buddhas of the three times

rgyud - [alt.] being, mind, stream, a) continuity, being b) Tantra. abbr. {rgyud} Mahayoga. 1) tantra, tantra-texts, being [body, speech and mind], stream of being, mind-stream, continuity, continuum, "linked together", area, location, stream of existence, mind, heart, nature, existence. 2) the tantric teachings, texts. 3) via, through [sm. {brgyud}. 4) bank, shore, coast, edge, side, range. 5) lineage, descent. 6) area, location. 6) individual, person 7) bow string {mdo rgyud} sutra and tantra]. 8) continuum [or continua], tantra, string, cord. mind-stream; tantra/ continuum; mind-stream [RY]

See (gsang sngags rdo rje theg pa rgyud) - tantrayana, tantra, esoteric or inner teachings of the Mahayana vehicle, the secret and sublime adamantine / vajra vehicle of Secret Mantra, Vajrayana [RY]

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Tantra (rgyud)

• In Buddhism, tantra is defined as a natural continuum or unbroken stream flowing from fundamental ignorance to enlightenment. As such, it refers to the continua of ground, path and result (gzhi lam 'bras bu), which together form the dynamic process through which all fruitional aspects of buddhahood are fully manifested. Through the continuum of the path (lam gyi rgyud), the atemporally present continuum of the ground (gzhi'i rgyud) is actualised as the continuum of the result ('bras bu'i rgyud). Because tantra includes sophisticated techniques which, unlike the sūtras, enable dissonant mental states (kleśa), such as attachment (rāga) and aversion (dveśa), to be transmuted into blissful states of realisation, without renunciation or rejection, the practitioner can cultivate an uninterrupted continuum between the ordinary initial mind, the advanced mind on the path, and the resultant fully enlightened mind of a buddha.
• The term tantra may also refer to the literature of the six classes of tantra (rgyud sde drug) which expound this dynamic. These comprise: the three outer tantras of austere awareness (phyi dka' thub rig pa'i rgyud), namely: Kriyātantra, Ubhayatantra, and Yogatantra, and the three inner tantras of skillful means (nang pa thabs kyi rgyud), namely, Mahāyoga, Anuyoga and Atiyoga. For a detailed discussion on the superiority of the tantras to the sūtras, see bDud-'joms Rin-po-che, NSTB, pp. 243-256. Although tantra-texts are represented in the Chinese Tripiṭaka, the most extensive collections are contained in the Collected Tantras of the rNying ma pa (rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum) and in the bKa' 'gyur. GD (from the Glossary to Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings)

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