dzogchen).  These Tantras take the purity of mind that is always
already present as the basis for their practice... The
polarity-oriented thought of the Tantras finds its strongest expression
in a many-layered sexual symbology.  Transcendence of the duality of
the masculine principle (skillful means, upaya) and the feminine
principle (wisdom, prajna) through the union of the two is given as the
key characteristic of the supreme yoga Tantra."  

_The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen_ , p. 217.


"...the method of attaining ecstatic union with the One Mind (or
Absolute Consciousness), known as yoga (which Patanjali in his _Yoga
Sutras_ first systematized...),... is, undoubtedly, one of the chief
roots of [Tantra].  From this point of view, we should, perhaps, be
justified in defining [Tantra] as being a school of eclectic
esotericism based fundamentally upon yoga practically applied, both to
esoteric Brahmanism and to esoteric (or Mahayana) Buddhism.

"Another of the peculiarities of [Tantra]...is its personification of the 
dual aspects of the procreative forces of nature, the shakta representing 
the male (or positive) aspect and the shakti representing the female (or 
negative) aspect.

"Whatever be the origin or age of [Tantra], it has unquestionably been an 
influence of the first importance through the whole empire of Mahayana 
Buddhism...

"Philosophically viewed, [Tantra],...aims to interpret human nature 
pragmatically.  For this reason, the _Tantra Shastra_, historically 
the latest of the Shastras, is held to be the Shastra best fitted for 
the Kali-Yuga, the present age."

_The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation_, page 58.


"Hence...life, being a fabric of correlative, interdependent, interacting 
dualities, cannot be understood without knowing both aspects of the 
dualities; and the Great Liberation is consequent upon attaining that 
state of transcendence wherein all dualities become undifferentiated 
Wisdom.  Impartial judgement cannot be reached without knowing both 
sides of a question; and evil must be philosophically understood and 
tested along with good if man is to see life steadily and see it whole....
Much has been argued, often unwisely, about white magic and black magic; 
and yet all magic is alike; it is merely the way in which magical power is 
employed that makes its usage good or bad.  The supreme law of the 
inseparableness...of good and evil, of white and black, of negative and 
positive, is too often forgotten or else not recognized; and its non-
recognition constitutes Ignorance (in Sanskrit, Avidya).

"[Tantra], in its higher esoteric reaches, of which Europeans have but 
little knowledge, propounds, as do all philosophies, ancient and modern, 
based upon the occult sciences, that the ultimate truth (at least from 
the viewpoint of man) is neither this nor that, neither the Sangsara nor 
Nirvana, but at-one-ment, wherein there is transcendence over all 
opposites, over both good and evil.  From the One proceed all dualities, 
and in the One they dissolve in undifferentiation; and thus, ceasing to 
exist as dualities, they are realized by the yogin to be phantasmagoria, 
will-o'-the-wisps of the mind, children of Maya."  

_Ibid, pgs. 37-38.


"Of the two great schools of Buddhism, the Mahayana is prevalent in
Tibet and all the Buddhist countries except those in south-east Asia,
where the Theravada holds sway.  The Tantras are embodied in a final
section of the Mahayana canon which the Tibetans received from India
and translated with great care and exactness into their own language.  
They are based on teachings propounded by the ancient Madhyamika sect,
one of whose basic tenets was that truth is attained by adhering to the
middle path between belief in (or craving of) permanent existence and
extinction, since the real nature of ultimate reality is so subtle that
it can neither be said to exist nor not to exist....  Tantric Buddhism
particularly emphasizes METHOD as opposed to mere piety or scholarship.  
The very word Tantra, being connected with a Sanskrit root meaning 'to
weave', suggests activity.

"To understand the Tantras, it is important to know something of the 
history of Indian Buddhist development, which can be divided up into 
four distinct periods:

(1) the early centuries during which the original teachings of Sakyamuni 
(Gautama Buddha) formed the main substance; (2) a period of expanding 
the teachings to embrace philosophy, during which a rational 
systematization took place; (3) a period of reaction in favor of less 
rigid views with emphasis on the compassionate Bodhisattvas, being who 
renounce Nirvana so as to assist others to reach it; (4) a period of 
counter-reaction.  Very early Pali words and early Sanskrit works 
(preserved in Chinese and Tibetan) suggest that the emphasis was 
originally on final attainment IN THIS LIFE.  _The Great Discourse on
the Foundations of Mindfulness_... goes so far as to say that from
seven years down to as little as seven days is sufficient for an
earnest man to attain Enlightenment....  In the fourth period, there
was a strong reaction in favour of the original ideal of practice and
attainment in this life.  Like Zen, the Vajrayana became very much
concerned with the Short Path to speedy attainment.  Meditation came
back into its own."

_The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet_, pgs. 45-46.


"Tantric Buddhists, advocates of the Vajrayana, were dissatisfied with
the unhealthy emphasis on celibacy and withdrawal maintained by the
puritan elders, and they were impatient with the grand philosophizing
and convoluted intellectual superstructure of much of the Mahayana; they
wanted instead something more positive, direct and concrete.  Sex should
be part of the Buddhist equation, some insisted: 'Sex was the main
preoccupation of Gotama when he was a prince in the palace, which must
have had something to do with his subsequent Buddhahood, so why
shouldn't we follow in his footsteps?'" 

