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Investor Capital Experts and Business Development for ...

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FY

Grant type

Country

Activity

GP

Grant Amount

Project Size

FY17

Just-in-time

Argentina

Support for the Preparation of ToRs and Early Implementation of the Salado Integrated River Basin Management Support Project

Water

$ 70,000

300,000,000

FY17

Just-in-time

Bangladesh

Enhancing Quality of Municipal Infrastructure in Bangladesh

Social/Urban- Rural/Resilience

$ 70,000

410,000,000

FY17

Just-in-time

Ecuador

Quality Infrastructure Investment Partnership (Ecuador Manta)

Water

$ 70,000

100,000,000

FY17

Just-in-time

Ecuador

Ecuador Ibarra Transport Infrastructure Improvement Project

Transport

$ 70,000

52,500,000

FY17

Just-in-time

Mexico

Quality Infrastructure Support for the Mexico Urban Transport Transformation Program

Transport

$ 70,000

150,000,000

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Just-in-time

Tuvalu

Implications of Sea Level Rise on Coastal Infrastructure

Transport

$ 70,000

2,880,000

FY17

Standard

Argentina

Preparation and Implementation of Management and Results Plans (PGRs) for main Water Supply & Sanitation Operators of Northern Provinces

Water

$ 275,000

125,000,000

FY17

Standard

Bangladesh

Bangladesh - QII Enhancement to Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) Project

Transport

$ 450,000

87,200,000

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Support for the Implementation of Infrastructure Aspects of the Upper Egypt Local Economic Development (UELDP) PforR a US$ 500 Million Flagship Operation in the MENA Region

$ 500,000

500,000,000

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Standard

Ethiopia

Support to Establishment of Effective Pperation and Management Model for Sanitation Facilities in Addis Ababa and 10 Other Selected Cities

Water

$ 300,000

445,000,000

FY17

Standard

India

Urban Infrastructure for Amaravati City Development

Social/Urban Rural/Resilience

$ 700,000

300,000,000

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Standard

Mexico

Technical Assistance to the Water Utilities of the MAS Oaxaca Program

Water

$ 275,000

55,000,000

FY17

Standard

Peru

Supporting Measures to Develop New Management Models and Improve Efficiency of Water Supply and Sanitation Service Providers in Peru

Water

$ 275,000

100,000,000

FY17

Standard

Tunisia

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Quality Infrastructure Investment (QII) Partnership

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Academic Performance The Impact Of Motivation On Teachers And Students In Some Selected Secondary School In Udi Local Government Area

Education has been recognized as the fundamental basis on which any nation could function effectively. Its socio-political and economic viability depends solely on the qualitative education given to her citizens.

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Therefore, those that impart the needed knowledge or those that build and mould character must be motivated adequately because motivation is the key to performance and improvement. Hence it is believed that a motivated teacher always complete the tasks set for him, even when such tasks or assignments are difficult or seen uninteresting. However the pertinent question that may rise is; what is motivation?

Motivation comes from the Latin root movers which means to move. So motivation can mean the process of arousing the interest of an individual to take a move towards a certain goal. Harzberg (1978), defines motivation as all those phenomena which are involved in the stimulation of actions toward particular objectives where previously, there was little or no movement towards these goals. Waitley (1996), defines motivation as the inner derive which prompts people act in a certain way. Motivation involved a number of psychological factors that start and maintained activities towards the achievement of personal goals. Motivation in education can have several effects on how students learn and their behaviour towards subjects matter Ormord (2003). Motivation of teachers and students in teaching and learning process can direct behaviour towards particular goals, leads to increase effort and energy enhance cognitive processing, increase initiation of and persistence in activities, determine what consequences are reinforcing and it can also lead to improved performance. Orphlims (2002) is of the view that motivated teachers always look for better ways to do their teaching job, they are more quality oriented and are more productive. Therefore, it means that motivated teachers are determine, to give their, best to achieve the maximum output (qualitative education). Motivation can be in the form of regular payment of salary, fringe benefit, such as allowance, bonus on the job training, promotion of the teachers, provision of good working environment, maintaining high degree of relationship and improving the teachers general well being. Hence, any teacher that enjoys the above named items is band to give all his best in discharging of his duty because, he would derive satisfaction of being a teacher.

In educational sector, motivation plays a great role. When teachers are motivated, this will lead to good performance and high productivity to the sustain of the national growth and development and also, the welfare of its citizens at large. According to Alu, Eya, Odo, Ede and Ugwu (2001) education is an ancient enterprise designed to be the vehicle of social change and over development of self, culture and society. Education is a process designed to help all human beings to grows into persons.

In the view of the above the national policy on education (1981), section one paragraph two stated that the Nigerians philosophy of education, therefore is based on the integration of the individual into a sound and effective citizens and equal educational opportunities for all citizens of the nation at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels, both inside and outside the formal school system.

Consequently, the Nigeria policy on education section nine paragraph 57, stated that teachers education will continue to be given a major emphasis in all our educational planning because, no educational system can rise above the quality of its teachers. Therefore, various purposes or aims of teachers education should be inculcated into our schools. It will be necessary for the provision of highly motivated, conscious and efficient classroom teachers for all level of our educational system and also to encourage teachers commitment to the teaching profession.

Also motivation has an effect on the society in various ways for the development of the nation of the hallmarks of the development and economic prosperity while low performance create problem of underdevelopment. Since the future of the country lies with the students, so those students need to be well educated, so that they can be equipped with the knowledge and skills to pilot the affairs of this country.

Therefore, the impact of motivation and academic performance of the students when properly treated, will lead to good performance and high productivity to the sustenance of the national progress.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

It is obvious that professional trained teachers always give in their best in carrying out their duties and responsibilities. However, it is pertinent that teachers activities must be compensated or rewarded as an encouragement as well as enabling them to work harder in order to achieve the main objective of teaching and learning. The absent of motivation has a negative effect in the standard of education in the country as the students are being deprived of the needed knowledge because the teachers are to motivated to impact the needed knowledge. Hence, the problems associated with this negative attitude towards motivation result to this:

Teachers do not give their best, due to o payment or salary by the authority to the teachers students inadequate knowledge as a result of not being taught adequately since the teachers are not motivated to give in their best, Teachers life look deplorable as they are being deprived of their benefit they ought to enjoy and mike them effective as efficient in their teaching job, low standard of education in the country is noted since the qualitative education needed is absential. Society human resources will be lagging since the character and knowledge moulder (teacher) cannot satisfactorily perform his duty.

Therefore, the resultant effect of this problem affects the society at large, since the educational sector cannot produce the desired result as designed in the national policy of education I 2004.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this research is aimed at finding out the impact of motivation on teachers performance in the school system. The study specifically tends to;

i. To find the extent to which supervision of instruction influence learning and enhance students academic performance.

ii. To find out the extent to which government regular payment of salaries at and when due to the teachers.

iii. To find out the extent to which promotion of teachers at and when due influences teaching and learning process.

iv. To find out the extent to which such programmes like seminars, conferences and workshops that are conducted for the teachers can enhance their personal academic and professional growth.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is hope that the final result of this research work will help in finding possible ways, how motivation can influence productivity/performance in teaching and learning process and also improve learning on the part of students. It is important for the researcher to put into consideration, the significance of teachers motivation and academic performance of students.

However, this research will be significance in the following ways:

1. When teachers are being motivated, the society/government will benefit immensely in the sense that the teachers put in their best, the students (youth) will contribute properly to the economic growth and development of the nation and the welfare of its citizens.

2. Parents will also benefit when teachers are being motivated in the sense that the students will be responsible to their parents and also the money spent on them will not be in vein because they will help in carrying out families responsibilities.

3. Students will benefit equally when teachers are motivated because the research will enable them to enhance and improve their academic performance.

4. The teachers also benefit a lot when they positive motivation is given to them in terms of promotion, fringe benefit, salaries are paid at and when due, they will give in their best in the teaching process. And also their standard of living will improve.

1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study covers some selected secondary schools in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu state.

Moreover, the scope of this study is limited to finding the impact of motivation on teachers performance and the academic performance of students.

1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. To what extent does irregular payment of teachers salaries affect the teachers performance on their academic desk?

2. To what extent does the conducting of seminars, conferences and workshops for the teachers influence the teaching learning process?

3. To what extent does inadequate promotion of teachers affect them in disposing their duties effectively and efficiency?

4. To what extent does negligent of teachers welfare affect his service (teaching)?

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter deals with the review of related literature. The review is presented under two broad headings. The theoretical and conceptual frame work, and the empirical studies.

In practical study of this nature, it is obvious to develop sound conceptual and theoretical base that are capable of unveiling the wide concepts situations and similarities in this study. Under the theoretical framework, the literature review is organized under the following sub- headings:

Theories of motivation on learning outcome.

