Vajrayana

The term "vajra" means “thunderbolt” or “diamond” in Sanskrit, a language used in India. It is a mythical weapon that is of ultimately valuable and indestructible. Vajrayana is the spiritual pursuit of the absolutely real and indestructible in a human being, as opposed to the fictions an individual entertains about himself and his nature. Historical origin of Vajrayana is unclear. It flourished from the 6th to the 11th century CE. It became the prevalent Buddhist tradition in India. It was transmitted to the Tibetan Empire (618-842 CE) in the north and the Tang dynasty of China (618-690 CE) in the east. The tradition was then transmitted to Mongolia after the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368 CE) of China.  Japan acquired the tradition from the Tang dynasty.

Earlier Buddhists believed that a person needed to accumulate merits for a large number of incarnations and countless eons before attaining enlightenment. Vajrayana Buddhism teaches that it is possible for one to reach enlightenment in a single lifetime, instead of having to practice ethics, morality, compassion, and meditation through many. They use spiritual tools, such as visualization, mantra, breath and physical exercises, to aid in this speedy transformation. However the primary component that is said to speed enlightenment is the mind to mind connection with and devotion to an authentic teacher. 

Spiritual tools include mandalas, which are often colorful, intricate, and contain images of awakened beings or symbols. They represent different aspects of the universe or sacred Buddhist teachings and help to focus and heal the practitioners as they create them. Below is a mandala:

Mantras are spoken or whispered Buddhist prayers. Chanting the mantra is claimed to reduce the bad karma caused by wrongful actions of a person's body, speech, and mind. Chanting these phrases over and over also helps to clear the clutter in one's mind and to center one's focus on the present.

Practitioners of Vajrayana meditation often focus on a buddha, for example Tara, or on a bodhisattva, such as Avalokitesvara, during their meditations. Techniques are developed so a practitioner can feel that the person and the enlightened being as one and the same. This helps to feel a person's Buddha-nature.

Mudras are used to help to incorporate the whole body in meditation. They are symbolic gestures that are usually performed with the hands, but at times can include the movement of the whole body. Below is the Bhumisparsha Mudra:

One of the earliest Vajrayana document is the The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi-sūtra.  It was probably composed in the middle of the 7th century in north-eastern India at Nālandā. The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi-sūtra consists of three primary mandalas corresponding to the body, speech and mind of the Mahāvairocana Buddha, as well as preliminary practices and initiation rituals.

The Sanskrit text is lost, but it survives in Chinese and Tibetan translations. This is an English translation of the The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi-sūtra based on the Chinese text.