_Lust for Enlightenment_, pgs. 61-62.


"Since the king's ministers suggested that the prince be enticed with
all the pleasures of love in order to keep him addicted to the palace,
in addition to his wives Gotama was waited on by an army of the most
beautiful, accomplished, and adoring women in the kingdom, all vying to
provide him the utmost attention, service, amusement, and comfort.  

_Ibid, p. 6.


"The king had a special 'chamber of love' constructed for Gotama,
decorated with erotic art and illumined with subdued light 'like that of
the hazy autumn sun.'  Captivated by sexual extravagance, the prince
spent his days and nights in continual dalliance, experiencing every
imaginable sensual delight of heterosexual intercourse with the
indefagitable beauties of his vast harem and, when he tired of them,
with the professional goddesses of love in neighboring pleasure groves.  
Gotama's life consisted of opening women's skirts, unfastening their
girdles, pressing their swelling breasts, caressing their secret parts,
and devouring them with love....

"Gotama's life revolved around the five elements of physical delight -
beautiful women, excellent music, pleasing scents, fine food, and the
best in raiment - corresponding to the sense of sight, hearing, smell,
taste, and touch."

_Ibid, pgs. 7-8.


"Passions, Tantric Buddhists state, are the raw material of
enlightenment - not obstacles, but true building blocks.  Sex, the
greatest of passions, could if used properly be our greatest ally
instead of our deadliest foe.  In the Tantra, the sex act is neutral; if
one acts like an animal or is in any way evil-minded, the repercussions
are most grave, but if one behaves as a bodhisattva, liberation is close
at hand for both partners.  Sexual intercourse is generally marred by
animal appetite and superficial relief.  Even here, though, one or both
of the participants usually has a fleeting experience of non-dual bliss.  
Followers of the Tantra, in a state of acute arousal, aspire to make
that experience permanent and of cosmic significance.  For Vajrayana
Buddhists, such communion idealizes the emptiness and supreme bliss of
awakening."  

_Lust for Enlightenment, pgs. 62-63.


"[The Prajnaparamita]...is the title given to a large section of the
Tibetan canon... As its name implies, it deals with the Perfection of
Wisdom (prajna)....  as the whole of the Vajrayana is rooted in its
teaching, it demands an honoured place in all books dealing with Tibetan
Buddhism.  The great Madhyamika school which developed in ancient times
around the Prajnaparamita doctrines was the forerunner of all the
Mahayana Buddhist sects now in existence both in and outside of Tibet.  
It is from there that Tantric Buddhism's central theme of voidness was
derived.

"What has been said about the yogas of the Formless Path brings us very
close to the Prajnaparamita scriptures, for those yogas set forth the
essence of the teaching of the Prajnaparamita in yogic form, that is to
say in a form suitable for staged meditations.  Tibetan Buddhists have
always held that Enlightenment can be attained in two (overlapping) ways
- by the various yogic means of experiencing voidness in the mind...;
and by the wisdom method, which consists of making a profound study of
the Prajnaparamita scriptures and realizing their full meaning during
ecstatic meditation.  There is, to most Tibetans, no question of the...
experiential approach being superior or inferior to the wisdom approach.  
Which one is selected will depend upon the personality of the adept..."

"Meditation upon teachings which at first have been intellectually
mastered is ...very different from ...visualization and manipulation of
psycho-physical processes; that they overlap is due to two
circumstances, the first of which is that the ecstatic introspection
that follow upon study is itself a kind of yoga.  The second is that
many followers of the wisdom school attache a special significance to a
mantra which is held to contain the whole essence of the hundreds of
volumes comprising the Prajnaparamita section of the canon.  They find
that the repetition of this mantra induces a state of profound
meditation in which the true meaning of the teaching can be realized.  
Some of them have gone even further and personified Transcendental
Wisdom as a goddess who fulfils a function similar to that of Arya Tara
and the other female deities on whom the Tantrists meditate.  The power
of the mantra, and therefore of the goddess, resides in its being able
to confer yogic insight and its being the root from which springs a
complete categorical chain of vast logical deductions which, taken all
together, comprise the Doctrine of the Void."  

_Tantric Mysticism in Tibet, pgs. 241-244.


"A number of Vajrayana texts have come down to us that describe Tantric
Buddhist practices.  The compilation of these texts must have been very
haphazard, for there are, in general, a bewildering jumble of the
sublime, the horrid, and the ridiculous.  Most contain an explicit
warning: 'These teachings will, if correctly understood, allow one to
attain Buddhahood in this very life; if misconstrued, however, one will
burn in hell forever.'  Few are truly qualified for these practices, and
genuine Tantric masters were extremely selective of their students.  
Buddhist gurus typically insisted that prospective candidates complete
years of Hinayana (monastic) and Mahayana (moral) training before
initiation.  Some teachers were so cautious that they maintained that
the rites should only be visualized and not actually carried out.  In
any case, the sole motivation of a Tantric Buddhist must be the wish to
liberate all sentient beings from suffering and distress.