Importance of motivation

The related empirical studies were also carried out under the following sub-headings:

Motivational strategies for teachers

Problems affecting teaching performance

Impact of motivation on students performance.

2.1 THEORIES OF MOTIVATION OF LEARNING OUTCOME

There is a general agreement among psychologists that with a few exceptions, which will be noted, all behaviours are motivated, people have reasons for doing the things they do and that behaviour is oriented towards meeting certain goals and objectives. That is why Freud (1990) and other psychologists like Taylor (1949) generally agreed that man is motivated by the desire to satisfy a number of needs. Some of which he is not consciously aware of differences of opinions exist as to the nature and relative importance of these needs. This is true because there is no doubt that teachers whose financial needs are not satisfied will be psychologically and socially demoralized in his working attitude and this is of immense effect to the performance of such teachers. But when teachers salaries and allowances are paid at and when due, this will reduce the number of teachers truancy which is rampant in the teaching and learning system of secondary schools. Many teachers come into the school only to put his or her name in the attendance register and moves out in pursuit of other business or jobs which will earn him/her a large amount of money to make both ends meet since the salary is small. This attitude makes the students to go home after a whole day with nothing done or either one or two subjects for a day. This lowers the morale of students towards learning. Hence, below comes the lists of some theories of motivation.

MASLOWS THEORY OF MOTIVATION

Maslow (1954) came up with the theory of hierarchy of needs. This is based on clinical supervision and logic. In this theory of motivation, he stresses that individuals are motivated to satisfy several different kinds of needs, which are more proponent than others. Maslows theory states that if a number of features of a persons needs are unsatisfied at any given time, satisfaction of the most proponent ones will be more pressing than that of other.

So Maslow was on the idea that a satisfied needs does not determined behaviour but unsatisfied need. This implies that the teachers behaviour in the classroom is a function of his needs. In other words, his needs influence his behaviour in the classroom in no small measure.

VICTOR VROOMS THEORY OF MOTIVATION

Victor Vroom (1964) in his own contributions advanced the expectancy valence theory. He stated that if individual worker believes that working hard will lead to salary increase, he will intensify his effort and work hard. The theory recognizes that people act only when they have a reasonable expectation that their actions will lead to a desired goal. Victor Vroom called this Expectance theory which places emphasis on performance, nothing that there must be a clearly recognized goal and relationship between performance and outcome. Motivation is a functions of the expectancy of attaining a certain outcome in performing a certain act multiplied by the value of the outcome for the performance.

M(f) = ExV

Where M = Motivation

E = Expectancy

V = Value expected.

Expectancy theory has two outcomes. First, outcome that are highly valued, and have high expectations of being realized will direct a person to make a greater effort in his taste. Secondly, outcome with high expectations, which are less highly valued or even dislike will reduce the effort expected. The significance of this theory is that an administration should take cognizance of the relationship of the first and second outcomes and use them to motivate his subordinates.

MC GREGORS THEORY OF MOTIVATION

Another human relation theorist Mc Gregor (1960) in his work the human side of enterprise, advanced to belief about human behaviour that could be held by different managers. He sees two sets of assumption made by managers about their employees. First is what he calls theory which view man on the following set of principle:

Average human beings have an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if possible.

Because of this, human characteristics of dislike of work, most people must be coerced, controlled, directed and threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort towards the advancement of the organization objectives.

The average human being prefers to be diverted, wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little ambition and wants security above all. The holders of this vie believe that motivation of workers can be attained through authority and fear and that employees have to be closely watched if result must be obtained.

In summary, this x side of the theory emphasized control and extrinsic rewards. On the other hand, the second assumption called theory y, sees man in a more favourable light. Here workers under this concept of management posses potential that is generally untapped by most working environments.

It has the following assumptions:

The time spent on physical and mental efforts in work is as natural as play or rest.

External controls and the threats of punishment are not the only means for bringing about effort towards organizational objectives.

People will exercise self-direction and self control in the service of objective to which they are committed. Committed to objective is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement. The most important of such rewards is the satisfaction of ego and self-actualization towards organizational objectives.

Average human being learn under proper condition not only to accept but also to seek responsibility.

The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in the solution of organizational problems is widely not narrowly distributed in the population.

Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of the average human beings are only partially utilized. This theory in summary presents it is aspect of participation and concern for workers morals, encouraged managers to begin to delegate authority for making decisions, enrich or enlarge jobs by making them less respective as the way to motivate employees to higher performance.

In conclusion, this theory summarized the employees behaviour using the two sides of its X and Y. As it was stated above, the x side of it emphasized control and extrinsic rewards the y side of it emphasized the managerial concern for workers morals and encouraged manager to begin to delegate authority for making decisions enrich or enlarge job by making them less repetitive as the ways to motivate employees to higher performance.

The educational implication of this theory is that teachers should always be able to effectively exercise control and proper management of their classroom while they teach students with various teaching methods, considering individual differences among learners, environmental conditions, teaching aids etc which will enhance easier learning. And also, while they do these, they should also externally aid faster learning by the introduction of reinforcement, that is giving of rewards to students who perform well in classroom work or examination.

HERBERGS THEORY O MOTIVATION

Herberg established what he called hygiene or maintenance factors and motivators. According to him, here are certain extrinsic factors which by their presence do not increase the workers satisfaction or the job, but there absence may lead to job dissatisfaction and lower productivity among employees. Such extrinsic job conditions were environmental factors over which the employee has limited influence. They include payment, interpersonal relations, organizational policy and administration, supervision and working conditions. These he called hygiene factors or dissatisfier. The significance of this factor is that is does not only rely on extrinsic rewards for motivating employees for higher production but also incorporates in the job itself those ingredients that could help motivate employees.

Though researcher support Herberg, it is not freed of criticism. Critics argued that how he gathered his data is questionable. However, despite that, Herbergs theory is in many ways a gross over simplification as various aspects of the motivations theories clearly show in it. It has made a major contributions in focusing attention on jobs redesign for the purpose of making the work more intrinsically satisfying.

Hence, Herbergs theory have been found to be applicable in the field of education in the following ways:

Motivation is related to leadership, for good leadership sets an example, provides guidance, encouragement and instructions. This can be one of the greatest motivational strategies of all secondary school, which effective principals will use to motivate staff and pupils.

Another feature of motivation of teachers is that if teachers are properly motivated, this can change an otherwise mediocre group into a highly productive team.

Good motivation of teachers is definitely related to morale. In a large organization, high moral is difficult to attain and motivation of teachers is a prime factor in achieving it.

COGNITIVE FIELD THEORY OF MOTIVATION

This theory was popularized by Kurt Lewin. In an attempt to explain the theory, he proposed certain motivational constructs. These are:

TENSION

In an organism, tension is created by disequilbruim within the organism, which the organism wants to release through activities. The activities which help in releasing tension have positive valence and those that have opposite effect have negative valance. Tension induces valence in an organism and valence directs behaviour. Tension continues till the organism attain its goals.

NEED

Two types of need were proposed by Lewin. They are genuine need and quasi need. Genuine needs can come from the physiological conditions of the organism such as hunger, thirsty, shelter etc. Quasi need is tension that arise from intentions, acts of will and other arbitrary commitments of the individual. Every organism has a characteristic structure of needs which create tension thereby making the organism to be activated.

FORCE AND VALENCE

The desirability of an activity is called valence and the tendency to engage in the act is called force. Valence influences choice while force is more useful for speed or persistence of behaviour. Need gives rise to force signifying a valence activity. If the organism has no need, the environment registers no valence and no force is also generated.

In summary, the cognitive field theory of motivation is a direct function of the combinations of tension, need, force and valence.

Hence this theory is applicable in the field of education and also to what happens in the life of a teacher. For instance, like one of the motivational constructs Needs such as hunger, thirsty, shelter etc. the teacher that is characterized with these problems will not perform well in the classroom and in this case the students academic performance will be very low. But when teacher are being motivated such as given housing and transport allowance, when their salaries are paid regularly, when they get car loan and car basic allowance, these will enhance positive attitude towards task and as such improve high performance in the classroom.

2.2 IMPORTANCE OF MOTIVATION

The term motivation is derived from a Latin word movers, which means to move into action. This means that motivation is simply the cause and why of human behaviour. To further-stress on the meaning of motivation, Monday Holmes and Flippo (1980), sees motivation as a process of stimulating an individual to take decision and action in order to achieve a specific desired goal. Morgan, King and Robinson (1984) defined motivation as a state, which individual or animal gingers or derives behaviour towards some specific goals. Furthermore, Herberg (1978) was not far from the perception of motivation from the above view as he defined motivation as the psychological process that arouse, direct and maintain behaviour towards a goal.

