Subject: Deity Yoga
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Mahayana Buddhism, specifically the Sutrayana tradition, teaches two types of meditation, Calm Abiding and Insight. Vajrayana Buddhism teaches two additional distinct forms of meditation called Generation Stage Yoga and Perfection Stage Yoga. The first of these, Generation Stage teaches deity yoga. Most of these deities are catalogued in the Four Tantra Classification System of the Kriya, Charya, Yoga and Anuttarayoga. The deities can be male or female and have one of three different general appearances: peaceful, semi-peaceful/wrathful and wrathful. The three are based on Indian classical literature and the appearance of deva/devi, rishis and rakshas.
The Perfection Stage Yoga relies less on deity yoga and focuses more on abstract philosophy and the experiential results of the deity yoga meditations.
Jeff Watt 3-2017
