Sadhguru with Buddhist lamas: Bodh Gaya

(Sadhguru Darshan) "Nobody expected this question from Indian Tibetan Buddhist monk (lama)"? As scandal-ridden "Sadhguru" Jaggi Vasudev pontificates and goes on an on with his humble brag about how "enlightened" he must be now that he, having been an agnostic atheist not interested in spirituality, he experienced "ecstasy" one day. This made him feel like a holy man (sadhu), and he wants to make the whole world blissful or at least get rich trying.

Most dangerous Buddhism: Vajrayana?

What is a vajra, the basis of this vehicle?

(Buddha's Wisdom) The most DANGEROUS path in Buddhism: is VAJRAYANA the fastest path to enlightenment? [Or a mishmash of pre-Buddhist Bon black magic shamanism, Brahminical Hinduism, Esoteric yogic practices, and a slew of East Asian Mahayana teachings in an imperial Himalayan context?] See details

• Vajrayana Buddhism

The Buddha taught magic?

Vajrayāna (Sanskrit वज्रयान, lit. "Diamond Vehicle" or "Thunderbolt Vehicle"), otherwise known as Mantra-yāna ("Mantra Vehicle"), Guhya-mantra-yāna ("Secret Mantra Vehicle"), Tantra-yāna ("Tantra Vehicle"), Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, is a vehicle (yāna) in the larger Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition.

It emphasizes esoteric practices and rituals aimed at rapid spiritual awakening. Emerging between the 5th and 7th centuries CE in medieval India [1, 2], Vajrayāna Buddhism incorporates a range of techniques.

These include the use of mantras (sacred sounds), dhāraṇīs (mnemonic codes), mudrās (symbolic hand gestures), mandalās (spiritual diagrams), [yoga asanas (spiritual positions, "seats," postures)], and the visualization of deities (devas) and buddhas. More

• Religion in Tibet
• Tibetan Buddhism
• Buddhism in Russia
• Buddhism in Mongolia
• Buddhism in Nepal
• Buddhism in Bhutan
• Schools of Buddhism
• Buddha's Wisdom, April 27, 2026; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

Female Buddha? Chant Tibetan mantras

The amazing Yeshe Tsogyal (Wiki)

Yeshe Tsogyal (circa 757 or 777–817 CE) [1], also known as "Victorious Ocean of Knowledge," "Knowledge Lake Empress" (ཡེ་ཤེས་མཚོ་རྒྱལ), or by her Sanskrit name Jñānasāgarā "Knowledge Ocean," or her clan name "Lady Kharchen" [2], attained enlightenment in her lifetime and is considered the Mother of Tibetan Buddhism. She is the highest woman in the Nyingma Vajrayana lineage. Some sources say, as Princess of Karchen, she was either a wife or consort of the Emperor Tri Songdetsen of Tibet [3], when she began studying Vajrayana Buddhism with Padmasambhava, who became her main karmamudrā consort. Padmasambhava is a founder-figure of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and is considered the second buddha of our era [4], an idea that is anathema to Theravada Buddhist accounts of what the historical Buddha taught.

(Tibetan Nuns) Esoteric Buddhism in Tibet takes from Bon shamanism (Himalayan sorcery), Hindu tantra and yoga, and Mahayana Buddhism to form a unique expression of the Dharma so far removed from the historical Buddha's doctrine (Teachings, Dharma) that one might mistake it for Vedic Hinduism with names changed from the traditional Hindu pantheon to Tibetan and Indian figures that rose to importance in history.

Aron Kiss climbs Buddhist Himalayas

(Aron Kiss) Discovering a hidden hermitage of Buddhist monks at a peaceful meditation center in the Himalayas of Tibet (which the Chinese authorities insist is part of China).

Living with Tibetan monks in Himalayas

Definition of monastery? #SangayNyinparinpocohe

Is it like the Sanskrit word ashram, "a place of effort" for sramanas?

