Mahayoga

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mahayoga (Skt. 'great yoga') is the designation of the first of the three Inner Tantras according to the ninefold division of practice used by the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.

As with the other yanas, Mahayoga represents both a scriptural division as well as a specific emphasis of both view and practice. Mahayoga is said to emphasize the generation stage of Tantra, where the succeeding two divisions anuyoga and atiyoga emphasise the completion stage, and the synthesis or transcendence of the two, respectively.

Mahayoga scriptures are further divided into two sections, the Sadhana section, consisting of practice texts for meditation on specific deities, and the Tantra section.