In Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)

Source: eScholarship: Buddhajñānāpāda's Vision of a Tantric Buddhist World

Saptayoga (सप्तयोग) (Cf. Saptāṅga) refers to the “seven yogas”, according to Vaidyapāda’s commentary Sukusuma on the Dvitīyakrama.—Vaidyapāda describes the process by which the bindu of bodhicitta is first brought into the heart, and then by means of the “downward clearing wind” it is brought to the tip of the vajra, at which point the disciple should “come to know the seven yogas by means of the guru’s oral instructions”. These “seven yogas”, mentioned in Buddhajñānapāda’s Muktitilaka and elaborated in Vaidyapāda’s Yogasapta, are seven aspects of the resultant state of awakening. It seems that in this system it was in terms of these seven yogas that suchness was communicated by the Guru to the disciple.

The seven yogas are mentioned by Buddhajñānapāda in the Muktitilaka, where they are described as the “perfection stage of the perfection stage,” (Muktitilaka, D 52a.2), and are also said to be realized instantaneously by a Yogin engaged in post-initiatory practice (cārya) (Muktitilaka, D 51b). These seven yogas, which are mentioned but not listed in the Muktitilaka, thus seem to refer in Buddhajñānapāda’s work to practices that are to be carried out by the Yogin subsequent to initiation. In Vaidyapāda’s Yogasapta, however, the seven yogas are explained in much greater detail as seven states or experiences that the student is meant to undergo in the context of initiation—specifically during what is called “the fourth”.

The seven are:

1. perfect exampleless bliss (dpe med bde rdzogs),
2. non-duality (gnyis su med pa),
3. great bliss (bde ba chen po),
4. lacking nature (rang bzhin med pa),
5. unfolding compassion (thugs rjes rgyas pa),
6. unbroken continuity (rgyun mi chad pa), and
7. non-cessation (‘gog pa med pa).

The same seven factors are addressed in Vāgīśvavarakīrti’s later Saptāṅga and his Tattvaratnāvaloka and its auto-commentary, where they are called the seven aṅgas of mahāmudrā.

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.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Yoga, Sapta.

Full-text: Saptanga.

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