Kriyatantra, Kriyātantra, Kriya-tantra: 5 definitions

Introduction:

Kriyatantra means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

In Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)

Source: OSU Press: Cakrasamvara Samadhi

Kriyātantra (क्रियातन्त्र) refers to the “mode of action” and represents one of the divisions of Mahāyāna-Vajrayāna Buddhism, according to Buddhist teachings followed by the Newah in Nepal, Kathmandu Valley (whose roots can be traced to the Licchavi period, 300-879 CE).—Mahāyāna-Vajrayāna is commonly divided into four modes of practice, kriyā, "action", worshiping and serving a deity seen as outside oneself, caryā, "performance", embodying a deity by performing its ritual music and dance, yoga, "meditation", visualizing a deity or deities and absorbing them into oneself, and anuttarayoga, "the highest yoga", using sophisticated yogic meditation practices to actively turn oneself into an enlightened divinity. [...] Kriyātantra typically involves the act of pūjā, worshiping a physical deity, such as an idol, and or its mandala, sometimes drawn with grains or pigmented powdered stone, with offerings connected to the senses and the primary elements, such as rice, water, food, flowers, incense, sandalwood or ṭīkā powder, and the recitation of the deities' mantras and stotras.

Tibetan Buddhism book cover
context information

Tibetan Buddhism includes schools such as Nyingma, Kadampa, Kagyu and Gelug. Their primary canon of literature is divided in two broad categories: The Kangyur, which consists of Buddha’s words, and the Tengyur, which includes commentaries from various sources. Esotericism and tantra techniques (vajrayāna) are collected indepently.

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Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

[«previous next»] — Kriyatantra in Sanskrit glossary
Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Kriyātantra (क्रियातन्त्र).—one of the four classes of Tantras; Buddha.

Derivable forms: kriyātantram (क्रियातन्त्रम्).

Kriyātantra is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms kriyā and tantra (तन्त्र).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Kriyātantra (क्रियातन्त्र):—[=kriyā-tantra] [from kriyā > kriyamāṇa] n. ‘a Tantra of action’, one of the four classes of [Tantrasāra; Buddhist literature]

[Sanskrit to German]

Kriyatantra in German

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

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