"Sex, naturally, is a central concern of the Vajrayana texts.  Some, in
fact, begin with the sentence, 'Thus I have heard: when the Buddha was
reposing in the vagina of his consort he delivered this discourse....'  
The Buddhist tantras were organized into four levels of difficulty -
kriya-, carya-, yoga-, and annuttara-yoga - corresponding to the stages
of sexual love: smiles, longing gazes, embrace, and union.

"In dramatic contrast to the misogynist sentiments so often found in
Hinayana and Mahayana texts, women are worshiped unconditionally in the
Buddhist tantras - one text declares openly, 'Buddhahood resides in the
female sex organs' - and are venerated as vehicles of mahamudra, the
Great Symbol of Enlightenment.  A Lady of Supreme Liberation is
described in one tantra as 'Neither too tall nor too short, neither
quite black or quite white, but dark like a lotus leaf.  Her breath is
sweet, her perspiration has the scent of musk, and her yoni is as
fragrant as lotus blossoms and aloe wood.  She is calm, resolute, and
pleasant in speech, with lustrous hair and a luscious body - altogether
delightful!'

"This Tantric rite is detailed in the same Vajrayana text:

"The male participant should visualize himself as Lord Buddha, and the
female participant should imagine herself as the Lady of Transcendental
Wisdom.  They should first sit facing each other and gaze upon their
partner with intense desire.  They kiss and embrace tenderly, and she
then has him suck her lotus (yoni).  Next she demands the ultimate from
him, asking if he is capable of eating her feces and drinking her
urine."  

_Lust for Enlightenment, p. 65.


"Yidam - Tibetan, literally 'firm mind'; in Vajrayana Buddhism, a term
for a personal deity, whose nature corresponds to the individual
psychological makeup of the practitioner.  Yidams are manifestations of
the sambhogakaya [bodies of Buddha] and are visualized in meditative
practice (sadhana), i.e., perceived with the inner eye.  They can take
on either a peaceful or wrathful form of manifestation...

"...their function is as an aid in the transformative process in which
the practitioner comes to acknowledge his or her own basic personality
structure.  The yidams also serve to bring the practitioner to a sense
of intimate connection with the traditional lineage whose teaching he or
she follows.

"The yidams can be classified according to their basic qualities as
follows:

Male Yidam:	active sympathy (compassion)

peaceful: bhagavat
semiwrathful: daka
wrathful: heruka


Female Yidam:	knowledge of supreme reality [wisdom]

peaceful:bhagavati
semiwrathful: dakini
wrathful: dakini"

_Dictionary of B and Z , p. 253.

"Tantrik texts assert that the universe all about us is teeming with
thought forms and with beings good and bad - deities, demons, nature
spirits, discarnate human egos, phantoms, monsters....

"...Dakinis, who are also known as Khadomas or 'lady cloud walkers,' are
the Tibetan equivalent of the Hindu yakshis.  They are said to bestow
great benefits upon the yogi who knows how and when to unite with
them....

"On the walls of all Tantrik Tibetan temples will be found paintings
(thankas) showing the Dakinis in both their benevolent and their
wrathful aspects.  In the latter form, they are sometimes portrayed as
ferocious tiger-woman vampires, who feed on the flesh and blood of human
victims.  Others are naked, except for a ritual green scarf... around
their necks."  

_Tantra: The Yoga of Sex, by Omar Garrison, p. 157-158.

"Dakini - Sanskrit; In Indian folk belief, a female demon to be found
in the company of gods; in Vajrayana Buddhism, the inspiring power of
consciousness, usually depicted in iconography as a wrathful naked
female figure....  As semiwrathful or wrathful 'yidam', the dakini has
the task of integrating the powers liberated by the practitioner in the
process of visualization.  In Tibetan, 'dakini' is translated as
'khadroma'.  'Kha' means 'celestial space,' emptiness (sunyata) become
an image; 'dro' has the meaning of walking and moving about; 'ma'
indicates the feminine gender in substantive form.  Thus the khadroma is
a female figure that moves on the highest level of reality; her
nakedness symbolizes knowledge of truth unveiled.  The homeland of the
dakinis is said to be the mystic realm of Urgyen."  

_Dictionary of B and Z, p. 50.

"The Dakinis, who are always portrayed in female form, play a great part
in an individual's attainment of Enlightenment, for they are in fact the
forces welling from within himself by which he is driven to master the
hostile array of cravings, passions and delusions and transform them
into winged steeds that will carry him forward to Enlightenment.  In
metaphysical terms it might be said that a man's Dakini is the universal
urge to Enlightenment as it acts in him.  The Dakinis are often
ferocious in appearance; with their terrifying expressions and gruesome 
ornaments, they are reminiscent of the dread Hindu Goddess, Durga....  
In any case, it is usual for an adept to take to himself one of the
Dakinis as his personal symbol of communication with divine wisdom; by
uniting with her, he penetrates to the true meaning of doctrines too
profound to yield their secrets at the everyday level of consciousness.

