An open library in progress. Explanations are editorial drafts, with sources for further study. Translations await specialist review. How to read our labels.
A place to begin
This entry introduces Tibetan Buddhism through its Mahāyāna foundations. Bodhicitta is the aspiration to attain buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. The overview draws on named Tibetan teachers; different schools and commentaries need their own fuller accounts.
Reading source: Teaching Śāntideva’s text in Sarnath ↗
A public Tibetan Buddhist teaching report on the bodhisattva path and bodhicitta. It is a named teaching perspective, not an exhaustive account of every Tibetan school.
Compassion and the bodhisattva path
The bodhisattva’s concern extends to all sentient beings. In this teaching context, ethical conduct, study and meditation serve the aspiration to awaken for their benefit. Bodhicitta is more specific than a wish to feel peaceful: it gives the path its Mahāyāna orientation.
Reading source: Teaching Śāntideva’s text in Sarnath ↗
A public Tibetan Buddhist teaching report on the bodhisattva path and bodhicitta. It is a named teaching perspective, not an exhaustive account of every Tibetan school.
Emptiness and the person
Śūnyatā, commonly translated as emptiness, concerns the absence of inherent existence. It does not mean that nothing matters or that persons and actions do not function. In the Dalai Lama’s explanation, even consciousness is empty of independent, essential existence.
This matters when comparing traditions: a Buddhist account of the person should not be silently replaced with an eternal ātman or a permanent witnessing self. Similar English words such as “awareness” can conceal different philosophical commitments.
Reading source: Teaching Nāgārjuna’s Commentary on Bodhichitta ↗
A teaching report connecting the Perfection of Wisdom, selflessness and care for others. Interpretations of emptiness should remain attached to their particular school and commentary.
Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna
Tibetan Buddhism also includes Vajrayāna. In the lineage explanation linked below, tantric practice belongs within Mahāyāna and rests on bodhicitta and understanding emptiness. This introductory entry focuses on those foundations; an energy-channel map is not needed to explain them.
Reading source: Sun of Devotion, Stream of Blessings · Chapter 13 ↗
A lineage explanation of the place of Vajrayāna within Mahāyāna. Used here for that relationship, without reproducing advanced tantric instructions.
Read a named text in context
The Prajñāpāramitā or Perfection of Wisdom sūtras and Śāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra offer important starting points. Use an attributed translation and commentary, and note the particular Tibetan school or teacher presenting it.
Reading source: Teaching Nāgārjuna’s Commentary on Bodhichitta ↗
A teaching report connecting the Perfection of Wisdom, selflessness and care for others. Interpretations of emptiness should remain attached to their particular school and commentary.
A distinction to carry with you
Emptiness is not nihilism or Brahman. Tibetan Vajrayāna builds on Mahāyāna commitments.
Reading about practice
This is an educational overview of public teachings. Empowerment requirements and specific tantric practices belong to their particular lineages. This page does not provide advanced breathwork, subtle-body techniques or initiation instructions.