Charya tantra yana

Charya tantra or Ubhaya tantra is a yana (literally "vehicle") of Esoteric Buddhism and as such is both a class of tantric literature and of praxis. The yana of 
Charya or ‘conduct’ tantra is given this name because it as a class demonstrates a balanced emphasis on the outer ritual actions and ablutions of body and speech and the inner cultivation of intentionality and mindfulness. Hence, outer and inner, conduct. The Charya tanta is enumerated as one of the three Outer Tantras in both the four yana tantric scheme of the Sarma, or 'New Translation Schools' and the six yana gradation of the 'Mantrayana Nyingma', the Ancient Translation School of Secret Mantra (where it is the fifth vehicle overall).
==Nomenclature, orthography and etymology==
*
*Caryā (Sanskrit), चर्या (Devanagari) 
Guarisco & McLeod et al. (2005: p.41) render this class into English as "Conduct".Guarisco, Elio (trans.); McLeod, Ingrid (trans., editor); Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, Kon-Sprul Blo-Gros-Mtha-Yas (compiler) (2005). The Treasury of Knowledge: Book Six, Part Four: Systems of Buddhist Tantra. Ithaca, New York, USA: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1-55939-210-X, p.41 
===Ubhaya===
*Upayogatantra or Ubhayatantra (Sanskrit; Wylie: spyod pa'i rgyud kyi theg pa, Tibetan: སྤྱོད་པའི་རྒྱུད་ཀྱི་ཐེག་པ). In the lexical compound Ubhaya-tantra, 'ubhaya' (Sanskrit, Devanagari: उभय) is a pronominal adjective that qualifies 'tantra' (English: loom, weaving) and holds the semantic field of 'two' or 'dual'.Chari, S. M. Srinivasa (1997). Philosophy and theistic mysticism of the Alvars. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 8120813421, p.230
One interpretation of 'Ubhaya' as the ‘tantra of both’ is demonstrated in that its literature and exponents hold the view of Yogatantra, whilst its conduct and activity is therein, as a general rule, is aligned with that of Kriyatantra and in function, forms a bridge between the two other Outer Tantras.
===Charya===
===Upa-yoga===
==Literature==
The Upa-yoga scriptures first appeared in 'Mount Jakang Chen' (alternate names: Riwo Jakang, Mount Jizu) and the charnel ground of Cool Grove .Tsogyal, Yeshe (composed); Nyang Ral Nyima Oser (revealed); Erik Pema Kunsang (translated); Marcia Binder Schmidt (edited) (1999). The Lotus-Born: The Life Story of Padmasambhava (Paperback). With forward by HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Shambhala: South Asia Editions, p.292 Cool Grove is also known as 'Śītavana' (Sanskrit).Rigpa Shedra (July 2009). 'Shitavana'. Source: (accessed: October 3, 2009)
===Tantras in this class===
*'Awakening of Great Vairocana' [Wylie: rnam(-par) snang(-mdzad) mngon(-par) byang(-chub pa); Sanskrit: Mahãvairocanãbhisaṃbodhitantra T.494Key: "T" = A Complete Catalogue of the Tibetan Buddhist Canons (1934). Ed. H. Ui et al. Sendai: Tõhaku University.]
*'Empowerment of Vajrapãṇi' (Wylie: phyag na rdo rje dbang bskur; Sanskrit: Vajrapãṇyabhiṣekamahãtantra, T.496Key: "T" = A Complete Catalogue of the Tibetan Buddhist Canons (1934). Ed. H. Ui et al. Sendai: Tõhaku University.)
===Textual dissemination===
Davidson relates the movement of the Mahãvairocanãbhisaṃbodhi-tantra by the Ch'an monk Wu-hsing (2002: p.118):
"The Ch'an monk Wu-hsing remarked around 680 C.E. that the popularity of the esoteric path was a new and exceptional event in India, observable even while he was in residence. He reputedly brought back with him the earliest version of the Mahãvairocanãbhisaṃbodhi-tantra, although he did not translate it."Davidson, Ronald M. (2002). Indian esoteric Buddhism: a social history of the Tantric movement. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231126190 (paper).
==Exegesis==
The Carya class of tantras holds the smallest number of texts of all the traditional classifications of tantric literatures. An important tantra in this class is the Mahavairocana Sutra. The presence of Buddha Vairocana is often evident in tantras of this class where he is often depicted in the centre of a mandala with four other Buddhas of his retinue placed to the four quarters, the cardinal directions. Importantly, during the Carya tantra class and literary period, there developed the salient innovation wherein the sadhaka is to cultivate identification with the deity in meditative absorption.
This class of literature was important to Kūkai (774–835) and the development of Shingon Buddhism. Kūkai traveled to China in 804 as part of the same expedition as Saichō. In the T'ang capital of Xian, Kūkai studied esoteric Buddhism and Sanskrit and received initiation from Huikuo. Kukai received a lineage of the Mahavairocana Sutra (Dainichikyo 大日経). On returning to Japan, Kūkai establish the esoteric school of Shingon (真言).
Guarisco & McLeod et al. (2005: p.41) set Jamgon Kongtrul's (1813-1899) codification of this class in English as follows:
"Conduct tantra, where conduct encompasses both outer ritual activity and inner contemplation, involves training in a vast range of deeds while entering the inner reality that presents itself in visual and audible divine representations. The notion here is that of being close to the state of a perfect divine being, a state not yet fully realized. This limited view is overcome by visualizing oneself as the deity, understanding that form to be the appearance aspect of emptiness."Guarisco, Elio (trans.); McLeod, Ingrid (trans., editor); Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, Kon-Sprul Blo-Gros-Mtha-Yas (compiler) (2005). The Treasury of Knowledge: Book Six, Part Four: Systems of Buddhist Tantra. Ithaca, New York, USA: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1-55939-210-X, p.41
Jinpa (2004) renders a section of 'A Garland of Views' () that focuses Ubhaya tantra through the lens of the Two truths doctrine, a text attributed to Padmasambhava in the Mantrayana tradition, thus:
"The view of those who have entered the vehicle of Ubhaya-tantra is as follows. Whilst there are no origination and cessation on the ultimate level, on the conventional level one visualizes [oneself] in the form of a deity. This is cultivated on the basis of both the practice of meditative absorption endowed with four aspects as well as the [necessary] ritual articles and conditions."Source: (accessed: Sunday September 27, 2009)
==Praxis==
In sadhana, the sadhaka visualizes themselves or ritually rarefies their mindstream into the 'commitment being' (Sanskrit: samayasattva) and visualizes the 'gnosis being' (Sanskrit: jñānasattva), who is envisioned in the relationship of a spiritual friend, to their font and facing them which subsumes a certain style of form meditations or meditations with a support: e.g.: bija, mudra, mandala and/or rupa of the deity, the 'gnosis being', the yidam.
== See also ==
* Shingon
* Vajrasekhara Sutra
==Notes==
==References==
Guarisco, Elio (trans.); McLeod, Ingrid (trans., editor); Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, Kon-Sprul Blo-Gros-Mtha-Yas (compiler) (2005). The Treasury of Knowledge: Book Six, Part Four: Systems of Buddhist Tantra. Ithaca, New York, USA: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1-55939-210-X
==External links==
*http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Charya_tantra
 
Category:Buddhism in Japan
Category:Tibetan Buddhist texts