The Vajra Path Module 1: From Yoga Sutras to Yoga Tantras
A seminar with Ian Baker on the early development of Vajrayana Buddhism and the emergence of the Six Yogas, the opening seminar of the Vajra Path series.
The opening seminar of Ian Baker's six-part Vajra Path series, on where the tantric material came from and where it is going now. Baker traces the vajra from Indra's thunderbolt in the Vedas through to the yoga tantras, shows how Hevajra and Chakrasamvara developed alongside the Shiva and Shakta traditions, and sets Patanjali's Yoga Sutras beside early Buddhist teaching. He then follows the emergence of the six yoga doctrine, with inner heat at its foundation, and its passage into Western hands through Alexandra David-Neel and Evans-Wentz. A presentation with slides and no practice, followed by an extended question and answer session which takes in whether Hindu tantra lacks bodhicitta and who these practices actually suit. Each module of the Vajra Path stands on its own, though Baker constructed the six as a single sequence.
What this course covers
- The vajra, from Indra's thunderbolt in the Vedas to the yoga tantras
- Hevajra and Chakrasamvara alongside the Shiva and Shakta traditions
- Patanjali's Yoga Sutras set beside early Buddhist teaching
- The emergence of the six yoga doctrine, with inner heat at its base
- How the material reached the West through Alexandra David-Neel and Evans-Wentz
- Questions on bodhicitta in Hindu tantra, and on who tantra suits
Sessions
- Module 1: From Yoga Sutras to Yoga Tantras 172 minutes