Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
🔮 What Is Vajrayāna Buddhism?
Understanding the Diamond Path through the Lens of Chinese Esoteric Buddhism
Mark is primarily a Vajrayāna Buddhist, having taken a lay ordination, and is now a solo practitioner with no affiliation to any other group or person. This belief system is the foundation of our Yoga and Meditation Classes
Vajrayāna Buddhism—often called the “Diamond Vehicle” or “Thunderbolt Way”—is one of the most mysterious and transformative paths in all of Buddhism. Known for its ritual, sacred symbols, and powerful inner practices, it offers a direct route to enlightenment by working with the energy of body, mind, and spirit.
When Vajrayāna Buddhism arrived in China, it underwent significant changes. It merged with native Taoist wisdom, giving rise to Chinese Esoteric Buddhism, also known as Tangmi.
So, what exactly is Vajrayāna? And how did it shape spirituality?
💎 What Makes Vajrayāna Unique?
Vajrayāna is a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism, and it holds a bold view...
You don’t need lifetimes to become enlightened. With the right methods, there is a good chance you awaken in this very life.
Instead of rejecting the world, Vajrayāna transforms it. It teaches that the thoughts, emotions, and sensations we often struggle with can become fuel for spiritual awakening.
Core practices include:
- Mantra – Sacred sound used for transformation
- Mudra – Hand gestures that channel energy
- Mandala – Visual meditation symbols
- Deity Yoga – Deity visulisations
🏯 The Rise of Chinese Esoteric Buddhism (Tangmi)
During the Tang Dynasty (7th–9th century), Vajrayāna masters from India and Central Asia travelled to China. Among them were:
- Śubhakarasiṃha
- Vajrabodhi
- Amoghavajra
They taught in the imperial courts, and their influence was profound. The result was Tangmi—a uniquely Chinese form of Vajrayāna that blended Buddhist ritual with the natural spirituality of Taoism.
🌿 Taoist Influence • A Natural Harmony
As Vajrayāna integrated with Chinese culture, it naturally absorbed Taoist elements.
Both traditions shared:
- A focus on energy (Qi / prāṇa)
- A deep reverence for nature
- A view that awakening happens within daily life
The blend created a spiritual system that some may say is both mystical and practical, rooted in both Practice and natural flow.
🔥 The Purpose of Vajrayāna • Inner Alchemy
The heart of Vajrayāna practice is transformation.
Rather than avoiding life’s challenges, practitioners are taught to use them—turning fear into wisdom, anger into clarity, and desire into compassion.
This is often called inner alchemy—and in Tangmi, it was expressed through:
- Chanting
- Visualisation
- Sacred ritual
- Meditation on enlightened deities
🌸 Why It Matters Today
Vajrayāna and Chinese Esoteric Buddhism are more than just historical paths. They offer powerful reminders for modern life:
- Your body and mind are not obstacles—they’re part of the path
- Enlightenment isn’t far away—it begins here and now
- With the right tools, your life becomes a sacred journey
✨ Final Thought
Vajrayāna is not about escaping the world. It’s about embracing it, transforming it, and awakening through it.In China, it met Taoism and became something beautifully unique—a spiritual path rooted in both heaven and earth.
The Diamond Path does not lead away from life.
It leads straight through it, lighting the way as it goes.
🧘♀️ Yoga and Vajrayāna Buddhism
The Hidden Yogic Wisdom Within the Diamond Path
🧘♂️ How Is Hatha Yoga Related to Vajrayāna Buddhism?
Though Hatha Yoga is usually seen today as a physical practice from Hindu tradition, its deeper roots actually share powerful similarities with Vajrayāna Buddhism, and some of its foundational practices likely emerged in parallel, or even directly influenced one another.
✨ Shared Foundations... Energy, Transformation, and Liberation
Both Hatha Yoga and Vajrayāna Buddhism are tantric systems at their core. This means,
- They work with the body as a sacred vessel
- They aim to awaken latent energy (Kundalini / Prāṇa / Chi)
- They involve the use of visualisation, breathwork, mantra, and internal focus
- They emphasise direct experience over dogma
In fact, many early texts from both traditions refer to,
- Chakras and subtle channels (nāḍīs)
- Prāṇa winds or inner fire (Tummo in Vajrayāna, Ujjayi or Bhastrika in Hatha Yoga)
- Sealing practices (bandhas or mudrās)
These are not just physical—they’re spiritual technologies ( practices) for realising the highest nature of mind.
Hatha Yoga to Vajrayāna Origins
1.Shared Tantric Lineage
Both practices are branches of ancient Tantra, which spread through India, Nepal, Tibet,China and beyond. While Hatha Yoga developed in Shaiva and Yogic traditions, Vajrayāna developed within Buddhist Tantra ( Tantra being the origin for both Yoga and Buddhisim) — The practices and purposes overlap deeply
“Both Hatha and Vajrayāna view the body not as an obstacle, but as a vehicle for awakening.”
