The Tree of Enlightenment

Let us spend a moment on the origins of the tantras, since it
is often asked whether they were indeed taught by the Buddha.
From the very beginning of the Buddhist tradition, it was common
for the Buddha to give teachings in all kinds of unusual circumstances.
Sometimes he taught in response to the request of a
god or another supra-human being, and even the Abhidharma is
believed to have been taught by the Buddha to his mother after
her death, when she was residing in the Heaven of the irty-
ree. In the Mahayana tradition, it is generally accepted that
Mahayana masters can receive instruction through extraordinary
means. For example, the fundamental texts of the Mind
Only school are said to have been taught to Asanga by the future
Buddha Maitreya (see Chapter 19).
e tantras are said to have been transmitted in a similar
way. e tantras are not unreasonable if we examine them carefully.
ey do not contradict the meaning of other Buddhist
scriptures, as will become apparent in the chapters that follow. If
the Buddha did not teach the tantras at once to everyone, surely
it was because not everyone is able to appreciate their true significance.
In the light of these considerations, there is no reasonable
doubt that the Vajrayana literature is authentic.
e Vajrayana arose as a result of the evolution of three currents
of thought – currents that were already present even in
the Buddha’s own day. ese were (1) the democratic current,
(2) the magical or ritual current, and (3) the symbolic current.
e democratic current sought to avail lay people of the highest
fruits of religious life, such as enlightenment. An example of the
democratic current at work in the early period of the Buddhist
tradition is the attainment of Arhatship by the Buddha’s father,
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