"...The adept may in his imagination be warmly intimate with his
Yidam... The most frequently encountered Yidams of this kind are the
twenty-one Taras, each of whom has subtly different correspondences with
psychic realities; it is the Green, White and Red Taras who are usually
selected.  In certain types of sadhana, the Yidam is equated with the
Dakini and even with the Guru, so that devotees of the green Tara, for
example, invoke her with the words: 'Guru, Yidam, Dakini, Maha Arya Tara
- yeh!' A Yidam who is also taken as a Dakini performs a dual function
during meditation; primarily she is the urge to Enlightenment viewed as
an essential part or partner of the adept's own self and visualized
under the aspect best suited to his stage of spiritual, intellectual and
emotional development."  

_The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet_, by John Blofeld, pgs. 114-5.

"Adepts are taught that, even when nearing the highest level of
spiritual progress, they should continue their practice on all four
levels simultaneously.  They will therefore variously regard their
Yidams as: (1) having some of the characteristics of an external deity;
(2) as being identical with themselves and yet with the void (i.e. both
relative and absolute); (3) either as dwelling within or sometimes
entering their hearts; and (4) as identical with pure jnana..."  

_The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet, pgs. 176-177.

"Urgyen - Tibetan (Sanskrit, Oddiyana [universal vehicle?]); a mythical
realm that in Tibetan Buddhism is considered the birthplace of
Padmasambhava and the dwelling place of the dakinis....  Urgyen is
considered the place of origin of certain Tantric teachings."  

_Dictionary of B and Z, p. 240.

"Naga - Sanskrit, literally 'serpent'; the 'dragon,' a beneficent
half-divine being, which in spring climbs into the heavens and in winter
lives deep in the Earth.  Naga or mahanaga ('great dragon') is often
used as a synonym for the Buddha or for the sages who have matured
beyond rebirth.  Nagaraja ('dragon king' or 'dragon queen') are water
deities who govern springs, rivers, lakes and seas.  In many Buddhist
traditions (for example, Tibetan Buddhism) the nagas are water deities
who in their sea palaces guard Buddhist scriptures that have been placed
in their care because humanity is not yet ripe for their reception."  

_Dictionary of B and Z, p. 151.

"Terma - ...Tibetan, literally 'treasure.'  In Tibetan Buddhism, a term
for religious texts, which...were hidden in secret places, so that at
the right time they would be discovered and newly expounded by qualified
persons - the terton.  These are regarded as authoritative works
primarily by the Nyingmapa school but also by the Bon school and later
by the Rime movement.  The preservation of religious literature in
hidden places is a practice handed down from an earlier period in India.  
Thus Nagarjuna is said to have found teachings, which he later
propagated, in the realm of the serpent spirits (naga), where they were
being guarded from falling into the wrong hands.

"The Nyingmapas possess by far the most voluminous terma literature, of
which the most important works derive from Padmasambhava and his female
companion Yeshe Tsogyel.  These works are based not only on Indian
sources but also on teachings from the land of Urgyen.  According to his
biography, Padmasambhava hid his works in 108 different places in Tibet,
in caves, statues, etc.  Among the best-known terma texts are just this
biography of Padmasambhava and the _Tibetan Book of the Dead_ (_Bardo
thodel_).  In addition, works on astrology and the basic text on Tibetan
medicine were transmitted as terma."  

_Dictionary of B and Z, p.gs. 222-223.

"Rime - Tibetan, literally 'unbiased'; term for a current in Tibetan
Buddhism that ... arose from the need to overcome sectarian bias in the
evaluation of the doctrinal traditions of various schools and to accept
each tradition on its own merits....

"The main concern of the first Rime teachers and the succeeding
generations of their students was a clear structuring of doctrinal and
practical materials, based on the example of the Gelugpa school.

"...It was in east Tibet that the Rime movement eventually developed,
its appearance being primarily a result of a strengthening of the
authority of the Nyingmapa school.  This school had developed as an
independent tradition by the 14th century through the discovery of
so-called 'treasures' (terma).  In the following centuries it was the
victim of various persecutions and had to defend the authenticity of
its teachings.  However, through the person of Jigme Lingpa ...the
school gained great influence in east Tibet, which was strengthened
further by the founder of the Rime movement, who was regarded as an
incarnation (tulku) of Jigme Lingpa.

"However, the process within the Rime movement of reviving transmissions
of teaching that had been thought lost and providing them with fresh
commentary also embraced the tradition of the other schools.  In the
Rime collections of texts, works of the Kagyupa, Sakyapa, Kadampa and
Chod lineages are also found.  The Rime teachers also advocated revival
of the bon teachings.  In addition to their religious activities they
also found time to be politically active as mediators with the central
government in Lhasa."  

_Dictionary of B and Z, pgs. 177-8.

"Padmasambhava - Sanskrit, literally 'the Lotus-born';...one of the
historically identifiable founders of Tibetan Buddhism.  He left his
imprint particularly on the Nyingmapa school and is venerated by its
followers as the 'second Buddha'.  His special task lay in taming the
indigenous demons, or the forces of nature embodied in them.  The
methods of Padmasambhava ranged from the use of ritual implements, such
as the phurba, to the mastery of the meditation techniques of dzogchen.  
In the course of centuries, the figure of Padmasambhava, who continued
the tradition of the mahasiddhas, took on an increasingly legendary
character.  He is still venerated today in the Himalayan countries under
the name of Guru Rimpoche (Precious Guru).

