Eight Sadhana Teachings

Eight Sadhana Teachings (sgrub pa bka' brgyad), or "Eight Transmissions for Attainment". Eight sets of Mahayoga teachings or transmissions entrusted to the eight vidyadharas of India.

The Dharmachakra Translation Committee states:

Mahayoga is traditionally divided into two groups, the Collected Tantras, which includes the Guhyagarbha Tantra, and the Collected Sadhanas. The latter division contains the Eight Great Sadhana Teachings, which comprise the ritual practices and instructions associated with eight divinities - five transcendent deities and three mundane deities.

The five transcendent deities are:

• Manjusri Yamantaka (enlightened form)
• Padma Hayagriva (enlightened speech)
• Viśuddha heruka (enlightened mind)
• Mahottara heruka (enlightened qualities)
• Vajrakilaya (enlightened activity)

The three classes of mundane (worldly) divinities are:

• Matarah (liberating sorcery)
• Lokastotrapuja (mundane praises)
• Vajramantrabhiru (wrathful mantra)

The Dharmachakra Translation Committee states:

These teachings have been maintained and practiced in both the Transmitted Teachings and the treasure tradition. In the former, the primary source is a cycle titled the Fortress and Precipice of the Eight Teachings: The Distilled Realization of the Four Wise Men. There are a great many related teachings in the treasure tradition, the most important, however, are found in the revelations of Nyang Ral Nyima Ozer, Guru Chowang, and Rigdzin Godem.

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 
• Jigme Lingpa; Patrul Rinpoche; Getse Mahapandita (2006), Deity, Mantra, and Wisdom: Development Stage Meditation in Tibetan Buddhist Tantra, translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee, Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications 

Further reading

Print publications:

• Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé, The Treasury of Knowledge: Systems of Buddhist Tantra (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2005)

Web publications

• Kagyé, Rigpa Shedra Wiki