Tibetan Buddhist Practices: Tonglen, Deity Yoga, and the Path of Tantra
Tibetan Buddhism is often approached through its most exotic faces: the elaborate thangka paintings of ferocious deities, the whirling rituals, the esoteric initiations, the intricate cosmology of the Bardo Thodol. But beneath all this visual and ceremonial richness lie practices of extraordinary psychological subtlety — practical methods for transforming the mind that have been tested and refined over fifteen centuries of intensive experimentation. The previous article explored the Bardo Thodol and the metaphysics of death and rebirth. This companion piece focuses on the living practices of the Tibetan tradition: how practitioners actually work with the mind in daily life to develop the qualities — compassion, wisdom, and the recognition of mind's nature — that lead to liberation. The Vehicle: Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhism belongs to the school called Vajrayana ( Vajra = diamond or thunderbolt, yana = vehicle). Also called the "Diamond Vehicle" or "Tantric Buddh...