Kangyur — Tantras
626 texts · page 1 of 7 (texts 1–100)
Toh 138: The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī” from the Great Collection
Summary The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī is one of the core texts of the Mahāsannipāta collection of Mahāyāna sūtras that dates back to the formative period of Mahāyāna Buddhism, from the first to the third century ce . Its rich and varied narratives, probably redacted from at least two independent works, recount significant events from the lives, past and present, of the Buddha Śākyamuni and some of his main followers and opponents, both human and nonhuman. At the center of these narratives is the climactic episode from the Buddha’s life when Māra, the personification of spiritual death, sets out to destroy the Buddha and his Dharma. The mythic confrontation between these paragons of light and darkness, and the Buddha’s eventual victory, are related in vivid detail. The main narratives are interwoven with Dharma instructions and interspersed with miraculous events. The text also exemplifies two distinctive sūtra genres, “prophecies” ( vyākaraṇa ) and “incantations” ( dhāraṇī ), as it includes, respectively, prophecies of the future attainment of buddhahood by some of the Buddha’s followers and the potent phrases that embody the Buddha’s teachings and are meant to ensure their survival and the thriving of its practitioners.
Toh 139: The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Dhāraṇī of the Vajra Quintessence”
Summary In The Dhāraṇī of the Vajra Quintessence , the bodhisattva of wisdom Mañjuśrī asks the Buddha to propound a teaching on the highest wisdom that questions foundational Buddhist concepts and categories from an ultimate standpoint without denying their conventional efficacy. The Buddha begins by teaching, in a paradoxical tone that defines the entire discourse, that although there is neither awakening nor buddha qualities, bodhisattvas nonetheless aspire for buddhahood. This is followed by a lengthy series of similar paradoxes that examine basic Buddhist distinctions between the worlds of buddhas and sentient beings while pointing to the common ground underlying them. One key doctrinal point is that the qualities of ordinary people are neither distinct from, nor to be conflated with, the qualities of buddhas. When asked why this is so, the Buddha explains that the dhāraṇī of the vajra quintessence is nonconceptual and immanent in all things, from emotional defilements up to the realization of buddhahood. Since all phenomena are equally empty of intrinsic essence, they are already intrinsically pure and beyond bondage or liberation.
Toh 140: The Dhāraṇī for Achieving the Boundless Gate
Toh 141: The Noble Dhāraṇī of the Six Gates
Summary While the Buddha is abiding in the space above the Śuddhāvāsa realm with a retinue of bodhisattvas, he urges them to uphold The Dhāraṇī of the Six Gates and presents these gates as six aspirations that vanquish the causes of saṃsāric experience. He then presents the dhāraṇī itself to his listeners and instructs them to recite it three times each day and three times each night. Finally, he indicates the benefits that come from this practice, and the assembly praises the Buddha’s words. This is followed by a short dedication marking the conclusion of the text.
Toh 142: The Noble Dhāraṇī “Entering into Nonconceptuality”
Summary The Dhāraṇī “Entering into Nonconceptuality” is a short Mahāyāna sūtra that came to be particularly influential in Yogācāra circles. The central theme of the sūtra is the attainment of the nonconceptual realm, reached through the practice of relinquishing all conceptual signs by not directing the mind toward them. The sūtra presents the progressive stages through which bodhisattvas can abandon increasingly subtle conceptual signs and eliminate the erroneous ideas that lead to the objectification of phenomena.
Toh 143: The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī
Summary The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī consists of two initial verses that enumerate eight obscurations and their antidote—the Mahāyāna teachings—followed by a dhāraṇī and three verses that list the ten beneficial results of reciting the text.
Toh 145: The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Dhāraṇī of the Jewel Torch”
Summary The Dhāraṇī of the Jewel Torch starts with a profound conversation between the Buddha and the bodhisattvas Samantabhadra and Mañjuśrī on the nature of the dharmadhātu , buddhahood, and emptiness. The bodhisattva Dharmamati then enters the meditative absorption called the infinite application of the bodhisattva’s jewel torch and, at the behest of the millions of buddhas who have blessed him, emerges from it to teach how bodhisattvas arise from the presence of a tathāgata and progress to the state of omniscience. Following Dharmamati’s detailed exposition of the “ten categories” or progressive stages of a bodhisattva, the Buddha briefly teaches the mantra of the dhāraṇī and then, for most of the remainder of the text, encourages bodhisattvas in a long versified passage in which he recounts teachings by a bodhisattva called Bhadraśrī on the qualities of bodhisattvas and buddhas. Some verses from this passage on the virtues of faith have been widely quoted in both India and Tibet.
