Anuttarayoga Tantra
Anuttarayoga Tantra (Sanskrit, Tibetan: bla na med pa'i rgyud), often translated as Unexcelled Yoga Tantra or Highest Yoga Tantra, is a term used in Tibetan Buddhism in the categorization of esoteric tantric Indian Buddhist texts that constitute part of the Kangyur, or the 'translated words of the Buddha' in the Tibetan Buddhist canon.
In the New Schools of Tibetan Buddhism, Anuttarayoga Tantra is the highest of four classes and is associated with the Mahamudra route to enlightenment. According to the Gelugpa tradition, in Highest Yoga Tantra, the Buddha taught the most profound instructions for transforming sensual pleasure into the quick path to enlightenment, which in turn depends upon the ability to gather and dissolve the inner winds (Sanskrit: prana) into the central channel through the power of meditation.
In the classification of the Dzogchen system, used by the Nyingma, it is considered equivalent to the Mahayoga tantras. The Dalai Lama XIV states: "old translation Dzogchen and new translation anuttarayoga tantra offer equivalent paths that can bring the practitioner to the same resultant state of Buddhahood".
Outer Tantras
The Outer Tantras are the second three divisions in the ninefold division of practice according to the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. This system divides the whole of the Buddhist path into three divisions of three and is in contrast to the division of the Sarma, or New Translation schools (Gelug, Kagyu and Sakya) which use a fourfold division. The three divisions of the Outer Tantra correspond to the lower three category of tantras of the New Translation (Sarma) schools.
Three divisions
The three divisions of the Outer Tantras are:
As well as being differentiated in terms of emphasis in practice, the three categories of Outer Tantra are also textual categories, with lists of texts assigned to each category; for which see the individual articles for each section.
The stages of the lower tantras can be divided into 4 parts; empowerments; vows and commitments; close retreats; common and uncommon attainments. Every tantra requires the empowerment of a guru in order to enter and proceed along the path, and normally there are a number of different empowerments for different practices, and in addition the Bodhisattva and Tantric vows must be taken. A close retreat involves intense sessions of meditation in the practice of deity yoga (concentration on one's personal yidam and their mantra), and the common and uncommon attainments are the occult powers, or siddhis, that are obtained as a result of that practice.