Hence, going by the definitions of motivation as x-rayed above, one can simply conclude that efficiency, good performance and high productivity is a direct function of adequate motivation on the part of workers in an organization. And when workers were properly motivated, leading to efficiency, good performance and high productivity, the implication of this is sudden and sustained rise in national growth and development and invariably the general improvement in the welfare of the citizens.

That is why Mayor studies the work habits of the employees at the Hawttone Western plane in the 1920s as recorded by Pugh (1990), and discovered that efficiency in the production process and increased output were been realized when employees were being motivated and the reverse is the case when they were not motivated.

However, in the field of education, the role of motivation cannot be over emphasized. That is to say that motivation plays a very significant role in attaining the overall educational aims and objectives through teaching and learning process. To further buttress this argument, Ormond (2003) sees motivation as a direct behaviour towards attaining a particular goal. Bandura (1997) stated that the use of model to motivate students is recommended because, students may model after the personalities society approves. Huffman et al (1991) sees motivation as a goal directed behaviour. Steers and Porter (1983) viewed motivation as concerned with how human beings are energized, sustained, directed, stopped and the type of subjective reaction presents in the individual whole as all these processes are taking place. As if these were not enough, Ugwu 1997) still on motivation implies that behaviour has an origin, which terminates when the goal of an individual is achieved. And Ekong (2000) emphatically stated that to achieve effective performance in the teaching learning process, the teachers as well as the students must be motivated.

The reasons behind this are outlined bellow:

In the classroom, motivation helps to increase efficiency and adequacy of behaviour. For instance, a motivated child would face his classroom work with zeal and interest. Such a student will always be in school, and carry out the necessary assignment. Motivation of teachers on the other hand, are seen to be working tirelessly in the schools. They prepare their lesson notes at and when due, teaches students, gives assignments, conduct tests, exams and marks, and records them appropriate. Hence, Herzberg (1978)stated that if teachers are properly motivated, this can change an otherwise mediocre group into a highly productive team. Equally, motivation brings about the use good teaching methods in the classroom. This is because, a motivated teacher presents his subjects matter in a variety of ways thereby bringing novelty in his teaching. Example, the use of teaching aids, various illustrations using concrete objects which makes the lesson more interesting, effective and realistic.

Motivation also brings competition and increases learning efficiency on the part of the learners. For instance, if the teacher uses positive reinforcement to reward students who answers questions correctly, or who performs highly in tests or examinations, other students who did not perform well will be challenged and hence encouraged to study harder bring about competition in such classroom.

2.3 MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES FOR TEACHERS

Studies on motivational strategies on teachers have shown that teachers by some kind of incentives are recognized as being effective. Incentives are often given in the form of money, that is money can be seen as part of the reward system designed to reinforce behaviour and therefore to motivate people to work towards that goals and those of the organization.

The realization of the goals and objectives of any establishment or organization largely depends on how the workers perceive and react to their jobs, that is attitude which to a great extent determine the output.

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Academic Performance The Impact Of Motivation On ...

Rajneesh (born Chandra Mohan Jain, 11 December 1931 19 January 1990) and latter rebranded as Osho was leader of the Rajneesh movement. During his lifetime he was viewed as a controversial new religious movement leader and mystic.

In the 1960s he traveled throughout India as a public speaker and was a vocal critic of socialism, Mahatma Gandhi, and Hindu religious orthodoxy.

Rajneesh emphasized the importance of meditation, mindfulness, love, celebration, courage, creativity and humorqualities that he viewed as being suppressed by adherence to static belief systems, religious tradition and socialization.

In advocating a more open attitude to human sexuality he caused controversy in India during the late 1960s and became known as "the sex gu

In the 1960s he traveled throughout India as a public speaker and was a vocal critic of socialism, Mahatma Gandhi, and Hindu religious orthodoxy.

Rajneesh emphasized the importance of meditation, mindfulness, love, celebration, courage, creativity and humorqualities that he viewed as being suppressed by adherence to static belief systems, religious tradition and socialization.

In advocating a more open attitude to human sexuality he caused controversy in India during the late 1960s and became known as "the sex guru".

In 1970, Rajneesh spent time in Mumbai initiating followers known as "neo-sannyasins". During this period he expanded his spiritual teachings and commented extensively in discourses on the writings of religious traditions, mystics, and philosophers from around the world. In 1974 Rajneesh relocated to Pune, where an ashram was established and a variety of therapies, incorporating methods first developed by the Human Potential Movement, were offered to a growing Western following. By the late 1970s, the tension between the ruling Janata Party government of Morarji Desai and the movement led to a curbing of the ashram's development and a back taxes claim estimated at $5 million.

In 1981, the Rajneesh movement's efforts refocused on activities in the United States and Rajneesh relocated to a facility known as Rajneeshpuram in Wasco County, Oregon. Almost immediately the movement ran into conflict with county residents and the state government, and a succession of legal battles concerning the ashram's construction and continued development curtailed its success.

In 1985, in the wake of a series of serious crimes by his followers, including a mass food poisoning attack with Salmonella bacteria and an aborted assassination plot to murder U.S. Attorney Charles H. Turner, Rajneesh alleged that his personal secretary Ma Anand Sheela and her close supporters had been responsible. He was later deported from the United States in accordance with an Alford plea bargain.[

After his deportation, 21 countries denied him entry. He ultimately returned to India and a revived Pune ashram, where he died in 1990. Rajneesh's ashram, now known as OSHO International Meditation Resort and all associated intellectual property, is managed by the Zurich registered Osho International Foundation (formerly Rajneesh International Foundation). Rajneesh's teachings have had a notable impact on Western New Age thought, and their popularity has increased markedly since his death.

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Osho (Author of Courage) - Goodreads

Vajrayna (), Mantrayna, Tantrayna, Tantric Buddhism and Esoteric Buddhism are the various Buddhist traditions of Tantra and "Secret Mantra", which developed in medieval India and spread to Tibet, Bhutan, and East Asia. In Tibet, Buddhist Tantra is termed Vajrayna, while in China it is generally known as Tngm Hanmi (, "Chinese Esotericism") or Mzng (, "Esoteric Sect"), in Pali it is known as Pyitsayna () , and in Japan it is known as Mikky (, "secret teachings").

Vajrayna is usually translated as Diamond Vehicle or Thunderbolt Vehicle, referring to the Vajra, a mythical weapon which is also used as a ritual implement.

Founded by medieval Indian Mahsiddhas, Vajrayna subscribes to the literature known as the Buddhist Tantras. It includes practices that make use of mantras, dharanis, mudras, mandalas and the visualization of deities and Buddhas. According to Vajrayna scriptures, the term Vajrayna refers to one of three vehicles or routes to enlightenment, the other two being the rvakayna (also known as the Hnayna) and Mahyna.

Tantric Buddhism can be traced back to groups of wandering yogis called Mahasiddhas (great adepts).[2] According to Reynolds (2007), the mahasiddhas date to the medieval period in the Northern Indian Subcontinent (313 cen. CE), and used methods that were radically different than those used in Buddhist monasteries including living in forests and caves and practiced meditation in charnel grounds similar to those practiced by Shaiva Kapalika ascetics.[3] These yogic circles came together in tantric feasts (ganachakra) often in sacred sites (pitha) and places (ksetra) which included dancing, singing, sex rites and the ingestion of taboo substances like alcohol, urine, meat, etc.[4] At least two of the Mahasiddhas given in the Buddhist literature are actually names for Shaiva Nath saints (Gorakshanath and Matsyendranath) who practiced Hatha Yoga.