"...Padmasambhava was born in the country of Urgyen in northwest
Kashmir.  He quickly mastered all the learned disciplines of his time,
especially the teachings of the Tantras.  In the 8th century he made his
appearance in history through his mission to Tibet, then under the
dominance of nature religion and the bon faith.  His campaign came to an
end with the construction of the Samye Monastery (775)....  He
transmitted his teachings to twenty five principal students, including
the Tibetan king.  Especially important among these teachings were the
'eight logos.'  For the benefit of future generations, he also hid a
great number of teachings in the forms of texts (terma).  The most
important female student of Padmasambhava and the author of his
biography was Yeshe Tsogyel.

"...The best known invocation of Padmasambhava is that in seven lines:

In the northwest of the land of Urgyen
On a blooming lotus flower
You attained supreme wonderous perfection.
You are called Lotus-born
And are surrounded by a retinue of dakinis.
I follow your example -
Approach and grant me your blessing."  

_Dictionary of B and Z, p. 165.

"Padma-Sambhava, having come to be regarded by his many devotees...as
being peculiarly a Tantric emanation or reincarnation of the Buddha
Gautama, exercized a very profound influence on the shaping of Mahayana
Buddhism; and this influence, in its own sphere of [Tantra], was
probably as far-reaching as was that of Nagarjuna in the shaping of the
Doctrine of the Voidness, as set forth in the canonical
Prajna-Paramita."

_Book of the Great Liberation, p. 58

"Even as Bodhidharma, the twenty-eighth of the Buddhist patriarchs, was
the great pioneer teacher of the Dhyana School of Buddhism to the people
of China, where he went by sea from India..., so was Padma-Sambhava the
great pioneer teacher of the Tantric School of Buddhism to the people of
Tibet, where he arrived from India... by invitation of the Tibetan
King... Both teachers taught that Right Meditation is the indispensable
means of attaining the Goal of the Buddha's Nirvanic Path.  
Accordingly, Bodhidharma founded the Meditation (Sanskrit: Dhyana)
School in China, known as the Ch'an, whence arose the Zen School of
Japan; and Padma-Sambhava founded in Tibet the Nyingma School, of which
the more esoteric teachings are set forth in the Adi-Yoga System,
otherwise known as the Doctrine of the Great Perfection [Dzogchen]...,
whence arose the Western Branch of the Chinese Esoteric Sect known as
the Tibetan Esoteric Sect...or the Lotus Division...."  

_Book of the Great Liberation, p. 195.

"Padma -Sambhava...has not been immune to the criticism...and...to
condemnation by the unenlightened... This has been due almost entirely
to his utter disregard of social, moral, and dogmatic religious
conventionalities or established codes of conduct based upon mankind's
limited conceptions of good and evil...

"The Buddhist Tantricism of Padma-Sambhava...postulates, in harmony with
these more ancient teachings underlying all Tantric Schools, that good
and evil are inseparably one; that good cannot be conceived apart from
evil; that there neither good per se nor evil per se."  

_Book of the Great Liberation, pgs. 35-37.

"Yeshe Tsogyel - ...Tibetan, literally 'Princess of the Wisdom
Lake,'...; intimate companion of Padmasambhava and the most important
female figure in the tradition of the Nyingmapa school.  Named for a
miracle that occurred at the time of her birth, the rising of a nearby
lake... Padmasambhava took her as his consort and transmitted to her
particularly the teachings of the phurba cycle.  Yeshe Tsogyel codified
countless of her guru's teachings in terma texts and also composed his
biography.  In the last part of her life she was active mainly in east
Tibet.  She is venerated up to the present day as a dakini."  

_Dictionary of B and Z, p. 253.

"Tosgyel was wed to the emperor of Tibet at age thirteen.  Three years
later, however, she was presented to the Great Guru Padmasambhava for
his sensual gratification.  (Such generous gifts to a guru were common
in Indian and Tibetan Tantra.) Although Padmasambhava accepted her as a
disciple, he insisted that Tsogyel first familiarize herself with every
branch of Buddhist learning and take ordination as a nun.  A brilliant
student, Tsogyel quickly mastered all the required texts, and by the age
of twenty she was ready to be initiated into the Tantra.  During the
ceremony the Guru, in his manifestation as Heruka ('the Wrathful One')
'took command of her lotus throne with his flaming diamond stalk.'

"Padmasambhava told Tsogyel, 'Without a consort, a partner of skillful
means, there is no way to experience the mysteries of Tantra.'  He gave
her the name of a sixteen-year-old boy and where he could be found.  
After she met him, the two shut themselves in a cave for seven months
and continueally experienced the 'four joys' - 'joyous excitement,'
'ecstatic delight,' 'special delight,' and 'co-emergent delight.'

