Mahayoga


Mahāyoga is the designation of the first of the three Inner Tantras according to the ninefold division of practice used by the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Mahāyoga is held to emphasise the generation stage of Tantra, where the succeeding two yana, anuyoga and atiyoga, emphasise the completion stage and the synthesis or transcendence of the two, respectively.

Practice

associates the Mahāyoga with removing aggression, or anger. An embedded quotation by Tulku Thondup identifies the focus of Mahayoga as viewing the universe as a manifestation of the Buddhist deities, a practice associated with the two truths doctrine that recognises both a conventional and an ultimate truth:

Mahāyoga-yana is associated with the masculine principle and is for those whose primary defilement is aggression. In Mahāyoga, one visualizes oneself as the divinity with consort. "All manifestation, thoughts and appearances are considered to be the sacred aspects of the divinities within relative truth," in the words of Tulku Thondup. By visualizing all phenomena as the deities of the mandala of buddhahood, in the development stage, all appearances are purified.

Ray highlights the pre-eminent usage of visualization amongst the techniques of tantric sadhana and the teaching of the "eight cosmic commands":

One particular keynote of mahāyoga-yana has to do with the use of visualization. In the Vajrayana in general, one visualizes oneself as the buddha, thus giving external form to the enlightenment within. Like-wise, one visualizes the external world as pure and sacred, thus under-cutting the usual practice of taking things as impure and defiled. In mahāyoga, one comes to the realization that actually all of our everyday experience is a visualization. Just as we can visualize ourselves as a buddha and the world as pure, so we can visualize ourselves as an existent ego and the world as defiled. Realizing that all of our images and conceptions of reality are in fact complex visualizations, we gain a unique entry into the underpinnings of the conventional world and gain a certain kind of unparalleled leverage over it. This is reflected in the mahāyoga-yana teaching of the "eight cosmic commands," eight kinds of ways to intervene in the operation of the conventional world and alter its momentum for the benefit of others.

Mahāyoga textual tradition

As with the other yanas, Mahāyoga represents both a scriptural division as well as a specific emphasis of both view and practice. Mahāyoga scriptures are further divided into two sections: the Sadhana section, consisting of practice texts for meditation on specific deities, and the Tantra section.
In introducing the mTshams brag Edition of the Collected Tantras of the Ancients rnying ma rgyud 'bum, the textual tradition of the Mahāyoga-yana, the "Tibetan and Himalayan Library" states:

The Mahāyoga section of the Collected Tantras of the Ancients is the largest of the three. It is divided into two major sections: the Tantra Series and the Practice Series. One of the seminal Tantras of the Ancients found in this section is the Secret Essence Tantra or gsang ba'i snying po'i rgyud, which has spawned not only a plethora of Indo-Tibetan commentaries but also a heated debate in Tibet over its authenticity.

The "Tibetan and Himalayan Library" states that "although the mTshams brag edition of The Collected Tantras does not rigorously organize its texts according to sub-categories, the Mahāyoga category can be further subdivided according to the following scheme":
  1. Tantra Series
  2. #The eightfold set of root Magical Emanation Tantras
  3. #The eighteenfold set of explanatory tantras
  4. ##Enlightened Body
  5. ##Enlightened Speech
  6. ##Enlightened Mind
  7. ##Enlightened Qualities
  8. ##Enlightened Activities
  9. #Miscellaneous
  10. Practice Series of the Eight Proclamation Deities
  11. #The Practice Series
  12. ##Summary of the Highest Intention
  13. ##Consortium of Sugatas
  14. ##Miscellaneous
  15. #The Eight Proclamation Deities
  16. ##The Mañjushrī Cycle on Enlightened Form
  17. ##The Lotus Tantras on Enlightened Communication
  18. ##The Real Tantras on Enlightened Mind
  19. ##The Nectar Tantras on Enlightened Qualities
  20. ##The Sacred Dagger Cycle on Enlightened Activities
  21. ##The Cycle on Invoking the Fierce Ma-mo Deities
  22. ##Offerings and Praises to Protect the Teachings
  23. ##The Cycle on Fierce Mantras
  24. ##Miscellaneous
  25. #Miscellaneous
  26. Miscellaneous

    Eighteen great tantras of Mahāyoga

The 'eighteen great tantras' from the Tantra series described above are at the heart of the Mahāyoga tradition. These are grouped into 'five root tantras', 'five practice tantras', and 'five activity tantras', and the 'two supplementary tantras'. Together they are known as the Māyājāla. They are as follows:
The "Guhyagarbha Tantra" is the foremost of all of these and it abridges the content of the seventeen others as follows:

Root tantras

  • Equalizing Buddhahood Skt: sarva buddha sama yoga tantra rāja
  • The Secret Moon, Skt: candra guhya tilaka
  • The Assembly of Secrets Skt: sarva tathāgata kāya vāk citta rahasyo guhya samāja nāma mahā kalpa rāja
  • The Glorious Supreme Primal Tantra Skt: śrī paramādya nāma mahāyāna kalpa rāja
  • The Activity Garland Tantra Skt: tantra rāja mahā karma māla

    Practice tantras

  • The Heruka Practice Tantra Skt: śrī heruka tantra
  • The Hayagriva Supreme Practice Tantra Skt: sarva tathāgata guhya sandhi śrī aśvottama lalita sama tantra nāntra
  • The Compassion Tantra Skt: śrī heruka karuṇā krīḍita tantra guhya gaṃbhīrottama
  • The Nectar Practice Tantra Skt: mahā tantra rāja śrī amr̥ta lalita
  • The Arising of the Twelve Kilayas Tantra Skt: kīlaya dvādaśa tantra mahāyāna sūtra

    Activity Tantras

  • The Mountain Pile
  • The Awesome Wisdom Lightning
  • The Array of Samayas Skt: mahā samaya racita sarva kaṭa tantra
  • The One-Pointed Samadhi Skt: āryāvalokiteshvara samādhyeka tantra
  • The Rampant Elephant Skt: hasti gajipa dama tantra

    Last Tantras that complete whatever is incomplete

  • The Vairochana Net of Magical Display Skt: guhya garbha tattva niścaya
  • The Noble, Skilful Lasso, the Concise Lotus Garland Skt: ārya kala pāśa padma māle saṃgraha

    Eight Herukas of the Nyingma Mahāyoga

The eight Herukas of the Nyingma mahāyoga tradition are said to have been received by Padmakara from the Eight Vidyadharas, or Eight Great Acharyas: Manjushrimitra, Nagarjuna, Vajrahumkara, Vimalamitra, Prabhahasti, Dhanasamskrita, Shintamgarbha and Guhyachandra. They were proficient in the practices of, respectively,
1) Yamantaka the wrathful Manjushri, the deity of body

2) Hayagriva the wrathful Avalokiteshvara, the deity of speech

3) Vishuddha/'Sri Samyak the wrathful Vajrapani deity of mind

4) Vajramrita the wrathful Samantabhadra, the deity of enlightened qualities

5) Vajrakilaya/Vajrakumara, the wrathful Nivaranavishkambin, the deity of action

6) Matarah the wrathful Akasagarbha, the deity of calling and dispatching

7) Lokastotrapuja-natha the wrathful Ksitigarbha, the deity of worldly offering and praise

8) Vajramantrabhiru' the wrathful Maitreya, the deity of wrathful mantras

Diffusion

The Tibetan master Pelyang was influential in bringing Mahayoga to Tibet. He was known for his focus on view as opposed to practice - an emphasis that is later evident and upheld in the radical immediacy of experiential Dzogchen.