According to Schumann, a movement called Sahaja-siddhi developed in the 8th century in Bengal. It was dominated by long-haired, wandering Mahasiddhas who openly challenged and ridiculed the Buddhist establishment. The Mahasiddhas pursued siddhis, magical powers such as flight and extrasensory perception as well as liberation.[7]

Ronald M. Davidson states that,

"Buddhist siddhas demonstrated the appropriation of an older sociological formthe independent sage/magician, who lived in a liminal zone on the borders between fields and forests. Their rites involved the conjunction of sexual practices and Buddhist mandala visualization with ritual accouterments made from parts of the human body, so that control may be exercised over the forces hindering the natural abilities of the siddha to manipulate the cosmos at will. At their most extreme, siddhas also represented a defensive position within the Buddhist tradition, adopted and sustained for the purpose of aggressive engagement with the medieval culture of public violence. They reinforced their reputations for personal sanctity with rumors of the magical manipulation of various flavors of demonic females (dakini, yaksi, yogini), cemetery ghouls (vetala), and other things that go bump in the night. Operating on the margins of both monasteries and polite society, some adopted the behaviors associated with ghosts (preta, pisaca), not only as a religious praxis but also as an extension of their implied threats."[8]

Earlier Mahayana sutras already contained some elements which are emphasized in the Tantras, such as mantras and dharani.[9] The use of mantras and protective verses actually dates back to the Vedic period and the early Buddhist texts like the Pali canon. The practice of visualization of Buddhas such as Amitbha is also seen in pre-tantra texts like the Longer Sukhvatvyha Stra.[10] There are other Mahayana sutras which contain "proto-tantric" material such as the Gandavyuha sutra and the Dasabhumika which might have served as a central source of visual imagery for Tantric texts.[11]

Vajrayana developed a large corpus of texts called the Buddhist Tantras, some of which can be traced to at least the 7th century CE but might be older. The dating of the tantras is "a difficult, indeed an impossible task" according to David Snellgrove.[12] Some of the earliest of these texts, kriya tantras such as the Majur-mla-kalpa (6th century), focus on the use of mantras and dharanis for mostly worldly ends including curing illness, controlling the weather and generating wealth.[13]

The Tattvasagraha Tantra, classed as a "Yoga tantra", is one of the first Buddhist tantras which focuses on liberation as opposed to worldly goals and in the Vajrasekhara Tantra the concept of the five Buddha families is developed.[14] Other early tantras include the Mahavairocana Tantra and the Guhyasamja Tantra.[15] The Guhyasamja is a Mahayoga class of Tantra, which features new forms of ritual practice considered "left-hand" (vamachara) such as the use of taboo substances like alcohol, sexual yoga, and charnel ground practices which evoke wrathful deities.[16] Indeed, Ryujun Tajima divides the tantras into those which were "a development of Mahayanist thought" and those "formed in a rather popular mould toward the end of the eighth century and declining into the esoterism of the left",[17] mainly, the Yogini tantras and later works associated with wandering antinomian yogis. Later monastic Vajrayana Buddhists reinterpreted and internalized these radically transgressive and taboo practices as metaphors and visualization exercises.

Later tantras such as the Hevajra Tantra and the Chakrasamvara are classed as "Yogini tantras" and represent the final form of development of Indian Buddhist tantras in the ninth and tenth centuries.[18] The Kalachakra tantra developed in the 10th century. It is farthest removed from the earlier Buddhist traditions, and incorporates concepts of messianism and astrology not present elsewhere in Buddhist literature.

According to Ronald M. Davidson, the rise of Tantric Buddhism was a response to the feudal structure of Indian society in the early medieval period (ca. 500-1200 CE) which saw kings being divinized as manifestations of gods. Likewise, tantric yogis reconfigured their practice through the metaphor of being consecrated (abhieka) as the overlord (rjdhirja) of a mandala palace of divine vassals, an imperial metaphor symbolizing kingly fortresses and their political power.[20]

The question of the origins of early Vajrayana has been taken up by various scholars. David Seyfort Ruegg has suggested by Buddhist tantra employed various elements of a pan-Indian religious substrate which is not specifically Buddhist, Shaiva or Vaishnava.[21]

According to Alexis Sanderson, various classes of Vajrayana literature developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and Saivism.[22] The relationship between the two systems can be seen in texts like the Majusrimulakalpa, which later came to be classified under Kriyatantra, and states that mantras taught in the Shaiva, Garuda and Vaishnava tantras will be effective if applied by Buddhists since they were all taught originally by Manjushri.[23]

Alexis Sanderson notes that the Vajrayana yogini tantras draw extensively from Shaiva Bhairava tantras classified as Vidyapitha. Sanderson's comparison of them shows similarity in "ritual procedures, style of observance, deities, mantras, mandalas, ritual dress, Kapalika accoutrements, specialized terminology, secret gestures, and secret jargons. There is even direct borrowing of passages from Saiva texts."[24] Sanderson gives numerous examples such as the Guhyasiddhi of Padmavajra, a work associated with the Guhyasamaja tradition, which prescribes acting as a Shaiva guru and initiating members into Saiva Siddhanta scriptures and mandalas.[25] The Samvara tantra texts adopted the pitha list from the Shaiva text Tantrasadbhava, introducing a copying error where a deity was mistaken for a place.[26]

Ronald M. Davidson meanwhile, argues that Sanderson's claims for direct influence from Shaiva Vidyapitha texts are problematic because "the chronology of the Vidyapitha tantras is by no means so well established" [27] and that "the available evidence suggests that received Saiva tantras come into evidence sometime in the ninth to tenth centuries with their affirmation by scholars like Abhinavagupta (c. 1000 c.e.)"[28] Davidson also notes that the list of pithas or sacred places "are certainly not particularly Buddhist, nor are they uniquely Kapalika venues, despite their presence in lists employed by both traditions."[29] Davidson further adds that like the Buddhists, the Shaiva tradition was also involved in the appropriation of Hindu and non-Hindu deities, texts and traditions, an example being "village or tribal divinities like Tumburu".[30] Davidson adds that Buddhists and Kapalikas as well as other ascetics (possibly Pasupatas) mingled and discussed their paths at various pilgrimage places and that there were conversions between the different groups. Thus he concludes:

The Buddhist-Kapalika connection is more complex than a simple process of religious imitation and textual appropriation. There can be no question that the Buddhist tantras were heavily influenced by Kapalika and other Saiva movements, but the influence was apparently mutual. Perhaps a more nuanced model would be that the various lines of transmission were locally flourishing and that in some areas they interacted, while in others they maintained concerted hostility. Thus the influence was both sustained and reciprocal, even in those places where Buddhist and Kapalika siddhas were in extreme antagonism.[31]

Davidson also argues for the influence of non-brahmanical and outcaste tribal religions and their feminine deities (Parnasabari and Janguli).[32]

According to Louis de La Valle-Poussin and Alex Wayman, the view of the Vajrayana is based on Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, mainly the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools.[33][34] The major difference seen by Vajrayana thinkers is Tantra's superiority due to being a faster vehicle to liberation containing many skillful methods (upaya) of tantric ritual.

The importance of the theory of emptiness is central to the Tantric view and practice. Buddhist emptiness sees the world as being fluid, without an ontological foundation or inherent existence but ultimately a fabric of constructions. Because of this, tantric practice such as self-visualization as the deity is seen as being no less real than everyday reality, but a process of transforming reality itself, including the practitioner's identity as the deity. As Stephan Beyer notes, "In a universe where all events dissolve ontologically into Emptiness, the touching of Emptiness in the ritual is the re-creation of the world in actuality".[35]

The doctrine of Buddha-nature, as outlined in the Ratnagotravibhga of Asanga, was also an important theory which became the basis for Tantric views.[36] As explained by the Tantric commentator Lilavajra, this "intrinsic secret (behind) diverse manifestation" is the utmost secret and aim of Tantra. According to Alex Wayman this "Buddha embryo" (tathgatagarbha) is a "non-dual, self-originated Wisdom (jnana), an effortless fount of good qualities" that resides in the mindstream but is "obscured by discursive thought."[37] This doctrine is often associated with the idea of the inherent or natural luminosity (Skt: prakti-prabhsvara-citta, T. od gsal gyi sems) or purity of the mind (prakrti-parisuddha).

Another fundamental theory of Tantric practice is that of transformation. Negative mental factors such as desire, hatred, greed, pride are not rejected as in non Tantric Buddhism, but are used as part of the path. As noted by French Indologist Madeleine Biardeau, tantric doctrine is "an attempt to place kama, desire, in every meaning of the word, in the service of liberation."[38] This view is outlined in the following quote from the Hevajra tantra:

Those things by which evil men are bound, others turn into means and gain thereby release from the bonds of existence. By passion the world is bound, by passion too it is released, but by heretical Buddhists this practice of reversals is not known.[39]

The Hevajra further states that "One knowing the nature of poison may dispel poison with poison."[40] As Snellgrove notes, this idea is already present in Asanga's Mahayana-sutra-alamkara-karika and therefore it is possible that he was aware of Tantric techniques, including sexual yoga.[41]

According to Buddhist Tantra there is no strict separation of the profane or samsara and the sacred or nirvana, rather they exist in a continuum. All individuals are seen as containing the seed of enlightenment within, which is covered over by defilements. Douglas Duckworth notes that Vajrayana sees Buddhahood not as something outside or an event in the future, but as immanently present.[42]

Indian Tantric Buddhist philosophers such as Buddhaguhya, Vimalamitra,Ratnkaranti and Abhayakaragupta continued the tradition of Buddhist philosophy and adapted it to their commentaries on the major Tantras. Abhayakaraguptas Vajravali is a key source in the theory and practice of tantric rituals. After monks such as Vajrabodhi and ubhakarasiha brought Tantra to Tang China (716 to 720), tantric philosophy continued to be developed in Chinese and Japanese by thinkers such as Yi Xing and Kkai.

