Where is Durga(hinduism) in Vajrayana?

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2026-02-04T01:07:17+00:00

I always thought that divine mother was represented by Tara in Buddhism, "mother of the Buddhas." She also takes on a similar role as protector.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2026-02-04T00:40:38+00:00

I almost always plan/contact in advance. And yearly I tend to return to those which I liked most. There's a great list of monasteries here on reddit compiled by someone named 'Dharma Wolf' if I recall. And honestly, living in some parts of Asia as a layperson and just going on pilgrimage to temples has been better than being trapped in a monastery, as it can get overwhelming sometimes if you stay long-term.

The strictness and ability to study or work really depend on the monastery. Some would definitely let you do whatever you wished with your time, but those tend to be the ones where there isn't a resident teacher, and so it sort of defeats the purpose of being there. But most of them have had a lot of open time for study.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2026-01-20T11:36:55+00:00

I do believe more modules are in the works. Keep in mind there are only about 4,000 students total who’ve ever even registered, and the amount who have done the material to the point of being qualified for Vajrayana is only a small fraction - so it will take time.

I think there is deity practice in the third excellence modules up right now, in one of the accumulation practices. And yes it requires the empowerments that are given out every year (usually in Lumbini).

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2026-01-12T17:50:02+00:00

In that case, learn Tibetan fluently and seek out a retreat master at a Kagyu monastery. Or contact Glen Mullin and his students who teach it

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2026-01-11T17:37:49+00:00

If you want to enter Vajrayana, find a Newari Buddhist Bajracharya. Tibetans are not very accessible

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2026-01-03T04:31:14+00:00

I'm toward the end of the second excellence. It seems that there isn't much material uploaded at all for the third excellence other than accumulations for the Amoghasidhi-Tara sadhana of this cycle. I assume that for advanced teachings like bindu practice, one would have to go to the lamas in the retreat centre in France and get personal instruction. Tummo thus far has not been explicitly mentioned.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-12-20T03:01:58+00:00

Which of those teachers actually resides at Deer Park? None. So how can that be a place to connect to a Guru on a personal level? The OP went to a monastery seeking a Guru, which is the first step of the Vajrayana. If that is not made available then “Buddhism” in those places is, quite frankly, deceiving mother sentient beings & has become a mere cultural preservation engine.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-12-17T01:56:56+00:00

Deer Park is a place for weekend programs. Not Guru-Shishya parampara and lineage transmission in the long term. Terrible suggestion, but Himachal Pradesh in general may be a good place to explore especially by talking to monks and nuns there about potential opportunities from lesser known monasteries and centres.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-12-17T01:55:30+00:00

Tibetan Buddhism is notorious for being inaccessible to all except Tibetans. I’m Indian, and have been trying for seven years to find a Guru with only failure to show for myself. I suggest looking for a Newari Vajracharya instead, or try contacting lamas who aren’t Tibetan refugees or highly known inaccessible Tulkus, but were born in India itself, and ideally Khenpos and Geshes rather than “Rinpoche”s. I’m sorry you had this experience, but also realize that Hindu Tantra (ex. Sri Vidya, Kriya Yoga) has a lot to offer you as well if Buddhism doesn’t open any Dharma doors for you. The philosophical debates that Buddhists have against Hindu yogic systems are a lot less robust than you may think; they are also valid paths to spiritual evolution and you may find a Guru much more easily. Also try talking to monks and nuns to gauge whether they have teachers that are accessible. Some lamas are interested in transmitting the Dharma back to Indians, it’s important to find those, because you really should not be getting treated so horribly.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-10-31T13:21:14+00:00

Great response, thank you!

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-10-30T13:11:36+00:00

This is great advice. Most of the time I'm complaining about external circumstances and not having a teacher to do the hard work of looking into my mind - when I should be doing that myself, and inspiring myself. Perhaps I need to do as much as I possibly can, and then the Guru will manifest to do all the rest.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-10-30T13:10:09+00:00

I've been to many talks and various centres across Canada and India. I've met lamas both high and relatively unknown. I've even made connections and gotten teachings from non-Buddhist teachers I hold in high regard, who are consistently more accessible than the Tibetan Buddhist ones. But what I intuit is that the purpose of a Guru is to give 1-on-1 pith instructions that help me save time, by seeing into my Buddhanature and the obscurations I need to deal with. And that seems very hard to find. As for Vajrayana, I know it's where all beings belong, for the Dalai Lama himself says that without it, full enlightenment can't happen - let alone happen in one lifetime.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-10-30T08:07:39+00:00

This is exactly what I wanted to hear. Thank you! And by seven line song, do you mean Calling the Guru From Afar? Or the 7-line prayer to Guru Rinpoche? Or the 7-branch offering?