"Then, on a completely different track, Tsogyel embarked on an extended
period of solitary asceticism, livign as an 'ice-maiden' in the coldest
mountains of Tibet.  During the long nights of meditation Tsogyel was,
much like Gotama Buddha, attacked by her inner demons.  Foremost ws the
craving for food and material comfort.  Next was intense sexual desire.  
The most handsome youths imaginable appeared before her, and she had
visions of them caressing her, foldling her breasts and vagina, and
exposing their sex organs as they teased, 'Would you like this,
sweetheart?' 'How about milking it, darling?'

"Tsogyel barely survived these and other torments during her three-year
retreat, but she was chastised by her guru for mere role-playing as a
hermit, as too proud to admit that still had human feelings and desires
like everyone else.  Tsogyel returned to the world and resumed her
relationship with her consort as well as taking two more.  Following
many trials, Tsogyel eventually received full initiation into the Tantra
and was transformed into a 'Sky-walker,' a female adept of the highest
order.  Padmasambhava said to her, 'The basis for realizing
enlightenment is a human body.  Male or female, there is no great
difference.  But if she develops the mind bent on enlightenment, the
woman's body is better.

"For many years thereafter, Tsogyel worked for the good of all - feeding
the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, instructing the
ignorant, and 'giving her sexual parts to the lustful.'  Through her
skill as a Sky-walker, Tsogyel managed to convert seven men who
gang-raped her.  She raised their consciousness by singing this song:

My sons, you have met a sublime consort, the Great Mother,
And by virtue of your resources of accumulated merit,
Fortuitously, you have received the Four Empowerments.
Concentrate upon the evolution of the Four Levels of Joy.

Immediately you set eyes upon my body-mandala,
Your mind was possessed by lustful disposition,
And your confidence won you the Vase Initiation [sexual intercourse].

Apprehend the very essence of lust,
Identify it as your creative vision of the deity,
And that is nothing bu the Yidam deity himself.
Meditate upon lustful mind as Divine Being.

Uniting with space, your consort's secret mandala,
Pure pleasure exciting your nerve centers,
Your aggression was assuaged and loving kindness was born

And its power won the Mystic Initiation.
Apprehend the very essence of joy,
Mix it with your vital energy and maintain it awhile,
And if that is not mahamudra, nothing is.
Experience pleasure as mahamudra.

Joined to your sonsort's sphere of pure pleasure,
Inspired to involuntary exertion,
Your mind merged with my mind,
And that blessing won you the Wisdom Initiation.

Undistracted, guard the very essence of pleasure,
Identify pure pleasure with Emptiness,
And that is what is known as Immaculate Empty Pleasure.
Experience pure pleasure as Supreme Joy.

---

Tsogyel also married a leper and served him as a model wife.  She died
at a great age, and is now venerated as Tibet's top female tantric
master."  

_Lust for Enlightenment

"Mahasiddhas - Sanskrit, roughly 'great master of perfect capabilities.'  
In the Vajrayana, this term refers to [one] that has mastered the
teachings of the Tantras.  He distinguishes himself through certain
magical powers (siddhi), which are visible signs of his enlightenment.  
Best known is the group of eighty-four mahasiddhas.  They represent a
religious movement, which developed in India from the 8th to 12th
centuries against the background of, and in opposition to, the monastic
culture of Mahayana Buddhism....

"What is common to all of them, regardless of background, is the manner
in which, through the instruction of a master, they transformed a crisis
in their lives into a means for attaining liberation.  Then, through
unorthodox behavior and the use of paradoxes, they expressed the
ungraspability of ultimate reality."  

_Dictionary of B and Z, p. 135.


"Phurba -...Tibetan, literally 'nail, wedge'; a dagger for subduing
demons introduced into the ritual of Tibetan Buddhism by Padmasambhava.  
As a symbol for the direct transmutation of negative forces, it plays a
central role in a system of meditative practice that was transmitted by
Yeshe Tsogyel...

"The origin of the phurba is associated with a long Tantra presented by
Padmasambhava at the beginning of his journey to Tibet.  A deity
personified as a phurba plays an important role as a yidam in the
Sakyapa and Nyingmapa schools; new transmissions, in the form of terma
texts, of teachings relating to this deity were discovered in the 19th
century (Rime)."  

_Dictionary of B and Z, p. 170.

'Dzogchen - ...Tibetan, literally 'great perfection'; the primary
teaching of the Nyingmapa school of Tibetan Buddhism.  This teaching,
also known as ati-yoga (extraordinary yoga), is considered by its
adherents as the definitive and most secret teaching of Shakyamuni
Buddha.  It is called 'great' because there is nothing more sublime; it
is called 'perfection' because no further means are necessary.  
According to the experience of dzogchen practitioners, purity of mind is
always present and needs only to be recognized.  The tradition...was
brought to Tibet in the eighth century by Padmasambhava and Vimilamitra,
[and then]...sythesized by Longchenpa into a unified system.  The
condensation of this system by Jigme Lingpa... remains an authoritative
expression of the great perfection tradition up to the present day....

