Buddhist Teaching, Tantra, and Mahayana ( e.g. in New York State ) : Key Resources and References
Keywords : Buddhist yoga, Buddhist tantra, Esoteric Buddhism, Vajrayana, New York State, Nyingma lineage, Sakya lineage, Kagyu lineage, Mahayana teaching, HE Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, pagan witchcraft, mysticism, wizardry and yoga.
Re question on tribe Practical Tantra:
"If anyone knows a reputable Guru in New York that would be helpful."
( From http://tribes.tribe.net/practicaltantra/thread/1a0dbcad-4706-46a0-8e54-c047b4950481 )
There are excellent tantric gurus in New York state, specifically tantric Buddhist gurus. Classical tantra depends on lineage transmission, and most transmissions available in New York or other parts of the West are tantric Buddhist. These also subsume much of the Hindu types of tantra. For example, the Buddhist Vajrakilaya subsumes the Hindu Shiva, and the Buddhist Kali performs the same function as the Hindu Kali.
The difference is that the tantric Buddhist transmissions include Buddhist Mahayana vows of universal service ( the Bodhisattva vows ). It is important to keep in mind that many of the key practices of general Mahayana Buddhism, such as Medicine Buddha, Avalokitesvara, Amitabha, the Heart Sutra and so forth, are of major importance in Buddhist tantra, and frequently transmitted by tantric Buddhist gurus.
Tantra has several important meanings in Buddhism, including "weaving", "wholeness", "continuity", and "primordial awareness", as expounded in the Uttaratantrashastra. It is an esoteric path of yoga which integrates the practitioner with their own originally free and pure and profound Buddha Nature.
Buddhist tantra is *not* based on or associated with the common dualistic belief in a separate creator god or monotheism in any form. All Buddhist teaching and practice is fundamentally independent of and incompatible with Islam, Catholicism, Judaism etc. by definition. For example, Mahayana Buddhism is strongly feminist, and holds an entirely different kind of worldview. But the inner culture of Buddhist tantra does overlap a broad range of distinct wisdom cultures and spiritual practices across Asia.
Technically, all Buddhist tantra is pagan witchcraft, mysticism and wizardry and yoga. If you understand what those terms reference, then you have a basic orientation towards the approach and worldview of Buddhist tantra.
I will give a set of recommendations. This is a way of fulfilling my responsibility to propagate these teachings, and providing people the connections they need to become established in tantric Buddhist / Mahayana practice.
For background see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrayana
And the many profound and accessible teachings that are generously provided by Khenchen ( Great Abbot ) Thrangu Rinpoche, at
http://www.rinpoche.com/teachings.html
The Four Dharmas of Gampopa
http://www.rinpoche.com/teachings/4dharmas.pdf
The Bodhisattva Vow
http://www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/buddhism/tra/tra06.php
The Three Vehicles
http://www.rinpoche.com/teachings/3vehicles.pdf
and so forth. These freely offered teachings from HE Khenchen Thrangu provide the essential foundation for approaching the Buddhist tantra and engaging general Mahayana *and* Esoteric Buddhist culture. Both the general and esoteric aspects are equally important for a tantric practitioner.
Here are some key New York teaching centers for Buddhist tantra. Three of the four are in upstate New York.
Karma Kagyu Lineage : Karma Triyana Dharmachakra
At Karma Triyana Dharmacakra in Woodstock New York there are two tantric abbots and a guru.
They offer the classical three year three month retreats of the Karma Kagyu lineage, which descends from the mahasiddha/ great adept Milarepa. I am a direct student of the principal abbot of KTD Woodstock, as well as 2 other Kagyu abbots and several principal Kagyu lineage holders, such as Very Venerable Kalu Rinpoche, HH Khentin Tai Situpa and so forth.
KTD is the principal American seat of His Holiness the Seventeeth Karmapa Urgyen Trinley Dorje, head of the Karma Kagyu order.
See
http://www.kagyu.org/ktd/
Nyingma Lineage :Padmasambhava Buddhist Center
Also there is Padmasambhava Buddhist Center in Sydney Center New York. The abbot there teaches in the Nyingma lineage of Mahasiddha Padmasambhava, and HH Dudjom Rinpoche.
