Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras

Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras (ma ha yo ga’i rgyud sde bco brgyad).

Listed in Chapter Twelve of The Lotus-Born. An alternative list is given by Shechen Gyaltsab in his historical work entitled The Pond of White Lotus Flowers and in Guru Tashi Tobgyal’s Ocean of Wondrous Sayings to Delight the Learned Ones:

• 1-5) Five Basic Root Tantras of Body, Speech, Mind, Quality and Activity: Sarvabuddha Samayoga, Assemblage of Secrets, Glorious Supreme Primal Tantra, and Activity Garland.
• 6-10) Five Display Tantras functioning as utilization of sadhana practice: Heruka Display Tantra, Supreme Steed Display Tantra, Compassion Display Tantra, Nectar Display Tantra, and Twelvefold Kilaya Tantra.
• 11-15) Five Tantras Functioning as Subsidiaries to Conduct: Mountain Pile, Awesome Wisdom Lightning, Arrangement of Samaya, One-pointed Samadhi, and the Rampant Elephant Tantra.
• 16-17) Two subsequent tantras of amending incompleteness: Magical Net of Vairochana and Skillful Lasso.
• 18) The one outstanding tantra that epitomizes them all: The Essence of Secrets, the Tantra of the Magical Net of Vajrasattva, also known as Guhyagarbha.

kar ma ma le 'phrin las kyi rgyud - Activity Garland Tantra; A Mahayoga scripture listed here as one of the Six Secret Sections. Sometimes also mentioned as one of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras as the tantra of enlightened activity [RY]

khro bo pun da ri ka'i rgyud - Wrathful Blue Lotus Tantra. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras; focused on Vishuddha Mind. Found in Vol. RA of the Nyingma Gyübum [RY]

gal po bsdus pa - Galpo Düpa. Also named: Tantra of the General Accomplishment of Knowledge Mantras (rig sngags spyi'i sgrub lugs kyi rgyud). One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

'jig rten las 'das pa'i mdo - Supramundane Scripture. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras; focused on Vishuddha Mind. Vol. RA in the Nyingma Gyübum [RY]

snying rje rol pa'i rgyud - Compassion Display Tantra. One of the Five Display Tantras among the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

ting 'dzin rtse gcig - One-pointed Samadhi. See Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

rta mchog rol pa - Supreme Steed Display. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

thabs kyi zhags pa - Skillful Lasso. Also known as Concise Lotus Garland (pad mo phreng ba'i don bsdus pa), this scripture functions as a support for rituals to attain accomplishment. See Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

dam tshig bkod pa - Arrangement of Samaya; One of Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

bdud rtsi rol pa che chung - Major and Minor Nectar Display. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

bdud rtsi rol pa'i rgyud - Nectar Display Tantra. One of the Five Display Tantras among the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

rnam snang sgyu 'phrul drva ba - Magical Net of Vairochana. A Mahayoga scripture which functions as subsidiary support for engaging in yogic activities connected to the mandala. See Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

rnal 'byor chen po - Mahayoga. The first of the 'Three Inner Tantras.' Mahayoga as scripture is divided into two parts: Tantra Section and Sadhana Section. The Tantra Section consists of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras while the Sadhana Section is comprised of the Eight Sadhana Teachings. Jamgön Kongtrül says in his Treasury of Knowledge: "Mahayoga emphasizes means (upaya), the development stage, and the view that liberation is attained through growing accustomed to the insight into the nature of the indivisibility of the superior two truths." The superior two truths in Mahayoga are purity and equality - the pure natures of the aggregates, elements and sense factors are the male and female buddhas and bodhisattvas. At the same time, everything that appears and exists is of the equal nature of emptiness [RY]

dpal mchog dang po'i rgyud - Skt. Shri Paramadi Tantra, Glorious Supreme Primal Tantra. One the Four Major Sections of Yoga Tantra. A tantra of the same title is sometimes listed among the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras as the tantra of enlightened qualities [RY]

dpal he ru ka 'dus pa'i rgyud - Tantra of the Glorious Assemblage of Herukas. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

spyod pa yan lag tu 'gro ba' rgyud sde lnga - Five Tantras Functioning as Subsidiaries to Conduct. See Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