"A further tradition began with Padmasambhava, who received the great
perfection teaching from the dakinis.  Common to all expositions of
dzogchen is the axiom that the mind, as self-existing intelligence, is
by nature pure and undefiled.  Because, however, this is not recognized,
beings wander in the cycle of existence (samsara).  A method for
breaking out of this cycle is direct experience of 'naked,' or
'ordinary' mind, which is the basis of all activities of consciousness.  
This is the gateway to primordial knowledge, the union of emptiness
(shunyata) and clarity.  In addition to approaches of this kind that
are oriented toward emptiness and intended to be applied without
goal-oriented effort, there are also methods that place the emphasis on
the clear light aspect of primordial knowledge.  Their goal is
realization of the 'rainbow body,' i.e., the dissolution of the physical
body - that is, of the four elements that constitute the body - into
light."  

_Dictionary of B and Z, pgs. 61-62.

"The Short Path practice is divided into physical, mental and combined
categories, most them conjoined with the peculiarly Tantric form of
meditation known as visualization, which involves the body, speech and
mind simultaneously.  By the manipulation of forces conjured up by means
of mental power, mudras, mantras and dharanis, samadhi (a blissful, void
state of mind) is rapidly attained, and the influx of intuitive wisdom
accompanied by advanced mystical states follows.

"A proper orientation of the adept's mind converts all virtues and vices
into stepping-stones to spiritual achievement.  Nothing can frighten or
disgust him, for the vilest dross is transmuted into pure spiritual
essence; the 'animal' processes - excretion, eating, drinking, sexual
intercourse, breathing and the pulsing of the blood - are transformed
into divine functions.  All sounds - the clatter of trams beneath the
bedroom window, the thunder and scream of bombardment, the whine of a
dentist's drill, or the howling of demons - become sweeter than the
music of wind in the pines or the thrilling voices of Dakini.  Whatever
meets the eye - the glow of massed chrysanthemums, factory chimneys or
brick walls seen across a prison courtyard - all these take on a
mysterious meaning.  The ordinary recluse needs the support of the
tranquil surroundings, perhaps a hillside hermitage where he can delight
in the blooming of alpine flowers and pass his nights in contemplation
of the moon; whereas those who tread the Adamantine Way distil peace and
beauty from within; withdrawing from nothing, irked by nothing, they are
gradually immersed in a plenitude of bliss."  

_The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet, pgs. 75-76.

"One of my Lama teachers summed up the general requirement for
developing a Tantric attitude in three injunctions: 'Recognize
everything around you as Nirvana; hear all sounds as mantra; see all
beings as Buddha.'

"Recognizing everything as Nirvana means becoming aware of the void and
non-void nature of objects experientially.  Everything must...be
regarded and ...experienced in two novel ways: as intrinsically void,
since Nirvana is also void; as intrinsically perfect, since reality even
in its non-void aspect can be recognized as a realm of unimaginable
perfection if the consciousness is, so to speak, transposed to another
key....

"By an inner transformation of his way of perceiving things, the adept
comes to see everything as pregnant with beauty, as though the world had
been magically transformed.  This is not just a matter of piously
telling oneself that it is beautiful, but of experiencing this as a
fact.

"Hearing all sounds as mantra requires the same technique.  Mantras are
sacred invocations recited in a special tone of voice; here, however,
the word signifies divine melody....

"Seeing all beings as Buddhas is an injunction familiar to Zen
followers.  IT is based on the understanding that every being has...the
Buddha-nature, the meaning of which is: (1) that all beings including
Buddhas are ultimately manifestations of the undifferentiated
non-substance, and (2) that each being is endowed with the urge to and
capability of Enlightenment...

"...Intent on causing his mind to leap into another dimension wherein he
perceives things not as potentially but actually perfect, the devotee
first imagines them so; and thereby promotes the influx of intuitive
wisdom which causes him to see them so.  The first process involves an
element of make-believe the second is intensely real.  As time goes on,
he reaches a point at which he sees each grain of sand as containing
the entire universe.  This blissful vision, normally attainable only
under the influence of yogic trance or drugs or at the moment of intense
romantic feeling, becomes a permanent possession - the adept's ONLY mode
of vision."  

_The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet, pgs. 76-78.

"...Sit facing your partner - look into each other's eyes.  You are
completely naked facing each other as two human beings...; experience
each other's sex and desire.  You respect each other, share a universal
event, two divine people together with the whole universe.

"Meditate on each other, experience each other with desire and joy.  If
you smile self-consciously or if you tense your facial muscles or body,
return to a relaxed natural state each time, get back into the play and
the seriousness of what you are doing.  If limiting thoughts pop up -
whatever happens - turn back to the experience of each other.  Naked,
you face each other, open and sensitive, experiencing each other's body,
eyes - also the many masks that appear as you concentrate on a face 

- let everything come and go.  Go on experiencing your divine partner
without stopping for a long time.  You don't have to demand or explain
or excuse anything.  You're not accomplishing anything - just being,
experiencing, enjoying."  

_Yoga, Tantra and Meditation_, by Sw. Janakananda Saraswati, pg. 79.

"The Tantras can be divided into four or six classes, but there is some
disagreement among the sects as to the boundaries between them and many
Tantric works contain elements of several classes.  The classification
given here is that of the Nyingmapas.  It is said that the Gelugpas do
not use the term Atiyoga, but divide Annuyogic works into Father Tantra,
Mother Tantra and Non-dual Tantra, of which the third category perhaps
corresponds more less exactly to Atiyoga.

