Tibetan tradition

yoda_soda

Hi all, I'm wondering about something. The Tibetan tradition really fascinates me. I'd like to study it more. But I know Vajrayana practice requires a guru (and I probably won't find one where I'm living). Are there aspects of it I could practice through independent study? If you've done this, what have you read that you found helpful? Something like the Bodhicaryāvatāra?

lobster

Zen done you have now?
https://www.lionsroar.com/was-yoda-based-on-this-buddhist-master/

Jeroen

The Tibetan tradition has four major schools, each with a quite different approach to learning and practice. The Gelugpa (yellow hats) for example put the emphasis on a thorough understanding before proceeding on to practice, while the Nyingma and the Kagyu have their own opinions about that. They are all Mahayana though.

So it helps to study up a bit on exactly what flavour of Tibetan Buddhism you’d like to get closer to.

person

There is much in the way of scholarship in TB that you can learn about and incorporate into your life. And the practice of Tantra comes in 4 progressive levels from simple mantra recitation to complex visualizations and rigorous commitments.

Jeroen

@yoda_soda said:
But I know Vajrayana practice requires a guru (and I probably won't find one where I'm living). Are there aspects of it I could practice through independent study?

If its vajrayana in particular that has peaked your interest, I remember reading that practicing it without a guru was strongly discouraged, and there are a lot of initiations to go through If you do manage to find one.

Jeffrey

My teacher is in the Kagyu and Nyingma tradition and I found out about her maybe close to 12 years ago. I took a course of hers and then just kept on learning more and more. I used to transcribe some of her audio teachings into text as a volunteer helper. Her sangha is across seas from me but I can listen or read teachings.

https://buddhawithin.org.uk/?utm_source=Buddhism+Connect&utm_campaign=8a9adac80e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_12_21_12_16&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b2f18b1245-8a9adac80e-69508745&mc_cid=8a9adac80e&mc_eid=c45799e53e

There is a link to a website for teachings. I think there is something (that used to be) called Buddhism Connect which is an intermittent (maybe biweekly) e-mail of a student's question and Lama's answer that is available to anyone who wants to sign up for it.

yoda_soda

"There is much in the way of scholarship in TB that you can learn about and incorporate into your life."

@person Anything in particular?

person

@yoda_soda said:
"There is much in the way of scholarship in TB that you can learn about and incorporate into your life."

@person Anything in particular?

There's a really comprehensive and deep amount of material, anyone could easily spend a lifetime trying to learn it all. I particularly like the emptiness teachings of the Madhyamika school.

Jeffrey

To my knowledge all of the Tibetan schools were influenced by Madhyamika. Including the Shentong perspective. Also including the Rangongpa schools of Prasangika and Sautantrika. Madhyamika influenced all of those because Nagarjuna was before those schools developed so he influenced them. Nagarjuna could not influence the Pali Canon or other schools before him in time.

Dakini

@yoda_soda said:
Hi all, I'm wondering about something. The Tibetan tradition really fascinates me. I'd like to study it more. But I know Vajrayana practice requires a guru (and I probably won't find one where I'm living). Are there aspects of it I could practice through independent study? If you've done this, what have you read that you found helpful? Something like the Bodhicaryāvatāra?

Yes, the Bodhicaryavatara is always a good place to start. See if you can find an edition that has commentary. That will keep you busy for awhile, without overwhelming you. The Lamrim is a foundational text, but is much longer. Save that for later.

yoda_soda

@Dakini Great. Can you recommend an edition? I was looking at this one for the text:

https://www.amazon.com/Bodhicaryavatara-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199540438

And this one for commentary:

https://www.amazon.com/Nectar-Manjushris-Speech-Shantidevas-Bodhisattva/dp/1590306996/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=kunzang+shantideva+commentary&qid=1552869984&s=books&sr=1-1-catcorr

Or this one;

https://www.amazon.com/Shantidevas-Guide-Awakening-Commentary-Bodhicharyavatara-ebook/dp/B01MU4HJAT/ref=sr_1_2?crid=48U4EP98699M&keywords=bodhicharyavatara+commentary&qid=1552869963&s=books&sprefix=bodhicharya,stripbooks,145&sr=1-2-catcorr

I didn't know the Lamrim could be read independently (without a teacher).

Are you... part of the Tibetan tradition?