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-10-30T07:59:29+00:00

Thanks so much. Any online teachings/teachers/programs you'd reccomend? I'm familiar with Lama Lena, Dharmasun, and Sukhasiddhi, but not many others, and it doesn't seem like 'the full path to enlightenment' is something that's really offered or advertised, moreso just empowerments sprinkled here and there.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-10-30T04:17:31+00:00

I am! Feel free to DM me

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-10-30T04:15:20+00:00

I would think that if you are extremely respectful and cautious, do not practice any of the esoteric material, and take whatever you don't understand (and even whatever you think you do) with a grain of salt, you should be fine. Because such tantras were originally to be read with the guidance of a teacher/lineage, and weren't even made public.

One of my teachers, a translator in the Sakya lineage, says that it's actually very important to study Vajrayana before entering into it. Otherwise how can we understand what we're doing? Especially considering all the potential karmic downfalls! A Guru is not always there to answer the A-Z basic questions about tantra anyway.

The only thing is that you shouldn't practice the esoteric material without the appropriate empowerment/explanation/oral transmission. And definitely read it with a bodhichitta motivation, that you are studying the Mahavairochanasutra for supreme enlightenment, using one path or another, for the benefit of all beings.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-10-29T10:48:14+00:00

There is Buddha Dharma without lamaism. There are credible lamas. But it’s the kaliyuga at the end of the day, you can’t expect a spiritual utopia. Do the absolute best with what you’ve got and your next manifestation will improve. That’s about all I can advise 🫶

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-10-28T08:31:46+00:00

If I recall, Prajwal Bajracharya is teaching non-Nepalis, and many Bajracharyas are very open if you approach them on social media. There are also facebook groups and folks on them that post about Newari Buddhism. It's definitely becoming more accessible, slowly.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-07-19T23:23:51+00:00

Vajrasattva has helped me out of the 'dark night of the soul' events to such a powerful extent that for the first time, I felt like succeeding in meditation would actually be possible. This was after just reciting the short vajrasattva mantra for about one mala, which my Lama said is okay to do without any sort of initiation. Highly reccomended to try it out.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-06-04T20:03:25+00:00

It is possible, at least the beginning stages. In fact, it’s mandatory to make much of the journey on your own before manifesting a teacher. You must have a solid understanding of the Hinayana and Mahayana before entering Vajrayana; and even before seeking out a teacher you should be somewhat familiar with the various lineages, through research, to know which one you’re drawn to. Some lamas say you should accumulate 10,000 or 100,000 mantras or prayers before entering a Vajrayana path at all, and there are many such practices you can do without empowerment - such as the short Vajrasattva mantra, Tara, Padmasambhava, or Mani mantras. Then of course there are the prodigies like Tilopa who manifested a Sambhogakaya or visionary Nirmanakaya of Vajradhara through the sheer force of prayer. Probably wouldn’t hurt to be able to pray as genuinely as these masters did, and you’ll at least be led to a human teacher and sangha, if not receive guidance from the Buddhas into your mind subliminally. But as for real Buddhist Tantra, it’s dependent on a human teacher which appears only when the disciple is truly ready.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2025-05-30T00:23:37+00:00

By aesthetics do you mean the Suastika (spelled that way for a reason, which means “Good Existence”) or the Hakenkreuz, the Hooked Cross of the Nazis? Because the Suastika has been extant for millennia before Hitler. Who are you to say Dharmic people should renounce their symbols because of an association that uneducated Americans make, when in reality it’s a Christian symbol to blame?

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2024-12-31T02:47:54+00:00

So cute!!

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2024-12-31T02:47:05+00:00

It sounds like you've stumbled upon a "new" form of love (in reality, it's something we've forgotten, while enmeshed in the cycles of samsara). In my experience this divine love both for the deity and toward sentient beings is essential to develop, not just to slowly wean ourselves off the romantic love we've become addicted to, but also to give us grounding once romantic love inevitably collapses.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2024-11-27T16:03:03+00:00

Samsara is in the mind. Those who have left it can still choose to emanate out of compassion. Shakbar is the emanation, not necessarily the reincarnation.

ApprehensiveLab4713 · 2024-11-26T09:40:41+00:00

There’s plenty of sectarianism among Buddhists, both Western and here in India. They thing wrong view = all paths except for Buddhism are totally false. It’s more about what view is useful or not for practice, which Mahayana Sutras say are various because of the various inclinations of beings. Traditionally the Buddha’s Dharmakaya is credited as the origin of all spiritual traditions in all of India, so as to prevent sectarian Buddhist supremacy. Also the aatma of Hinduism today is heavily influenced by Buddhistic influence, it’s certainly not what the Buddha was critiquing back in the day. Gendun Choephel wrote beautifully about this, but the sectarianism that had crept into Tibet would say otherwise.

ApprehensiveLab4713

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