Meditate in Kathmandu in 360 degrees

Meditate with Buddhist monks (lamas) in Katmandu (360)

Kumari (Reisbegeleider Hans)

(Fitness Discovered) What is it like to meditate with Himalayan Buddhist lamas in a lamasery? Find out in this 360-degree virtual reality puja (devotional service) meditation for 15 minutes. Put on a headset and enjoy this rare experience with the monks from Nepal's Khawalung Tashi Choeling Monastery (KM). #Travel #VR #Meditation

• Nepal - Kathmandu - Kumari Ghar - The Temple of the Living Goddess or Kumari Devi Flickr

Yongey Mingyur Rimpoche, Tergar, + Matthew "Happiest Man in the World" Ricard in Nepal

Shoestring travel from India to Nepal

Indian PM Modi at the Mahaparinirvana Temple with reclining Buddha on Abhidhamma Day

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Kumari Devi: The Living Goddess of Nepal

We visited Kushinagar, near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Northern India, where the Buddha chose to pass into final nirvana (parinibbana) between twin sal trees. It was hot, too hot. Arrive in season or pay the price. (The price is much higher in season, but the weather is terrible, so the price of convenience and no crowds is all the reasons the crowds are choosing to wait before visiting). On Lonely Planet's map, holy Nepal was walking distance. It's not, but it is only a short bus ride away on a very bouncy bus that will bust a butt and give one a condition usually reserved for men who sit too long on the porcelain throne straining, so bring a pillow.

• Pashupatinath Temple Nepal – Untold Mysteries || Kathmandu Tourist Places, Nepal

Pilgrimage sites should include Afghanistan

We made it across the international line and found out that an extraordinary thing about the tiny Buddhist (officially the only "Hindu nation" in the world, due to the pressure big neighbor India inducing it to) nation of Nepal is that it has all of the terrains from swampy lowlands to frigid alpine zones in a very short span. There is another place in the Americas that also shares this unusual trait, but a bus up the Himalayan foothills is dizzying for all the changes one sees along the river of melting snow.

(Marco Pino) Buddhist monks chant inside Tharlam Monastery, Boudhanath, Kathmandu, Nepal

Inside Maha Parinirvana Temple, Kushinagar

Entering "Katmandu" (Kathmandu), which is in a valley, listening to Bob Seger, imagining ourselves on the HIPPIE TRAIL alongside the members of Pink Floyd ("Astronomy Domine") and Led Zeppelin ("Kashmir"). The bus kept going up and further up: The capital has always been safe from invasion because it was just too much trouble for any invading army to reach, so it survived as a nation (with internal strife from corrupt governments and Maoists taking matters into their own hands and trying to make things better). Behold, Durbar Square, Kathmandu!

Kumari Devi: The Living Goddess (Reisbegeleider Hans)

It's a nice place to shop for clothes and patches

Everyone points us to Freak Street because, of course, where else would Westerners be looking for? We were actually looking for the virgin Living Goddess to feel her shakti ("divine energy"). Boudhanath has the wisdom eyes of the Buddha, which would make a great color tattoo. After seeing the stupa, we realized there were other monasteries around the capital. Visiting the exterior for their grand views is compelling, but I couldn't help but go in to see the chanting and tantric meditation by butter lamps, just like the view above.

• Fitness Discovered, May 25, 2017; Text: Dhr. Seven and Kelly Ani (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Buddhist yogis found on Himalayas

The Five Tibetan Rites | Tibetan Yoga Exercises | SRMD Yoga

Strange monks found in the Himalayas – and they’ve been living since the last ice age

Esoteric Vajrayana/Bon shamanism

(Past the Atlas) From legends defying the limits of life and death to spiritual journeys that leave us in awe, Buddhist monastics have captivated the world for centuries. What drives these extraordinary individuals to push their bodies and minds beyond what we consider humanly possible? Let's explore the mysterious monks of various Buddhist schools of the world and uncover their incredible stories.

The rainbow body appeared like a vision

• Vajrayana is an esoteric branch of Mahayana Buddhism heavily influenced by Hinduism, practicing yoga in the snow like sadhu hermits living in the foothills of the Himalayas striving for samadhi and/or the development of the siddhis.
• Luang Pho Daeng (1894-1973): Theravada Thai mummy monk from the island of Ko Samui passed away while meditating
• Esoteric Tibetan practices: Dream Yoga, Sexual Yoga (Tantric), Tibetan tantric practices, Five Tibetan Rites, Yantra Yoga (Trul khor), Vajrayana Yoga, Inner Heat Yoga (Tummo), Dzogchen, Tantra in Tibetan Buddhism, Deity Yoga
• American anthropologist Walter Evans-Wentz explains Tibet

How this content was made: altered or synthetic content. Sound or visuals were significantly edited or digitally generated [with an AI voiceover]. Learn more

• Past the Atlas, Jan. 18, 2025; Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Rainbow transformation: Tibetan secret

The secret of Tibetan Buddhist monastics' rainbow transformation

(China Insights) Where does a human life ultimately go? [It is like asking where a flame goes when it goes out. Where does it go? The question is nonsensical even though we would like to think it must go somewhere and where that place could be, it does not travel somewhere but just goes out then and there.]

