Buddha's teachings include
both sutras and tantras. The sutras present the basic
themes of practice for gaining liberation from uncontrollably
recurring problems (Skt. samsara) and, beyond that, to
reach the enlightened state of a Buddha, with the ability
to help others as much as is possible. The themes include
methods for developing ethical self-discipline, concentration,
love, compassion, and a correct understanding of how things
actually exist. The tantras present advanced practices
based on the sutras.
The Sanskrit word tantra means the warp of
a loom or the strands of a braid. Like the strings of
a warp, the tantra practices serve as a structure for
intertwining the sutra themes to weave a tapestry of enlightenment.
Moreover, tantra combines physical, verbal, and mental
expressions of each practice, which braid together creating
a holistic path of development. Because one cannot integrate
and practice simultaneously all the sutra themes without
previously training in each individually, tantra practice
is extremely advanced.
The root of the word tantra means to stretch
or to continue without a break. Emphasizing this connotation,
the Tibetan scholars translated the term as gyu (rgyud),
which means an unbroken continuity. Here, the reference
is to continuity over time, as in a succession of moments
of a movie, rather than to continuity through space, as
in a succession of segments of pavement. Moreover, the
successions discussed in tantra resemble eternal movies:
they have neither beginnings nor ends.
Two movies are never the same, and even two
copies of the identical movie can never be the same roll
of film. Similarly, everlasting successions always maintain
their individualities. Furthermore, the frames of movies
play one at a time, with everything changing from frame
to frame. In the same manner, moments in everlasting successions
are ephemeral, with only one moment occurring at a time
and without anything solid enduring throughout the successions.
The Term Tantra in Reference to Buddha-Nature
Although mental continuums, and thus individual beings,
lack innate souls that by their own powers give them their
identities, nevertheless they have other features accompanying
them as integral facets of their natures. These innate
facets also constitute tantras - successions of moments
with no beginning or end. The everlasting innate facets
that transform into a Buddha's enlightening facets, or
which allow each mental continuum to become the continuum
of a Buddha, comprise that continuum's Buddha-nature factors.
For example, unbroken successions of moments
of physical appearance, communication, and mental functioning
(body, speech, and mind), the operation of good qualities,
and activity forever accompany the succession of moments
of each mental continuum, although the particular forms
of the five vary each moment. The physical appearance
may be invisible to the human eye; the communication may
be unintentional and merely through body language; and
the mental functioning may be minimal, as with being asleep
or unconscious. Good qualities, such as understanding,
caring, and capability, may operate at miniscule levels
or may only be dormant; and activity may be merely autonomic.
Nevertheless, individually and subjectively experiencing
something each moment entails continually having some
physical appearance, some form of communication of some
information, some mental functioning, some level of operation
of good qualities, and some activity.
The fact that unbroken successions of moments
of the five innate facets accompany the mental continuum
of each being in every rebirth accounts for the fact that
successions of the five continue to accompany each being's
continuum also as a Buddha. From another point of view,
moments of the five continue to occur in unbroken succession
even after enlightenment, but now their forms manifest
as a Buddha's five enlightening facets. They are enlightening
in the sense that they are the most effective means for
leading others to enlightenment.