Toh 362: The Glorious Kālacakra, King of Tantras, Taken from the Supreme Primordial Buddha Tantra
Toh 363: The Essence of the Higher Tantra of Kālacakra
Toh 364: The Essence of the Tantra of Kālacakra
Toh 366: The Higher Tantra of the Deity Ḍākinījālaśaṃvara, Who is the Union of All the Buddhas
Toh 367: The Supplementary Tantra to the The Higher Tantra of the Deity Ḍākinījālaśaṃvara, Who is the Union of All the Buddhas
Toh 369: Appendix to the Discourse Tantra
Summary The Discourse Appendix Tantra is a moderately long tantra traditionally considered to be an explanatory tantra (vyākyātantra) linked to the Cakrasaṃvara tradition. As such, the text fills in many of the details about practice left out of the root tantra. It explains in more detail important rituals such as mandala construction and initiation ceremonies and goes into much more depth relating deity yoga practices. It describes the deities’ iconography in much more detail, relates their mantras, and also contains, embedded within the text, sadhana-like descriptions of deity yoga visualization practices. It also features body mandala practices quite prominently.
Toh 371: The Supplementary Tantra of Vajraḍāka
Toh 372: Ocean of Ḍākas, a Yoginītantra
Toh 373: The Tantra of the Arising of Śaṃvara
Toh 376: The Tantra of Union with the Four Yoginīs
Toh 378: The Preeminence of Vārāhī, a Sovereign Tantra
Toh 379: The Supplementary Tantra to the Tantra "The Preeminence of Vārāhī"
Toh 383: Guhyavajra, a Sovereign Tantra
Toh 385: The Tantra of the Inconceivable Secrets of Cakrasaṃvara
Toh 386: The Glorious King of Tantras “Equal to the Sky”
Summary Equal to the Sky belongs to a series of texts known as the rali tantras, which are primarily associated with the Cakrasaṃvara system but incorporate themes that are also prominent in the Hevajra and Kālacakra systems. The tantra presents a discourse in which the Buddha addresses three types of ḍākinī, explains their true natures, and correlates them with the practitioner’s physical and subtle body. A primary concern of this text is to explain advanced yogic practices performed during the completion stage (Skt. utpannakrama/niṣpannakrama ; Tib. rdzogs rim ) in the Yoginī Tantras, but it also treats a wide range of topics including astrology, sacred geography, and tantric hermeneutics. The result is a text which, while very dense and quite difficult to engage with, rewards the reader by bringing together an astonishingly vast range of topics concerning both the theory and practice of Buddhist tantra.
Toh 387: The Tantra of the Great Khasama
Toh 388: The Tantra of Body, Speech, and Mind
Toh 389: The Tantra of the Jewel Garland
Toh 390: The Tantra of the Great Vow
Toh 391: The Tantra of Great Power
Toh 392: The Secret Tantra of Gnosis
Toh 393: The Tantra of the Garland of Gnosis
Toh 394: The Tantra of Blazing Gnosis
Toh 395: The Tantra of the Garland of the Moon
Toh 396: The Tantra of the Blazing Jewel
Toh 397: The Tantra of the Disk of the Sun
Toh 398: The Tantra of the King of Gnosis
Toh 399: The Secret Tantra of Vajraḍāka
Toh 400: The Secret Tantra of the Blazing Fire
Toh 401: The Secret Tantra of Ambrosia
Toh 402: The Tantra of the Ornament of the Charnel Ground
Toh 403: Tantra of the Vajra King
Toh 404: The Tantra of the Mind of Gnosis
Toh 405: The Tantra, King of Desire
Toh 406: The Tantra of the Protection by the Ḍākinīs
Toh 407: The Tantra of the Garland of Fire
Toh 408: The Tantra of the Secret Blaze of the Ḍākinī
Toh 410: The Tantra of the Mighty King of Gnosis
Toh 411: The Tantra, Protection by the Web of Vajra Accomplishments
Toh 412: The Tantra of the Meaning of the Essential Nature of the Mind
Toh 413: The Tantra of the Amazing Ornament of the Charnel Ground
Toh 414: The Unsullied, a Sovereign Tantra
Toh 415: The Tantra of Śaṃvara Who is Equal to Space
Toh 416: The Tantra of the Protector, the Arising of Secret Accomplishments
Toh 417: The Sovereign Tantra of Hevajra, He Who Affords Protection Through Nets of Ḍākinīs
Toh 418: The Hevajra Tantra [Part 2: Illusion]
Toh 419: The Tantra of the Vajra Cage
Toh 420: Tantra of the Tilaka (Forehead Mark) of Mahāmudrā
Toh 421: The Tantra of the Essence of Gnosis
Toh 422: The Tilaka (Forehead Mark) of Gnosis, a Yoginī Tantra
Toh 423: The Tantra of the Lamp of Reality
Toh 424: The Tantra of Buddhakapāla
Toh 425: The King of Tantras, the Glorious Mahāmāyā
Summary The Mahāmāyātantra , named after its principal deity Mahāmāyā, is a tantra of the Yoginītantra class in which Mahāmāyā presides over a maṇḍala populated primarily by yoginīs and ḍākinīs. The practitioner engages the antinomian power of these beings through a threefold system of yoga involving the visualization of the maṇḍala deities, the recitation of their mantras, and the direct experience of absolute reality. As well as practices involving the manipulation of the body’s subtle energies, the Mahāmāyātantra incorporates the transgressive practices that are the hallmark of the earlier tantric systems such as the Guhyasamājatantra , specifically the ingestion of sexual fluids and other polluting substances. The tantra promises the grace of Mahāmāyā in the form of mundane and transcendent spiritual attainments to those who approach it with diligence and devotion.