Likewise in Tibet, Sakya Pandita (1182-28 - 1251), as well as later thinkers like Longchenpa (13081364) expanded on these philosophies in their Tantric commentaries and treatises. The status of the tantric view continued to be debated in medieval Tibet. Tibetan Buddhist Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo (10121088) held that the views of sutra such as Madhyamaka were inferior to that of tantra, as Koppl notes:

By now we have seen that Rongzom regards the views of the Sutrayana as inferior to those of Mantra, and he underscores his commitment to the purity of all phenomena by criticizing the Madhyamaka objectification of the authentic relative truth.[43]

Tsongkhapa (13571419) on the other hand, held that there is no difference between Vajrayana and other forms of Mahayana in terms of prajnaparamita (perfection of insight) itself, only that Vajrayana is a method which works faster.[44]

Various classifications are possible when distinguishing Vajrayana from the other Buddhist traditions. Vajrayana can be seen as a third yana, next to Hinayana and Mahayana. Vajrayana can be distinguished from the Sutrayana. The Sutrayana is the method of perfecting good qualities, where the Vajrayna is the method of taking the intended outcome of Buddhahood as the path. Vajrayana, belonging to the mantrayana, can also be distinguished from the paramitayana. According to this schema, Indian Mahayana revealed two vehicles (yana) or methods for attaining enlightenment: the methodof the perfections (Paramitayana) and the method of mantra (Mantrayana). The Paramitayana consists of the six or ten paramitas, of which the scriptures say that it takes three incalculable aeons to lead one to Buddhahood. The tantra literature, however, claims that the Mantrayana leads one to Buddhahood in a single lifetime. According to the literature, the mantra is an easy path without the difficulties innate to the Paramitayana. Mantrayana is sometimes portrayed as a method for those of inferior abilities. However the practitioner of the mantra still has to adhere to the vows of the Bodhisattva.

The goal of spiritual practice within the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions is to become a Sammsambuddha (fully awakened Buddha), those on this path are termed Bodhisattvas. As with the Mahayana, motivation is a vital component of Vajrayana practice. The Bodhisattva-path is an integral part of the Vajrayana, which teaches that all practices are to be undertaken with the motivation to achieve Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.

In the Sutrayana practice, a path of Mahayana, the "path of the cause" is taken, whereby a practitioner starts with his or her potential Buddha-nature and nurtures it to produce the fruit of Buddhahood. In the Vajrayana the "path of the fruit" is taken whereby the practitioner takes his or her innate Buddha-nature as the means of practice. The premise is that since we innately have an enlightened mind, practicing seeing the world in terms of ultimate truth can help us to attain our full Buddha-nature.[46] Experiencing ultimate truth is said to be the purpose of all the various tantric techniques practiced in the Vajrayana.

Vajrayana Buddhism is esoteric in the sense that the transmission of certain teachings only occurs directly from teacher to student during an empowerment (abhieka) and their practice requires initiation in a ritual space containing the mandala of the deity.[47] Many techniques are also commonly said to be secret, but some Vajrayana teachers have responded that secrecy itself is not important and only a side-effect of the reality that the techniques have no validity outside the teacher-student lineage.[48] In order to engage in Vajrayana practice, a student should have received such an initiation or permission:

If these techniques are not practiced properly, practitioners may harm themselves physically and mentally. In order to avoid these dangers, the practice is kept "secret" outside the teacher/student relationship. Secrecy and the commitment of the student to the vajra guru are aspects of the samaya (Tib. damtsig), or "sacred bond", that protects both the practitioner and the integrity of the teachings."

The secrecy of teachings was often protected through the use of allusive, indirect, symbolic and metaphorical language (twilight language) which required interpretation and guidance from a teacher.[50] The teachings may also be considered "self-secret", meaning that even if they were to be told directly to a person, that person would not necessarily understand the teachings without proper context. In this way the teachings are "secret" to the minds of those who are not following the path with more than a simple sense of curiosity.[51][52]

Because of their role in giving access to the practices and guiding the student through them, the role of the Guru, Lama or Vajracharya is indispensable in Vajrayana.

Some Vajrayana rituals include use of certain taboo substances, such as blood, semen, alcohol and urine, as ritual offerings and sacraments, though these are often replaced with less taboo substances in their place such as yogurt. Tantric feasts and initiations sometimes employed substances like human flesh as noted by Kahhas Yogaratnamala.[53] The use of these substances is related to the non-dual (advaya) nature of Buddhahood. Since the ultimate state is in some sense non-dual, a practitioner can approach that state by "transcending attachment to dual categories such as pure and impure, permitted and forbidden". As the Guhyasamaja Tantra states "the wise man who does not discriminate achieves buddhahood".[54]

Vajrayana rituals also include sexual yoga, union with a physical consort as part of advanced practices. Some tantras go further, theHevajra Tantra states You should kill living beings, speak lying words, take what is not given, consort with the women of others.[55] While some of these statements were taken literally as part of ritual practice, others such as killing was interpreted in a metaphorical sense. In the Hevajra, "killing" is defined as developing concentration by killing the life-breath of discursive thoughts.[56] Likewise, while actual sexual union with a physical consort is practiced, it is also common to use a visualized mental consort.

Alex Wayman points out that the symbolic meaning of tantric sexuality is ultimately rooted in bodhicitta and the bodhisattva's quest for enlightenment is likened to a lover seeking union with the mind of the Buddha.[57] Judith Simmer-Brown notes the importance of the psycho-physical experiences arising in sexual yoga, termed "great bliss" (Mahasukha): "Bliss melts the conceptual mind, heightens sensory awareness, and opens the practitioner to the naked experience of the nature of mind."[58] This tantric experience is not the same as ordinary self gratifying sexual passion since it relies on tantric meditative methods using the subtle body and visualizations as well as the motivation for enlightenment.[59] As the Hevajra tantra says:

"This practice [of sexual union with a consort] is not taught for the sake of enjoyment, but for the examination of one's own thought, whether the mind is steady or waving."[60]

Feminine deities and forces are also increasingly prominent in Vajrayana. In the Yogini tantras in particular, women and female figures are given high status as the embodiment of female deities such as the wild and nude Vajrayogini.[61] The Candamaharosana Tantra states:

In India, there is evidence to show that women participated in tantric practice alongside men and were also teachers, adepts and authors of tantric texts.[63]

Practitioners of the Vajrayana need to abide by various tantric vows or samaya of behaviour. These are extensions of the rules of the Prtimoka and Bodhisattva vows for the lower levels of tantra, and are taken during initiations into the empowerment for a particular Anuttarayoga Tantra. The special tantric vows vary depending on the specific mandala practice for which the initiation is received, and also depending on the level of initiation. Ngagpas of the Nyingma school keep a special non-celibate ordination.

A tantric guru, or teacher, is expected to keep his or her samaya vows in the same way as his students. Proper conduct is considered especially necessary for a qualified Vajrayana guru. For example, the Ornament for the Essence of Manjushrikirti states:[64]

Distance yourself from Vajra Masters who are not keeping the three vows

who keep on with a root downfall, who are miserly with the Dharma,and who engage in actions that should be forsaken.Those who worship them go to hell and so on as a result.

While Vajrayana includes all of the traditional practices used in Mahayana Buddhism such as samatha and vipassana meditation and the paramitas, it also includes a number of unique practices or "skillful means" (Sanskrit: upaya) which are seen as more advanced and effective. Vajrayana is a system of lineages, whereby those who successfully receive an empowerment or sometimes called initiation (permission to practice) are seen to share in the mindstream of the realisation of a particular skillful means of the vajra Master. Vajrayana teaches that the Vajrayana techniques provide an accelerated path to enlightenment which is faster than other paths.[65]

A central feature of tantric practice is the use of mantras, syllables, words or a collection of syllables understood to have special powers and hence is a 'performative utterance' used for a variety of ritual ends. In tantric meditation, mantric seed syllables are used during the ritual evocation of deities which are said to arise out of the uttered and visualized mantric syllables. After the deity has been established, heart mantras are visualized as part of the contemplation in different points of the deity's body.[66]

According to Alex Wayman, Buddhist esotericism is centered on what is known as "the three mysteries" or "secrets": the tantric adept affiliates his body, speech, and mind with the body, speech, and mind of the Buddha through mudra, mantras and samadhi respectively.[67] Padmavajra (c 7th century) explains in his Tantrarthavatara Commentary, the secret Body, Speech, and Mind of the Tathagatas are:[68]

