Guhyasamāja Tantra
Important scriptures of Tantric Buddhism / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Guhyasamāja Tantra (Sanskrit: गुह्यसमाजतंत्र, romanized: Guhyasamājatantra, lit. 'Tantra of the Secret Society/Community'; Tibetan: གསང་འདུས་རྩ་རྒྱུད, Wylie: gsang 'dus rtsa rgyud), Tōhoku Catalogue No. (Toh) 442, also known as the Tathāgataguhyaka (Secrets of the Tathagata), is one of the most important scriptures of Tantric Buddhism, written in Sanskrit. In its fullest form, it consists of seventeen chapters, though a separate "explanatory tantra" (vyākhyātantra) known as the Later Tantra (Sanskrit: गुह्यसमाज उत्तरातंत्र, romanized: Guhyasamāja Uttaratantra; Tibetan: རྒྱུད་ཕྱི་མ, Wylie: rgyud phyi ma), Toh 443, is sometimes considered to be its eighteenth chapter. Many scholars believe that the original core of the work consisted of the first twelve chapters, with chapters thirteen to seventeen being added later as explanatory material.
The Guhyasamāja-tantra is not to be confused with the Mahayana sutra titled Tathāgataguhyaka Sūtra.[1][2]
In India, it was classified as a Yoga or Mahāyoga Tantra. In Tibet it is considered an Unexcelled Yoga Tantra (rnal ’byor bla med rgyud). It develops traditions found in earlier scriptures such as the Compendium of Reality (Sanskrit: Sarva-tathāgata-tattva-saṃgraha; De bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi de kho na nyid bsdus pa (Toh 479)) but is focused to a greater extent on the antinomian aspects characteristic of the later Buddhist Tantras. Naropa and Aryadeva considered the Compendium of Reality to be a root tantra in relation to the Guhyasamaja Tantra. The Guhyasamaja Tantra survives in Sanskrit manuscripts and in Tibetan and Chinese translation.
The Guhyasiddhi of Padmavajra, a work associated with the Guhyasamaja tradition, prescribes acting as a Saiva guru and initiating members into Shaiva Siddhanta scriptures and mandalas.[3] Due to the radical methodology of having sexual relations with many women, both beautification and warning statues or paintings were created. The beautified one is Yab-Yum, and the warning one is Citipati.[4][5][6]