A remarkable answer is given in the unique region of [a giant country called] Tibet [which is a quarter the size of the country that took it over, which was the communist regime] in China.

The rainbow [body] transformation of a Tibetan lama or ani (monk or nun) at the time of passing is a unique phenomenon that attracts people to search for the essence of life.

This Rainbow Transformation refers to the practice of esoteric Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, in which the body of a meditator who has attained nirvana samadhi can instantly transform into a rainbow of light and disappear [a display of siddhis].

It is a strange and colorful sight. Rather than a legend, it is a miraculous sight that many people have witnessed.

In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party seized power in mainland China. After invading Tibet, as in other parts of China, the Communist Party tried to promote atheism [because "religion is the opium of the masses" and wanted that energy directed to the benefit of the state not individual spirituality or the unseen beings and godlings] among the Tibetan people. But the party was unsuccessful.

The people living in Tibet are almost universally Buddhists, and their strong belief in the Buddha and his teachings [Dharma] comes from the culture and one's enlightenment and witness of miracles in the course of their confidence in the validity of Buddhist teachings.

ABOUT: China Insights is covering a wide range of stories about or related to China and its role in the world. Support allows CI to produce more high-quality videos. Consider donating at paypal.com/paypalme/China... #Tibet #rainbowtransformation #Tibet #rainbowtransformation #Tibetrainbowtransformation

• China Insights, June 17, 2021; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Journey to Tibet: meditation caves (video)

Drak Yerpa Meditation Caves: A great day trip from Lhasa, Tibet

(Ben Cubbage) April 16, 2023: LHASA. The Yerpa Meditation Cave Complex is located a 40-minute drive (30 km) northeast of Tibet's capital Lhasa.

Tibetan idol Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava, at Yerpa

It is a large complex of Buddhist temples, monasteries, and meditation caves nestled on a mountain, the meditation site for some of Tibetan Buddhism's greatest lamas and masters. Some of these Buddhist meditation masters sat for up to three years with very little food or water.

Visiting Drak (Druk, Brag) Yerpa is a great day trip outside of Lhasa. It combines with a visit to Ganden Gompa, a famous Buddhist monastery, in the afternoon.

As one of the holiest centers of Vajrayana Buddhist thought, Drakyerpa Monastery is of particular interest to those interested in Buddhist meditation and to visitors preparing to trek through Tibet.

The elevation of the caves is at 4,400 meters, which makes it a great acclimatization trip when getting ready to make it to Everest Base Camp. It also makes for nice "down time" during a recovery day after a long drive to Mt. Everest.

King Songtsen Gampo and his two foreign queens are said to have meditated here in the Peu Marsergyi Lhakhang. This cave was the site of their discovery of self-arising symbols of Buddha-body, speech, and mind.

Later, Padmasambhava (aka Guru Rinpoche) concealed many holy Buddhist objects around the Yerpa Valley, including the celebrated ritual dagger of Sera (aka Sera Phurzhal). This dagger was eventually found by the treasureseeker Darcharuba at Sewalung.

Padmasambhava spent several months in retreat in the Dawa Puk. The cave is one of the three most significant places of spiritual attainment in all of Tibet (drub-ne).

In the ninth century, Lhalung Pelgyi Dorje stayed at Drak Yerpa in solitary meditation, prior to and after his assassination of the apostate anti-Buddhist King Langdarma.

#Lhasa #Tibet #Drakyerpa #Buddhism 🏜️ Subscribe to YouTube channel for more adventure: bit.ly/youtube_tibet 🏜️

Follow Ben and Rose Cubbage into the wild: Travel website: elevatedtrips.com. Instagram: elevated_trips. Facebook: elevatedtrips. Twitter: elevatedtrips. LinkedIN: ben-and-rose-cubbage. 🏜️ See the wildest places on the Tibetan Plateau with us in these videos:

• 🐏 Walking with Buddhist Pilgrims: the Labrang Monastery Kora • Labrang Monastery in Xiahe, Gansu 夏河
• The World’s 11 Most Remote Monasteries (MSN)
• Archaeologists stumble upon the tomb of a [pre-Roman] ancient Italian prince that's full of treasures
• The Buddhist Karla Caves: enlightenment in living rock

• Ben and Rose Cubbage, YouTube, April 16, 2023; Pat Macpherson, Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Asking Tibetan Buddhist monks questions

Real Buddhist monks share their BIGGEST mistakes

(Sprouht) July 21, 2024: I asked the Dalai Lama's Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist monks (lamas) and a nun about their biggest regrets and advice for their younger selves at the Dalai Lama's monastery in Northern India at Dharamshala, in the state of Himachal Pradesh, high in the Himalayas. Here's what I learned.