See
http://www.padmasambhava.org/
I also practice in the Dudjom Tersar lineage taught at PBC Sydney and at other major Nyingma centers in California and so forth. ( I have several key transmissions of the Dudjom Tersar, such as Vajrakilaya, Troma, Bardo/ Hundred Deities, and Dorje Drowo Lod. These are extraordinarily valuable and powerful practices, and merit the highest respect. )
Sakya Lineage : Tsechen Kunchab Ling
Also in upstate New York is Tsechen Kunchab Ling, primary American seat of the principal Sakya lineage holder, HH Sakya Trizin. This is an extremely important tantric guru. I have empowerments from this world class teacher and he is also extraordinary.
See
http://www.sakyatemple.org/
Nyingma Dzogchen Lineage : Kundrolling
I also recommend Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, who has many centers around the world. He is a fully trained guru and profound mystic in the Great Perfection ( Nyingma ) lineage of Guru Padmasambhabva. The New York City center is
http://tsegyalgar.org/localcenters/kundrolling/
Chogyal Namkhai Norbu will return to New York in July 2014, having just taught there some weeks ago. I give this teacher my highest recommendation, and use his practice materials. They are among the most profound tantric practices available. The commentaries are very accessible ( as well as very mystical ) and the approach taken in this school is very functional.
Summary Perspective on Lineage
The New Schools, such as Sakya and Kagyu ( and the Gelugpa school of HH the Dalai Lama ) primarily focus on New School deities, yogas, and the Great Seal teaching of Primordial Awareness. The Old School, or Nyingma, mainly focuses on an earlier set of transmissions from India to Tibet, and the Great Perfection teaching of Primordial Awareness.
These lineages and practices are not fundamentally different from each other. I have, from each of these lineages, the transmissions of Padmasambhava and Vajrakilaya, for example. This means the New School Kagyu and Sakya lineages employ and sometimes emphasize Old School / Nyingma lineage practices ( e.g. Padmasambhava, and Vajrakilaya ).
Furthermore, the Old School mystic Chogyal Namkhai Norbu was deeply trained in the Sakya New School tradition when he was young, and the Sakya have a hereditary connection to Old School and Padmasambhava through the ancient Sakya Ngor sublineage. Still further, HE Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche of the Kagyu school, whose teachings I emphasized above, is a major Nyingma / Dzogchen master as well as one of the principal Kagyu masters of our day.
In other words, these lineages are all deeply compatible with each other, as well as having distinct approaches and independent lineage histories. It is in fact quite common for individual practitioners to follow the nonsectarian approach and obtain transmissions from different tantric Buddhist lineages and practice centers, rather than keep to just one. Also, it is common for a center of one lineage to invite a tantric Buddhist lineage master of another lineage to come teach and give transmissions.
The tantric Buddhist systems of practice always build on and fully support the general Mahayana Buddhist teachings as shown above, and Buddhist tantra incorporates many functions and practice of Hindu tantra, as I said. The great medieval Hindu guru Matsyendranath held a Buddhist teaching lineage, and it appears he expanded Hindu spiritual practice with Buddhist teaching and practice. The two systems, Hindu and Buddhist, co-evolved.
It is therefore clear that Buddhist tantra in general is very flexible and a rich culture of spiritual practice, and Buddhist tantra serves the needs of many kinds of practitioners, as more and more people are coming to see. Even more importantly, it is readily available in the West. Most transmissions by far of Shiva or Kali or Ganapati in the West are Buddhist transmissions of Shiva / Vajrakilaya, Kali / Troma Nagmo, or Ganapati.
My statement, as a mahayana guru and a tantric yogi, is that many of the best Mahayana Buddhist teachers and many of the best tantric gurus are in fact tantric Buddhist gurus, and you can actually study with them. Again, it is of great value to understand the basic approach, which is why I began this article with key reference teachings by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche.
I have also given key background reference books on dakini tantra/ goddess yoga at the above cited
http://tribes.tribe.net/practicaltantra/thread/1a0dbcad-4706-46a0-8e54-c047b4950481
and more historical background at
http://tribes.tribe.net/practicaltantra/thread/09e8cfc4-2743-40fa-85b7-9671eb8c258f
With regard to Guru Padmasambhava, Nyingma, and Great Perfection awareness yoga, please see my listing / teaching article at
http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/listing/UPDATED-comprehensive-teaching-article-Tantric-Buddhist-Empowerments-and-Teachings-and-Retreats-Nationwide-USA-and-India-Winter-2012-Spring-2013-/san-francisco-ca/b99e6708-8246-4bf8-a8f7-1b5e9830ef8b
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You have been helped. This teaching article and set of references is offered to the public in partial fulfillment of my formal teaching responsibilities.
Sarva mangalam!
May All Beings Benefit!
Siddhi rastu!
May there be tantric accomplishment!
KT
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