The three yanas are known as Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana. They are not discrete and independent schools, as much as individual phases of spiritual growth in each person. It is a general understanding of some people that yanas are confined to geographical situations, that the Mahayana and Vajrayana are practiced by Thais and Singhalese, or something of that nature. This is not true of Tibetan Buddhism, which consists of all three yanas. The three yanas are understood not only as a chronological development of Buddhism, but also as the spiritual transitions that an individual goes through. We have to start from the Hinayana and then go through the Mahayana and Vajrayana. So, the three yanas are to be understood as the development of an individual practitioner and not only as a historical phenomena.


Meditation Through the Three Yanas, Traleg Rinpoche, 100pp, $20.00

The Venerable Traleg Kyabgon Riinpoche was born in 1955 in Eastern Tibet. At the age of two, he was recognised by His Holiness the sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Kagyu lineage, as the ninth incarnation of the Traleg tulkus, which can be traced back to the time of Saltong Shogam, a contemporary of the first Karmapa. Traleg Rinpoche was enthroned as the Abbot of Tra'gu Monastery in Tibet and following the Chinese invasion of his country was taken to safety in India. There he continued the rigorous training prescribed for tulkus born with responsibilities as major lineage holders in the Tibetan tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism. This training included five years at Sanskrit University in Varanasi and several years at Rumtek Monastery, the main seat of the Karma Kagyu Lineage. Not only has Traleg Rinpoche received the complete teachings of the Karma Kagyu tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism, but he is also well acquainted with the practices and philosophy of the Drugpa Kagyu strand of the Kagyu lineage, having spent nine years studying with the Regent of the Drugpa mKagyu, the late Dungsse Rinpoche, at his monastery in Darjeeling. Rinpoche came to Australia in 1980 in order to make the teachings and practices of the Kagyu tradition available there. He established the Kagyu E-Vam Buddhist Institute in 1982 and regulaerly conducts courses and retreats in the practice and theory of Buddhism for the Institute. Rinpoche has travelled widely, giving lectures and seminars on Buddhism and related topics in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, South-East Asia and Europe.