The Basis of Vajrayana Buddhism

[From a teaching on Buddha Nature by Bardor Tulku Rinpoche given in Tampa Bay, Florida, in February 2009. Translated by Lama Yeshe Gyamtso, transcribed by Ann G. Shaffer, copy-edited by Basia Coulter. Copyright 2009 Bardor Tulku Rinpoche and Peter O’Hearn. All rights reserved.]

For more than one thousand years Buddhism that first appeared in India has flourished in Tibet, and the emphasis in Tibetan Buddhism has from the beginning always been the vajrayana teachings. There are four levels of vajrayana practice, which are called kriya tantra or action tantra, charya tantra or performance tantra, yoga tantra, and annuttara yoga tantra or highest yoga tantra. The primary emphasis in Tibetan Buddhism is on the fourth and highest level of tantra, the annuttara yoga.

The annuttara yoga tantra tradition that exists in Tibet, and has existed in that country for more than a thousand years, is transmitted through the medium of Tibetan Buddhism. This is not simply the mere name of this tradition. It’s not simply a matter of history such that we can say, “Well, there used to be these wonderful practices that were done in Tibet, and we know about it because the books still exist, but no one actually does this anymore, there is no longer any experiential attainment.” It’s not like that at all. The tradition exists undiminished, it has never been watered down, and its effectiveness and blessings have never been compromised. Down to the present day there still exists the experiential knowledge of all the stages of this path. The qualities of freedom and wisdom that this path produces still exist within the minds of great beings.

When I say that these qualities of the realization exist in the minds or hearts of great beings, what I mean is this: dharma has two aspects—tradition and realization. The dharma of tradition is historical. It is the history of the Buddha, the dharma, and it is the teachings given by the Buddha—the teachings that we practice nowadays. The dharma of tradition is found in books. Essentially it is a description of the path; it is an excellent description, but it is not the actual path itself. It tells you how to traverse the path. The actual realization of the path—the actual attainment—is not found in the books; it is found in the hearts or minds of great beings who embody this realization, lifetime after lifetime, to whom it has been transmitted by their masters, and who themselves transmit it to their disciples like the contents of one vase being poured into another, or like an excellent reproduction or photo copy. That is to say that the realization of awakened masters is actually transferred or transmitted to their devoted disciples.

We regard Buddha Shakyamuni as the teacher of the Buddhist sutras, and Guru Rinpoche (Guru Padmasambhava) as the teacher of tantra. In addition to that, Guru Rinpoche actually went to Tibet and planted the Buddhist teachings in that country during the time of the three dharma kings [editor’s note: The three dharma kings of Tibet were Songsten Gampo (6l7-698 A.D.), Trisonog Detsen (742-798 A.D.), and Tri Ralpachen (806-841 A.D.)]. Since then, innumerable people have achieved the supreme attainment of perfect awakening through these teachings, and it is not the case that as time goes on, fewer and fewer people achieve this or that the results are gradually more and more inferior. There is actually no diminishment, no reduction in the level or amount of attainment that is produced by this path. For example, His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, and other great masters like him possess the same realization as their predecessors. It’s not that they possess less realization or only a glimpse or a drop of the realization of their predecessors. They equal their predecessors in every way. Therefore it is absolutely certain, beyond any doubt, that these living masters can transmit the same realization that was transmitted more than a thousand years ago to you, to their disciples, in the present day.

On the other hand, if there is no condition, no karmic condition for this realization to arise within one, to be transferred to one or to be inspired within one, it is not going to happen. Each and everyone of us possesses the fundamental basis or cause for perfection, for perfect realization, which means that whether this realization arises or not depends upon the presence or absence of its conditions, since the cause, our basic nature, is already present. It is said, “All beings possess buddha nature, therefore all beings can achieve buddhahood.” When it is said that beings possess buddha nature, it means that tathagatagarbha or buddha nature is the actual true nature of each and every being, the fundamental or most basic nature of a sentient being, it is the actually present and perfect cause of and potential for awakening. Beings in this case means not just human beings but all beings, including insects and so on. Each and every one of them equally possesses the fundamental cause of and potential for awakening. This is fundamentally who and what we are. It is like the presence of the moon in its potential to reflect light or the presence of the sun in its potential to illuminate.