Highest Yoga Tantras

Highest Yoga Tantras

In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Highest Yoga Tantras are the highest category in the fourfold division of tantras. These tantras often involve images of male and female deities in sexual union, symbolic of two aspects of wisdom and method necessary for the awakening. Such practices are sometimes literally carried out by the initiated practitioner and a consort. Most Tibetan traditions also divide Highest Yoga Tantras into “father” tantras, which focus on male deities and the subtle body, and “mother” tantras, which focus on female deities and the enlightened mind. The Later Diffusion traditions add a category of “non-dual” tantras, the most important of which is the Kalachakra tantra. The Nyingma tradition understands Dzogchen as the ultimate form of the Highest Yoga Tantras.