The fundamental, defining practice of Buddhist Tantra is deity yoga (devatayoga), meditation on a yidam, or personal deity, which involves the recitation of mantras, prayers and visualization of the deity along with the associated mandala of the deity's Pure Land, with consorts and attendants.[69] According to Tsongkhapa, deity yoga is what separates Tantra from sutra practice.[70]

A key element of this practice involves the dissolution of the profane world and identification with a sacred reality.[71] Because Tantra makes use of a "similitude" of the resultant state of Buddhahood as the path, it is known as the effect vehicle or result vehicle (phalayana) which "brings the effect to the path".[72]

In the Highest Yoga Tantras and in the Inner Tantras this is usually done in two stages, the generation stage (utpattikrama) and the completion stage (nispannakrama). In the generation stage, one dissolves oneself in emptiness and meditates on the yidam, resulting in identification with this yidam. In the completion stage, the visualization of and identification with the yidam is dissolved in the realization of luminous emptiness. Ratnakarasanti describes the generation stage cultivation practice thus:

[A]ll phenomenal appearance having arisen as mind, this very mind is [understood to be] produced by a mistake (bhrnty), i.e. the appearance of an object where there is no object to be grasped; ascertaining that this is like a dream, in order to abandon this mistake, all appearances of objects that are blue and yellow and so on are abandoned or destroyed (parih-); then, the appearance of the world (vivapratibhsa) that is ascertained to be oneself (tmanicitta) is seen to be like the stainless sky on an autumn day at noon: appearanceless, unending sheer luminosity.[73]

This dissolution into emptiness is then followed by the visualization of the deity and re-emergence of the yogi as the deity. During the process of deity visualization, the deity is to be imaged as not solid or tangible, as "empty yet apparent", with the character of a mirage or a rainbow.[74] This visualization is to be combined with "divine pride", which is "the thought that one is oneself the deity being visualized."[75] Divine pride is different from common pride because it is based on compassion for others and on an understanding of emptiness.[76]

Some practices associated with the completion stage make use of an energetic system of human psycho-physiology composed of what is termed as energy channels (rtsa), winds or currents (rlung), and drops or charged particles (thig le). These subtle body energies as seen as "mounts" for consciousness, the physical component of awareness. They are said to converge at certain points along the spinal column called chakras.[77] Some practices which make use of this system include Trul khor and Tummo.

Another form of Vajrayana practice are certain meditative techniques associated with Mahamudra and Dzogchen often termed "formless practices". These techniques do not rely on yidam visualization but on direct Pointing-out instruction from a master and are seen as the most advanced forms.[78]

In Tibetan Buddhism, advanced practices like deity yoga and the formless practices are usually preceded by or coupled with "preliminary practices" called ngondro which includes prostrations and recitations of the 100 syllable mantra.[79]

Another distinctive feature of Tantric Buddhism is its unique rituals, which are used as a substitute or alternative for the earlier abstract meditations.Template:Itation not found They include death rituals (see phowa), tantric feasts (ganachakra) and Homa fire ritual, common in East Asian Tantric Buddhism.

Other unique practices in Tantric Buddhism include Dream yoga, the yoga of the intermediate state (at death) or Bardo and Chd, in which the yogi ceremonially offers their body to be eaten by tantric deities.

The Vajrayana uses a rich variety of symbols, terms and images which have multiple meanings according to a complex system of analogical thinking. In Vajrayana, symbols and terms are multi-valent, reflecting the microcosm and the macrocosm as in the phrase "As without, so within" (yatha bahyam tatha dhyatmam iti) from Abhayakaraguptas Nispannayogavali.[82]

The Sanskrit term "vajra" denoted the thunderbolt, a legendary weapon and divine attribute that was made from an adamantine, or indestructible, substance and which could therefore pierce and penetrate any obstacle or obfuscation. It is the weapon of choice of Indra, the King of the Devas. As a secondary meaning, "vajra" symbolizes the ultimate nature of things which is described in the tantras as translucent, pure and radiant, but also indestructible and indivisible. It is also symbolic of the power of tantric methods to achieve its goals.[83]

A vajra is also a scepter-like ritual object (Standard Tibetan: dorje), which has a sphere (and sometimes a gankyil) at its centre, and a variable number of spokes, 3, 5 or 9 at each end (depending on the sadhana), enfolding either end of the rod. The vajra is often traditionally employed in tantric rituals in combination with the bell or ghanta; symbolically, the vajra may represent method as well as great bliss and the bell stands for wisdom, specifically the wisdom realizing emptiness. The union of the two sets of spokes at the center of the wheel is said to symbolize the unity of wisdom (praja) andcompassion (karuna) as well as the sexual union of male and female deities.[84]

Representations of the deity, such as statues (murti), paintings (thangka), or mandala, are often employed as an aid to visualization, in Deity yoga. The use of visual aids, particularly microcosmic/macrocosmic diagrams, known as "mandalas", is another unique feature of Buddhist Tantra. Mandalas are symbolic depictions of the sacred space of the awakened Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as well as of the inner workings of the human person.[85] The macrocosmic symbolism of the mandala then, also represents the forces of the human body. The explanatory tantra of the Guhyasamaja tantra, the Vajramala, states: "The body becomes a palace, the hallowed basis of all the Buddhas."[86]

Mandalas are also sacred enclosures, sacred architecture that house and contain the uncontainable essence of a central deity or yidam and their retinue. In the book The World of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama describes mandalas thus: "This is the celestial mansion, the pure residence of the deity." The Five Tathagatas or 'Five Buddhas', along with the figure of the Adi-Buddha, are central to many Vajrayana mandalas as they represent the "five wisdoms", which are the five primary aspects of primordial wisdom or Buddha-nature.[87]

All ritual in Vajrayana practice can be seen as aiding in this process of visualization and identification. The practitioner can use various hand implements such as a vajra, bell, hand-drum (damaru) or a ritual dagger (phurba), but also ritual hand gestures (mudras) can be made, special chanting techniques can be used, and in elaborate offering rituals or initiations, many more ritual implements and tools are used, each with an elaborate symbolic meaning to create a special environment for practice. Vajrayana has thus become a major inspiration in traditional Tibetan art.

The Vajrayana tradition has developed an extended body of texts:

Though we do not know precisely at present just how many Indian tantric Buddhist texts survive today in the language in which they were written, their number is certainly over one thousand five hundred; I suspect indeed over two thousand. A large part of this body of texts has also been translated into Tibetan, and a smaller part into Chinese. Aside from these, there are perhaps another two thousand or more works that are known today only from such translations. We can be certain as well that many others are lost to us forever, in whatever form. Of the texts that survive a very small proportion has been published; an almost insignificant percentage has been edited or translated reliably.[88]

Vajrayana texts exhibit a wide range of literary characteristicsusually a mix of verse and prose, almost always in a Sanskrit that "transgresses frequently against classical norms of grammar and usage," although also occasionally in various Middle Indic dialects or elegant classical Sanskrit.[89]

The Dunhuang manuscripts also contain Tibetan Tantric manuscripts. Dalton and Schaik (2007, revised) provide an excellent online catalogue listing 350 Tibetan Tantric Manuscripts] from Dunhuang in the Stein Collection of the British Library which is currently fully accessible online in discrete digitized manuscripts.[web 1] With the Wylie transcription of the manuscripts they are to be made discoverable online in the future.[90] These 350 texts are just a small portion of the vast cache of the Dunhuang manuscripts.

Although there is historical evidence for Vajrayana Buddhism in Southeast Asia and elsewhere (see History of Vajrayana above), today the Vajrayana exists primarily in the form of the two major traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and Japanese Esoteric Buddhism in Japan known as Shingon (literally "True Speech", i.e. mantra), with a handful of minor subschools utilising lesser amounts of esoteric or tantric materials.

The distinction between traditions is not always rigid. For example, the tantra sections of the Tibetan Buddhist canon of texts sometimes include material not usually thought of as tantric outside the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, such as the Heart Sutra[91] and even versions of some material found in the Pali Canon.[92][a]

Vajrayana Buddhism was established in Tibet in the 8th century when ntarakita was brought to Tibet from India at the instigation of the Dharma King Trisong Detsen, some time before 767. Tibetan Buddhism reflects the later stages of Indian tantric Buddhist developments, including the Yogini tantras, translated into the Tibetan language. It also includes native Tibetan developments, such as the tulku system, new sadhana texts, Tibetan scholastic works, Dzogchen literature and Terma literature.

The Tibetan Buddhist schools, based on the lineages and textual traditions of the Kangyur and Tengyur of Tibet, are found in Tibet, Bhutan, northern India, Nepal, southwestern and northern China, Mongolia and various constituent republics of Russia that are adjacent to the area, such as Amur Oblast, Buryatia, Chita Oblast, the Tuva Republic and Khabarovsk Krai. Tibetan Buddhism is also the main religion in Kalmykia.

