gsang sngags

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གསང་སྔགས
Guhyamantra - Secret Mantra. Synonymous with Vajrayana or tantric teachings. 'Guhya' means secret, both concealed and self-secret. 'Mantra' in one context means eminent, excellent, or praiseworthy [RY]

Secret Mantrayana [RY]

mantrayana discipline, tantric practitioners, charms, secret religious instructions, mysterious incantations, Secret Mantra [JV]

secret mantra, seal, esoteric teachings, guhya mantra [IW]

secret mantras. Guhyamantra, the Secret Mantrayana, the esoteric teachings, secret religious instruction; secret mantra; Guhyamantra, Mantra. The secret mantras, 'secret and extolled'. The dgongs pa grub pa'i rgyud says, "One should know that all mantras are divided into three classes, Gnostic mantras which are the essence of skillful means, dharanis which are the essence of discriminative awareness, and secret mantras which are the non- dual pristine cognition." Thus dharanis originate from the teachings of the Transcendent Perfection of Discriminative Awareness, Gnostic mantras from the Kriya tantra and secret mantras from the Mahayoga, Anu Yoga and Atiyoga. 1) Secret Mantra. 2) seal. 3) the esoteric teachings; the Secret Mantras (Syn. Vajrayana) [RY]

secret mantra [RB]

Skt. Guhya-mantra. 1) Secret Mantra, Secret Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra Vehicle, Secret Mantric Vehicle (gsang sngags kyi theg pa); 2) Esoteric Mantra, Esoteric Mantrayāna, Esoteric Mantra Vehicle, Esoteric Mantric Vehicle. A common alternate name for Vajrayāna Buddhism (rdo rje'i theg pa) in Tibetan. Arguably, here gsang is more accurately (or comprehensibly) translated as "esoteric" in light of many factors, especially the common designation of "Esoteric Buddhism" in academic Buddhist Studies, as well as the fact that the "secrecy" of much of Mantrayāna is highly questionable (as the word "secret" is generally understood in English). "Secret Mantra" as a translation for gsang sngags may thus be not only a misnomer but also potentially misleading. However, Mantrayāna/Vajrayāna Buddhism is certainly "esoteric". Erick Tsiknopoulos