2. Energetic Practice at the Core
Hatha Yoga is not just postures (asanas)—it’s about working with energy (prāṇa) through movement, breath, and awareness. Vajrayāna’s practices of Tummo, channels, and inner fire mirror this exactly.
In Vajrayāna, the fire of wisdom burns from within. In Hatha, the fire rises through breath and will. Both facilitate liberation through inner heat and clarity.
3. Kundalini and Tummo Are Twins
The rising Kundalini of Hatha Yoga and the inner fire (Tummo) of Vajrayāna are nearly identical in aim and method
- Awaken energy
- Burn through ignorance
- Unify the polarities (masculine/feminine, sun/moon, bliss/emptiness)
“Whether called Kundalini or Tummo, the sacred / divine rises from the same ground—our inner truth.
🧭 Why This Matters for Today’s Practitioners
Many modern yoga teachers and spiritual seekers feel a deep call toward practices that go beyond the surface.
By understanding the shared source between Hatha Yoga and Vajrayāna Buddhism, you
- Reconnect with energetic, embodied awakening
- Honour the wisdom of ancient spiritual practices without division
- See spiritual practice as one river, many streams
🌺 Final Thought
Hatha Yoga and Vajrayāna Buddhism are not strangers—they are sisters
Both arose from the same longing... to awaken the deepest truth through the body, not despite it.
“The breath, the body, the mind—they are not separate. In Yoga and in Tantra, they become one. And in that union, we are free.”
How Taoism and Chinese Esoteric Buddhism Intertwine
The Hidden Harmony
In the rich spiritual history of China, two great rivers have flowed side by side...Taoism and Buddhism. While they began in different lands—Taoism rooted deeply in ancient China and Buddhism born in India—their meeting gave rise to something profound: a unique blend of thought, ritual, and energy that shaped Chinese Esoteric Buddhism.
Let’s explore how these two paths, once separate, have come to reflect each other like water mirrors the sky.
🌕 What Is Taoism?
Taoism is the ancient Chinese philosophy of living in harmony with the Tao—the natural flow of the universe. It teaches that everything is connected, and that life becomes clearer, gentler, and more powerful when we stop forcing and start flowing.
At its heart, Taoism is about:
- Wu Wei – Effortless action
- Qi – The life-force or energy that moves through all things
- Balance – The dance of yin and yang, light and shadow
- Nature as teacher – Simplicity, cycles, and stillness
🔮 What Is Chinese Esoteric Buddhism?
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism blossomed during the Tang Dynasty, influenced by Indian Vajrayāna Buddhism. It brought in:
- Mantras – Sacred sounds for transformation
- Mudras – Hand gestures that channel spiritual power
- Mandala visualisation – Inner journeys through symbolic space
But here’s where it gets fascinating, as Buddhism spread into China, it didn’t stay untouched. It met Taoism—and changed.
🌿 Where Taoism and Buddhism Meet
Taoism and Chinese Esoteric Buddhism didn’t just coexist—they blended, especially in these key areas:
Qi and Prāṇa (Life Energy)
- Taoism speaks of Qi flowing through meridians.
- Buddhism speaks of prāṇa, winds that move through channels.
Both systems aim to purify and direct energy—not just for health, but for awakening.
Inner Alchemy and Transformation
Taoist inner alchemy turns the body into a vessel of light and immortality.
Chinese Esoteric Buddhism offers tantric practices that transmute ordinary experience into enlightened vision.
Both paths believe, you don’t escape life—you transform it.
Nature and Non-Conceptual Wisdom
Taoists see nature as sacred scripture.
Buddhist masters speak of direct, wordless insight—what Taoists might call knowing without knowing.
This shared reverence for silence and stillness shaped Chan Buddhism (which later became Zen).
Deities and Spirit Beings
Taoism has immortals, sky deities, and nature spirits
Chinese Buddhism integrated many of these into its bodhisattva pantheon, giving form to formless truths in ways the local culture could connect with.
🌺 Why This Matters Today
In a world chasing speed and certainty, both Taoism and Esoteric Buddhism remind us to.
- Slow down
- Trust the invisible
- Honour nature
- Live from the inside out
Their intertwined wisdom doesn’t ask us to choose one or the other. Instead, it offers a deep message:
There are many paths up the mountain. Some spiral. Some dance. But all lead to the same wide sky
✨ Final Thought
The union of Taoism and Chinese Buddhism is not just history—it’s a living practice. It shows us that spiritual traditions can meet, blend, and bloom without losing their soul. They evolve by listening, not competing.
And in that, they teach us the deepest truth of all
The Way is not found—it is followed