Why is Tantra said to be Faster than Sutra?

In the Vajrayana we use ‘visualization’ as our object of meditation - we imagine a Buddha in as much vivid detail as possible. Any meditation uses an object. We put our minds single pointedly into the object and eventually as our concentration increases, we actually come to see the emptiness of that object. At the time that we see the emptiness, we no longer see the object. Another way to say this is that when we see the ultimate nature of the object, we no longer see the relative nature. In ultimate reality there is no separation between things - all that is perceived is a vacuity of attributes. That’s what the sutras say about it. The mind at this point is considered ’serviceable’. It is deeply aware and deeply penetrative. The yogi who has seen emptiness directly can then turn his mind to analysis of the noble truths, ‘is ordinary life suffering? Is grasping the cause of suffering? Is there a stopping of the grasping and the suffering? What is the true path to end this suffering?’, because of her repeated efforts and stabilization of meditative equipoise, her mind can penetrate these dharmas and she will experience the truths directly, without cognizing - it is a direct knowing. It can take many lifetimes to develop to this point as a meditater, most of the sutras say that in fact, it will take many lifetimes. The Vajrayana promises that through its methods one can attain enlightenment in one lifetime. It is faster, for those who can not bare to spend another moment in Samsara. What drives this intolerance of suffering? It is the genuine wish to become enlightened for the benefit of all sentient beings. So the fortunate yogi might be initiated into the Vajrayana by a qualified master.

So why is Tantra faster than Sutra?

Mainly because sutra assumes that there is a ‘tainted’ element to the meditation. In Sutra we are approaching Buddhism from a limited perspective in which we maintain some sort of grasping at an inherent and limited set of Skhandas. The Skhandas are said to be the basic constituents of existence - form, feeling, perception, thought structures, and consciousness. These too are empty of inherent existence, but from a sutric point of view we are trying to see that our skandhas are empty. In other words we are trying to see that what seems to exist in a permanent way, does not actually exist in that way. It’s very subtle, but this type of understanding actually remains attached such that only a very high-level bodhisattva (high-level means that they have attained a great deal of stabilization in their meditation) can start to be free of grasping at the Skhandas. This means that they have spent thousands of lifetimes collecting the merit (or removing the obstacles to the expression of merit). The Vajrayana is faster.

Vajrayana is faster due to the skillful technique of identifying yourself with a Buddha Figure, Concentration Being, or in Tibetan it is called a Yidam. The practitioners uses his imagination to create a sort of world in his mind. He creates a mandala - like a palace, and residing in that palace is the yidam. There are many deities - Medicine Buddha, Tara, Chenrezig, Manjushri, Yamantaka, Vajrasattva, the list goes on and on, there are literally thousands. These ‘deities’ do not exist out there. They are a creation of mind. They are not separate from the practitioner in any way. The practitioner manifests this visualization during the meditation session, all the aspects of the palace and the body of the deity and at the same time he identifies with the whole scene. Before generating the visualization the yogi dissolves (imaginatively) his ordinary aspect, meaning his limited human body. So in the Sadhanas (the manuals for doing this type of practice) it always comes to ‘everything becomes empty’. This is very important. Then “from emptiness” arises the deity and his or her palace. The practitioner then thinks, “I am this deity”. He thinks, “I am the divine Tara, and so I am the manifestation of fearlessness”. He thinks like this, in appropriate ways for the deity he is manifesting. This is the ‘object of meditation’, if you will, in Vajrayana.

It is said that because of this very pure object, one can obtain enlightenment in just one life time. We don’t think of the ordinary Skhandas then, we are working from point of view of fruition. He is meditating in the aspect of an already realized being. One eventually engages in actions like saving beings and sending out light that purifies delusions. This allows for the mind to stay very dynamic during meditation while never abandoning concentration. Moving the mind’s attention to the different aspects of the mandala and the yidam is actually just like analytical meditation, so with Tantra one does not need to establish concentration first, and then approach analysis, one is concentrated and discriminating in the same consciousness. He is connected with Ultimate truth and relative truth in the same cognition - at least imaginatively! Initially the work to do is to stabilize the visualization, to be able to see the whole scene with it’s multiple aspects, like color, shape, size, etc. When the scene has stabilized to the point that the yogi can engage in it with a feeling that it is completely real, then he moves on to the even more esoteric completion stage which introduces the yogic techniques that purify the last remaining obstacles to full Budhahood.

I of course have no real understanding of these things. I read books and take classes with Rinpoche, but I am no scholar. My hope is only to share what I have learned and hopefully benefit those interested in the Tantric path. It is always very difficult for me to grasp and so when I get some clarity as to the actual meaning and practice of Vajrayana, I feel very fortunate. I hope that this information will be of some help to spiritual aspirants and that I have caused no doubt or confusion. I will be elaborating on the Vajrayana path over time, in preparation for a talk I am doing at Emaho. Please check out my other posts on the Vajrayana and if you are turned on by the whole thing, find a qualified master to teach you the techniques!

The Four Immeasurables:
May all beings have happiness and it’s causes
May all beings be free from suffering and it’s causes
May all beings never be separated from the happiness which is free from suffering
May all beings abide in equanimity, free from both attachment and detachment

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