Maha Ati Tantra

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Maha Ati Tantra is a term coined by Trungpa Rinpoche, a realized master of the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. Maha Ati means Great Ati, Ati yoga yana is the last and most supreme yana or vehicle of the Nyingma lineage. Trungpa Rinpoche used the term Maha Ati to bridge the Ati yoga yana of the Nyingma and the Mahamudra tradition of the Sarma (New) schools, of which the Kagyu lineage is considered a part of.

The Ati yoga yana is synomous with Dzogchen, the Great Completion, wherein a practitioner rests in the 'natural state'. This natural state is none other than non-dual awareness or rigpa (Tibetan). The non-dual state is directly introduced to the student from a qualified Lama through three different methods: oral, symbolic or direct introduction.

The Ati yoga yana is itself divided into three classes: sem-de (Mind class), long-de (Space class) and men-ngak-de (Implicit instruction, Secret instruction). These three distinctions relate to Garab Dorje, Dzogchen's first propagator's three statements that strike the essential point: Introducing the natural state, one decidedly remains in the natural state, and one continues in the natural state until complete liberation.

The end result of Maha Ati is complete liberation from dualistic mind and the attainment of ja'lu (Tibetan) or rainbow body, whereby a practitioner dissolves the course outer physical elements into the subtle essences of the elements. After the practitioner attains this state only the hair, fingernails and septum are left as relics and the practitioner can continue to benefit beings through a completely fluid and liberatory media.