sutra versus tantra

my meditation tradition is a tantric one. but we all begin with study of the sutras. the sutras and tantras are two collections of teachings in the buddhist tradition. many buddhist traditions carry forward many different collections of teachings, we all don’t agree on what was actually said nor by whom nor what teachings are an authentic and complete path. though some things we can agree upon and much of what i’m studying this month is in that latter category - the most basic points.

click more to read about sutra and tantra

i’m currently at sutrayana seminary. yana means ‘path’ or ‘vehicle’. so we’re studying basically the path to freedom from suffering described in the sutras. the next retreat in this sequence is called vajrayana seminary and it surveys the tantrayana teachings of tibetan buddhism from the kagyu and nyingma lineages. these are very similar to but have some differences from the geluk lineage lead by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

the word sutra means to join together. it has the common root with our english word suture. in this case we’re joining together confusion and wakefulness. like joining our questions with the answers.

the word tantra means the thread that is common in all experience, both in confusion and wakefulness. so if experiences were like a beaded neckless the sutra teachings would describe how the beads meet and relate to each other and the tantra would perhaps describe the thread that binds the necklace together. what they all have in common perhaps.

in the end, though, all these teachings and paths are inviting us most basically to explore our situation and discover for ourselves what we see and feel and find our own way to a freedom from suffering. they are all just skillful means offered to us by very kind people who anticipated our suffering and wished us to also be free of it.

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