'bum gyi ti ka'i rgyud lung - Hundred Thousand Tika Scripture. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras. Found in Vol. OM of the Nyingma Gyübum [RY]

ma ha yo ga'i rgyud sde bco brgyad - Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras. Listed in Chapter Twelve. An alternative list is given by Shechen Gyaltsab in his historical work entitled The Pond of White Lotus Flowers and in Guru Tashi Tobgyal's Ocean of Wondrous Sayings to Delight the Learned Ones: 1-5) Five Basic Root Tantras of Body, Speech, Mind, Quality and Activity: Sarvabuddha Samayoga, Assemblage of Secrets, Glorious Supreme Primal Tantra, and Activity Garland. 6-10) Five Display Tantras functioning as utilization of sadhana practice: Heruka Display Tantra, Supreme Steed Display Tantra, Compassion Display Tantra, Nectar Display Tantra, and Twelvefold Kilaya Tantra. 11-15) Five Tantras Functioning as Subsidiaries to Conduct: Mountain Pile, Awesome Wisdom Lightning, Arrangement of Samaya, One-pointed Samadhi, and the Rampant Elephant Tantra. 16-17) Two subsequent tantras of amending incompleteness: Magical Net of Vairochana and Skillful Lasso. 18) The one outstanding tantra that epitomizes them all: The Essence of Secrets, the Tantra of the Magical Net of Vajrasattva, also known as Guhyagarbha [RY]

vi dyot ta ma 'bum sde - Hundred Thousand Sections of Unexcelled Knowledge. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

zhi ba dam pa lha'i rgyud - Sacred Peace Deity Tantra. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras. In the Golden Garland Chronicles this same text is named Peaceful Vajradhatu Tantra (zhi ba rdo rje dbyings kyi rgyud) [RY]

gzhi dang rtsa ba gyur pa'i rgyud sde lnga - Five Basic Root Tantras. See Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

zla gsang thig le - Secret Moon Essence. A Mahayoga scripture. Vol. MA of the Nyingma Gyübum. Sometimes counted among the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras as the tantra of enlightened speech [RY]

zla gsang nag po - Secret Black Moon. The tantra of Manjushri Body. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

ye shes rngams glog - Awesome Wisdom Lightning. See Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

ri bo brtsegs pa - Mountain Pile. See Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

rig sngags spyi'i sgrub lugs kyi rgyud - Tantra of the General Accomplishment of Knowledge Mantras. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras. Also named Galpo Düpa (gal po bsdus pa) [RY]

rig 'dzin grub pa'i rgyud - Vidyadhara Accomplishment Tantra. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras. The Golden Garland Chronicles names this scripture The Tantra of Six Vidyadharas (rig 'dzin drug pa'i rgyud) [RY]

rol pa'i rgyud sde lnga - Five Display Tantras. See Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

lung bam po brgyad pa - Scripture in Eight Chapters. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras. Vol. LA of the Nyingma Gyübum [RY]

sangs rgyas mnyam sbyor - Sarvabuddha Samayoga. 'Equalizing Buddhahood.' A Mahayoga scripture. Three tantras of this name are found in Vol. MA of the Nyingma Gyübum. Sometimes counted among the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras as the tantra of enlightened body [RY]

gsang ba sde drug - Six Secret Sections. Listed in Chapter 12 of Sanglingma. The five first are found in the most common list of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

gsang ba'i snying po - Essence of Secrets, Guhyagarbha. The widely renowned tantra of the Early Translations which, according to Jamgön Kongtrül, is the chief of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras, exalted above them all like the banner of victory. The first text in Vol. PHA of the Nyingma Gyübum. A great number of commentaries on this tantra is found in the Nyingma Kama collection [RY]

he ru ka gal po - Heruka Galpo. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras; focused on Vishuddha Mind. Both the Galpo and the Galpoche tantras are found in Vol. RA of the Nyingma Gyübum [RY]

he ru ka gal po che - Heruka Galpoche. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras; focused on Vishuddha Mind. Several tantras with resembling titles are found in Vol. RA of the Nyingma Gyübum [RY]

he ru ka rol pa'i rgyud - Heruka Display Tantra. One of the Five Display Tantras among the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]

lha mo ma gol ba'i rgyud - Nonstraying Goddess Tantra. One of the Eighteen Mahayoga Tantras [RY]