Great-Bliss-Tantric-Sex-and-the-Path-to-Inner-Awakening

Asaṅga
Asaṅga (Not Attached; c. 300s) is among the most influential of
all Mahāyāna philosophers, and at least as important as Nāgārjuna.
He was the first major philosopher of both the Mind Only (Citta
Matrā) and Buddha Essence (Tathāgata Garbha) teachings, and his
texts place the teachings of the Middle Way within the framework
of these higher philosophies. Asaṅga was born into the warrior
caste in the city of Puruṣapura (modern Peshawar, Pakistan), the
capital of the kingdom of Gandhāra, a strong center for the
Mahāyāna at the height of a cultural golden age. As a monk he
accepted the Middle Way teachings but found them to be
incomplete. He prayed ardently for twelve years for guidance to
the future Buddha Maitreya. In response, Asaṅga received five
revealed texts: 1) The Ornament of Clear Realization, a concise
summary of the doctrine of the Middle Way, 2) Distinguishing the
Middle from the Extremes, on how the Mind Only philosophy avoids attachment to extreme
views on reality, 3) Distinguishing Appearances from their True Nature, on the Mind Only
conception of the Two Truths, 4) The Ornament of the Mahāyāna Sūtras, the Mind Only view of
the Mahāyāna path, and 5) The Supreme Continuum, the central text on the philosophy of
Buddha Essence. Asaṅga also personally authored several texts including The Compendium of
Liberating Truth, a summary of the Dharma from the Mind Only philosophy, The Compendium
of the Mahāyāna, an influential presentation of the Mahāyāna, and The Bodhisattva Levels,
which describes the bodhisattva path from the Mind Only tenets. Asaṅga converted his brother
Vasubandhu to the Mahāyāna, who made crucial contributions to the Mind Only philosophy.
Philosophy
“As for the many inconceivable teachings that are taught by words,
those who fixate on words do not understand what is explained.”
- The King of Samādhi Sūtra
When You Perceive Both Your Self and Appearances as Not Being Independently Real,
You Attain Buddhahood
Shared Views of the Mahāyāna
The Inconceivability of the Dharma
In the Common Vehicle, the nature of a buddha is inconceivable. In the Mahāyāna, the Dharma
itself is inconceivable. The Mahāyāna distinguishes itself by its teachings on wisdom, and argues
that because of the limitations inherent in the teachings of the Common Vehicle, that path is
limited in its ability to attain complete liberation. The Common Vehicle, it says, is based on a
dualism of self and other, when reality is not dualistic. All beliefs, such as good or bad, existence
or nonexistence, saṃsāra or nirvāṇa, are no more than mental constructions, conceptual overlays
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