Newar Buddhism is practiced by Newars in Nepal. It is the only form of Vajrayana Buddhism in which the scriptures are written in Sanskrit and this tradition has preserved many Vajrayana texts in this language. Its priests do not follow celibacy and are called vajracharya (literally "diamond-thunderbolt carriers").

Tantric Theravada or "Esoteric Southern Buddhism" is a term for esoteric forms of Buddhism from Southeast Asia, where Theravada Buddhism is dominant. The monks of the Sri Lankan, Abhayagiri vihara once practiced forms of tantra which were popular in the island.[93] Another tradition of this type was Ari Buddhism, which was common in Burma. The Tantric Buddhist 'Yogvacara' tradition was a major Buddhist tradition in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand well into the modern era.[94] This form of Buddhism declined after the rise of Southeast Asian Buddhist modernism.

Indonesian Esoteric Buddhism refers to the traditions of Esoteric Buddhism found in the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra before the rise and dominance of Islam in the region (13-16th centuries). The Buddhist empire of Srivijaya (650 CE1377 CE) was a major center of Esoteric Buddhist learning which drew Chinese monks such as Yijing and Indian scholars like Atia.[95] The temple complex at Borobudur in central Java, built by the Shailendra dynasty also reflects strong Tantric or at least proto-tantric influences, particularly of the cult of Vairocana.[96][97]

Although no written record exists about early Buddhism in the Philippines, the recent archaeological discoveries and the few scant references in the other nations historical records can tell, however, about the existence of Buddhism from the 9th century onward in the islands. The Philippiness archaeological finds include a few of Buddhist artifacts, most of them dated to the 9th century. The artifacts reflect the iconography of the Srivijayas Vajrayana Buddhism [98][99] and its influences on the Philippiness early states. The artifacts distinct features point to their production in the islands and hint at the artisans or goldsmiths knowledge of Buddhist culture and Buddhist literature because the artisans have made these unique works of Buddhist art. The artifacts imply also the presence of Buddhist believers in the places where these artifacts turned up. These places extended from the Agusan-Surigao area in Mindanao island to Cebu, Palawan, and Luzon islands.

Hence, Vajrayana Buddhism must have spread far and wide throughout the archipelago. And Vajrayana Buddhism must have become the religion of the majority of the inhabitants in the islands. The early states trade contacts with the neighboring empires and polities like in Sumatra, Srivijaya and Majapahit empire in Java long before or in the 9th century must have served as the conduit for introducing Vajrayana Buddhism to the islands.[100]

Esoteric and Tantric teachings followed the same route into northern China as Buddhism itself, arriving via the Silk Road and Southeast Asian Maritime trade routes sometime during the first half of the 7th century, during the Tang dynasty and received sanction from the emperors of the Tang dynasty. During this time, three great masters came from India to China: ubhakarasiha, Vajrabodhi, and Amoghavajra who translated key texts and founded the Zhenyan (, "true word", "mantra") tradition.[101] Zhenyan was also brought to Japan as Shingon during this period. This tradition focused on tantras like the Mahavairocana tantra, and unlike Tibetan Buddhism, does not employ the antinomian and radical tantrism of the Anuttarayoga Tantras.

The prestige of this tradition influenced other schools of Chinese Buddhism such as Chan and Tiantai to adopt esoteric practices.[102][103][104]

During the Yuan dynasty, the Mongol emperors made Tibetan Buddhism the official religion of China, and Tibetan lamas were given patronage at the court.[105] Imperial support of Tibetan Vajrayana continued into the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Another form of esoteric Buddhism in China is Azhaliism, which is practiced among the Bai people of China.[106][107]

Esoteric Buddhist practices (known as milgyo, ) and texts arrived in Korea during the initial introduction of Buddhism to the region in 372 CE.[108] Esoteric Buddhism was supported by the royalty of both Unified Silla (668-935) and Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392).[109] During the Goryeo Dynasty esoteric practices were common within large sects like the Seon school, and the Hwaeom school as well as smaller esoteric sects like the Sinin (mudra) and Ch'ongji (Dharani) schools. During the era of the Mongol occupation (1251-1350s), Tibetan Buddhism also existed in Korea though it never gained a foothold there.[110]

During the Joseon dynasty, Esoteric Buddhist schools were forced to merge with the Son and Kyo schools, becoming the ritual specialists. With the decline of Buddhism in Korea, Esoteric Buddhism mostly died out, save for a few traces in the rituals of the Jogye Order and Taego Order.[111]

There are two Esoteric Buddhist schools in modern Korea: the Chinn () and the Jingak Order (). According to Henrik H. Srensen, "they have absolutely no historical link with the Korean Buddhist tradition per se but are late constructs based in large measures on Japanese Shingon Buddhism."[112]

The Shingon school is found in Japan and includes practices, known in Japan as Mikky ("Esoteric (or Mystery) Teaching"), which are similar in concept to those in Vajrayana Buddhism. The lineage for Shingon Buddhism differs from that of Tibetan Vajrayana, having emerged from India during the 9th-11th centuries in the Pala Dynasty and Central Asia (via China) and is based on earlier versions of the Indian texts than the Tibetan lineage. Shingon shares material with Tibetan Buddhism-such as the esoteric sutras (called Tantras in Tibetan Buddhism) and mandalas but the actual practices are not related. The primary texts of Shingon Buddhism are the Mahavairocana Sutra and Vajrasekhara Sutra. The founder of Shingon Buddhism was Kukai, a Japanese monk who studied in China in the 9th century during the Tang dynasty and brought back Vajrayana scriptures, techniques and mandalas then popular in China. The school mostly died out or was merged into other schools in China towards the end of the Tang dynasty but flourished in Japan. Shingon is one of the few remaining branches of Buddhism in the world that continues to use the siddham script of the Sanskrit language.

Although the Tendai school in China and Japan does employ some esoteric practices, these rituals came to be considered of equal importance with the exoteric teachings of the Lotus Sutra. By chanting mantras, maintaining mudras, or practicing certain forms of meditation, Tendai maintains that one is able to understand sense experiences as taught by the Buddha, have faith that one is innately an enlightened being, and that one can attain enlightenment within the current lifetime.

Shugend was founded in 7th-century Japan by the ascetic En no Gyja, based on the Queen's Peacocks Sutra. With its origins in the solitary hijiri back in the 7th century, Shugend evolved as a sort of amalgamation between Esoteric Buddhism, Shinto and several other religious influences including Taoism. Buddhism and Shinto were amalgamated in the shinbutsu shg, and Kkai's syncretic religion held wide sway up until the end of the Edo period, coexisting with Shinto elements within Shugend[113]

In 1613 during the Edo period, the Tokugawa Shogunate issued a regulation obliging Shugend temples to belong to either Shingon or Tendai temples. During the Meiji Restoration, when Shinto was declared an independent state religion separate from Buddhism, Shugend was banned as a superstition not fit for a new, enlightened Japan. Some Shugend temples converted themselves into various officially approved Shint denominations. In modern times, Shugend is practiced mainly by Tendai and Shingon sects, retaining an influence on modern Japanese religion and culture.[114]

Serious Vajrayana academic study in the Western world is in early stages due to the following obstacles:

Buddhist tantric practice are categorized as secret practice; this is to avoid misinformed people from harmfully misusing the practices. A method to keep this secrecy is that tantric initiation is required from a master before any instructions can be received about the actual practice. During the initiation procedure in the highest class of tantra (such as the Kalachakra), students must take the tantric vows which commit them to such secrecy.[web 2] "Explaining general tantra theory in a scholarly manner, not sufficient for practice, is likewise not a root downfall. Nevertheless, it weakens the effectiveness of our tantric practice." [web 3]

The terminology associated with Vajrayana Buddhism can be confusing. Most of the terms originated in the Sanskrit language of tantric Indian Buddhism and may have passed through other cultures, notably those of Japan and Tibet, before translation for the modern reader. Further complications arise as seemingly equivalent terms can have subtle variations in use and meaning according to context, the time and place of use. A third problem is that the Vajrayana texts employ the tantric tradition of twilight language, a means of instruction that is deliberately coded. These obscure teaching methods relying on symbolism as well as synonym, metaphor and word association add to the difficulties faced by those attempting to understand Vajrayana Buddhism:

In the Vajrayana tradition, now preserved mainly in Tibetan lineages, it has long been recognized that certain important teachings are expressed in a form of secret symbolic language known as sadhy-bh, 'Twilight Language'. Mudrs and mantras, maalas and cakras, those mysterious devices and diagrams that were so much in vogue in the pseudo-Buddhist hippie culture of the 1960s, were all examples of Twilight Language [...] [116]