"The Nyingmapa classification is:

LOWER
Kriya Tantra -	in which the deities are visualized as external.

Carya Tantra -	in which the deities are visualized as identical with
		the adept.

Yoga Tantra -	in which the power of deities is recognized as arising
		from nonduality.


HIGHER
Mahayoga Tantra - to which entrance is gained by the three siddhis (supernormal
(Also called	powers) and the defilements of body, speech and mind are
the basis of	cleaned THROUGH body, speech and mind.  The three samadhis
all dharmas)	obtainable by this form of Tantra are those of jnana (innate
		reality) and sunyata (void); of manifestation or unwavering
		compassion towards all phenomena; and of cause, which is
		meditated by a special symbol.  This is the yoga used for 
		opening up the psychic channels and for the visualization of
 		deities.

Annuyoga Tantra - in which the adept comes to realize and honour the true meaning
		of the Mantrayana (Vajrayana), never breaks the stream of
		compassion for the beings of the Triple World, and reveres his
		Lama as one who has discovered jewels in the infinite ocean of
		Samsara.  This yoga is used for the sacred breathing; the deities
		appear of themselves.

Atiyoga -	which is devoid of distinctions of depth, extent and difficulty,
(Also called	and resembles a spontaneously achieved state of unity in which
the fruit)	no rules remain to be kept.  This yoga is for certain mysteries."

_The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet, pgs. 220-221.


"The ancient yinyang symbol of the Chinese Taoists makes a useful
introduction to what will be said about the Tantric symbols, because it
illustrates how conclusions arrived at by ancient sages who reached them
intuitively by delving deep within their consciousness; moreover it
leads up to the principle underlying the Tibetan mandala.  Indeed, for
that reason, it is widely known in Tibet as well as China.  

Though antedating Buddhism it is in perfect harmony with the Tantric
conception of the universe and...it is germane to our thesis, which is
that such symbols are not arbitrary creations but arise spontaneously
from the depths of consciousness."  

_The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet, pg. 99.

"While Tantric Buddhism has many attractive features, most strains
contain elements that are very troubling even to those otherwise in
sympathy with its aims.  It can include justifying outrageous behavior -
Padmasambhava is portrayed as once killing all the male inhabitants of a
kingdom with black magic and then taking all the women there to wife so
that they would bear an army of Buddhist children.  It sometimes
advocates superstitious nonsense, such as liting magical formulae 
allowing one to gain entry into any woman's bedroom.  Many types of
Tantra may even degenerate into the worst kind of perversion - 'Feast on
my feces, gulp my urine, and lap up the blood from my vagina,' for
example, is a frequent refrain of dakinis in more than a few Vajrayana
texts.  Other recommended activities are outright criminal - 'You must
slaughter your father, devour him, and then make love to your mother.'

"Apologists claim that the Tantras are composed in 'twilight language,'
which is never to be taken literally.  'Kill,' for instance, does not
really mean 'slay,' but rather, 'take the life out of dualistic
thinking'; and 'have sex with all women' means 'communicate with all the
feminine principles contained within one's own body and mind.'  It may
also be argue that such frightful and disgusting imagery, if that is
all it is, is no worse than what psychoanalysts uncover in the psyches
of their patients, and that everyone has such thoughts at one time or
the other but suppresses them.  Nevertheless, the constant preoccupation
with the darkest side of human nature seen in certain Tantras can be
just as destructive as attempts to totally deny one's sexual and other
urges.

"Also, despite the safeguards and other precautions supposedly taken by
Tantric adepts, abuses were widespread, and more sober Buddhists were
obliged to protest:

'Perform the Tantric rites literally
And you will surely be reborn as a demon.
It is amazing that Buddhists should act thus;
If practices like yours resulted in enlightenment
Then hunters, fishermen, butchers and prostitutes
Would all surely have gained enlightenment.'

"Other sources gave vivid reports of horrifying sex orgies and human
sacrifices conducted by self-styled Tantric Buddhists.  It appears, for
example, that the Chinese Ming emperors were trained by Tantric priests
who actually acted out the descriptions of the rites, including incest
and human sacrifice.  Aged lamas in Tibet were known to have practiced
sexual vampirism; they attempted to rejuvenate themselves by procuring
the services of young girls and sucking on their tongues, breasts, and
yonis.  And it seems that even the Tantra adepts themselves were
occasionally ashamed of their behavior.  Langchen, a patriarch of the
Nyingma School, tried to hide the fact that a 'nun' disciple had borne
him two children, and his reputation never fully recovered.

"In certain schools, Tantra was in fact purged of its more unpalatable
qualities.  Shingon, for example, the main Tantric school of Chinese and
Japanese Buddhism, retained much of the sexual imagery (though not, with
the exception of the Tachikawa-Ryu, sexual yoga) but dispensed with the
worsh of filth and degradation.  And Zen, especially in its Japanese
manifestation, was essentially Tantra purified of excess."  

_Lust for Enlightenment, pgs. 84-85.