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

Common Problems
The Mahāyāna teachings are extensive, profound, and awe-inspiring – and it is easy to get
distracted by the philosophy and neglect practice. If you misunderstand the teachings on the
Middle Way and confuse emptiness with nothingness, you might not care about anything any
more. Thinking karma is just an “empty” concept, you may commit negative acts that lead to
lower rebirth. The risk of the Mind Only teachings is that, while you recognize appearances as
mental projections and can release your attachment to them, you might attach to inner
experiences of peace and bliss and create an aversion to other emotions, slowing your true path.
From the teachings on Buddha Essence, over-confident in knowing that you are already a
buddha, you might decide not to practice, and cut yourself off from ever realizing buddhahood.
Since the Mahāyāna path takes inconceivable lifetimes to attain liberation, you may not be
motivated with the urgency to practice and become lazy. Trying to be a bodhisattva, you could
become merely a good deed doer – helping others without penetrating into a deeper awareness of
ultimate reality is called “defiled virtue” (kliṣṭa puṇya), and should be avoided. Your growing
compassion could increase your attachment to others and lead you into greater suffering. Finally,
without a true and sincere commitment to liberating yourself and all beings from suffering, you
are not a follower of the Mahāyāna, but the Common Vehicle, and will never be able to gain the
merit necessary for buddhahood.
Techniques
Vows
“Where there is perseverence, there is enlightenment.”
- The Sāgaramati Requested Sūtra
In the Mahāyāna tradition, the Bodhisattva Vow (Praṇidhāna Samvara – lit. Aspiration Vow) is
the most important act you will ever take to attain enlightenment. It is the ultimate vow of
cosmic responsibility. You commit yourself to vast lifetimes of personal development, as you
seek to assist all beings throughout infinite space and time to attain enlightenment as well. The
vow directs you on your path, keeping you from the dangers of saṃsāra and the inactive bliss of
nirvāṇa. The Bodhisattva Vow is recited frequently in order to generate the wisdom and great
compassion that fuels your path to enlightenment. Progress is impossible without keeping it.
Devotion
Devotion (bhakti) is even more important in the Mahāyāna than the Common Vehicle. Unlike in
the Buddha’s original path, you cannot attain realization completely on your own - you need the
help of the buddhas and their continuous teachings. Through devotion, you make a strong heart
connection with them. Buddha wisdom pervades the universe, and buddhas have the ability to
manifest at any moment, in any way, for anyone who calls upon them with true devotion. You
give your devotion to the buddhas and bodhisattvas, to the Mahāyāna sūtras as sacred revelations
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