The term Tantric Buddhism was not one originally used by those who practiced it. As scholar Isabelle Onians explains:

"Tantric Buddhism" [...] is not the transcription of a native term, but a rather modern coinage, if not totally occidental. For the equivalent Sanskrit tntrika is found, but not in Buddhist texts. Tntrika is a term denoting someone who follows the teachings of scriptures known as Tantras, but only in Saivism, not Buddhism [...] Tantric Buddhism is a name for a phenomenon which calls itself, in Sanskrit, Mantranaya, Vajrayna, Mantrayna or Mantramahyna (and apparently never Tantrayna). Its practitioners are known as mantrins, yogis, or sdhakas. Thus, our use of the anglicised adjective Tantric for the Buddhist religion taught in Tantras is not native to the tradition, but is a borrowed term which serves its purpose.[117]

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Vajrayana - Wikipedia

The Shavian alphabet (also known as the Shaw alphabet) is an alphabet conceived as a way to provide simple, phonetic orthography for the English language to replace the difficulties of conventional spelling. It was posthumously funded by and named after Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Shaw set three main criteria for the new alphabet: it should be (1) at least 40 letters; (2) as "phonetic" as possible (that is, letters should have a 1:1 correspondence to phonemes); and (3) distinct from the Latin alphabet to avoid the impression that the new spellings were simply "misspellings".

The Shavian alphabet consists of three types of letters: tall, deep and short.[1] Short letters are vowels, liquids (r, l) and nasals; tall letters (except Yea and Hung ) are voiceless consonants. A tall letter rotated 180 or flipped, with the tall part now extending below the baseline, becomes a deep letter, representing the corresponding voiced consonant (except Haha ). The alphabet is therefore to some extent featural.

There are no separate capital or lowercase letters as in the Latin script; instead of using capitalization to mark proper names, a "naming dot" () is placed before a name. All other punctuation and word spacing is similar to conventional orthography.[1]

Each character in the Shavian Alphabet requires only a single stroke to be written on paper. The writing utensil needs to be lifted up only once when writing each character, thus enabling faster writing.

Spelling in Androcles follows the phonemic distinctions of British Received Pronunciation except for explicitly indicating vocalic "r" with the above ligatures. Most dialectical variations of English pronunciation can be regularly produced from this spelling, but those who do not make certain distinctions, particularly in the vowels, find it difficult to produce the canonical spellings spontaneously. For instance, most North American dialects merge // and // (the fatherbother merger). Canadian English, as well as many American dialects (particularly in the west and near the CanadaUS border), also merge these phonemes with //, which is known as the cotcaught merger. In addition, some American dialects merge // and // before nasal stops (the pinpen merger).

There is no ability to indicate word stress; however, in most cases the reduction of unstressed vowels is sufficient to distinguish word pairs that are distinguished only by stress in spoken discourse. For instance, convict /knvkt/ and convict /knvkt/ can be spelled and respectively.

Additionally, certain common words are abbreviated as single letters. The words the (), of (), and (), to (), and often for () are written with the single letters indicated.

Shaw had served from 1926 to 1939 on the BBC's Advisory Committee on Spoken English, which included several exponents of phonetic writing. He also knew Henry Sweet, creator of Current Shorthand (and a prototype for the character of Henry Higgins), although Shaw himself used the shorthand system of Isaac Pitman. All of his interest in spelling and alphabet reform was made clear in Shaw's will of June 1950, in which provision was made for (Isaac) James Pitman, with a grant in aid from the Public Trustee, to establish a Shaw Alphabet. Following Shaw's death in November 1950, and after some legal dispute, the Trustee announced a worldwide competition to design such an alphabet, with the aim of producing a system that would be an economical way of writing and of printing the English language.

A contest for the design of the new alphabet was won by four people, including Ronald Kingsley Read. Read was then appointed to amalgamate the four designs to produce the new alphabet.

Due to the contestation of Shaw's will, the trust charged with developing the new alphabet could afford to publish only one book: a version of Shaw's play Androcles and the Lion, in a bi-alphabetic edition with both conventional and Shavian spellings. (1962 Penguin Books, London). Copies were sent to major libraries in English-speaking countries.

Between 1963 and 1965, 8 issues of the journal, Shaw-script, were published by Kingsley Read in Worcester, U.K. The journal used Shaw's Alphabet, and much of the content was submitted by Shaw enthusiasts. In more recent years, there have been several published works of classical literature transliterated into Shavian.

The first, released in 2012, was the works of Edgar Allan Poe entitled Poe Meets Shaw: The Shaw Alphabet Edition of Edgar Allan Poe, by Tim Browne. This book was published via Shaw Alphabet Books and had two editions in its original release. One, like Androcles and the Lion, had Shavian side-by-side with the Latin equivalent and the other was a Shavian only edition.

The second, released in 2013, was an edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, transcribed into Shavian by Thomas Thurman.[2] This was published as a Shaw only edition with no side-by-side Latin equivalent. The Shavian fonts were designed by Michael Everson.

Some disagreement has arisen among the Shavian community in regard to soundsymbol assignments, which have been the topic of frequent arguments. Primarily, this has concerned the alleged reversal of two pairs of letters.[citation needed]

The most frequent disagreement of the letter reversals has been over the HahaHung pair. The most convincing evidence suggesting this reversal is in the names of the letters: The unvoiced letter Haha is deep, while the voiced Hung, which suggests a lower position, is tall. This is often assumed to be a clerical error introduced in the rushed printing of the Shavian edition of Androcles and the Lion.[citation needed] This reversal obscures the system of tall letters as voiceless consonants and deep letters as voiced consonants.

Proponents of traditional Shavian, however, have suggested that Kingsley Read may not have intended for this system to be all-encompassing, though it seems that vertical placement alone served this purpose in an earlier version of Shavian, before the rotations were introduced. Also, Read may have intentionally reversed these letters, perhaps to emphasize that these letters represent unrelated sounds, which happen to occur in complementary distribution.

Both sides of the debate have suggested other reasons, including associations with various styles of Latin letters (namely, the /g/ in /-ing/, often written with a bottom-loop in script) and the effect of letter-height on the coastlines of words, but whether Read considered any of these is uncertain. Since the letter representing the same sound in Read's Quikscript appears identical to "Hung", it is doubtful that Read reversed the letter twice by mistakehe may have thought it best to leave things as they were, mistake or not, especially as a corrected /ng/ might in hasty or careless writing be confused with his new letter for /n/ in Quikscript.

Two other letters that are often alleged to have been reversedintentionally or notare Air and Err. Both are ligatures, and their relation to other letters is usually taken as evidence for this reversal.[citation needed]

One of the beliefs that leads to such allegations is that Air "" is a ligature of the letters Egg "" and Roar "". Based on their appearance, one would expect the ligature of these letters to be joined at the bottom and free at the top, yet the opposite is true. Another such belief is that Err "" is a ligature of the letters Up "" and Roar "". Based on their appearance, one would expect the ligature of these letters to be joined at the top and free at the bottom, yet once again, the opposite is true.

Some years after the initial publication of the Shaw alphabet, Read expanded it to create Quikscript, also known as the Read Alphabet. Quikscript is intended to be more useful for handwriting, and to that end is more cursive and uses more ligatures. Many letter forms are roughly the same in both alphabets; see the separate article for more details.

Paul Vandenbrink has created a new alphabet inspired by the Shavian alphabet which takes the controversial step of replacing most of the specific vowel letters with markers indicating which of several sets of vowel types a vowel belongs to, thus reducing the number of vowel distinctions and lessening the written differences between dialectal variations of English.[citation needed]

An adaptation of Shavian to another language, Esperanto, was developed by John Wesley Starling; though not widely used, at least one booklet has been published with transliterated sample texts. As that language is already spelled phonemically, direct conversion from Latin to Shavian letters can be performed, though several ligatures are added for the common combinations of vowels with n and s and some common short words.

Pronunciations that differ from their English values are marked in bold red.

Shavian was added to the Unicode Standard in April 2003 with the release of version 4.0.

The Unicode block for Shavian is U+10450U+1047F and is in Plane 1 (the Supplementary Multilingual Plane).

While the Shavian alphabet was added to Unicode 4.0 in 2003, Unicode Shavian fonts are still quite rare. Before it was standardised, fonts were made that include Shavian letters in the places of Roman letters, and/or in an agreed upon location in the Unicode private use area, allocated from the ConScript Unicode Registry and now superseded by the official Unicode standard.

These following fonts contain full Unicode support for Shavian. Windows/Mac/Linux systems need fonts such as these to display the Shavian glyphs.

See the article here:
Shavian alphabet - Wikipedia