Where's the Panchen Lama? He's leader No. 2

[Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism is unlike other forms of Buddhism because it is part Esoteric Mahayana Buddhism, which is a form of Hinduism, and part Bon shamanism, which is full of black magic and witchcraft indigenous to the Himalayan region. Tibet was once a great empire reaching from Bangladesh to Mongolia to Hunza Land in Pakistan, encompassing parts of China, Bhutan, Nepal, Ladakh/India, Kashmir, abutting Central Asia.

Mao Zedong mocks the God-King Dalai Lama.

The Tibetan Empire grew rich, had its Vatican at Potala Palace in Lhasa. This angered Communist China, which invaded to depose the Tibetan Empire and "free" its serfs from religion and subservience to state-worship and communism, during the Cultural Revolution of Mao Zedong.]

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Hidden Tibetan Buddhist Monastery: Zanskar

BBC via Danny Bull, Feb. 11, 2023; CC Liu, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Hidden Tibetan Buddhist monastery | Our World: Return to Zanskar | BBC full doc

(Danny Bull) This is a journey into the heart of the Zanskar Valley, following two travelers who are returning after 30 years. It is a region lost in time with centuries-old monasteries built into rock faces and caves. This film looks at the unique Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist culture of Zanskar and how the local people are dealing with change following road construction into their once isolated valley. Viewers end up at one of the most stunning Buddhist monasteries on the Zanskar river, Phuktal Gompa, sometimes spelled Phugtal, where there was a unique prayer ceremony in progress and an opportunity to speak to monks (lamas) who have lived there for decades.

#zanskar #zanskarvalley #tibet #tibetanmusic #tibetanbuddhism #buddhism #philosophy

Dalai Lama reborn in US (comedy)

David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, "Mr. Show," S4E5, HBO via Vladut Alecsandru; Wisdom Quarterly

(Minute 10:33) When the 17th Dalai Lama passes away, the Tibetan Buddhist (Vajrayana) monks go in search of the tulku, the Unmistaken Child, the rebirth in this world (reincarnation) of the great being.

He has taken rebirth in Whiting, Indiana, near Fort Wayne, in Chicagoland, and his name is Dougie Bendle, a typical Caucasian American high school senior listening to the band KISS with friends, like Derek, who are bad influences and common habits that are less than savory.

Celebrating the Buddha's Birthday in Russia

Amber Dorrian, Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Alexandra Garmazhapova, RBTH.ru, 5-22-13)

A Tibetan prayer at the Buddhist temple in St. Petersburg before the rite of "collective karma" burning in a ritual bonfire on the lunar New Year's Eve (RIA Novosti/Alexey Daniche).

Indigenous east Russian Buddhist temple in Buryatia, Russia (VOA.com/J. Weeks)

Buddhist Temple in Europe, fusing East and West in former USSR republic of Kalmykia

 

Many ethnic Russians are coming to Buddhism. Russian Buddhists are preparing to celebrate the Buddha's birthday (Vesak): the day of his birth, enlightenment, and final-nirvana. At the Datsan Gunzechoinei in St. Petersburg, three days of prayers will be held beginning on May 25th.

 

Datsan in Buddhist Europe (kalmykia.eu)

(RBTH) Russia's northernmost Buddhist temple is outwardly very different from the datsans (monasteries, lamaseries, temple-complexes) in Russia's traditionally Buddhist regions. But inside it is the same.

[NOTE: The only indigenously Buddhist country in Europe is Kalmykia, a former Russian republic in the Caucasus region along the Caspian Sea. But Tibetan and Mongolian Buddhism has been in Russia, Siberia, and Central Asia for thousands of years].

 

The temple's prior, Buda Badmaev, was the only religious representative in St. Petersburg to speak categorically against the deputy of St. Petersburg's Legislative Assembly, Vitaly Milonov, who proposed a ban on rallies outside places of worship. 

 

In his opinion, the Buddhist community should listen to and try to understand the position of any person publicly expressing dissatisfaction with their activity.

