The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra Vol. 1

The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra Vol. 1

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Tantra in Tibet is the first volume in The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra series in which the Dalai Lama offers illuminating commentary on Tsongkhapa’s seminal text on Buddhist tantra. It is followed by Volume II: Deity Yoga and Volume III: Yoga Tantra.

This revised work describes the differences between the Great Vehicle and Lesser Vehicle streams in the sutra tradition, and between the sutra tradition and that of tantra generally. It includes highly practical and compassionate explanations from H.H. the Dalai Lama on tantra for spiritual development; the first part of the classic Great Exposition of Secret Mantra text; and a supplement by Jeffrey Hopkins on the difference between the Vehicles, emptiness, psychological transformation, and the purpose of the four tantras. (Source: Shambhala Publications)

Citation	Hopkins, Jeffrey, trans. and ed. The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra. Vol. 1, Tantra in Tibet. By Tsongkhapa (tsong kha pa). With a commentary by the Dalai Lama. 1st revised edition. Boulder, CO: Snow Lion Publications, 2016.

ContentsSources

• Prefacevii
• Acknowledgmentxiii
• I: Essence of Tantra
• by The Dalai Lama1
  • Tantra for Practice3
  • Refuge15
  • Lesser Vehicle and Great Vehicle2-3
  • Vajrayāna33
  • Clear Light39
  • Greatness of Mantra45
  • Clarification51
  • Initiation61

• II: The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra
• by Tsongkhapa63
  • Reasons for Faith65
  • Paths to Buddhahood73
  • Vajra Vehicle87
  • Deity Yoga101
  • Method in the Four Tantras115
  • One Goal127
  • Identifying the Four Tantras139
  • Preparation for Mantra155

• III: Supplement
• by Jeffrey Hopkins161
  • Rehearsing the Differences between the Vehicles163
  • Quintessential Points on the Difference between the Lesser Vehicle and
    Great Vehicle and the Two Great Vehicles189
  • Emptiness195
  • Psychological Transformation211
  • Purpose of the Four Tantras223

• Appendix233
• Notes237
• Glossary231
• Bibliography261
• Index276

1. Tsong kha pa. sngags rim chen mo. In gsung 'bum tsong kha pa, Vol. 3: 3-884. New Delhi: mongolian lama guru deva, 1978-1979.

tantra - Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism. Skt. तन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད། Ch. 密宗

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tantra - Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism. Skt. तन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད། Ch. 密宗

Go to the page with the definition of 'Tantra'

tantra - Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism. Skt. तन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད། Ch. 密宗

Go to the page with the definition of 'tantra'

tantra - Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism. Skt. तन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད། Ch. 密宗

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śūnyatā - The state of being empty of an innate nature due to a lack of independently existing characteristics. Skt. शून्यता Tib. སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་ Ch. 空,空門

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Vajrayāna - The esoteric Buddhist tradition which developed as a syncretic system involving deity worship, use of mantras, physical energy, and mystical practices. It is also known as the mantra tradition and the tantric school as a result of being based on texts known as tantras. Skt. वज्रयान Tib. རྡོ་རྗེ་ཐེག་པ། Ch. 金剛乘

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