Toh 426: The Tantra of Vajrārali
Toh 427: The Tantra of Rigyārali
Toh 428: The Sovereign Tantra in Four Parts
Toh 429: The Tantra in Four Parts, the Mantra Portion
Toh 430: The Explanatory Tantra on the Four Parts
Toh 431: The Glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa Tantra “The Sole Hero”
Summary Written around the tenth or the eleventh century ce , in the late Mantrayāna period, The Tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa represents the flowering of the Yoginītantra genre. The tantra offers instructions on how to attain the wisdom state of Buddha Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa through the practice of the four joys. The tantra covers a range of practices and philosophical perspectives of late tantric Buddhism, including the development stage, the completion stage, the use of mantras, and a number of magical rites and rituals. The text is quite unique with its tribute to and apotheosis of women and, in this regard, probably has few parallels anywhere else in world literature. It is written in the spirit of great sincerity and devotion, and it is this very spirit that mitigates, and at the same time empowers, the text’s stark imagery and sometimes shocking practices. This text certainly calls for an open mind.
Toh 431: The Glorious Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa Tantra “The Sole Hero”
Summary Written around the tenth or the eleventh century ce , in the late Mantrayāna period, The Tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa represents the flowering of the Yoginītantra genre. The tantra offers instructions on how to attain the wisdom state of Buddha Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa through the practice of the four joys. The tantra covers a range of practices and philosophical perspectives of late tantric Buddhism, including the development stage, the completion stage, the use of mantras, and a number of magical rites and rituals. The text is quite unique with its tribute to and apotheosis of women and, in this regard, probably has few parallels anywhere else in world literature. It is written in the spirit of great sincerity and devotion, and it is this very spirit that mitigates, and at the same time empowers, the text’s stark imagery and sometimes shocking practices. This text certainly calls for an open mind.
Toh 432: The Tantra of the Practice of Acala
Toh 433: The Secret Tantra of the Mantras for the Wrathful Kings
Toh 434: The Secret Acalatantra
Toh 439: A Section of the Root Tantra of Vajrakīlaya
Toh 440: Glorious Mahākāla’s Sovereign Tantra
Summary Mahākāla’s Sovereign Tantra consists of a dialogue between Mahākāla and the Goddess on a broad range of topics including the consecration rites, deity generation practices, and rituals for attaining various siddhis associated with the deity Mahākāla. The opening section of the tantra focuses on topics related to the Unexcelled Yoga Tantras ( yoganiruttaratantra , bla na med pa’i rgyud kyi rnal ’byor ), such as how one generates the deity, how the consecration rites are performed, and how the advanced practitioner manipulates the vital winds of the subtle body to attain perfect spontaneous union as Mahākāla. The conversation then turns to ritual instructions for the attainment of siddhis as it integrates mastery of the two-stage union practices associated with the Unexcelled Yoga Tantras with those rituals more commonly associated with the Action Tantras ( kriyātantra , bya ba’i rgyud ) and Conduct Tantras ( caryātantra , spyod pa’i rgyud ).
Toh 441: The Extant Khasama Tantra
Toh 442: Guhyasamāja
Toh 443: The Supplementary Tantra
Toh 444: The Tantra, the Prophecy of the Intent
Toh 447: The Tantra, Compendium of Vajra Gnosis
Toh 448: The Tantra of Tārāyoginī
Toh 449: The Supplementary Tantra of Tārāyoginī
Toh 451: The Tantra of the Ornament of the Vajra Essence
Toh 454: The Tantra of Vajrapāṇi's Triple Dreadful Training
Toh 455: The Triple Dreadful Taming, a Division of the Secret Tantras
Toh 456: The Tantra of the Vajra Staff of Vajrapāṇi
Toh 457: The Tantra of Vajrapāṇi, Conquest of the Triple World
Toh 458: The Secret Tantra, The Wrathful Thought of the Vajra
Toh 459: The Later Secret Tantra, The Wrathful Thought of the Vajra
Toh 460: The Supplementary Tantra to the Later Secret Tantra, The Wrathful Thought of the Vajra
Toh 460a: The Dhāraṇī “Dream Visions”
Summary The Dhāraṇī “Dream Visions” presents a dhāraṇī and a short ritual for producing visions in dreams.
Toh 461: The Tantra of the Flame of the Vajra
Toh 462: The Dhāraṇī of the Vajra Flame
Toh 464: The Tantra of the Secret Revelation of Vajrapāṇi
Toh 465: The Tantra of the Wrathful Vajra-Bliss
Toh 467: The Tantra of Black Yamāri, the Body, Speech, and Mind of all Tathāgatas
Homage to Mañjuśrī-Yamāri! Tib. gshin rje’i gshed . While this Tibetan term is also used to translate the Sanskrit yamāntaka , comparison with the extant Sanskrit witnesses suggests it was used consistently here to translate yamāri . The homage in F reads, “Homage to the glorious one who is terrifying and wrathful” ( dpal khro bo ’jigs pa can la phyag ’tshal lo ).