What is Vajrayana Buddhism?
Answered from the commentary of Fritz Ridenour, A. J. Pollock, C. Stanley and 2 others
What answers to it is Tantrism, the third of Buddhism's three main kinds, alongside Hinayana (Theravada) and Mahayana. It is a blending of Mahayana Buddhism with the ancient occult practices of Tibet, using incantations and occult signs and containing strong elements of animism, which attributes conscious life to inanimate things and objects in nature. For that reason it is judged one of many false religions that can leave its followers open to demonic activity. It is considered the official religion of Tibet and is practised extensively in Nepal. The Tibetan form, called Lamaism, bears a close and startling resemblance to Romanism. Its monks and nuns, austerities and priesthood are reckoned plain paganism without Christian names. Its prayer machines unwind written prayers before a god or goddess, the very vain repetition the Lord forbids in Matthew 6:7. Like all Buddhism, it rests on the conviction that a person must make the effort himself, whether by his own determination or by calling on Bodhisattvas for help. Every such religion makes man his own saviour, while Christianity alone presents a Saviour, in virtue of His atoning death. There is therefore not a Buddhist way alongside a Christian way but one way only, for Christ says, "I am the way" (John 14:6), and no man comes to the Father but by Him.
Verses: Acts 17:22, Acts 17:23, Acts 17:24, Acts 17:25, Acts 17:26, Acts 17:27, Acts 17:28, Acts 17:29, Acts 17:30, Acts 17:31, John 14:6, Acts 4:12, Exodus 20:3, Exodus 20:4, Exodus 20:5, 1 John 4:1, Colossians 2:8, Romans 1:20, Romans 1:21, Romans 1:22, Romans 1:23, 1 Timothy 2:5, Ephesians 2:8, Ephesians 2:9, 1 Corinthians 8:4, 1 Corinthians 8:5, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Deuteronomy 18:10, Deuteronomy 18:11, Deuteronomy 18:12, Matthew 6:7
The above is AI generated summary based on the writers below.
What the commentators say
The passages the answer is drawn from, the most direct first, with the words that bear on the question marked.
The third major division of Buddhism is called Tantrism, a blending of Mahayana Buddhism with the ancient occult practices of Tibet. Tantric Buddhism uses incantations and occult signs. It contains strong elements of animism (attributing conscious life to inanimate objects or objects in nature) and is one of many false religions that can leave its followers open to demonic activity. Tantrism is considered the official religion of Tibet and is practiced extensively in Nepal.
Buddhism was popular in India for several centuries until it was absorbed by Hinduism. The Brahmin priests even promoted the Buddha to an incarnation of Vishnu. During the first thousand years of Christianity, while the gospel was being carried all over Europe, Buddhist monks spread their religion throughout the Orient. Today, from Ceylon to Japan, over 350 million people follow the teachings of Buddha.
Buddhism takes a wide variety of forms, but the three main kinds are Hinayana, Mahayana and Tantrism. Hinayana means "the doctrine of the lesser way," referring to the belief that, for all intents and purposes, only a fortunate few lifelong monks can find nirvana by absolutely following the way to Buddha. Since the term "lesser way" was a derogatory name given by critics, proponents of this path later changed the name to Theravada Buddhism ("way of the elders"). The best that laypeople can hope for in Theravada Buddhism is to rise to a higher level when reborn in their next life so they may become monks. The Theravada branch of Buddhism has become very wealthy through gifts of land and money for monasteries and is dominant today in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos and Kampuchea.'
From all this, you can gather that Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism differ radically in their opinion of Buddha. To Theravada, Buddha was only a teacher (as Buddha himself claimed), but Mahayana has raised him to the position of a saviorâgod for all people. Because of this, Mahayana Buddhism is by far the more popular. It is influential in Nepal, China, Tibet, Japan, Vietnam and Korea.'
ROMANISM AND BUDDHISM
It is more than startling to see the close resemblance between that form of Buddhism called Lamaism, prevailing in Tibet and Mongolia, and Romanism. Dr. Rhys Davids thus describes it:
Verses
- Acts 17:22–3122And Paul standing in the midst of Areopagus said, Athenians, in every way I see you given up to demon worship; 23for, passing through and beholding your shrines, I found also an altar on which was inscribed, To the unknown God. Whom therefore ye reverence, not knowing [him], him I announce to you. 24The God who has made the world and all things which are in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, 25nor is served by men's hands as needing something, himself giving to all life and breath and all things; 26and has made of one blood every nation of men to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, having determined ordained times and the boundaries of their dwelling, 27that they may seek God; if indeed they might feel after him and find him, although he is not far from each one of us 28for in him we live and move and exist; as also some of the poets amongst you have said, For we are also his offspring. 29Being therefore [the] offspring of God, we ought not to think that which is divine to be like gold or silver or stone, [the] graven form of man's art and imagination. 30God therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, now enjoins men that they shall all everywhere repent, 31because he has set a day in which he is going to judge the habitable earth in righteousness by [the] man whom he has appointed, giving the proof [of it] to all [in] having raised him from among [the] dead.