14 posts
Inside the Canon
29 November 2025
An overview of the Unexcelled Yoga Tantras, the highest tantric class in the Sarma traditions, containing 119 texts organized into three groups: non-dual tantras (including Kālacakra), 76 mother tantras emphasizing…
Inside the Canon
5 August 2025
An introduction to the Action Tantra class, the largest group of tantras in the Kangyur with 308 texts emphasizing external ritual and worship, organized into seven deity families including Tathāgata,…
Inside the Canon
5 August 2025
The principal tantra collection of the Kangyur, consisting of 468 canonical tantras mainly from the “later spread” of Vajrayāna to Tibet, is organized into four levels of tantra and concluding…
Inside the Canon
28 January 2025
The Old Tantras section contains seventeen texts from the early translation period representing the Nyingma tradition's inner tantras. Learn about these works, their controversial inclusion in the Kangyur, and their…
Inside the Canon
24 September 2024
An overview of the Kangyur's Tantra section, including the main collection of 468 tantras, Old Tantras of the early translation period, and the Wheel of Time Commentary, with a note…
Inside the Canon
24 September 2024
An introduction to the Conduct Tantra class, the smallest tantra division with eight works balancing meditational and ritual practice, featuring the principal deities Vairocana, Acala, and Vajrapāṇi.
Inside the Canon
1 January 2023
Commentaries, instructions, and liturgical works on the tantras (Toh 1180-3785)
Inside the Canon
1 January 2023
Commentaries and liturgical works related to the father tantras, centered on a range of deities in six main groups (Toh 1784-2216)
Inside the Canon
1 January 2023
An introduction to 301 works related to seven father tantra cycles beyond Guhyasamāja, including extensive collections on Yamāri and Vajrabhairava (172 works), plus cycles centered on Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti, Ekajaṭā, and Vajrapāṇi.
Inside the Canon
1 January 2023
Commentaries on tantras of the highest class, divided into “non-dual,” “wisdom,” and “skillful means” tantras (Toh 1180-2500).
Inside the Canon
1 January 2023
Commentaries and liturgical works related to the mother tantras, centered on a range of deities divided into six main families (Toh 1401-1783)
Inside the Canon
1 January 2023
An introduction to 178 works on ten mother tantra cycles beyond Śaṃvara, including collections on Catuḥpīṭha, Mahāmāyā, Buddhakapāla, Tāra, and Mahākāla, each containing commentaries on tantras and liturgical texts.