 

The Buddhist temple in St. Petersburg (Russia Beyond the Headlines/Lori/Legion Media)

   

Volgograd, Kalmykia, Kazakhstan...

The Russian Buddhists are generally very peaceful; they try not to antagonize the authorities. Several years ago, the Ulan-Ude [the capital of Buryatia, Russia] lamas proclaimed then President Dmitry Medvedev as the White Tara, a form of a major tantric meditation deity.

The St. Petersburg Buddhists, for their part, prefer to keep to themselves and stay away from political life altogether. The St. Petersburg Datsan is unpretentious and democratic. More
 

Postcard promoting European Buddhist tourism in Eurasian Kalmykia (wiki commons)

The other Dead Sea in Buddhist Kalmykia

• Weekend in Ulan-Ude: Main Buddhist Center in Russia
• Russia's Buddhist lamas do not believe in doomsday
• Russia has its own river Ganges (Mother Volga) 

The Slavic name is a loan translation of earlier Scythian Rā (Ῥᾶ) "Volga," literally "wetness," seen also in Avestan Raŋhā "mythical stream" and Sogdian r’k "vein, blood vessel" (< *raha-ka), and cognate with Sanskrit rasā́h "liquid, juice; mythical river." The Scythian name survives in modern Mordvin Rav (Рав) "Volga." [All of these are suggestive of Buddhism's ancient history moving north through Central Asia, now the 'Stans, and former empires existing prior to Greek settlements we rarely learn about in the US. The oldest forms of Christianity and Catholicism appropriated Mahayana-Buddhist teachings, learned their anachronistic monasticism, and converted Eastern teachings that formed the roots of Western civilization.]

 

 Amazing Unreported Buddhist History

Buddhist history west of Asia remains murky and unpublicized (berzinarchives.com)

 

Buddhism in Central Asia 

(Wiki) Buddhism in Central Asia refers to the forms of Buddhism that existed in Central Asia, which were historically...Kazakhstan, 15,422,000, 0.53%, 81,843...

Buddhism in Uzbekistan 

Buddhism among the Turkic People (Berzin Archives)‎ 

Nov. 26, 2012 - One branch of the Western Turks, the Turgish tribes, was responsible for the spread of Buddhism to Kyrgyzstan and southeastern Kazakhstan... 

Buddhism is Sufism (Central Asia)

For instance, Kazakh Sufis not only believe in rebirth, but also identify... Historically, Buddhism was found in all five former Soviet Central Asian...

Buddhism: Not the Ends of the Earth

(Steppe Magazine) Reverend Junsei Terasawa, a Japanese Buddhist monk of the Nipponzan Myohoji order, and his disciple Alexei, from Kazakhstan, believe the mountain and the...

Buddhist Centers — Buddha World  

Iconography of Buddhism, Buddhist sutras, personalities, texts, and a large directory...

Valentine's Day: One Billion Rising (dance)

Wisdom Quarterly; Eve Ensler (OneBillionRising.org), Anoushka Shankar, Democracy Now!

People around the world DANCE in "One Billion Rising" campaign to end violence against women

People around the world are rising up on this Valentine’s Day and taking to the streets to dance. Their actions are part of a global movement to end rape and sexual violence...

• Eve Ensler on "The State of Female America," her play "Emotional Creature," and violence against women in Congo
  Eve Ensler (Vagina Monologues) has fought tirelessly for women's rights in the United States and around the world. Her new play is called "Emotional Creature" and is...
• Anoushka Shankar (daughter of Ravi Shankar and sister of Norah Jones) tells her story of sexual abuse
  Among those to voice solidarity with "One Billion Rising" is Anoushka Shankar, daughter of the legendary sitar player Ravi Shankar and half-sister of singer Norah Jones....
   
  

  Dancing worldwide from Khartoum, Africa to New Delhi, India

• "It’s Global Warming, Stupid": As Bloomberg backs Obama, corporate news media ends silence on climate change
  

  (Nov. 6, 2012) What about the environment on our collective dance floor, the Earth? The link between climate chaos and the devastation wrought by Superstorm Sandy across much of the northeast United States was brought into focus recently when billionaire New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed President Obama...
  

  • Onto gun control, Obama urges federal gov't to tackle unemployment, mass incarceration, and our U.S. "Culture of Violence"
    Pres. Obama’s State of the Union address started with gun control and included asking Congress to vote on new gun limiting measures...

  
  

  • Legless Olympic medalist kills girlfriend with gun